Why simplemachines.org dont use Mods?

[Draffi]

Well, the title tells all:

Why the SMF-Team dont use well approved and popular Mods?

(E.g.: Thank-o-mat, Gallery-Stuff, Link-Lists,....)

I know, that it is not easy to use one of them without to hurt/critics the other, but you can look for the code and use the best of them!

You need to be an (good) example!

Or - and this another way - use the idea, write your own code and make this stuff public (maybe with Premium-Version) that brings money to team!

[Arantor]

SMF does use mods.

There are several mods in use:
* Topic Solved
* Search Focus Dropdown
* Language Dropdown
* SimpleDesk
* OpenX
and probably some others I've forgotten.

The problem with things like Think-O-Matic is that they have the same problem as karma, they encourage abuse (which is why karma is also turned off), gallery isn't needed, link lists are also not needed.

Why install things that you don't need?

[Draffi]

ooohhh...

uppsss!

Sorry - i was thinking, this is manually coding!

Thank you for the info!

[LiroyvH]

Indeed we use several mods, but no we don't run a overly modded forum. As Arantor points out; why would we use what we don't need?
The idea is also to actually show a forum that represents the vanilla edition of SMF as much as possible.
And on top of that: Security and stability.

Last but not least;

Or - and this another way - use the idea, write your own code and make this stuff public (maybe with Premium-Version) that brings money to team!

Use the idea, re-write and ask money sounds a bit like stealing to me to be honest. o0

[Arantor]

OpenX might be, actually... but remember that a mod is really just a bundle of custom coding collected in one place.

[Kindred]

Also, mods which you might consider "good" are not always... Nor are they necessary, as evidenced by the fact that we run a successful forum without them

[Draffi]

The idea is also to actually show a forum that represents the vanilla edition of SMF as much as possible.
And on top of that: Security and stability.

Thats sound, that a heavily mod'ed board is not safe...

Use the idea, re-write and ask money sounds a bit like stealing to me to be honest.

You know, that something exist, what the people called "Internet" ?

[Arantor]

Depends who's writing the modifications.

[Draffi]

Depends who's writing the modifications.

wouw, wouw, wouw....


tell me more, please!

We all have the right to know, what is safe or not.

I'm sure, when you approve the code, you know who you can trust....Last time, some minutes ago, i was reading that a Mod installed a backlink to another page - maybe you need to add a custom field in the Customize-Page like "Recommended" or "approved" or "tested" ...

[Draffi]

A SMF-Quality Sign....

[Kindred]

Let me out it this way.
SMF is very proud of its security record.
We make certain that SMF is secure and when anything is found, we patch it quickly.

It is hard enough to do with with the core forum and the code which is involved.
Every time you add a mod, you add more and sometimes complex code which potentially has consequences... Performance or security are two of those consequences.

Our customization team does look carefully at mods which are submitted. However, once the mod is accepted, we do not re-review every subsequent mod release, unless someone reports a security issue with that mod...
Additionally, mods can have interactions with other mods...

By running a "standard" forum, with minimal modding, we demonstrate the power of SMF while keeping the forum secure, well performing and slick.

[Arantor]

-sigh- Please don't overreact or misinterpret.

All the mods on this site have been reviewed by the team at some time or another. For general use they are all safe. No mod gets onto the site listing until it is reviewed the first time by the Customizer team, though updates don't normally get reviewed.

But the point being made is that more mods on a site is not necessarily 'unsafe' if they're well written as seems to be a common myth around these parts.

For example this site uses SimpleDesk. It's a huge mod, it's about 1/5 the size of SMF just on its own. But that doesn't make it a problem even as big as it is.

[Douglas]

The one mod that I wish SMF would use (and have enabled by default, instead of hiding it/burying it so deep) is Mouseover Topic Preview. Every other forum does do that, and it cuts down on quite a bit of work for everyone involved.

[Irisado]

Conversely, most fora I'm a member of don't use a mod like that, or an equivalent.

I like the fact that there are not too many mods here.  I'm not a huge fan of a lot of mods, so less is often more in my book.

[Douglas]

Conversely, most fora I'm a member of don't use a mod like that, or an equivalent.

When you deal with forums that have 1m+ posts, it really is a lifesaver, from a Moderation standpoint.

I like the fact that there are not too many mods here.  I'm not a huge fan of a lot of mods, so less is often more in my book.

I absolutely do agree with this. People would be shocked as to how few Mods I actually allow on Hogville. Most hand adjustments are for efficiency or design changes to have a better flow of things, or to reduce server workloads.

One thing I would love to see happen is that SMF makes better use of CSS Sprites, but that's another topic for another day.

[Irisado]

When you deal with forums that have 1m+ posts, it really is a lifesaver, from a Moderation standpoint.

Yes, and no.  Yes, in the sense that it definitely gives an idea, but no in the sense that, speaking for myself, I have to read every post of every thread I'm responsible for moderating in order to check that no rules have been broken, and a preview doesn't show the whole text.

I absolutely do agree with this. People would be shocked as to how few Mods I actually allow on Hogville. Most hand adjustments are for efficiency or design changes to have a better flow of things, or to reduce server workloads.

This is interesting.  I was under the impression that all mods generally increased server workload, so clearly I'm wrong about that.

[Kindred]

some mods do, some mods don't.    Depends on what the mod does and how it does it.
(like many "code hacks" there are varying degrees of proficiency in mod writing... some are quick and dirty, some are well planned and efficient - most are in between)

[Douglas]

This is interesting.  I was under the impression that all mods generally increased server workload, so clearly I'm wrong about that.

Not always the case... yes, some do add additional workload/queries, but some take advantage of existing queries/resources.

As I just saw in a recent thread: Caveat Emptor. Do your homework and research before implementing any mod. There are some people that deploy mods that I would implement without even a second thought (no, I will not name names... people need to do their homework, haha), and there are some that I will tweak and adjust before I even think about testing stuff.

The great thing is that as SMF continues to move forward with each new version release, they add some additional things that remove the need for me to install a mod to get that feature implemented.

As I said, any Mod that can take advantage of an existing resource without creating additional workload will almost always get my attention.