Looking for "Power Tools" functional feedback

[Ivillages]

We're considering creating a Power Tools Addon that allow sellers to do things like

Mass delete listings
Mass renew listings
Improved statistics and reporting.....

Allow the admin to enable a calendar popup for date fields, a search/replace panel for labeling the optional items fields site-wide, any other thoughts?

Please visit our post below to add your comments:

http://geodesicsolutions.com/geo_use...8337#post28337

[dragan]

Bob,

it doesn't pertain to your post but it is a request a made in the past and I'd like to repeat it here again.
If Jon and Matt wish to move it to another place, they're welcome to..

Rating system... The Auctions script has it but Classifieds ones do not. I understand the philosophy behind it, associations with transactions etc but do think that a package like this should have a feedback system regardless. Most of my clients wouldn't even consider talking to me, let alone registering and posting ads without feedback system in place across the script, not just auctions. So, you and Alfred designed one that covered both transactions.

I truly wish that you guys design an arbitrary feedback system, centered around users, not transactions, with admin ability to edit, delete etc. As an addon, of course.

Sorry, I don't mean to hijack the thread. Just feel very strongly about this. Matt/Jon, if I crossed the line here, please delete the post.

Dragan

[Ivillages]

No problem! The issue around a rating system in classifieds vs auction is that there is no "winning bidder/seller" transaction to which to bind the rating. This is not a technical item, it is one where there is a mutual transaction on an item for bid. Doing a seller rating system based on an item in classifieds really would need to be predicated by a purchase or "buy now" system that creates a transaction between the two parties, so a rating can be be generated on the transaction. This also opens a can of worms for needing an arbitration system if one of the parties disagrees with the feedback left for them. None of this is impossible to do, but it would be a bit pricey and I'm not convinced that a lot of Geodesic publishers would be interested in purchasing it for us to recoup our investment in programming.

The custom one we did for you was basically a hack of the auction rating tool and required class file hacks. Doing a classifieds-only version as a pure Addon would be much more costly.

Thanks, Bob

[dragan]

That's just the thing.. I'm not talking about a feedback that uses transactions as bases but a completely arbitrary one, member based if you will. Just like Agon used to be (and still is)... Anybody can leave feedback for anybody. In my mind, as primitive as this may sound, it is a must, at least for I do. Admin would have to have the ability to edit and delete though..

I'd be willing to do away with the current code and hacks and pay money for what I described above as a replacement.

Please contact me via email to discuss when you get a chance.

Thanks Bob!

[jonyo]

That's just the thing.. I'm not talking about a feedback that uses transactions as bases but a completely arbitrary one, member based if you will. Just like Agon used to be (and still is)... Anybody can leave feedback for anybody. In my mind, as primitive as this may sound, it is a must, at least for I do. Admin would have to have the ability to edit and delete though..

I'd be willing to do away with the current code and hacks and pay money for what I described above as a replacement.

Please contact me via email to discuss when you get a chance.

Thanks Bob!

I am told we get this requested fairly often, at this point though it is low priority, we have a lot more things that are more popular than this that are in the works, so no word on if/when it would be added.

As with a lot of these types of modifications/features added to the software, if you would like us to add it into the software for you sooner rather than later (or possibly not at all), send in an e-mail to sales@geodesicsolutions.com for a price quote (we would be "absorbing" some of the development cost on this one since we do get it requested from time to time, with the theory that it will help to make new sales).

[Ivillages]

Jonathan, would you be adding this to the core product for a future release or just providing Dragan a one-off addon for his own use??

Bob

[jonyo]

Jonathan, would you be adding this to the core product for a future release or just providing Dragan a one-off addon for his own use??

Bob

If someone were to request a quote for this feature, we would most likely built into the software in the next feature release, as this particular feature makes more sense built into the software. But the decision has not been made yet so it could also be done as an addon that we intend to distribute.

[Ivillages]

Ok, I just wanted to get clarity so that Geodesic is not competing with its third-party vendors who are making Addons to supplement the core application.

[jonyo]

Ok, I just wanted to get clarity so that Geodesic is not competing with its third-party vendors who are making Addons to supplement the core application.

You will probably already know what I'm about to say Bob but I wanted to talk about it anyways for the benefit of anyone else, since this seems an appropriate time to talk about it.

We try to be as 3rd party developer friendly as possible (just look at the developer section in the wiki to see evidence of that). As part of that, we try to at least make some mention if we do think something might be added in a future release. We also try to apply this criteria when deciding what should be added to the software (either in the main software, or as an addon we would sale):

• Do we get a lot of requests for it? (is it popular?)
• Does it actually fit in with the software purpose?
• Does it "make sense" for the software to have that feature?
• Is it something the "competition" already has? (by competition I mean the other Classified and Auctions software companies out there, 3rd party addons created for Geo software do not factor in)
• Are we the best choice for the provider of that software, or is there an alternative that would work much better? (case in point: banner management)

If we are on the fence about adding a particular feature or not, if we know one of our 3rd party developers is already distributing an addon that does it already, that would probably push us on the side of not adding it ourselves. But if we aren't on the fence and think it would be good to add a feature, we're not going to let the fact that a 3rd party developer already has an addon that does it keep us from adding it ourself to make the software more competitive.

Now we're not going to go and add a feature if we see one of the 3rd party developers advertising something and we think "ooh that would be nifty!". (We might if we see a competitor software doing it though ) And when we do add a feature that a 3rd party developer already has, we try to not look at how the 3rd party developer has done things so we're not taking all their good implementation ideas from them. In other words, once we do decide to add a feature, we try to keep any 3rd party developer implementations "out of the picture" so when we add the feature it is not influenced by how others have done it.

[Ivillages]

Being a former product manager for Adobe as well as a few other software companies in my "previous life", I can say that your procedure is pretty much on par with SOP that we used when evaluating new features for future release planning at those companies. Alfred and I understand that the companies for which we develop plugins and addons (such as Geodesic) sometimes need to add functions to their core applications that we may offer in our products to stay competitive in their market.

It is enjoyable to work with your company since you guys reciprocate a mutual respect with us as extension developers and support us with the underlying acknowledgement that your support of us ultimately benefits your customer base.

Thanks,
Bob Malecki