Add on Manager not working for me

Noo

Hi

After installation, Add on Manager shows up in the Plugins Section as well as the Right Side Add ons Section But when I click on the Add Ons link just takes met o a blank page http://......./plugin/addonmanager

What do I do next ?

Vanilla Version 2.1 / Brand Friendly Ver. 1.2 Theme

x00

Don't use anything like this.

Seriously why would give a plugin control over your server file system in the first place? Ftp is old, slow and insecure.

In is not difficult to install plugins. You can do automation of the client side. Write a bash script, if it bothers you much.

This plugin was developed in 2011 I doubt it is compatible with 2.1

Noo

Thanks for the efforts , although much is " greek " to me since I am just a user ( that too, neww..... ) not a programmer .. wondering if that is a long learning curve -)
So dropping this plugin ...unless anyone else has another suggestion...

x00

yes I wouldn't use plugins like this.

I know that frameworks like wordpress encourage click installation, but there is something to be said for not allowing your web applications that much control.

Noo

Noted, thanks !

hgtonight

@x00 said:
In is not difficult to install plugins. You can do automation of the client side. Write a bash script, if it bothers you much.

Any time a user is asked to switch contexts, bad experiences are had. While I can't vouch for this plugin (never used), I can understand the appeal and even support the development of it.

Writing a bash script shouldn't be required to keep your software up to date. Ever.

x00

They aren't switching. This doesn't exist yet. I'm saying is safer not to allow an app control over your file system, not without some serious consideration towards security and stability.

You can do other solution on the server or client that are far more secure.

Even this software previously deleted the whole contents of the plugin folder where a user had elevated permissions, tried to delete one plugin through he web interface, and there was broken JavaScript from minification. Before that code was removed from the core. That should be warning enough.

At this stage automatic update of plugins, is a bad idea, as the quality is just not high enough and there isn't tight enough version control to be able to mange it. Definitely the approach where the web user has direct control over files is bad, which is why it needed to be removed from the core.

Many people fundamentally degree with the way wordpress does updates. I don't completely disagree with it but it depend how it is setup, the default way people use it, is pretty problematic for me.

Convenience isn't alway everything. Having user manually extract in lieu of a general solution is more secure, than not managing your files yourself.

Writing a bash script shouldn't be required to keep your software up to date. Ever.

From what perspective? A bash script is just a series of commands basically, it is also in effect a command language. You can also use any other fore of scripting to make your life easy, if you know how. Nothing wrong with that.

No one said it was required, just you take responsibility for web mastering which has some learning curve.

When people deploy sites with git, virtualenv(wrapper) and fabric (especially), that is scripting and the deployment and the updates are manged by that scripting. How is that any different fundamentally? Apart from fabfile.py script uses a library for convenience methods. It is still issuing commands over ssh. It is not the web application being deployed that is controlling this. Nor is that particularly appropriate.

Big generalization "ever".

peregrine

I don't think a really effective addon manger can ever be written until there is an up-to-date repository that specifies whether plugin is compatible with the version of vanilla.

A few people have trouble getting the correct version of plugin, because they don't know whether to use this github version or that github version or the addon version. At this point, updating a plugin to the correct version depends on a smart human interface that is capable of reading the description and searching through the forum to find out which plugin version might work with their vanilla version.
I don't think this is going to change in the near future or by 2015. I would be pleasantly surprised if it did, I am just basing my prediction, on historical evidence, which may or may not be a good predictor. But all evidence form the past so far has proven to be a good predictor.

I also don't believe using github as a distribution system for new versions of plugins is the way to go either(I am sure lots of people may disagree). All functional plugins in my perfect world, would be the most up to date stable versions that function with the requisite version of vanilla. The addons could and probably should be broken down into two sections 2.1 plugins and 2.0.18 and before plugins. And any necessary duplication of plugins be made. If a plugin is compatible with both versions of vanilla, it would be in both sections.
If vanilla 2.3 becomes another reason for plugins to be incompatible, then a new section call 2.3 plugins should be established and compatible plugins should be migrated into that section, based on user testing.

Furthermore if users don't have the time to participate and mention what plugins work and what doesn't, it will never be robust. And sadly, I believe the bulk of users are failing miserably at this (as harsh and rude as this may sound), as evidenced by the truly low percentage of users who have participated or taken the time to comment here.

http://vanillaforums.org/discussion/26703/plugins-themes-that-work-and-don-t-work-in-vanilla-2-1

So people can call it rude, arrogant, etc. but it is the stark truth, when it comes to average user participation. There can be a thousand excuses and apologies why users can not add here. Personally, I don't buy any of them. Certainly an admin is capable of knowing what plugins they are using and what version of vanilla they are using. The version number of a plugin appears on the dashboard page and the version number of vanilla can be found in a variety of ways - which should be the first thing a forum owner should learn to do. (i.e. be capable of identifying versions).

http://vanillaforums.org/discussion/26943/tutorial-how-to-determine-the-version-number-of-vanilla-that-you-are-using-for-your-own-forum

R_J

I've used the Module Manager from ProcessWire and it is really comfortable to work with that: http://modules.processwire.com/modules/modules-manager/

Each module has a class name ("TheModulesClassName" for example) and is accessible at http://modules.processwire.com/modules/the-modules-class-name
You have a "New" tab in the admin modules section which contains an entry box where you have to insert "TheModulesClassName" and that's it!

But I agree with @peregrine: the download section must be structured well enough for that. Wasn't there some questioning about what someone in the summer of code could do at vanillaforums.com? And hasn't a reworked Addon application been one of the possible projects?