Re: [PHP] Re: UK Project Opportunity

On Wed, Feb 17, 2010 at 01:52:08AM -0200, Manuel Lemos wrote:


<snip>

> 
> > Having to register to download classes from phpclasses.org is a
> > nuisance. Manuel says this is up to the individual developer. This may
> > be technically true, but Manuel *offers* this as an option. Contrast
> > Source Forge, which performs a similar function but does not require any
> > registration to download anything. I imagine that the registration
> > allows Manuel to tightly monitor site usage in a variety of ways.
> 
> Actually it is much more than that. If you download a package, the site
> keeps track of that and next time the package is updated, it send you an
> e-mail alert so you can get the latest version, unless you do not want
> to be notified of course.
> 
> Also the site counts how many distinct users downloaded each package and
> builds top download rankings . If you download a package more than once,
> it only counts once, so the top download charts are accurate, making it
> fair for everybody.
> 
> For users this may not be very important, but for authors it is very
> motivating. Authors are happy that the site lets their users know about
> updates of their classes. Authors also like to see the progress of their
> packages in terms of users that have downloaded it.
> 
> The site also provide a blog for each package, so when the author wants
> to post something new about the class or ask for feedback, a message is
> sent to the users that downloaded the package.
> 
> There are other compelling reasons but this is basically why more than
> 2600 authors submitted over 5000 packages. The site gets them attention.
> 
> Other sites like Sourceforge cannot provide this level of attention
> precisely because they do not require users to download even if the
> authors wanted that.

This type of question has been asked many times on this list,
particularly for "voting" type projects: How do I ensure that a person
can only vote once (etc.)? No answer I've ever seen, besides insisting
on a registration/login, has ever been satisfactory. The above is a
real-world example of this in action. And as Manuel details, it has
some definite benefits to users and developers.

Again, having to register/login is a pain. But ads are a pain, too. It's
a trade-off.

Paul

-- 
Paul M. Foster