Add-Ons compatibility question

[velvetpixel]

When browsing the Add-Ons http://addons.oscommerce.com/ I see that there is a selector to allow version compatibility selection but many of the addons that have been upgraded to be compatible with 2.3.1 are still listed as:

for osCommerce Online Merchant v2.2

 

How can I find all actual 2.3.1 compatible add-ons?

How can I tell if an Add-On has reached 2.3.1 compatibility even if it is listed as only 2.2? Many of the contributors do not accentuate this important fact in the submission notes or submission header.

 

Are submitted add-ons vetted and approved in any way?

 

How can I be notified by email that an installed add-on has been upgraded?

 

Is there a way in the admin to be alerted of out of date installed add-0ns?

 

If none of this is possible in the 2.3 branch will this type of functionality be built into the 3.0 branch?

Edited September 15, 2011 by velvetpixel

[Jack_mcs]

The short answer is that you can't tell at a glance if a 2.3 version exists or not. The contribution section is, and probably always will be, a mess and there's no easy fix for it. You have to research each contribution to determine if it has been converted. And, in many cases, the coversion has been done by those not knowing what they are doing and the result doesn't always work or will introduce unwanted code into your files. So you have to proceed very slowly and always have a backup.

[velvetpixel]

Thanks Jack!

 

Maybe Harald can start a team to create standards for the add-on submission process and initiate a vetting process for approved add-ons.

 

Drupal, Wordpress and may other apps with contributions follow this standard and it helps not only facilitate ease of use and increase adoption rate of add-ons but will help slow the issues in the forums about "hey this isn't working with my version" questions :)

[Guest]

As it is said, v3.x will have to comply with certain standards because add ons are said to be one click installation when the new version is released. Although I don't think the core development team will verify the add ons, there will be a standard when creating them.

 

 

 

Chris