Please abolish that 100 posts rule for posting free downloads

[musicmaster]

Please abolish the rule that someone must at least have 100 posts in the forum before he can post some free software. It is based on a misunderstanding of the kind of people that posts such software.

Most people that post such software are people who have created one or a few shops. They had to create some module to have the required functionality and they want to share that as a kind of payback. Why should you obligate those guys to become teachers on the forum?

On the other hand the downloads for which this would make sense are rare. Posting something in order to sell a more advanced version won't make you rich and requires lots of support: so few people do that. And when software doesn't work you soon enough see that in the comments. 

We have now the sorry situation that more than a dozen of the links on Vekia's "Free modules list - only valuable and proven solutions" list at the top of the free modules forum section are dead links (for example password strength bar widget). These downloads are still there but they have been deactivated because of this rule. I can't see how this is doing the community any service.

 

[nadie]

I agree with you.

It is a subject discussed in the moderation zone. There are moderators who want to change this rule. But the final decision is from the Prestashop team. The moderators can only make suggestions, but the power of decision has the Prestashop team.

Sorry for my English,

[selectshop.at]

@ musicmaster - Yes this is really a contradictory thing.  Perhaps you have also a good suggestion on how to manage these problems ?

• Several developer post free offers here and do not give any support or abandon their adds 1-2 years after.
• Users installing old not suitable free modules and their shop goes than crashed. These users came back angry, and who is helping them ? Nobody, cause other devs will not loose their time in fixing problem of others.
• Some other developers only adding free offers for to make advertise, so flooding the forum with advertise without any control possibility of Prestashop.

 

sorry but you can not shuffle this work also on the few moderators who really work here in the forum. It is not the task of a moderator to control any modules, whether they work or not. I think it's okay if we prescribe a so-called introductory period. So at least X helping posts, before anyone offers anything. Who guarantees to the other users here, that the offer works at all and does not bring a page to a downtime? Prestashop Team? I do not think that the Prestashop team would like to take such responsibility. But the decision is not up to me. The topic is unfortunately a very difficult one, compromises have to be made here. And on both sides !!

If I where Prestashop, then I will ban any free or paid addon offer here in the forum and move this to the addons-site, like also other open source software is maintaining. There is a marketplace on where you can add addons for free or paid. The control is than under Prestashop team and not forum moderators, which spend their free time here.

[musicmaster]

@selectshop.at:

 - I don't see a problem with support. Prestashop itself doesn't provide free support either - it relies on us on the forum for that. You something similar happening in the threads of some of the free software offerings that are abandoned by their supplier.

 - "Users installing old not suitable free modules and their shop goes than crashed. These users came back angry, and who is helping them?"

I bet that almost daily shops crash because of some module bought on Addons when the buyer didn't look good enough at the small print specifying the PS version. At the moment - with both 1.6 and 1.7 strong - not looking at version info is a recipe for trouble. 

You could add an explicit warning in the header of the free modules section to watch the PS version and to be careful with trying software that hasn't been tried by others.

I share your frustration that regularly people bring back posts from the Middle Ages and ask why software made for 1.0 doesn't work on their 1.7. But in my opinion it would be better to have some policy that prevents this. Having some archive forum section(s) and/or locking those old discussions are options.

 - "Some other developers only adding free offers for to make advertise"

Maybe the moderation is very good but I don't see that as a major problem. I don't believe in making sweeping rules to catch a small problem. It signals a refusal to discuss details and often an agenda that goes much beyond the problem.

 - "you can not shuffle this work also on the few moderators who really work here in the forum"

Hard to react to this without knowledge of how much time is really invested in this. It takes only a few enthusiasts to have a major effect. See Vekia with his list.

 - "paid content"

That is a different issue where a 100 posts rule might be justified. Unlike the free forum section it indeed is an advertising section that I don't have the impression is visited very much.

 - "There is a marketplace on where you can add addons for free or paid."

A short look at the discussions about rejections by the Addons team should be enough to discard this option. This is not what you want suppliers of free software to go through each time they make some improvement to their software.

Prestashop has very strict guidelines for how modules on Addons should be programmed. Many of those guidelines have little or nothing to do with the real quality of the software. It is one of the reasons so much PS modules and themes are sold on Codecanyon and company pages. I don't believe that it is a good idea to discard all the software that Addons doesn't like as useless.

Also note that Prestashop has other "rules". I couldn't list my Prestools on Addons even if it was perfect and followed all their guidelines because they have the additional rule that they accept non-module software only from their closest circle of partner companies.

I don't see any enthusiasm at the Prestashop company to spend more time evaluating free software. Shifting the job to them will de facto be the same as forbidding free software.

The forum is not perfect for software distribution. Some tree structure that categorizes the software might help. The same applies to having a more public valuation. You cannot sort by how much a module was liked. You cannot see it in the topic list either. And liking itself is a rather primitive tool that highlights mainly the type of software that is most in demand. When people could assign a figure (and provide some text with their motivation) you would have a better indication of quality. But this goes beyond the scope of this discussion. We have to do with what Prestashop offers.

[Whiley]

vor 8 Stunden schrieb musicmaster:

Please abolish the rule that someone must at least have 100 posts in the forum before he can post some free software. It is based on a misunderstanding of the kind of people that posts such software.

Hi musicmaster,

there is no such general rule!

Imo, everyone - wether he has 1000 posts or only 1 - can post his module or his free software in the  "Free software & themes"- section, as long as he has attached his sofware directly to his post..

Only if someone has not attached the software and wants to posts a link to his own site for downloading he needs - in the moment - this 100 posts.

regards
Whiley

 

 

 

[selectshop.at]

So no suggestion on how to maintain the problems. And that is exactly the PROBLEM.

[musicmaster]

On 22-1-2018 at 2:43 PM, selectshop.at said:

So no suggestion on how to maintain the problems. And that is exactly the PROBLEM.

 

The problem is that you expect a perfect world while you completely ignore the many benefits of the free modules. Not only are some of them quite popular, they serve also as proof of concept. Many ideas for commercial modules have roots in the free software.

[selectshop.at]

@musicmasterI'm ignoring nothing, this is what you are supposing I'm doing. I'm talking about facts. Community is there for to discuss also problems and not only to see the surplus you are having on own developments. I'm BTW not a developer, so I don't gain any money here.

Nothing is perfect. I was expecting a constructive suggestion which serves for all.