vbCredits is going to ionCube all their scripts with the new release… this is stupid because i do not accept any encoded scripts for my clients.
So if someone is ready to create a competitor to vbCredits, you’re welcome now. that stupidity is over, i lost my time waiting 13 months for John to finish the suite of my work, he was lazy and non-responding, so that’s about it.
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Ok, i have something in mind here, and it’s useful for « some » addons that will be added to the system.
We need to add some hooks to plug a points system, not only the basics…
ex: actually, vbXperience and vbCredits give X points when you post, reply, vote, thanks, etc… but what about paying to post? and being credited only when your post receive approval etc?
If we have a Classified Ads engine, which is planned, we need the users to pay to post, pay to read (even pay one time to read multiple times), etc… so we need to add some hooks so vbCredits can add a plugin to charge these users…
i discussed with John (vbCredits) about vBMA, long time ago, and he was interested to put some code in the core to charge the users of vBMA, etc… but the negociations were down when it was not me talking to him… i suppose you, Drew, tried to make deal with him?… i think the Mr Roboto tried to steal vbCredits engineering etc, like he have done with the rest…
so, i have John on my side, as he is working for me too (remember that vbCredits is my baby)… andwhat i thought was to involve John when we are ready to have addons with points needed… he would provide some plugins by the time we release our addons. these plugins would be payable to John, but would help us a lot…
so we go where?!
That could work, we could release it like a new forum type would be.
ok, we bump this thread for a new Points system, merged with the others
i talked with the guys at vbCredits in the last days, and they continue to be paranoid about their own asses, instead of making their scripts more accessible. they loose a lot of cash by encrypting their products and making a licensing engine that tie each client with a callback to their site… (ex: vbCommerce will not work if you go to your admincp and vbcredits.com is dead by that)…
we need a serious and light points system. it does not take time to code, it just need to be in OOP because it’s always the same… lol
ok, some logicals, to make things clear:
1- my view on a points system is that if a client buy it, it’s because some profits will go to his pocket… so it’s basically different from just sharing points among members, but mainly to bring profits by using features and setups on the site.
2- always pay/sell twist, not always « you win 2 points if you make a new thread »… you may have to « pay to post here », without having a need for a new addon…
3- basically, using the Payment processors inside vBulletin to provide a way for the members to buy points, without having to buy the addon that make it so…
etc…
Oh, a detail… any points engine use vB protocol to run, we can not really use them outside of the shell…
we need a OOP engine that can run independantly, so a different software can grab information from it and use the points the same way. bridgable so. so we can have a little plugin for Photopost, or PHPAuctions if we want… minimal code would be needed to integrate the engine to these external softwares.
possible?
It is possible to use it so our product could be ran through other products. This article Managing Code Updates Efficiently – The Facade Pattern – vBulletin.org Forum would be what i would use.
yeap, that’s what i had in mind, but i have no vocabulary.. lol
When thinking about a points engine a little more i came up with this. In the forum manager a new field can be added, « Points Per Post », then we allow negitive numbers to be used so we could charge to post. How does this sound?
i told you the MTF was used for a wide range of things.. lol
as soon as MTF detect the points system, the field appear and is active depending on your choice.
as i planned to do it with vbCredit, my goal was to have a detect for vbCredits
features?!
not a lot. we will build extra features per request, IF possible. i don’t see much usages for gifts and a bank, or loteries… pathetic, but some guys are ready to pay for these if the points engine is efficient… so they will pay if they want these features.
at first, we need something slim, fast, easy to catch, flatliner, and mainly just to gain/loose points depending on the action made on the site…
each feature is a addon or something like this.
My idea for the base engine would be basically just this function:
managePoints(userid, points) — points can be positive or negative
Because every thing in the points system would be based off of that. New post? just runs this function and uses a forum set value for points.
exactly…
managePoints(userid,points,log) … the log yes/no depend on the important goal of the function, so basically it would be no, but some transactions are important to log,…
ok, as the MTF is going well (i suppose), we need to update this Points system…
vbCredits is going down more and more, because they are hidden in their parking lot. So here is the chance to make a new hit here.
for each MTF function, we need a little place where to call the points system and add/drop points depending on actions AND settings. (forumX could require to pay for posting*creating threads, some other forumY could offer points for posting/creating) so we can not make it a single in/out.
also, i have in mind the D&D style of transactions, where something cost « 2 gold and 3 diamonds »… we need this engine as well, for different reasons: if you post in the D&D forum, you get diamonds, if you post in the Buy/Sell forum, it could get gold, and if you have a Freelancer’s forum, credits may be gained, etc…
as in a bank, we can get a currency exchange counter…where you buy gold with your diamonds etc… with a % in the pot, etc.
with the MTF, this becomes magic, as we create a Type that transform a forum into a Tavern, or a Shop, etc…
the goal is not to make the engine multi-currencies, but to have a place to transfer currency X to currency Y… and a system that store these currencies in their own slot.
yeah i think a points engine should generally be extremely basic though and not be bloated (like where vbcredits is heading)
really basic, free and easily installable… so no need to call an entire engine to make it work.
like you said, a centralized function like managePoints(userid, points) would be enough, and we add the points management inside that function… a hook or two so. the system of multiple currencies is a request i had on a BIG forum for market and currencies… their clients may use a real points system to deal with multi-currencies exchanges. their actual engine is too old and does not convert to a new engine like vBulletin…i received that request in a 5000$ paid job last month.
on top of all this i am making MTF releases able to integrate with any points system (with some configuration)
on top of that, you need a real interface that can convert points into paypal cash, and the opposite, people can buy points via paypal…
i attach what we coded for vbCredits… i suppose you did not pay for that addon…
Darkwaltz decided that this addon was obsolete now that he have the vbCommerce item to purchase points… which is pathetic, because the Commerce is clumzy and bloated with so much features that it’s impossible to navigate thru and have a good interface…
oh, and i suppose you notices that i dropped vbCredits from this site… there is nothing left from vbcredits, i hated to make my site go slow.. lol
i have some template edits to make so they look better…
Yeah, actually one good thing that came out of vBMA was me really learning how to work with paypal and be able to integrate it