Due to a previous thread being deliberately destroyed by a small group of people who are either threatened by the advances of phpLynx or afraid of moving forward, I'm going to ask the question again only this time before jumping in with irrelevant answers please refer to sarahk's post on the matter. The question is.... If you had a choice of customizing your directory with certain features that your current script doesn't provide, what features would you want and why? There are two ways for features to be added, either by the creative mod writers out there taking advantage of our code now going open or failing that we'd be happy to implement them ourselves. Either way THEY WILL GET ADDED. My preference would be for the involvement of mod writers. The purpose of this exercise is to improve on the current directory model which is in clear need of evolution, and to hopefully create a new bread of directory which will benefit the genuine directory owner and not the QBC. As Sarahk said, this infighting between scripts has to stop, if other scripts want to do what phpLynx is prepared to do then they can, it all leads to the advancement of the directory industry. Those who've claimed in the past to have 'innovative ideas' should relish this chance to showcase their talents and be an active part of evolving the directory or perhaps that was all talk and all ideas now exhausted? Let's see shall we. Nothing to lose, everything to gain comes to mind here.
I am just puzzled as how this can be avoided, Jamie have i missed somrthing here, but the script will work for both the QBC and the genuine developer the same way will it not. ? With respect Jamie, innovative idea's are not thrown around on a public forum, for the sake of a forum trophy or some sort of feel good jolly. Idea's are a valuable commody and top idea's people are paid large sums, they won't post here other than what i would term 2 minute mangers with a twithy eye, and a 1 minute idea. Not downplaying the post and i may be wrong, but keepin it real
Pete, the QBC are afraid of hard work, by creating something that offers more dynamic features would involve more work for the directory owner, and if the mod writers out there were to create these mods and charge for them this would help put them out of the reach of the QBC who don't want to pay for anything if they can help it. The serious players won't bat an eyelid at investing in their future and would happily pay for new features if it means long term success. Ideas are worthless commodity unless you can afford to put those ideas into practice, which is why we're offering to help put those ideas into practice. People don't just see that. I'm not asking for anything, I'm offering, I have a thousand ideas and could easily put them in place, I'm offering the chance to help others put their ideas into practice, and in the process make some money at the same time, what's the matter with that? If I end up having to implement my own ideas I won't be targeting the audience on DP that's for sure, the internet is a big world and doesn't revolve around this place that's for certain. I said it before, I'll say it again, there's only a handful of people on here who have a clue anyway, the rest are kids (jealous ones at that) take a look at the one star already given to the thread, how pathetic is that. It was this handful of knowledgeable people that should grasp opportunities like this with open arms, but hey maybe I'm wrong and over-estimated people on here, maybe they don't know a good opportunity when they see one? The kiddies? Well they'll soon have to leave home and take up real world jobs like sweeping the roads, cleaning carpets, or shoveling shit for a living. Your input is welcome, it always has been, one thing is for certain, I am definitely keeping it real. When I took over the running of phpLynx I could have easily walked away and said **** the lot of you, and let the directory industry implode on itself and laugh at the continued influx of crap that continues to flood the market. Instead I've chosen to put my money where my mouth is and help make people's ideas become reality. If people don't want that and are happy to stay in the dark ages then that's fine, those who want to move on can, and by working with phpLynx can do that a lot quicker. I can easily target a different audience, its all the same to me, either way phpLynx won't go away, its here to stay and get better at the same time. The problem I see is that most people on here don't know anything other than one way here and that revolves around scripts that have no idea of long term concepts, that's because the developers don't have business backgrounds, if they did they would not have gone in the direction they have. I do have that business background and I see the current directory model is dying a painful death which is why I'm willing to work with others to breath some life back into it. People shouldn't be afraid to change and should have the balls to take their business' in new directions.
I have a question which might lead you to some ideas. One of the things that pisses me off the most is the fact that anyone can buy / obtain a directory script and create a web site. As we all know, the common practice amongst QBC's is that they use a dropped domain so that they can sell PR. Now I know the most common use of this is now bidding directories and the developers of those scripts need to sort it out. I notice that phpLynx is licensed to a domain name (and I think IP if memory serves) so my question is. Do your staff carry out any background checks on the domain name that the script is licensed to prior to providing the script? Would you refuse to sell phpLynx to someone if you knew they were using a dropped domain? I know the occurance of this with phpLynx is likely to be very low because it is a paid script.... but, if this script were to become the ultimate script based on ideas from this community (and your own) then the occurance rate will increase. How would you combat it? As for any new mods or features, sorry but you'l have to hire me, they are too valuable to give away for free
Sorry Jamie, but I think your post is a giant phishing game, with a very large hook. Let me tell you a secret for free, on me, that will save you much time and wasted effort: There are no secrets, and nobody with a successful business will share what they know with webmasters, or forums. Part of running a business is about inventing new things and ideas for it, something that forum junkies cannot do, or can't be bothered with. Nobody will do this for you, and you won't find success without it, no matter how much chanting is done or the number of goats that get sacrificed. Oh I know, I have a brilliant idea that will make me millions, I think I'll share it with everybody so they can make millions too
EK, your missing the point. There are many here who own directories yet do not have the ability to implement features themselves and this is an opportunity for them to get their features included in a script. Whilst I in principal do not agree with the way this is being done as I voiced yesterday, I have stated that opinion and will not repeat it. I would urge you to go and read yesterdays thread which Jamie linked to in his first post and then stick to the thread topic which is either to offer an idea or keep out. Further more it is not uncommon for business's to seek out their customers ideas for improvement of their product, it has been going on for years. Edit: Is anyone else having problems with the images on DP, none of them are loading for me and it's really screwing with the display.
I think I get the jist of it - thanks anyway. You know, I offered my advice before, infact I actualy told people how to do things and even explained why, so if you don't mind, I think it's pointless as members here will not rush off and implement my or anybody elses advice. These are my feelings on the matter. I do agree with your point about how this thread sounds - yep.
Jamie, I've voiced a couple of mods in the past and have a couple more which I've thought of. On a side note - freeindex.co.uk (my top directory referrer this month!) - have implemented new features into their directory and sent me an e-mail yesterday to confirm business details - looks like they're getting serious - but how can a name like that expect businesses to pay to be listed? Go check out the new features, some of them are quite nice
Good point, but in answer, no we don't at present do background checks, that hadn't even entered our minds, although we do know who's using the script and who's not via domain licence, not IP as an IP can be shared by a million different domain names, so we've already put some thought into this. The only way I would see we could do this is to put this clause in the license along with a few other tricks. My question is though how would we be able to tell an illegitimate purchase of a domain or not? Could we disable a license? probably. Food for thought. Even if this is the only post that comes from this thread its an excellent one and I've achieved what we want to, that's learn as a group how to solve problems. By working with people like you on coming up with ideas on how to do this and how to evolve. That's the idea of the post, its not to fish for ideas as event_king said, (he clearly hasn't a clue) it is to work as a group to combat this and improve the current directory model which imho has been destroyed. We're not in it solely to make money although that's always nice, but to try and evolve and improve the directory industry from this kind of crap. People need to know that unlike other scripts phpLynx doesn't need money to sustain itself as much, all money made is put back into the development of it, that's always been the case and always will. Perhaps I'm just not doing a good enough job getting this message across? Your missing the point Silky, we have our own programmers, they can write as good as anyone else, we have our own ideas, and lots of them and have the ability to put these ideas into place in a shorter time than most others could. The purpose of giving the opportunity for people like you to create mods is that YOU own them and benefit from selling them, installing them and so on. Here's the mindset behind this... At the current stage other popular scripts are saturated with mod-creators and this has led to inferior quality replicas of good mods, we won't endorse anything other than the best mods out there which should lead to a better all round product. We'd also legally protect the legal interests of the mod creators at no cost to you. Ours isn't to take advantage of talent, its to provide a platform for you to use as a way to demonstrate these. We aren't interested in financial gain from mods, if we were I'd get them made in a flash, take my word on that one. Ours is to try to get the message across that good programmers could really benefit from the opening of the phpLynx script by making a sub industry in a non saturated field. People harp on that they can do this and can do that and for what seems an age been calling for our script to go open so they can put their ideas into work, now we've done that they all run a mile. Perhaps we've called the bluff of people who talk the talk but when the chips are down they can't walk the walk. @Spider-Man; You make the suggestions and I guarantee we'll get them implemented if they can be. Its up to whether you if you want the mod creators to make them or us.
most top ideas are able to source the funds needed yes but what are you offering the idea's person in return ? ? so your proposing a share in any productive ideas ( as above ? no jamie you have not just in this big world there needs to be a 2 way street thats it what is the opportunity your putting forward ? if no one shoveled shit we would all be walking in it these same shit shovelers, read the internet look up directories, press the links, that other purchase directory scripts to run - were all connected to shit
After reviewing the Esyndicat MODS and Esyndicat Features as well as qlWeb features and phpLD features and [url='http://www.phplinkdirectory.com/]available phpLD MODs[/url] I just cant seem to think of anything else at this point. hehe And seeing as how the evolution of development over the past few years has been, it was always: esyndicat - having it in script first phpld - copying it lynx - copying phpld qlweb - with a little bit of this and that from all three. Man, this is going to be hard to think of something, but if I do, I will be the first one to tell you what is on my mind. It's like you said; maybe every idea has been exhausted and scripts like lynx are dying without any kind of user base and dev innovation to hold them up. In my honest opinion, when a script cannot think of anything new and innovative, I think it's a dead script. That's just me though.
That one has already been done hasn't it? Now isn't that about the most truthful statement of the day I have found that most really innovative ideas tend to be kept close to the vest and developed through coders/mod developers.
To begin with phpLynx still isn't open. If as a mod developer I want to view the source I first have to have a domain and buy a license of your script. If I were to use XYZ script which I can get at freely without the need to purchase either a domain or a license I can install the script on my laptop within 10 minutes and can be up and developing mods practically straight away. Look at it from a financial perspective, I can pick up a domain for $0.99 after which I need to spend $55 to purchase the script from you before I can actually go to work. I dont need to do that with other scripts on the market which is why they are moded more regularly. If your looking to get mod developers more interested in your script then you need to build a better relationship with them. Protecting them legally is a nice incentive but the restrictions you place on getting to the source don't make it worth while. I would suggest developing an open access program specifically for developers. Your a lawyer so it shouldn't be too hard to come up with a license specifically for developers which protect both parties. And you can still keep the licensing system encoded, just make it more advanced than what it currently is so that developers are given more room to move. For example rather than restricting the license by domain you could restrict it to the localhost IP address 127.0.0.1. which would enable developers to work on their local machine but not upload to a web site or redistribute the code. It is also not too difficult to spot someone who is just trying to gain access too a free copy of the script and someone who is genuinely interested in developing. Checking up on programmers on the net is extremely easy when you have a few basic details about them. As for harping on, I don't think I am guilty of that as I don't recall asking for open access to your script, only offering advice on how you could achieve it. As for me building mods, I am asked almost daily for installs, custom mods, help and most often "any new mods yet?!". I haven`t released any mods since last year because I am too busy right now. So it is nothing to do with which script but purely a lack of development time on that front. The biggest problem from QBC's is that of fake PR and / or dropped domains. Fake PR is easy to spot because Google will give you that info with a quick query. Dropped domains can usually be detected from a whois lookup and checking the registration dates, domaintools.com also lists how many times a domain has been dropped if at all. Another good indicator is that the owner will hide the contact information by proxy because s/he will not want to be identified.
I'll answer the rest later as I'm busy now, but tell me what is the difference between phpld, esyndicat, and so on and their paid versions, are you saying they aren't opensource as well then? Because you have to buy their code first as well.
I was ready to write a big long post on this matter, but the following 25 or so words will do. Has it crossed any of the 'mod' developer's minds that if they want to make money, they have to invest money first? Nope, didn't think so either.
Yes I am sure it has and for me personally I don't mod to make money, I mod to try and offer improvements to the industry. I cannot answer for all directory scripts, however when it comes to phpLD I can. I haven`t spoken to David in a long time because I have been too busy, but whenever I have had any requirements he has always been very forthcoming in providing me with what I needed. Also lets clarify something. None of the scripts which have been mentioned, phpLD (Free or Paid), eSyndicat or phpLynx are open source. Offering an open source script and allowing access to modify the source code are two very different things and you should be very careful with your usage of that term.
if you mean both scripts have links and descriptions then yes we must have copied phpld because that's all they have in common. Just like Spider-man said above if mod developers want the chance to make some money out of the phplynx going open source, they can, if they don't then all's good, we'll survive as we have plenty of ideas ourselves.