subscribed software updates

[rutherford]

I'd like a way where a developer of a plug in makes a CLOSED post that I can subscribe to. That way, I get a proactive email from the board when the developer posts something. The way it's been going now, anyone can post to a developer thread, meaning I get notifications every time someone has a problem with the plug in.

 

What about bringing all the dev posts into one forum area. Plugins that have not been active might get moved to a different area.

 

Currently there are well over 100 posts in

Lime Technology - unRAID Server Community » Version 5 Development » Plugin Design

But there certainly aren't that many current plugins available.

 

Basically, I'd like a more streamlined way to be notified of updates of plugins that I use.

 

Simple Features

sabnzbd

sickbeard

couchpotato

Plex

Subsonic

APC UPS

Transmission

 

thanks -

[RobJ]

I like this idea in principle, but unfortunately I don't think there is a perfectly acceptable way to implement it, mainly because plugin developers are not necessarily moderators, and only moderators can lock threads and delete or move unwanted posts.  I can think of a few ways to attempt this though.

 

1. Ask plugin developers to run 2 threads, one for announcements only, and the other (probably the current plugin thread) for all other discussion and support.  The dev can create a new topic, describing the plugin, indicating where downloads are, and any other important and related posts, and linking to the support thread.  Then the dev would also need to include a strong warning that this new topic is only for further announcements related to the plugin, and NOT for user posts.  They can't unfortunately enforce that, but they can ask a moderator to remove or move unwanted posts.  The dev would also indicate that plugin users should subscribe to this thread only, if they only want notifications about announcements from the dev.  Perhaps we could come up with a recommended template for the top post in an announcement only topic.  That would encourage consistency.

 

Edited note: option #2 has a serious flaw, see WeeboTech post below.

2. Create a single, universal announcement topic in the User Customizations board, stickied, where all plugin and addon announcements go.  Then many of the moderators will be monitoring it, and keeping it clean.  And everyone has only one thread to subscribe to.  You will get an email for each announcement post, which you can either delete if uninterested, or follow up on.  Each announcement post should be kept short, just include the plugin name, a short summary of changes, and the link to the post in the plugin's main thread that has the full description, installation details, etc.  Moderators should be strict in enforcing announcement posts only, announcement of new plugins and addons, announcements of updates to existing plugins and addons, and possibly announcements of the demise of an project (possibly because of developer loss of interest or its been superseded by another).  I have to be honest and say I like this option the best.  The weakness is, some devs may not feel like posting an announcement here as well as their announcement in their own thread.

 

3. There may also be a way to use the wiki, since you can also subscribe to individual pages and be notified of any changes to it.  Each plugin dev could create a separate wiki page for the plugin, with all details on the page or the links to the details.  Then when there is a new version to announce, they update the page and the related links, and all subscribers will immediately be notified.  The notification email in this instance does not say what the change is though, just the fact of a change made.

 

4. Or we just leave everything the way it is currently, perhaps because many think this is not a big deal, so why change anything.

 

The notification emails in #1 and #2 include the content of the announcement post, which is helpful.  The email in #2 is also good for announcing new plugins, something that #1 and #3 can not do.  With #1 and #3 and #4, you will have to find out on your own, about a new plugin (just the way you do now!).

 

One thing you can do now, is subscribe to the UnRAID Plugins page, if you want to be notified of any changes to it, including updates.

 

Edited to expand my comments

[theone]

My plugins are hosted/developed on Github.

Also I think plugin developers should show on their plugin WEBUI when a different version is available online.

 

There is a watch option on GitHub that can be used.

I don't think that the notifications should come from the forum but from the plugin's repository or preferably a central repository or plugin manager when available.

 

[WeeboTech]

2. Create a single, universal announcement topic in the User Customizations board, stickied, where all plugin and addon announcements go.  Then many of the moderators will be monitoring it, and keeping it clean.  And everyone has only one thread to subscribe to.  You will get an email for each announcement post, which you can either delete if uninterested, or follow up on.  Each announcement post should be kept short, just include the plugin name, a short summary of changes, and the link to the post in the plugin's main thread that has the full description, installation details, etc.  Moderators should be strict in enforcing announcement posts only, announcement of new plugins and addons, announcements of updates to existing plugins and addons, and possibly announcements of the demise of an project (possibly because of developer loss of interest or its been superseded by another).  I have to be honest and say I like this option the best.  The weakness is, some devs may not feel like posting an announcement here as well as their announcement in their own thread.

 

The problem with subscribing to one post is you will have to visit that post everytime you receive a message or it will stop sending updates.

I.E. if you use the notify function, you get a message. if you go back to the forum, you will get the next post. If you do not, you will stop receiving messages.

 

Where as if we had a plugin announcement forum.

You can subscribe to the forum itself and get all new announcements, then subscribe to each thread.

Example: I subscribe to the good deals forum. whenever someone posts a good deal I get an email. I can choose to read it or ignore it. If I read it, I can choose to follow(notify) it or not.

I will still get announcements to other good deals.

[RobJ]

The problem with subscribing to one post is you will have to visit that post everytime you receive a message or it will stop sending updates.

I.E. if you use the notify function, you get a message. if you go back to the forum, you will get the next post. If you do not, you will stop receiving messages.

You're right, a fatal flaw.  Guess I was thinking more of a listserv arrangement, announce only.

 

Feedback so far seems to lean on mechanisms for the future, when we have a repository with builtin update notification, and plugins with their own builtin update checking.  I can see areas that seem under-served by that though:

 

1. How are notifications to be handled during the unknown period between now and whenever a repository is ready, perhaps with automatic highlighting of new and updated plugins, perhaps with notification of which of your own installed plugins have an update.

 

2. Notifications for other addons and special scripts (will there be a mechanism for cataloging them in the plugin manager?) - see the UnRAID Add Ons page for lists of various other addons and scripts.

 

3. I assume there will be plugins without a webui, for background purposes, or a helper plugin for other plugins, etc.  No way therefore for builtin update notification.  And some plugins may only have a rudimentary webui, for initial configuration only, a set-it-and-forget-it thing, and the user will perhaps never see its webui again.

 

4. The methods above are for those many individuals who remember to regularly check for anything new or updated.  There are some of us who badly need reminders (I'm an extreme case), and we would like notifications sent to us, a 'push' mechanism.

[bobbintb]

Don't mean to bump an old thread but i too think this is a good idea in principle and i think it would be a good feature if implemented in the proper way.