Help us improve the Opera extensions catalog

Help us improve the Opera extensions catalog

Have you already seen our Opera extensions catalog?

What do you think? Is there anything missing?

If you are a developer, what is your experience uploading your extensions? Is the publishing process clear enough?

Your feedback will help us improve

Please note that this thread is about the Opera Extensions catalog.

Add a comment to this article An Important piece of the puzzle for anything related to the browser implementation in the Opera 11 Alpha: Extension Manager, where extensions are placed, how they are installed, etc.

Or talk about extensions you may want to have in the Extensions wishlist.

To give feedback on current extensions please review if there is already a thread for this extension in the Opera Extensions forum, if not, create a thread and start commenting.

Or if you are a developer and have questions on the implementation, check our Opera Extensions Development Discussions

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please note that I am reviewing this forum constantly and writing down all the good ideas or problems, sorry if I don't reply on everything, but be sure that someone is reading your comments

Originally posted by wyldkat:

No it's not.

Updates don't count as new extensions.

But causes, that updated extensions are on the top of 'newest' list, which is wrong!

I think this is known, but the catalog needs a better system if you sort on rating, the number 1 in that list has 1 user rating, you need to watch at a combination of how many ratings, and the average rating.

An example of an solution:
The extensions needs at least 30??? ratings, and with the highest average will stand on top, that 30 ratings needs more ratings after a while...

Excuse me for my poor english, but I hope I've made my point

Originally posted by kszumny:

Originally posted by wyldkat:

No it's not.

Updates don't count as new extensions.

But causes, that updated extensions are on the top of 'newest' list, which is wrong!

Yes, they should create a Updated Extensions category.

Originally posted by wyldkat:

es, they should create a Updated Extensions category.

Exactly.

PS: Thanks for the new design/fixes & better integration into my.opera. Still missing some things like showing version number in overview/last update date, developer comments (i.e. without rating)/user comments without rating for discussing/asking something.

The catalog is looking really good. Two things: Do something with the background banner, it is just pixels, and looks odd. Additionally, make the place where the extensions are update the section, not reload the page. The second thing I mentioned would make the viewing experience much more smooth.

I think we should have a area for new extension. I don't really know which is new and have to browse from 1 to last to find the new one

I don't know if you're planning on implementing extension synchronization, but if you don't, please let us add extensions to a "favorites" list.

Request: When we log in, please let us stay logged in for a long time.

Originally posted by vuquangchien:

I think we should have a area for new extension.

There is one.

Originally posted by DanielHendrycks:

Request: When we log in, please let us stay logged in for a long time.

Indeed.

I see that all old versions of each extension is accessible and downloadable without any warning given to the user that he is downloading old version, please change that and tell the user what version is the latest one.

For example:
NoFollow 1.2 - old
NoFollow 1.3 - old
NoFollow 1.3.1 - current


More and more software download websites are referencing opera extensions, problem is they don't always update their listings so they often link to older version of extensions and user has no way of knowing that he is not downloading last version.

I do link that way on my website, but some of these download websites include version number in link which results with their users downloading older extensions (for example http://www.soft82.com/download/windows/nofollow-opera-extension/ ) that is the reason of my previous post.

Why extension titles are been cut?
Make something like this and all will be happy


And I think pagination arrow is huge, maybe it is better to make it smaller?

@Igor Jerosimic, @yennyotero
A simple "This version of the extension is 20 days old. Click here to get the latest one" banner on top of all the old versions' pages should do the trick.

BTW, don't old extensions automatically upgrade to the latest version?

Please provide to different feeds for the extension catalogue. One for new extensions and one for updates. I'm quite interested in notifications about new extensions, but instead I constantly get update notifications of extensions I don't use.

Make it possible for a developer to leave a comment to his extension without rating it.

And implement at least a rudimentary comment form validation. It's not clear at all that you *must* give a rating.

I want to request an IE (MS Internet Explorer) tab feature so the website opened in specified tab will use the IE engine to render. This is quite helpful with websites developed with features working only in IE. There's a similar extension for Firefox. So if Opera get that it will be an improvement. Thanks in advance.

Originally posted by SpShut:

Make it possible for a developer to leave a comment to his extension without rating it.

And implement at least a rudimentary comment form validation. It's not clear at all that you *must* give a rating.

+1

its awesome,cant add more. now u r rly n1,extensions its a strongest kick in da nuts to others coz its the only thing opera needed so much,thaaanks!:thumbs up:

Older extensions don't have clickable title that leads to extension catalog, I find this to be due to no having URL in config.xml for their ID. Can you correct this automatically? Example extension: Formula 1

@Max64
That is for another topic: http://my.opera.com/community/forums/topic.dml?id=776842

1. Allow us to rate extensions without posting.

2. Make us remember which extensions we rated in the past. Also allow us to update our rating, in case we now think we under-rated or over-rated a particular extension. (I personally feel guilty because I under-rated a few extensions, which are now my favorite. I actually sent sorry PMs to a couple of extension-developers.)

3. Integrate extension catalog with the browser itself. So that we could rate extensions directly from "Manage Extensions" tab. And I mean that rating should have effect on catalog website.

4. Allow us to edit our posts.

5. Allow us to submit multiple posts.

6. Allow us to reply to others' posts.

7. I thinks posts should be divided into 2 categories. 1st being "our opinion" about the extension. Only one editable post should be allowed in this category. 2nd being "extension-chat" among page visitors.

Enable please line break in comments to extensions

Originally posted by NeoNRoma:

Enable please line break in comments to extensions

+1

Originally posted by hundredorzero:

1. Allow us to rate extensions without posting.

As Igor wrote it's already possible. But I would prefer the direct opposite instead: Allow to post without rating. Someone posted something under my extension, which I replied to and, forgetting for a moment, asked something which he/she of course cannot reply back to. We love deadlocks.....not.

After logging in to Opera extensions, the page says "Welcome to Opera Widgets, <username>"

Originally posted by Igor Jerosimic:

This is already possible, but I would prefer it if users would not be able to rate low without explanation why.

That's a good point. I do agree with you.

Originally posted by eternal1:

As Igor wrote it's already possible. But I would prefer the direct opposite instead: Allow to post without rating. Someone posted something under my extension, which I replied to and, forgetting for a moment, asked something which he/she of course cannot reply back to. We love deadlocks.....not.

Agree with you too.

Originally posted by nimeshthakkar:

After logging in to Opera extensions, the page says "Welcome to Opera Widgets, <username>"

Extensions are widgets, Unite services are also widgets.
Lol you are still using netscape icon.

add filters for accounts so we can block extensions from showing in search results or the main page results or for accounts that Spam extensions

the box around what page your on is to Thin i can hardly see it, just needs to be 1-2 dpi fatter

add the ability to report users comments as well
giving 1 star for been stupid {like saying it does not work when it does because he did not read what it does or where it places the button} is one
spamming is another or swearing

Using the black background with the converging lines (from the main page www.opera.com) seems better IMHO. Shading the navigation boxes with grey/black would match the header.

Originally posted by hundredorzero:

1. Allow us to rate extensions without posting.

I don't like this as someone my rate something bad due to a misunderstanding instead of an actual deficiency.

I would like to have in the developer zone:
- see downloads by version.
- Also i like to have the number of updates (by version), to estimate the number of people using my extension.

At the moment i only see how many times the extension is downloaded all time. If they are uninstalling it right after trying or being a happy user, i cannot know.

Originally posted by burnout426:

I don't like this as someone my rate something bad due to a misunderstanding instead of an actual deficiency.

Originally posted by Igor Jerosimic:

This is already possible, but I would prefer it if users would not be able to rate low without explanation why.

Originally posted by eternal1:

As Igor wrote it's already possible. But I would prefer the direct opposite instead: Allow to post without rating. Someone posted something under my extension, which I replied to and, forgetting for a moment, asked something which he/she of course cannot reply back to. We love deadlocks.....not.

You guys have change my mind. Now i do agree that rating without posting should not be allowed.

Make language filtring using checkboxes, because I need to see plugins in 2 languages but see in all languages or one language.
Unnecessary languages should be turned off.

Agree with above comment - already several extensions has their duplicates cause of lang issues while publishing. Please, resolve it faster or will be more "flood" with one ext on several languages!

Not sure if this has been mentioned before, but there shouldn't be multiple entries in the gallery for the same extension in different languages. After all, it's still one extension. It's a bit annoying to browse through the addon gallery to see the same extension listed multiple times in various languages.

A really simple yet informative thing on the extensions website: recently added extensions. Theres currently more and more extensions going up and it would be awesome to browse/check them out

Haha that already works - nice! However it would be nice of the "newest" sort would show the date added.

Another thing: When extensions are updated theres a small box hovering bottom right to inform you. This box should be clickable to get you directly to the changelog

Originally posted by highplanesdrifter:

First Of all, congratulations to Opera and opera team. This is the BEST browser ever. Firefox is nothing when we consider the power opera gives. Firefox simply got some fans through hate campaign against MSIE... Its more like gimmicks.. When they were doing publicity stunts, Opera on the contrary was doing actual coding, and introduced many revolutionary techs like opera turbo, mouse gestures (which none of the other browsers have so far!) Only annoying thing i experienced in opera was when a page with too many youtube videos orplugins were loaded, someimes it hanged. But thats now solved with the new option to selectively enable plugins. Great work, no doubt. I love this browser.....

Love Opera - Check this

1 million extension downloads in 4 days shows that people were eagerly waiting for this feature.

Multi-language extensions, a critical issue.
Instead of separating extensions by language (and making them to get separated by language on the catalog), you need to do like Mozilla and let extensions to detect the language being used. That way there won't be multiple entries for the same extension for each language, you'll get a much more organized list and consistency.

Originally posted by rafaelluik:

Multi-language extensions, a critical issue.
Instead of separating extensions by language (and making them to get separated by language on the catalog), you need to do like Mozilla and let extensions to detect the language being used. That way there won't be multiple entries for the same extension for each language, you'll get a much more organized list and consistency.

This should be one of the priority!

I completely missed it the first time, use the English filter its on the page its set to all by default (should be English), I even edited my post out to remove the request

I agree multi-lang per extension, But the way opera has done it hopefully the Stupid Japan or Chinese extensions will not show, like google market is on the phones

1. Now the user has to find other customization options in the drop down menu with way too many options. Either merge extensions, opera unite apps, widgets into one "addons" page (like Chrome web store) or make the extensions page divided into tabs so they're easily visible. Something like this:

But it's better to merge everything. What's the difference between widgets and extensions?
Also, menus with options like "Jobs in Opera" or "Developer tools" shouldn't even be anywhere on the addons site. The addons site should be only for addons.

2. Change "Opera Unite" into "Opera personal web server" or something like this. Calling something by brand name only works if it's very well known, like Google.

3. Add skins, custom buttons, custom panels, toolbars etc. Everything to customize Opera should be in one place.

14. I like the way Firefox's pages add the version to the title in a way that separates the two, but makes the page cleaner by not just throughing numbers in a list (which I think makes the page look more machine made and less intuitive).

+1

One thing that drives me nuts when sorting by ratings is these things (in this case extensions) that get like two 5 star votes instead of the extension that has like forty 4.9star votes, I'd totally trust something that had 40 people give an average vote of 4.9 than something that got 2 perfect votes.

Something that balances the number of votes vs the rating would really really be appreciated!

Cheers,

-Gaiko

Originally posted by kapsi:

Now the user has to find other customization options in the drop down menu with way too many options. Either merge extensions, opera unite apps, widgets into one "addons" page (like Chrome web store) or make the extensions page divided into tabs so they're easily visible.

I agree & disagree, I do think all addons including Skins should be accessible from one place, but I think the current menu system is fine.
I dont see any need for the Turbo link, as there are no addons for Turbo. It is just an advert for something built in. Pointless!

Originally posted by kapsi:

What's the difference between widgets and extensions?

Simple. They are equal opposites of each other.
A Widget is a stand-alone app, that makes use of the functionality of Opera.
An Extension adds functionality inside of Opera.

Originally posted by kapsi:

Change "Opera Unite" into "Opera personal web server" or something like this. Calling something by brand name only works if it's very well known, like Google.

Umm, sorry to burst your bubble, but do you think Google, Hoover, Phillips, Black & Decker, Sony, IBM or Thermos chose the names after they became household names?
Unite is fine. Unite, unites browsers, hardware and users.

There are starting to be lots of extensions that do the same job.
e.g. thumbnail viewers, translators and downloaders.

I agree with an earlier suggestion of having similar extensions shown somewhere on the page of the current page.
Tags should be employed as well as Categories, like the My Opera blogs. An extension can be described many ways, and authors don't always choose the same category for extensions doing the same job.
e.g. the thumbnail previewers. Some found in Pictures, some found in Tools
It makes looking for extensions (esp. Tools) a slow pain in the arse!

I think soon an official comparison/reviews page will be much needed (if it isn't already) to help users make an informed choice. It may also stop people re-inventing already made extensions.

Originally posted by dr-flay:

Originally posted by kapsi:

What's the difference between widgets and extensions?

Simple. They are equal opposites of each other.
A Widget is a stand-alone app, that makes use of the functionality of Opera.
An Extension adds functionality inside of Opera.

Yet I have a "calculator" extension and an "calculator" widget. The only difference is that one opens in a little window outside Opera and the other in a little window inside Opera. But both do the same thing.

Originally posted by dr-flay:

Originally posted by kapsi:

Change "Opera Unite" into "Opera personal web server" or something like this. Calling something by brand name only works if it's very well known, like Google.

Umm, sorry to burst your bubble, but do you think Google, Hoover, Phillips, Black & Decker, Sony, IBM or Thermos chose the names after they became household names?
Unite is fine. Unite, unites browsers, hardware and users.

I don't know about that, in Internet it's important to grab user's attention at any possible moment, because with the amount of information competing for it, the users tend to click away at anything they don't understand, find boring or too hard. Google and other companies didn't make their brand names by making adverts with a single word - "Google", but by associating their brand name with the product. When you see the Google logo every time you use it for searching, you tend to remember what's that. But to understand what's "Opera Unite" you need to (from the extensions site) first find the "Unite" option in menu (already hidden) and then "What's Opera Unite", which is hidden too. At least the Unite application site is clear and simple which is good, but should be uniform with extensions page and other pages. 2 and more layouts are confusing.

Originally posted by kapsi:

Yet I have a "calculator" extension and an "calculator" widget. The only difference is that one opens in a little window outside Opera and the other in a little window inside Opera. But both do the same thing.

You probably also have a standalone calculator in your desk and one in your mobile phone... Should they be sold under the same 'Calculators' category in the shop...?

Originally posted by tweeny:

I think this is known, but the catalog needs a better system if you sort on rating, the number 1 in that list has 1 user rating, you need to watch at a combination of how many ratings, and the average rating.

An example of an solution:
The extensions needs at least 30??? ratings, and with the highest average will stand on top, that 30 ratings needs more ratings after a while..

Seriously this is a good suggestion.

Moreover, it then should be better to show rating as default when site is opened. Popularity is a lousy measure of quality because people easily just take what they see first on the list.

For example the lists for translate extensions looks very different if ordered according rating and popularity:
https://addons.opera.com/addons/extensions/?query=translate&order=rated&language=any&no_promo_box=1
https://addons.opera.com/addons/extensions/?query=translate&order=popular&language=any&no_promo_box=1

Didn't read the whole topic, sorry if it was suggested before, but a "Date added" should be added to the extensions. I would really like to see only new extensions every time I visit the extensions catalog

Also allow comments without rating. Now many people who have problems with some extension (often it's their own fault) or want to ask a question, have to rate and usually rate 1 star, which brings the rating down.