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Benefits of the MOD Validation Process

Posted by wGEric in Modifications with the tags , on July 2nd, 2008

Many modification authors complain about the process involved in getting a modification into the MODs Database. It can be a long and tedious process. The Modification Team doesn’t try to make this process as difficult as possible just to annoy authors. There are many reasons why we validate MODs before accepting them into the MOD Database. Some include secure and bug free code, uniform zip files and guaranteed to be installable on a vanilla phpBB.

All MODs that are in the MOD Database have passed a minor code audit that looks for security exploits and bugs within the code. We take security very seriously and don’t want people using insecure code. People can feel safe about using MODs within our database. I will admit that we are human and make mistakes. Not every MOD in the database is 100% secure. When an exploit is found within a MOD in the database we take the necessary steps to ensure the safety of the people using the MOD. Authors benefit by getting a free code audit of their MODs. We are experienced when it comes to security and are willing to help everyone learn to become a better programmer.

We require that MODs be packaged in a certain way. As our procedures and tools for MODs grow and become more complicated, a uniform way to package MODs ensures that people can find the instructions to install the MOD and any other important files. MODX is a big step beyond the old text template and requires style sheets and other things in order to display the XML instructions in a human readable form. Also phpBB is becoming more complex and a standard needs to be set in order to reduce the amount of confusion.

Part of the validation process is to ensure that MODs can be installed on a vanilla install of phpBB. A vanilla install is an install of phpBB without any prior modifications made to the code. Sometimes authors forget to add or make a mistake on an instruction in the install file. We check for these problems. When you start to install multiple MODs on the same forum then that can create conflicts between MODs. We do not check for these and only guarantee that MODs install on a vanilla phpBB.

Although the MOD validation process can be a hard and time consuming process there are reasons behind it. The MOD Team likes to provide the community with safe code that is packaged in an easy to read format and is able to be installed. Authors, please be patient and work with us and this process will become easier and more smooth in order to provide the best we can for the community. We are always open to suggestions on how to make it better.

6 Responses to “Benefits of the MOD Validation Process”

Posted by IPB_Refugee on July 12th, 2008 at 8:28 pm:

[quote]We are always open to suggestions on how to make it better.[/quote]

Regarding this MOD:

[url=http://www.phpbb.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=69&t=1054155]Anti Double Post[/url]

It seems that nobody clicked on “preview topic” or tried to attach an image. In the meanwhile these serious bugs are fixed. But they weren’t at the time the MOD got validated.

When I install a validated MOD, I expect that the MOD does not contain major and easy to detect bugs.

Thanks for reading
Wolfgang

Posted by A_O_C on July 14th, 2008 at 4:32 am:

wGEric wrote: We are always open to suggestions on how to make it better.

ok, i know this is going to sound like a broken record, but how about the MOD TEAM actually utilizing the “fix minor errors” check box. i wont start going on about the MOD i had denied, but there is another MOD author (name withheld) that had a MOD denied because of a missing semicolon at the end of a line. what exactly does the MOD TEAM consider minor? if the MOD TEAM wants standardization and uniform guidelines, they have to be willing to play ball too.

Posted by Novan on July 14th, 2008 at 11:51 am:

Hi,

the most think that I’m missing for mod authors is a demo package. The MOD Team write many many pages how to create and pack a mod to get it validated. For a new mod author is at least the packing of a mod difficult. There would be a demo mod package where a full complete demo mod (that means all thinks which can be part of a mod e.g. additional templates, additional languages and so on) demonstrate where all the parts should be placed in the archiv.

Posted by Highway of Life on July 14th, 2008 at 9:43 pm:

Hi Novan,

We have a [url=http://www.phpbb.com/mods/modx/quickstart_files120.zip]Quickstart package[/url] that you can look at to see how MODs are packaged.
You can also visit the [url=http://www.phpbb.com/mods/modx/]MODX Resource centre[/url] for more documentation.
Please note that we are in the process of expanding our documentation to be simpler, yet more thorough. Overall easier for MOD Authors to comprehend.

A_O_C: We will be posting our policy on repack versus insta-deny soon, keep an eye on the MOD Authors discussion forums and the MOD Documentation sections for the new policies. — Please note that we take feedback very seriously, so please do not be afraid to “play the broken record”. 🙂

Posted by RMcGirr83 on November 27th, 2008 at 11:37 am:

Ironic, I just had a mod denied because it was missing a semi-colon and A_O_C was the validator.

Physician, heal thy self. 🙂

Posted by evil3 on November 29th, 2008 at 6:03 pm:

Please test your MOD before you submit it. A MOD with parse errors indicates it hasn’t been tested.

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