I'm throwing in the towel here.. - part 3

I agree. The individual is selling in the market. Not boonex as a company.

However i do believe that the company should not be allowing their employees to sell in the market.

 Interesting.  The same guy who left me and plenty of others hanging for 60+ days to get a fix on one of his mods...

At least, they should be honest about it.

I have often wondered why this was allowed. I mean, if you are a developer for BoonEx/Dolphin and have the great idea of what could be added, then why not add it to Dolphin as a default instead of selling it......but

It may be that BoonEx is limiting what is included by 'default' and what isn't to keep it 'free'. For example, if they did included a lot of the market products as features in Dolphin, then there are a bunch of vendors who would lose all sells and it could be required to 'purchase' Dolphin. Since the Market is open to anyone who has the appropriate membership level, I guess you can't really keep anyone from developing 3rd party modules on their own time.

 ding ding ding ding we have a winner!! ... my point exactly!

Want to solve a very big part of the Boonex market problem? Here's how.

Don't add incomplete or poorly implemented mods to the base product.

This is something I have questioned several times.  The problem with these recommended hosts is that they can possibly hurt the reputation of Boonex and Dolphin.  Here is the scenario;   I come in wanting to use Dolphin.  I need a host so I click on the recommended hosting, see the prices are great and go sign up.  I install my Dolphin, buy a license, and then when I start getting users to the site, I start get warnings and suspensions from the hosting company.  So I say to myself, this software is a piece of crap (actually I will use very strong words against Dolphin and Boonex), drop my hosting account and go blast Dolphin and Boonex on "this is a scam and rip-off" sites; and I would probably work hard to get my licensing fees back by filing disputes with the payment source.

If the recommended hostings are a major source of revenue for Boonex, then what does that say?  Is it not possible for Boonex to go out and recruit real Dolphin hosting companies?  Boonex should have minimal requirements for any company wishing to put an affiliate link on Boonex.  If Arivxe and HostforWebs are not willing to set up real servers for Dolphin with limited accounts and the resources necessary, then so be it.  No, the prices won't be $4.95 a month but people wanting to use Dolphin should know this upfront.  Boonex's recommended hosting is dishonest and it is hurting the reputation of both Dolphin and Boonex; and it is hurting the community.

BoonEx employees indeed sell in the Market. In fact, some of them also partner with non-BoonExers to provide their products services in their free time. We cannot stop that and don't see any need. Personal (non-salary) interest in success of the product only adds to motivation. 

As for them knowing internal plans/ideas/etc - this has never been an issue. I never look up what our employees sell when deciding what we're going to develop. If we're to do something that'd render their products obsolete - so be it. Far game. On the other hand - we have bought-out some interesting products from our employees a few times in the past, including them into Dolphin package for free. Go figure!

There must be a balance of included modules and Market modules. If we include too much, we create a massive support/update burden and stretch update development cycle. Also, we potentially diminish overall Market value. 

Anyway, there's no conspiracy about Market and no special agenda about Recommended Hosting (this one is a purely business-driven case), but we do consider criticism in these areas and we're designing changes that should address such criticism. We're working on business model, which would, for example, let us work with Zarconia and other "indie" hosting; and also we're working on a different business Model for Market where we would not have to compete so much with Providers by including features to Dolphin. Can't tell too much about this yet, but we're on it - day in and day out.

 Very interesting..Can't wait to see what you have in store :)

 BoonexHosting.com (working specially and closely with Dolphin sites and webmasters) | FlatRateHost.com

 Hostforweb does know what they are doing when it comes to Dolphin servers, I have been with them from day one. I have and have gotten Servers from other places and experiences mega issues, but always feel safe with my trusty Hostforweb cloud. I know they have had some issues with certain members in the past, All company's have, and when you look at the number compared to how many Dolphin servers they host then you will see it is a small minuet fraction. I know if I have a problem they will do what it takes to fix it and not rest till I am completely satisfied.. like I said i have been with them for YEARS and I went through the same things that everyone does, I setup on a shared, moved to a VPS once all was up and going, then moved to a bigger VPS.. and then went to a cloud where i have been ever since. I did have some losses when I was on the shared and a node went down on them.. effected me bad, but it was my own fault I knew those risk where there when I decided to setup on one.  Back in 2002 thru 2005 I worked for ev1servers/rackshack  here in Houston so I know how things at hosting company's go and work and I will say that HFW is very professional and top quality compared to alot of host that are just out there to sell a million shared servers for 5 bucks a month

Sorry, maybe I misunderstood something: do you plan to include features to Dolphin to not compete with Providers or you'll not compete because Providers are including features to Dolphin?

wellllll on a lighter note,, do you all remember this one??

@ Andrew Boon

Perhaps you should change the Market term "Providers"?  If however, it was your intention to use a euphemism for 'prostitutes', then disregard this suggestion. In keeping with that same theme, customers could be "Johns".  I can think of a few other analogues, but they're a little to racy to mention here.

I don't know why "Vendors" was considered bad name. Well, at least something like "Developers" could work.

But.... "Providers" is kind of right too for us...

1. we work weird (night) shift...

2. client pay you to make him happy...

3. you are rewarded for fulfilling the client's dreams...

4. your friends fall apart and you end up hanging out with people in the same profession as you...

5. when you have to meet the client you always have to be perfectly groomed...

6. but when you go back home it seems like you are coming back from hell...

7. the client always wants to pay less but expects incredible things from you...

8. when people ask you about your job, you have difficulties to explain it...

9. every day when you wake up, you say: "I'm not going to spent the rest of my life doing this."

 HAHAHHAHAHAAAAA LOLLLLLLLLLLLLL

I need to find some hoe for some custom work.

 ok

i do not pay for sex!!

i pay them to leave when i am done!

 We plan to concentrate of functionality that is not typically supposed to be packaged as a Market Module. Core stuff.

re: Providers

Well, maybe it's my bad English, influenced by primarily Aussie euphemerisms... Somehow "providers" seems to work for me, but hey... we're open for suggestions. The reason why I've changed "Vendors" is to accommodate for "Service Providers" as well as "Hosting Providers" in the future. Feel free to comment on this. Again, when it comes to feeling the language, we often fail miserably, and unfortunately we don't have Mike around anymore to give as a slap.

 This is kind of cool: more Dolphin default functionality == more interesting system to purchase.

If there's any ready modules on the market that could be default Dolphin functionality, maybe will make a sense to buy them from developers save development time?

 Since we are Community and a lot of modules and other offers on the Market is one of "success keys" for Dolphin, we are interested in Dolphin future success in order to sell our products and services. Regardless our level of knowledge, we are learning something thru all our life. It will never harm our reputation if we'll ask each other for an advice or opinion before doing some steps.

Andrew, there are a few things you need to put in the core; that should be put in the core, before 7.1.5 rolls out the door. 

One is the Cross Members Blocks; free module; leave it on the market in cause someone is using an older version.  Dolphin as a social networking platform out of the box does not do a proper job of blocking users from content when a member blocks another member.  That is basic functionality of any social network.  I was very surprised when I installed Dolphin and found out a blocked member could still visit the blog post of the member that blocked them and leave comments.  OK, a fix is available that will not cost Boonex one pence to implement.  I should not have to continuously adding Cross Members Blocks each time I do an upgrade.

PHP item in builders.  Deano gave Boonex free code for this a long time ago, I think maybe three years; it is in the Market under Deano if you care to go look.  There is even a ticket on this one.  It is time it was added to the builders.  Won't cost Boonex a pence to add it to the release of 7.1.5; again, we should not have to add it back each time we do an upgrade that may change the script(s).

Collapsed replies/collapsed replies of replies.  AlexT fixed this one.  When you have a lot of replies and a lot of replies to replies, having to click a few thousand times to see them does not work.  And the expand all only expands the first level, replies to replies stay hidden.  Either have it where the replies are visible without clicking on a button; which most prefer and was the solution that AlexT gave us, or fix the expand all so that it really does expand all replies including replies to replies.  Again since AlexT has already looked at this and provided a fix, it is time to add it to the core.

Sometimes the little things will count as much as the big glitzy things.  The list above fits this case.

 Shouldn't Deano himself be consulted on this before anybody else asks for it to be implemented????  I believe Deano uses this amazing free marketplace product to promote the rest of his products, and rightly so.  

Deano himself put in a ticket request on this to be added to the core.  Deano was the one that told me about the ticket.

Deano is the shining light around here. He tries and provides more than anyone else, I would say even more than the developers themselves.

At some point, I foresee Deano even calling it a day here and when that happens, I will be right on his heels..

 Ditto

She is referring to my other free mod which is Adding a PHP block to the page builders. I believe your thinking about my Deanos Tools module which i do use as a advertizing medium for my other products.

But i am pretty sure i know the reason why they are not adding it. And i understand. Many people do not know what a PHP block is and what it is used for, or even how to use it. As such adding it will create a massive increase in emails to them for support. It's a support burden. Plain and simple.

Example. I have developed two integrations for replacement forums for dolphin. One was IPB. The other was Vanilla. I decided not to release either of them. I determined the install and other issues was going to result in the product requiring to much of my time for tech support so neither was completed and released.

Decisions are quite often made based on predictions.

Yes. There will come a time when i may walk. We shall see.

DeeEmm walked; a bit of history I know.  I read his posts mostly at his website which is under reconstruction at the moment.  He moved to JoomlaSocial; or what the social overlay for Joomla is called.  Built a migration tool to move a Dolphin site (not sure which version) over to JoomSocial; or whatever it is called.  I have used Joomla but I don't want a patch over a CMS; it needs to be social from the core files.

I don't really like any of the other platforms. I still want to develop my own.

@Andrew Boon good thing that you are very open thanks for that..Maybe before updating something in the market feel free also to open a forum post to tell us the changes... I think it will help you and team to decide best. That is only in my own opinion.

Sad part..because who will actively support own products and any dolphin issues from other members..

We should reunite as that's what our logo on top left stands for and start solving the real problem..

----

Suggestion's Only:

*Dolphin also must hire someone that knows dolphin very well and give support inside forum so every new and old client will be happy and feel important.. Note: he cannot sell products and provide custom code service so he will had a time to answer all questions :).

*Also with the Recommended hosting they should be available support too with specified time of availability inside forum. So they can share tips and tricks on running dolphin in there server.

Correct..This opportunity to sell products and service is a very good idea instead of working in a company you can be independent  or  in a team as Module creator or Service Provider.