What is the possibility of adding peregrine's Big Question Button to the Q&A addon?

virtualdavid

I asked peregrine if he wouldn't mind uploading his big button code addition as a remix, fork, etc. of this very cool plugin as the Q&A Big Button Remix, but he declined and suggested I ask for the original plugin to be upgraded. So is this possible? This awesome plugin right now has a rather hidden means to only change a discussion into a question. I like giving users the opportunity up front to ask a question or start a discussion. Cheers!

vrijvlinder

Hey, do me a favor and check the unanswered questions page 2 and please tell me if it is still a blank page ? thanks..

r0obert

@vrijvlinder‌ http://vanillaforums.org/discussions/unanswered/p2 is blank for me.

peregrine

As noted previously, plugins have taken a bit of a backseat, and one would believe and assume they will be compatible and working in 2.1. issues related to staff-created plugins have been filed on github. so they should be aware. So patience is the key. Remember the release of 2.1 stable took more than a year.

maybe when the author fixes the paging, they will also fix the other things about the plugin. however the paging aspect been broken for a while, so don't hold your breath and be patient. since the vanilla staff encourages people to fork their addons here. (as indicated in various announcements)

https://github.com/vanilla/addons/tree/2.1/plugins

so anyone is free to fork that, if they so desire.

Anyone can fork it https://github.com/vanilla/addons/tree/2.1/plugins and make any changes they want.

since the op requested I add the tweaked add-on (minor tweaks) to the add-on page http://vanillaforums.org/addons which seemed silly (and wrong-headed to me) to do a wild west thing and post the add-ons with me as author to the add-on page here http://vanillaforums.org/addons for simple tweaks to a staff developed plugin which one would assume the vanilla staff author still supports and is still on the scene.

I provided simple tweaks that have snippets of code in lieue of this, it doesn't mean I want to support it, or take over authorship or even fork it. if it helped somebody fine, but just because someone wants me to do something else for free, doesn't mean I am obligated, nor is anyone obligated to do something for free. People can scarcely click a reaction like awesome or insightful, let alone send a donationor pay someone to do the things they want that require hours of time. Other people may have different views, that is their choice.

virtualdavid

@vrijvlinder said:
Hey, do me a favor and check the unanswered questions page 2 and please tell me if it is still a blank page ? thanks..

OMG! It's blank! Good catch. I tested this in my clean testing environment for the Q&A plugin, and my page 2 for unanswered questions is not blank (though I set the max posts per page to 10 because I got tired of creating fake posts to generate a page 2). Perhaps your should report this as a standalone discussion problem with Vanilla's own community forum?

peregrine

@virtualdavid Perhaps your should report this as a standalone discussion problem with Vanilla's own community forum?

they should already know, it been reported.
perhaps you should as well.

virtualdavid

@peregrine said:
I provided simple tweaks that have snippets of code ...

Peregrine is too modest. I'm very thankful for these great code additions, and am happy to bundle them for free for others' convenience. For me, its like Todd created a great car (plugin), only he didn't include air conditioning (Big Button) and peregrine figured out how to build and install air conditioning in Todd's car model. Then I come along and figured it would be nice to help others out and save them the time of finding the instructions and building and installing their own air conditioners. Thus, offer an air conditioned car (a Q&A plugin with a Big Button) as a factory built car (an automated plugin zip). I think it would be cool if the addon's section allowed users to find both original plugins and the option packages other users have added to them. Maybe a remix button, like on YouTube Creative Commons Licensed movies, could be added to each addon to keep track of all contributions remixed from them.

I think one thing that long time, invested users may not realize is that what is obvious to them from long experience on this forum is actually hidden from new or casual users of Vanilla. I had no idea a Big Button option even existed until I came across it almost by accident, while poking around this forum. I would not have known to even consider this great idea as an option, "You mean you can do that!"

These forked plugins are out there, and it would be nice if they could be centrally referenced here with proper credit to contributors. If it is OK with Todd (or perhaps it is Linc who is now maintaining this plugin?) I would not mind adding this plugin option as the Q&A Big Button Remix, clearly stating that my only contribution was to copy, paste, and test code from this post http://vanillaforums.org/discussion/26902/some-adjustments-to-more-clearly-see-ask-a-question-in-q-a-1-2-1-new-discussion-button as a convenience to other users who would like a big Ask a Question button on their forums too.

peregrine

Geez, then send the developers a message. this is a private matter between you and them it seems.

they don't read the forum discussions, you are preaching to your own choir, and the developers can't hear you preaching here.

but it would be cool if plugins were updated on a timely basis. I do suspect it would easier to download a plugin without having to tweak it, Sometimes it takes more than one squeaky wheel.

actually hidden from new or casual users of Vanilla.

there are many,many things hidden to casual users, because they are casual, and you haven't scoured the entire forum to write up all these hidden tidbits into one huge easy to access document nor have you added your research to the wiki.

hgtonight

@virtualdavid said:
I think it would be cool if the addon's section allowed users to find both original plugins and the option packages other users have added to them. Maybe a remix button, like on YouTube Creative Commons Licensed movies, could be added to each addon to keep track of all contributions remixed from them.

This ability is offered via GitHub using the 'fork' button. Using the power of git blame, you can find the user that wrote every line of a project. If you want to see what was there before, checkout that commit, go to the parent and run another blame.

My understanding is the addons section is going to get a reboot with git integration (probably through GitHub). Patience, as always, is necessary.