Re: Re: UK Project Opportunity

Paul M Foster wrote: > 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. >> per project rss feeds? >> 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. no more accurate than storing the ip (or a hash of it); people forget details sign up again and so forth - can never guarantee accuracy here >> 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. can be done with the aforementioned, no need for logins >> 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. good; but again rss & offering an option to subscribe by email. >> 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. I'd debate this; but trying to stick to positives - sf do pretty well with their stats is all I'll say > 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. ack; fact is if you wanted to skew results you'd just create lots of accounts - distinct ip and cookies can cover it just as well; there is no "perfect" solution. > Again, having to register/login is a pain. But ads are a pain, too. It's > a trade-off. always need to figure out which has more benefits though; more downloads and exposure (better conversion ratio) vs better stats and less exposure (low conversion ratio) + account for things like people downloading because they can see the source ala google code - i for one always check the svn browser on google code before downloading, sure many others do too.. regards