Module request subforum

[Robin S]

It occurred to me that a good addition to the forums would be some way for PW users to indicate support for a module idea. Similar to the Wishlist subforum but for functionality that belongs in a module rather than in the core.

I'm thinking mainly of commercial modules, although if someone wanted to take up a module request and release it freely that would be cool.

So users could propose a module idea, then others would vote for it (using likes or some special voting option) so that a vote means "I'd buy that", with the expectation of pricing in the general ballpark of Ryan's pro modules and Apeisa's PadLoper.

As a beginner-intermediate developer I'm really enjoying working with PW and learning as I go - the API is so intuitive that I've been able to build my own solutions to things that in another CMS I would have been reliant on someone else's module to achieve. But there are things that I know are beyond my current skills, and for those things I look to third-party modules. My clients are non-profits and small businesses so I'm never likely to have the budget to commission a custom module alone. But there might be other PW users out there with similar needs and maybe that demand would make it worthwhile for an experienced developer to take on a proposal and release it as a commercial module. Currently there isn't a way to measure the demand for modules apart from occasional forum posts like "Is there a module that...?"

Any thoughts on this?

Here's a module request to start off with:

I would be happy to buy a full-featured event calendar module. I've searched the module directory and the forums and Lindquist's module is the most feature-rich I've seen, but it's in an alpha proof-of-concept state and some important functions aren't implemented. Features I would be looking for are:

• Calendar grid interface in admin, allowing for easy addition and editing of events.
• (Nice but non-essential) Week and day views in admin, in addition to month view, with drag editing for event date and duration (I'm dreaming of something awesome like the dhtmlxScheduler interface or Fullcalendar interface). Although drag operations would really need an undo to correct accidental edits, so this may be more trouble than it's worth.
• Events are edited in a modal window, to avoid losing one's place in the calendar.
• Recurring events, with user-friendly selection of recurrence options.
• The ability to individually edit or remove an event that is a child of a recurring event (i.e. make an exception for that individual event).
• (Nice but non-essential) A couple of out-of-the-box minimal rendering options for the frontend (read-only calendar view, list view).

This is the kind of module I need frequently. I've been lucky that I haven't had a client request a full event calendar since I've been using PW, but it's only a matter of time. I'm sure there are other PW users who need this and who would, like me, be happy to pay for such a module.

[kongondo]

I think this is good idea. Personally I have a number of module ideas but have no firm idea what to prioritise. Something like this would be of benefit to me.

As for a calendar module, I have been working on something for a while now. These are very old screenshots and will change. The module was based on dhtmlxScheduler but that will definitely change. Maybe I should release this module next 

[Robin S]

Maybe I should release this module next

Yes please!

[elabx]

 Personally I have a number of module ideas but have no firm idea what to prioritise.

Then I request a kongondo module release subforum! 

[gebeer]

Why not make this a community funded module? I'd be more than happy to contribute to financing it.

[kongondo]

Why not make this a community funded module? I'd be more than happy to contribute to financing it.

Hmm. It's not as straightforward as that. I was planning this as a commercial module so there are long term economic considerations to take into account. I am ready to listen to different proposals (and maybe we should start a new topic) about the way forward. What I have been working on is a full-blown calendar with a couple of bells and whistles - reminders, multiple calendars, categories, tasks, contacts, etc...the works...basically, a suite of features that a modern day calendar should have (but without going overboard with features to rival desktop alternatives ). We have a couple of alternatives to consider.

1. Don't change a thing; go ahead as planned
2. Fully funded by community - released for free to the community
3. Fully funded by community -  available for sale at a subsidized price
4. Fully funded by community - released for free but with paid support
5. Fully funded by community - initial release free, paid for upgrades
6. Other variants of above, etc...

[gebeer]

@kongondo

I am all for number 1 as I am pretty sure that people are willing to pay for such a feature rich module.

[szabesz]

@kongondo

Just an idea: maybe you might want to consider integrating/utilizing Ryan's brand new Google Client API module.