2011-04-23, 17:08
KiSUAN Wrote:I think the answer for your question is (not so sure of the Q ):
The only way you have an update or popup of a given addon is if you have installed the repo of that addon.
So you won't get updates without the repo installed, so yes, it would be better to have repos addon link also. But there's so many things (columns) already and the links to installations of the addons are not necessary in reality and get outdated every time the addon is updated, demanding more maintenance of the table, and I bet many users might just install the addon and forget about the repo. So by forcing to install via XBMC the repo and then the addon we in fact will be "helping" the user, our self (less question later), making maintenance lighter, the table cleaner.
Also would like to point out that's there is already the Unofficial Add-on Repositories, so if we make the link available here for the repos we will be duplicating info from an already perfect (so far) wiki/addon.
I think the best choice is to make a column in which we point to XBMC or Unofficial Add-on Repositories, in case its the UAR we add the repository owner. So it might seem messy, but I think is the best for user and maintenance of page.
I'm glad to see you put a column for the repositories in. As you said it would definitely be better for the end user, and developers if links can be provided to the addons themselves and the repos so that the addons are kept up to date.
I'm aware of the Repositories Wiki page and the Repository Installer Add-on. It's been a very useful addon for me! And I can see that this might end-up duplicating functionality if a link directly to the repository zip file is included on this Addons wiki page, however this might be a logical extension of that addon. I'm not a python coder, but it would seem like the same framework could be applied to an unofficial addon installer. But this is probably a point for discussion with Temhil (who posted the Repo Installer) but according to his user page he hasn't been on the forums for a few days so probably doesn't know anything about this new wiki page yet.
EDIT: I just noticed that you actually removed the direct addon zip download column. It might be a good idea to keep this link on the wiki page as well as the the repo link. Though you should make clear in the description above the table that for automatic updating the addon must be installed via the repo. You could keep the column narrow by just using the word "zip" as the link to the file in all cases, e.g. <a href="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9033273/Icefilms.zip">zip</a>. I imagine that if an addon is made for installing unofficial addons, and that addon uses this list, then it could be told to install both the addon zip and the repo at the same time. This would make installation a one-step process (i.e. you wouldn't have to install the repo and then install the addon), and would also ensure the addon is kept up to date. Obviously, this is just my opinion and if you don't think its the best way to go then you are welcome to disregard it. And obviously if anyone else has an opinion, then please add it to the thread!
You can also keep the width of the forum link column down by just using the word "link" instead of the addon name. It looks OK at the moment with just "Neon" on the list, but once you get bigger names that column could get quite wide.
Quote:Like I said, more columns will start to make the table more messy and loose consistency. It's possible to add as many columns to only one table as it's needed and if it's what people want it's ok, but I think that if it's needed given category could be braked down more and would be a better result, you can even navigate from the top index and you don't get tables of 30 continuous addons, even if you get a column tag, skin is going to be a tough one to digest and I gave no idea go to break it down.
Anyway, I'm just thinking, until it's done it's hard to say what's best in reality, I'm more see to believe.
If anyone could make a break down/ list of this given categories Movies and Music I would appreciate it, as I don't know them all that well.
I don't think that a further breakdown of categories would work that well, which is why I suggested tags instead. The reason for this is that many of the addons handle multiple functions, and there would be too much overlap to separate them into separate categories. For example the CNN addon is just News, but the BBC iPlayer addon is News, TV, and Film.
You might want to leave the tags/further sub-categorization for a later date. Just get it set up for now and we'll deal with this when its absence becomes a problem.
BTW: When you make a post stating that you've updated the wiki page, please could you paste a link to that page into the post as well. Thanks