Develop Bugs

Sensitive material: the xda-developers point of view.

Hi Everybody,
We noticed that there is some confusion when it comes to posting sensitive material on xda-developers.com and mostly about what can and can't be posted.
We would like to clarify our point of view through this post.
Since the start of xda-developers this has always been a site that once in while has some sensitive material online, through the years this site has grown so big it's no longer possible to check every file on our servers or every post on the board, we also feel it wouldn't benefit the community if we did.
However with increased popularity comes an increased amount of legal complaints when sensitive material is found on our servers. Which is the reason why we have been more careful lately. Recently some sensitive material has shown up on the servers and we received legal complaints from companies who have the copyrights for this material, although we all feel this is very interesting and valuable material we cannot risk the future of xda-developers by ignoring the legal requests we receive, therefore this material has been taken offline.
We understand that maintaining the balance between legal and illegal is sometimes confusing and/or difficult but that is unfortunately how it works.
When it comes to posting sensitive material there are a couple suggestions we can make:
- if possible do not post the files on the xda-developers servers.
- use your common sense (if you feel something might not be legal it probably isn't).
- always keep in mind when posting software of any kind, that we will take it offline if there is a legal complaint from the copyright owner.
Warez is in no way accepted and will be removed upon discovery.
I hope this post will serve as a clear and valuable guideline.
Greetz,
Flar
Site admin.
P.s. When you have any questions you can always contact me or one of the moderators.

anyone can contact me also if they have any questions about any files you want to post.. i apparently have no life and spend way to much time on the boards, so you should get a timely response!

I totally agree
It is very important to keep safe a site with so many knowledge and so many resources online. xda-dev and all of its users have done a lot for the community, and I think that if it wasn't for this site, windows mobile devices wouldn't have been so successful.

I agree also. I think you guys do a great job and as members of this family we need to do our part

actually whenever a person types words such as "crack" or "keygen", they should be automatically eliminated or turn into something like "i am a loser".
we've been getting way too much of thieves here recently

I'm still curious about the Dutty Kaiser WM6.1 Rom Link that got removed.
Was that just a link to A rapidshare/megaupload?
Or was that on XDA servers.
Have there been anymore legal complaints about wm6.1 Roms from Kaiser 5.2.19.199 Build now heavily available on many other devices?

need your opinion
hi,
i'm doing this 'directory' for dummies for prophet users.
i made it just because want to make it as easier as it can be to be understand by the beginners.
--> prophet directory for dummies
if you or any other moderators found it is not relevant, do inform PM me.
hoping that this thread can be sticky.
regards..

It's a very tenuous and risky fine line this whole Forum draws when you really look at it.
Every cooked ROM can be looked at as a hack! using proprietory software as its basis.
Every HardSPL can be looked at as a crack! unlocking a device that is specifically locked by a manufacturer.
A keygen is developed as a standalone piece of SW that generates a code that the user decides how he alone will use.
It's all very nice to say HTC "allow" this to happen for developement while not looking anyone directly in the eyes.
Realistically, this site should only contain SW actually and completely written line-by-line by the individual...
We are all guilty in one way or another as everyone here is an accomplice after the fact!

only HTC... ??
An observation ...
This site should be open to other device that HTC.
I had 4 devices HTC, and whenever quality has declined. I believe that the next device will no longer be an HTC.
The manufacturer is rude with its customers (problem of video drivers on Kaiser and Cruise, etc.). HTC does not respond to e-mails. I was a fan of this brand. My next machine will probably be the Samsung SGH-i900 Omnia, which I hope the quality higher than the lasts touchphones HTC ...
It would be really pleasant-XDA Developers focuses on the characteristics of this Samsung Omnia ... and that we produce some new ROM test for this new phone.
But this site is perhaps subsidized by HTC?
Excuse me for my bad English (I only speak french)

well if i may interject myself,
the site should be open to all devices carried that are or will be carried by XDA. Thats the name, and thats how it ought to be. Anachronistic, but elegantly interesting

jeannot61 said:
An observation ...
This site should be open to other device that HTC.
I had 4 devices HTC, and whenever quality has declined. I believe that the next device will no longer be an HTC.
The manufacturer is rude with its customers (problem of video drivers on Kaiser and Cruise, etc.). HTC does not respond to e-mails. I was a fan of this brand. My next machine will probably be the Samsung SGH-i900 Omnia, which I hope the quality higher than the lasts touchphones HTC ...
It would be really pleasant-XDA Developers focuses on the characteristics of this Samsung Omnia ... and that we produce some new ROM test for this new phone.
But this site is perhaps subsidized by HTC?
Excuse me for my bad English (I only speak french)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If HTC Phones where perfect, well there would prolly be less of XDA
But at least Samsung understands what the word Samera Means.
And there is some Unlocking and Cooking going on for a few Non HTC hardware Based phones out there. (Unless i'm wrong and they are HTC hardware base anyway)
But sort of back to the subject.... How about some people selling ROM's made by anyone but themselves on Amazon and whatnot?
That is beyond unsensitive.
If people are doing this. They prolly do this because they can make money of of it.

arent all roms illegal? i mean the phone statment "sorry t be so blatent forgot the actual statment name" but dealing with cellphones the statment, protects people allowing them to return the phones to there original state but not to modify the programing? just wondering probably isnt, hope it was relevant

This thread has aually raised a few questions in my mind.
what is the legality of cooking roms. Obviously cooking an ubuntu mobile rom or an android rom is perfectly legal since that software is under GPL. But my tilt has windows mobile 6 on it with no current upgrade path to winmo 6.1, other than custom cooked roms.
Since at&t has not licsensed winmo6.1 for the tilt yet (or at least hasnt offered it to the public yet) are we basically pirating software it seams likes its the same thing as having a copy of winXP and upgrading with your friends vista disk and a crack.
As far as using SPL cell phone co's have to unlock your phone on request so i dont think theres any issue with that.
I am really looking forward to the new nvidia phones coming out, im hoping they have a big user base like HTC. I must say love my kaiser but its a bit slugish an unfunctional compared to the dell axim i30 i have from 03.

Yes i can imagine as the site has grown it can be harder to keep on top of everything flying around the servers.
Plus with files like you say companies can warn you it it breaches copyright.
I will add again here i am thankful to the mods and members on xda, a very top world website.

Noonski said:
If HTC Phones where perfect, well there would prolly be less of XDA .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am sorry just thought i would point out the spelling mistake, I'll let you edit it.
I have quite good spelling and see some horrible spelling on some websites, not your little spelling mistake but some really bad stuff. I sometimes do the odd mistake more so when i am very tired.

I'm with boorishid on this one
If someone could make this a tab bit clearer to me I would be very appreciative.
Just don't understand where the line is drawn??

In all of the international conventions/treaties as well as demestic laws from various countries regarding the protection of copy rights and intellectual property rights, EXCEPTIONS are always outlined. And always For Educational & Research Puppose is one of the top exceptions.
As far as I understand, Xda-Devs site is mainly a platform for developers to exchange research information. But seems we are lack of DISCLAIMERS to make it clear on nessecary cases.
Certainly 'common sence' is important for every poster to decide what to do.

What I have found out during my stay here is, well basically everything is allowed except cracks / warez.
Anyway M$ knows about this site and has not complained, that means ....

Can chefs add warez / cracks in their ROMs ???
Some how I feel they can!
Check this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=531181
Although I don't know whether SPB Mobile shell / coreplayer come as standard package with Hermes or not

Addicted2xda said:
Can chefs add warez / cracks in their ROMs ???
Some how I feel they can!
Check this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=531181
Although I don't know whether SPB Mobile shell / coreplayer come as standard package with Hermes or not
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No,
I've Removed the links and sent a PM.
Dave

a few suggestions about adding non-htc WM devices support

*edit: as many people suggested in the posts. a new single forum for other manufacturers with 1 single subforum per maker might be a better idea than whats suggested in this post**
the mods have explained several times why they are not willing to support other non-HTC devices for various reasons over here so im not gonna ask that. i will however ask that the admins to consider spinning off another site to do that.
there are some other sites that try to do that but they ALL fail miserably because they dont have the ridiculously high number of smart users registered to them. to solve this major problem, i propose that the users data base of xda-dev gets synchronized with the newly created site.
the new site may look something like
- windows mobile support and development forums
- htc built devices like palm,xperia...etc
- 1 subforum per device (more if its a very popular devices like xperia X2,omnia, toshiba tg10...etc)

I wasn't aware of the reasoning for no non-HTC device forums. You have a link?
Personally I think we should have subforums for the popular non-HTC devices like i780, Omnia, Epix, SG01, Asus devices, etc. But who am I?

there are many http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=464635
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=463252
and the reasoning is that "jack of all trades is a jackass" or something like that

THE GRIZZ said:
mods: please drop your whack-a-mole hammers and consider this
the mods have explained several times why they are not willing to support other non-HTC devices for various reasons over here so im not gonna ask that. i will however ask that the admins to consider spinning off another site to do that.
there are some other sites that try to do that but they ALL fail miserably because they dont have the ridiculously high number of smart users registered to them. to solve this major problem, i propose that the users data base of xda-dev gets synchronized with the newly created site. all that is needed is for the user to confirm the newly created account in the new site (in case some of the users explicitly dont want to register)
the new site may look something like this
- windows mobile support and development forums
- htc built devices like palm,xperia...etc
- 1 subforum per device (more if its a very popular devices like xperia X2,omnia, toshiba tg10...etc)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First of all, title is misleading.
Second, it's never gonna happen (another site needs more resources, which this site is struggling with.
Third, I give you one day before this thread gets closed.
Cheers

THE GRIZZ said:
mods: please drop your whack-a-mole hammers and consider this
the mods have explained several times why they are not willing to support other non-HTC devices for various reasons over here so im not gonna ask that. i will however ask that the admins to consider spinning off another site to do that.
there are some other sites that try to do that but they ALL fail miserably because they dont have the ridiculously high number of smart users registered to them. to solve this major problem, i propose that the users data base of xda-dev gets synchronized with the newly created site. all that is needed is for the user to confirm the newly created account in the new site (in case some of the users explicitly dont want to register)
the new site may look something like this
- windows mobile support and development forums
- htc built devices like palm,xperia...etc
- 1 subforum per device (more if its a very popular devices like xperia X2,omnia, toshiba tg10...etc)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And add ponderous, overlarge, and un navigatable

sa2.14 said:
And add ponderous, overlarge, and un navigatable
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just vote no and spare us your silly negativity. i was merely asking for them to consider it. if its a bad idea it will show from their replies and from the poll.
Third, I give you one day before this thread gets closed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
stop suggesting them ideas. and they wont

Its so much easier to add a single "other devices" subforum (not even full section like what they are doing now for every single device device).
this way we all get the advantags of having non-htc devices without the extra work and headache that goes with creating full website page.
i like the " the users data base of xda-dev gets synchronized with the newly created site" part though

My opinion is to leave XDA as it is now
Do not add more non HTC forums!
It will just make it slower
Should be around the net good forums for other brands
When have you saw a site together between reebok and nike?
Every one has its own stores
Just my 3 cents

i had the same idea when i bought my omnia
http://winmodevelopers.co.cc
this site deals with all of the non htc devices
((although may i remind you its no way affiliated with this site it just served as inspiration))
it already has a few roms and a marketplace was opened in january, and yes were stuggling with resources but thats the way it is in the shadows lol
any non htc winmo device can be added, although smartphones will be added through poularity
also we are moving the entire site soon to a dedicted server soon courtisy of QUICKSITE and this will take time but feel free to add your nuggets of info to winmodevelopers.co.cc
also take note its a very fimiliar format to xda so u wont get lost
(disclaimers : winmodevs is not an affiliate of xda-developers.com, the onlt connection is certain members including me who frequent both sites)

I think that would be really cool! The TG01 needs to have support from the wonderful ppl @ xda!

ive already got the tg01 there and now ive just installed a chatrrom for geeks

THE GRIZZ said:
just vote no and spare us your silly negativity. i was merely asking for them to consider it. if its a bad idea it will show from their replies and from the poll.
I apologize for your dismissiveness. Only thing I would point out; is that in any enterprise, diminution of effort is really a bad thing. Take the examples of the car cos. just to name a couple. Orb3000 has it right, I've got a motorola device. Found forums that are exclusive to that. I believe that works out the best.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

jayjay8585 said:
ive already got the tg01 there and now ive just installed a chatrrom for geeks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice! Where did you get the TG01 from and for how much?
And guys, let's not be dismissive or overly negative like that please, we should try to be friendly.

jayjay8585 said:
i had the same idea when i bought my omnia
http://winmodevelopers.co.cc
this site deals with all of the non htc devices
((although may i remind you its no way affiliated with this site it just served as inspiration))
it already has a few roms and a marketplace was opened in january, and yes were stuggling with resources but thats the way it is in the shadows lol
any non htc winmo device can be added, although smartphones will be added through poularity
also we are moving the entire site soon to a dedicted server soon courtisy of QUICKSITE and this will take time but feel free to add your nuggets of info to winmodevelopers.co.cc
also take note its a very fimiliar format to xda so u wont get lost
(disclaimers : winmodevs is not an affiliate of xda-developers.com, the onlt connection is certain members including me who frequent both sites)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the site in your signature has more forum sections than actual posts or members. in its current status, it cant complement xda-devs in any way

orb3000 said:
When have you saw a site together between reebok and nike?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well as I understood HTC as a company has nothing with this forum?
And I'm sure reebok and nike wouldn't make site together because each of them want to sell it's sports equipment.
But, if some sport equipment lover make site about sport equipment I'm pretty sure there would be nike and reebok and many others.
I have HTC so I selfishly don't care if there are other devices on XDA-developers.
But if I buy some other non-HTC device some day I would really love to have support for it from great site like xda-developers
cheers

Can someone please explain to me how operating a forum with the amount of members and posts is not a profitable business?

THE GRIZZ said:
the site in your signature has more forum sections than actual posts or members. in its current status, it cant complement xda-devs in any way
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well firstly
Board Statistics
Our members have made a total of 272 posts
We have 341 registered members
and theres only bout 23 or 24 forums so that makes ur stateate very brash
secondly you think anything you start now will imediatly get 1.5 million members and chefs will flock and devs will batlle to host there crap on ur site, it doesnt work that way
ive worked really hard to get to the site in it urrent state and itll only get bigger
also you have to take into account everyone is eih ergreedy or impatient so if theres question asked on wimnmodevs then nobody sticks around too long because they wont answers now
so see as many little members there is that brilliant going when u rememerb the site only been opened for 6 months and xda has been going for years
but then again u sdont have to use it, thee are a few who are. but i mean if you really dont like it and if its that bad feel free to trawl around xda asking bout it when theres one there
btw this wasnt meant to sound *****y if it did i apologise im just saying if u want a new site at the drop of a hat that has this much support then it not happening im afraid site like this take time

Ok then. Whoever is willing to pay for the major bandwith and whatnot step right up and pay.

Usually I have never comment on those post ”we should get additional None HTC device listed here” but now I will give my 2 cents on this subject. THIS IS MY PERSONALY OPIONIEN I DON’T MEAN TO INSULT ANYONE!!!!:
I NEVER UNDERSTOOD WHY WE SHOULD NOT LIST NONE HTC DEVICES.
This forum has started to developt WinMo and during that time HTC were first manufucturer of such device. However this forum became so famous in last 8-10 years so that when you type anything WinMo related word in Google or any other search engine it leads you at least few times back to this forum. So with Such search engine power many old and new brilliant people come here to meet and share their knowledge. With Such knowledge base and information the searchengine crawlers are as I believe the most band wide consumer.
Now been this site so famous and this site been only on HTC devices, gives actually VERY BIG Marketing advantage to the “Company HTC” As I believe over the years HTC owns some of their popularity to this forum but DOESN’T HAS TO PAY SINGLE CENTS. I mean many other companies paying hard cash to make their names and their products popular in the search engines so that consumers can find them easily.
Furthermore we all here given so much feedback on our Dream devices or find so many mistakes on the current device models so that HTC itself can learn and align them self for future devices or even make correction on next produced patch for devices that are still in production. Again all these are for free of charge and without making expensive surveys. I assure you for HTC it is a kind of Gold mine here.
I personally believe competition amount of the manufacturer can bring only advantage to the consumer. This is for price and for quality!!!
Therefore As I believe continuing supporting only HTC devices here in XDA_DEV gives HTC big advantage on the mentioned COMPETITION and hurt as Consumer!!!
Be frank I don’t believe on those sister forums or what so ever (again I don’t wanted insult anyone’s idea it is just my opinion)
my simple mathematic is:
A forum based of people…people brings Knowledge/information…Knowledge/information brings search engines…. Search engines bring people.
From my experiences building a forum and been successful (popular) is very very Long and hard job
[FONT=&quot]Conclusion of above I would say we should Support here also none HTC devices[/FONT]

redbandana said:
Can someone please explain to me how operating a forum with the amount of members and posts is not a profitable business?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look arround you will obviously see that this forums attention is not making money!!! But I do fully agree with you that there is alot of opertunity to turn this site to BIG CASH...
However according the websiteoutlook (http://www.websiteoutlook.com/www.xda-developers.com) it stands not to bad there:
Net Worth $1.04 Million Daily Pageview 474342 Daily Ads Revenue $1425.48

New Forums on XDA?

Hey Everyone,
As mentioned in my earlier post (please read if you have not yet already), we are considering adding non-HTC forums to the site, and are curious to hear which ones should be first. We're considering devices such as the Motorola Droid/CLIQ, plus the Samsung Omnia II and/or Acer neoTouch. What are your thoughts? We're listening!
P.S. The below excerpt is taken from my first post, and should help answer some questions.
svetius; said:
Finally-- and hopefully this doesn't cause a mass uproar-- we are considering the idea of selectively adding non-HTC device forums (focused on Windows Mobile and Android devices). Every day we get requests from users for this, and there's really no good reason why we cannot oblige them. Already the discussion is happening in the general forums. That said, we will only add new forums if: 1. We are confident added traffic won't cause site speed to suffer; 2. We can recruit quality moderators; and 3. The content and discussion is of high quality. The only way to know these things for sure is to try it out. So, within the next 14 days we are going to add two or three non-HTC forums. The delay is to ensure the site continues to operate at a reasonable speed and so we can figure out where to put the new forums (the forum homepage is already absurdly long and cluttered). We are open to suggestions as to deserving devices for our first non-HTC forums, so give us your ideas in this thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MOD EDIT - The following devices are due to be added Thursday morning (CET time):
Acer neoTouch F1 S200
Acer Liquid A1 S100
Samsung Omnia II
Toshiba TG01
There may be a slight delay in adding these so no more request for the above devices

HP iPAQ HX4700
HP iPAQ HX4700, even though it is a HTC made device, would love to have a forum for it, willing to moderate as i have plenty of spare time
Much Thanks
Badwolve1
PS, YES!!! Second Post on both threads

Long overdue!
At last !
This is a very nice forum, resourceful , frequented by the "developers" yet user/noob friendly.
People like me were / are dismayed when requests-questions for non HTC devices are placed in the hacking forum where you just cannot keep track of the threads.
More and more WM/android based devices are launched now and we should have a separate forum for them.
Maybe we can first demand a few requests for a particular device before starting a dedicated forum so that it would not fizzle out in the long run and the whole site becomes cluttered unneccessarily.

From my experience, the most requested one is: Omnia

I think the droid should make the first entry, its really popular. But thats just my opinion.

hell,whose idea was this...??
you are breaking our firs tenant which says "made by a firm called HTC"
we stood for the idea for a long time and prevented such forums to be crated and now comes some "user experience admin" who works for the "unhappy samsung motorola crowd" selling some controversial ideas
come on people,don't be ridiculous...
GREAT,just great....you could also say hello to iPhone and crappy nokias....which we fought for a long time.......great job traitor

Yes, OMNIA II and why not iPhone?

An i780 forum won't be bad too. This is the best site for i780 even if it's not (yet) officialy supported. There are several roms for it on xda and there's also an android porting for this device.
Maybe a brand forum will be great too. For example a samsung or acer or anythig else forum with some subforums like rom developemente, q&a and general discussions.

ajhvdb said:
Yes, OMNIA II and why not iPhone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Omnia 2 is winmo, this forum is for WINMO + ANDROID ONLY!!! iPhone can go somewhere else for the people who like it
I still want one for my HTC MADE IPAQ, its in the WIKI under HTC Roadster

but hey this is..or at least was htc forum and not winmo and android forum...so...if we are expanding towards samsung,motorola and some others,why don't we go for apple too
think about it
i mean i'm not supporting any of that but....higher force wants to try it out,so if we are opening our gates for non htcs....apple is also nonhtc...so what's the difference

Toshiba TG01
Acer S200
Omnia 1 and 2
If Xda is considering to open new foruns, lets open for new top mobiles that are/were best sellers

Thanks for the feedback thus far, it's helpful. We're indeed going to stick with just Windows Mobile and Android.

But on the other side allowing non htc mobile will mean let in any mobile. So admins, how will you then manage all this?What about server load and all the technical things it will bring along?And also will there be enough staff to monitor the behaviour of each and everyone? This is no simple question. Right now I see xda dev as a small group providing quality support and devs, what will it be then? Many bloggers refer to xda dev website, it is a turning point on the htc platform. Wont allowing other brands in kill this image?

yash08 said:
But on the other side allowing non htc mobile will mean let in any mobile. So admins, how will you then manage all this?What about server load and all the technical things it will bring along?And also will there be enough staff to monitor the behaviour of each and everyone? This is no simple question. Right now I see xda dev as a small group providing quality support and devs, what will it be then? Many bloggers refer to xda dev website, it is a turning point on the htc platform. Wont allowing other brands in kill this image?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i talked to svetius via pm and this was almost the same thing i said to him
and for the
svetius said:
Thanks for the feedback thus far, it's helpful. We're indeed going to stick with just Windows Mobile and Android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what about "brew" platform which comes with new htc smart

maybe the "xda-developers.com" should be changed to "apple-haters.com" because as i see everything except apple is welcome
just to make it clear....i'm absolutely not voting for apple (although i love macs),i'm just giving you something to think about...pointing finger towards the paradox so everybody could see it

yash08 said:
But on the other side allowing non htc mobile will mean let in any mobile. So admins, how will you then manage all this?What about server load and all the technical things it will bring along?And also will there be enough staff to monitor the behaviour of each and everyone? This is no simple question. Right now I see xda dev as a small group providing quality support and devs, what will it be then? Many bloggers refer to xda dev website, it is a turning point on the htc platform. Wont allowing other brands in kill this image?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As mentioned in my first post earlier today...
We will only add new forums if: 1. We are confident added traffic won't cause site speed to suffer; 2. We can recruit quality moderators; and 3. The content and discussion is of high quality. The only way to know these things for sure is to try it out. So, within the next 14 days we are going to add two or three non-HTC forums. The delay is to ensure the site continues to operate at a reasonable speed and so we can figure out where to put the new forums (the forum homepage is already absurdly long and cluttered). We are open to suggestions as to deserving devices for our first non-HTC forums, so give us your ideas in this thread.
I hope this helps.

I say expand to the iPhone field....wouldn't hurt to add it to the forums....we can say we hate it and that it suxs...whatever. XDA harbors people that want to push their phone's limits. I've been a follower of XDA for a while now, even when I had my iPhone, because the amount of talent in these forums are awesome. I say open the flood gates and bring in iPhone OS to the table. Droid and the new Dell Android would be great as well. My 2 cents

I kind of want to see a forum for the HTC Smart, running that Brew OS and a forum for the Android SE Xperia X10 and WM X2.

farukb said:
but hey this is..or at least was htc forum and not winmo and android forum
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Official or not, this site has ALWAYS been a winmo forum. Given that HTC's devices mostly ran winmo, that's pretty much unavoidable - unless you think that all discussion/development of software that runs on non-HTC winmo devices should be banned, anyway. And the same goes for Android, now that it comprises ~half of HTC's product lineup - unless you think that half of HTC's current phones should be banned from an 'HTC forum'.

YES to new forums
I've been following XDA-Devs for quite some time now (over a year and a half, to be exact) ever since I gleefully bought my AT&T Tilt, and then was frustrated with it within a week. Prior to that, I have owned & happily modded several PPC's. I lurked on these forums for over a year before joining and asking anything. Almost every question I had was answered by patiently searching. So Junior Member, yes. Noob...not quite.
That being said, I am very heavily leaning towards replacing my battle-scarred Tilt with a Samsung Omnia II instead of a TP2 variant. Lots of pros, very few cons, at least for the things I use my device for the most. One of the BIGGEST cons, however, would be that I would lose the guidance, support, knowledge and hard-earned wisdom of the people that post here by straying from HTC.
And so I hesitate.
I've likely read posts into the multiple thousands here, and despite the device or app, or even OS under discussion, one theme runs through it all:
We love messing with our phones.
Better, stronger, faster, smarter, louder, brighter, more fun ..... ad infinitum.
So, for the sake of that common goal, I say add new forums. Break them down by manufacturer. Even iPhones. All those people that bought one, only to discover the limitations of their expensive "cool" new phone? Let's help those poor saps too, ok?
YES to new forums!!

CMS-based directory for all member-created apps, themes, skins and tutorials

Should there be a dedicated section where all xda-members can submit their stuff through a pre-defined form? Like with the following features:
Subcategories
for themes: WM 6.5, Titanium, Sense, WAD, Mobile Shell, lockscreen, boot animations, icons etc.
for ROMs: per device (every device gets its own subcategory)
Pre-defined fields, for example
compability (WM 5, 6, 6.5, 6.5.3)
resolution (QVGA, WVGA etc.)
CAB install (yes/no)
for ROMs: build, free RAM etc.
Filter by fields (for example only WM 6.5.3 and QVGA)
additionally presets for common devices, like WM 6.5 and WVGA for HD2 (already implemented in the current frontpage)
Rating system (which should not be placed in some drop-down nearly out of view like on the forums)
Sort by rating, views last x days, last update etc.
Featured entries which show up on front page
Provide file hosting space
I think you get the idea, it's vaguely similar to freewarepocketpc.net. The main benefit would be that it's a lot easier, especially for new people, to find the things they're looking for, and a forum thread isn't exactly the best and easiest-to-maintain way to show off your apps/themes/ROMs. Fields additionally ensure consistency among all posts.
Also, right now the more posts, the more attention a thread gets. This poses the problem that, for example, an app where many users post to report a problem gets more attention than another app where everything just works fine, as only a small minority bothers to post a "thank you". As almost no one rates threads (on the average there is less than one rating for 10,000 views) and even fewer people sort threads by views or rating, these apps (or themes or whatever) do not get the attention they deserve. With a rating system and the ability to sort by it, this problem could be solved.
Of course, the implementation of such a system could be somewhat challenging. I only want to hear what others think of this idea.
What do you think? Like the idea or not? Leave a comment and vote, thanks !

I think this is a brilliant idea, it's like an app store, but with apps ETC... will support in anyway i can

Badwolve1 said:
I think this is a brilliant idea, it's like an app store, but with apps ETC... will support in anyway i can
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Yea idd! Like an app store, but with apps!
No seriously, good idea. The more active a post is, the more visitors it will get. Lots of good stuff after page 10 of the dev category aswell haha.

Yep, not only that but also the consistency and accessability, especially for new people, will be a great advantage. I also contacted svetius and he seems to like this idea, so I hope this will be done in the future. Thanks for your support guys!

Livven said:
Yep, not only that but also the consistency and accessability, especially for new people, will be a great advantage. I also contacted svetius and he seems to like this idea, so I hope this will be done in the future. Thanks for your support guys!
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We need to put this in our Sigs who has photoshop (He says to the theme designer )

I think it's a great idea - especially for noobies. I don't have developers skills but have learned much over the years just reading and browsing threads. Enough to even add some simplistic help here and there. But most people don't have time to look through many threads hoping to find some glitter of gold they are looking for. This might slow down the "Is there an app for this?" threads. Not everyone has time to just sit and browse but those of us who want to might not have so many uninformative threads to look at.
I would suggest a link to the initial thread where support could be given and all the "Thank you" responses kept in the new posting. And with all the needed information posted up front it might also stop all the "Will this work on my XXXX?
Hope it can happen!

That´s a great idea, I miss this database here..would help a lot!

A very good idea to have a database here & it's references!

yeah it would be great

We've gotten many requests for this, and it's clearly something we would like to do. There are two (obvious) issues:
1. Figuring out the best implementation method -- Can we somehow use Wordpress (which is what the portal runs on now)? If not, what CMS? Exactly how should the database be structured? That's not exactly a simple question given all the different permutations of devices/operating systems/resolutions that are supported by different software.
2. Figuring out how to keep it updated -- Do we rely on the devs to post their creations both in the forums and the database? Or do we have volunteers scan the forums daily to pull stuff into a app database? That sounds like a boring job . Anyway, we don't want to spend the time building something unless we have a sustainable and affordable model for keeping it going.
Anyway, if anyone is serious about helping us implement something (conceptual design, development, etc), send me a detailed PM. Or we can discuss it here.
As it is, this is definitely on my list to figure out, but there are also 5 or 6 other things (some front-end stuff like the forum re-design and other back-end server stuff). Plus to the extent all these projects have some cost, we like to spread them out.

1. I don't think WordPress, as a blogging tool, is suited for something like this. Drupal, with the module CCK, provides this kind of funtionality out of the box, and you won't need to worry about how the database is structured. Then we'd just need a custom theme (perhaps the same ones who are currently redesigning the forum).
2. If new things are only posted in the new section, then a forum thread with a summary, link etc. should be created automatically in the right subforum. So, threads will only be used for discussion, not for presentation.
For any further discussion of this idea, I'd like to suggest we keep it in this thread, so everyone can see it and comment.

Great idea! As already mentioned, I guess the maintenance/upkeep would be the sticking point.

mic_888 said:
Great idea! As already mentioned, I guess the maintenance/upkeep would be the sticking point.
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i think ppcmods.com is making some progress on this subject

mic_888 said:
Great idea! As already mentioned, I guess the maintenance/upkeep would be the sticking point.
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That shouldn't be a problem as the entries will be maintained by the respective creators like forum threads.

So, whens it going to be up n running?
willing to BETA test

YES! I'd strongly recommend Joomla and DocMan or any other similar component. I've used it successfully on other sites and it's terrific.

app store, what a great idea!

Organize this website !!!

Seriously, this is one of the WORSE forums i've ever seen, when it comes to structure.
The content, on the other hand, is stupendous. Absolutely brilliant.
Back to the structure again. It's mildly unacceptable.
What beautiful mind came up with these 3 tabs ? "ALL DEVICES" "TOP DEVICES" and "NEWEST DEVICES" ??
Are we serious here? It's gruesome. Why do you guys keep them ?
Ok, let's say the answer is "we like them". Fair enough.
Let's try and search the forums. Holy crap, i have to scroll through a 2x2 list to find my device.
I'll have to blink my eyes SO FAST just to catch up a similar word to my device's name. Let it be
Samsung, Sony, Xperia, Nexus, Motorola or whatever you wish.
Guess what ? I did see the option "search subscribed forums" !! Very convenient...if only i could find out how to subscribe to one.
The structure of the forum looks like a tornado came by and put everything out of place.
Let's see...
General discussion (ok)
Marketplace (ok)
Drums rumbliing...
Windows 8
Windows Phone 7
Windows Phone 8
Windows Mobile
Android Developemnt
...
...
Ubuntu
Firefox (wtf ?)
Chef central (i'm a cook btw)
..
The stupidity begins
HTC Leo
Nexus
HTC Legend
Desire
Supersonic
SONY XPERIA X10
Samsung Captivate
blah blah
Motorola Droid 2
HTC Aria
Motorola Droid X
You get the point.
Why not keep 6 forums and make all the other sub-forums ?
In example
General
Marketplace
Windows ---> Inside this forum all the sub-forums
Samsung --> All Samsung stuff
Sony --- > All Sony stuff
Motorola ---> All motorola stuff
blah blah blah
This website LAGS like watching a movie shot at 1 FPS.
Maybe you can COMPILE a kernel for the website so it won't lag and give us a special button
to "Boost MyXDA" with "Browsing Mode" "Patience Mode" and "Quit Mode".
That's all i had to say. I really don't care if it will have any impact on any aspect of the website.
I'm just speaking my mind. It might look like an endless speech of flame but it is for the best.
Great content whatsoever and you are wasting it.
P.S: Excuse my poor English,as they're not my native language.
Thanks for your time.
-end-

I'm guessing you missed the little box that will take you straight to any device or the alternate layouts?
Sent From My Fingers To Your Face......

Well...anywho, maybe not the worst post to make up your 10.
Also, if you like it, take it..if not, then bye bye. It works for me pretty nicely.

K.A. said:
Well...anywho, maybe not the worst post to make up your 10.
Also, if you like it, take it..if not, then bye bye. It works for me pretty nicely.
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The way he came across may have seemed offensive, however, I consider this as constructive criticism. :angel:
Having designed several successful communities (I know.. every Tom, ****, and Harry think they're a web designer, but hear me out), I have to say I somewhat agree.. On one hand, there are some great features to deal with the organization problems, but on the other, it would take one admin about one day to reorganize the sub-forums without losing any data whatsoever. It's very simple to make your forum more organized, and all forum software I've worked with has that feature.
Nonetheless, as mentioned the forum's highlight is the amazing community, and the amazing content.. The forum works, so why mess with a good thing. *meh*

NFleck said:
The way he came across may have seemed offensive, however, I consider this as constructive criticism. :angel:
Having designed several successful communities (I know.. every Tom, ****, and Harry think they're a web designer, but hear me out), I have to say I somewhat agree.. On one hand, there are some great features to deal with the organization problems, but on the other, it would take one admin about one day to reorganize the sub-forums without losing any data whatsoever. It's very simple to make your forum more organized, and all forum software I've worked with has that feature.
Nonetheless, as mentioned the forum's highlight is the amazing community, and the amazing content.. The forum works, so why mess with a good thing. *meh*
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Yeah, I know, but as you said..its working, and has been for years. Agreed it may be a little unorganized but everyone's gotten used to it, so why change it?
Lol i'm still on the 2010 style.

I have to agree with the OP, the forums (layout wise) are an unorganized mess. The Galaxy S2 and S3 devices alone have like 10 different forums. Sure keep them separated but they should be sub-forums under a main S2 or S3 forum, same goes for other devices of course.

Thanks for the constructive criticism all, we welcome it!!
We actually put a ton of thought into the layout of the forum. We used to have it split up per manufacturer. Guess what, it doesn't make it any easier to browse the forum!
Most people look at one forum - and that is the forum for their device. They don't care about any other devices. We split up forums based on development. For example, the Verizon Samsung Galaxy SIII doesn't use the same roms or kernels as the AT&T Samsung Galaxy SIII. Don't blame us or the manufacturers, blame the carriers who make the manufacturers create their own specific versions of their phones.
The best way to find your forum for your device is to use the device search at the top, or the box next to it which will search the entire site. It is pretty good at finding the forum you are looking for when you type in the device name.
I agree that having 2 search boxes is sub-optimal. We have a plan to fix that, but as with most things, its never easy.
Regarding the page load times, a lot of that is out of our hands and caused by the ads. You can switch to the 1024 theme which has fewer ads and loads faster, or contribute enough that we remove the ads for you. We are also considering a paid subscription to remove the ads.
Hope that answers your questions, please keep the feedback coming!

I think what you guys should do is remove all tabs on the front page except General. There's no point in having devices when you have the search box. Also, you can go to the control panel instead of subscribed tab, and compact tab just seems useless to me. Other than the front page I think the site is great.I agreed with this guy on how the front page is. When I first joined here, the site was too busy. Even though I've gotten used to it, it's still looks busy.

New to this forum, can I change the forum home page to have my devices (sgs3 and nexus 7) appear above all the others?
Or whats the easiest way to access those devices forum? I keep scrolling through twenty other phones to find mine and that cannot be the best way..
Thanks
NVM- I found out how to subsribe through use of the app... Awesome app! almost preferable to using the site forums

Narcan Man said:
New to this forum, can I change the forum home page to have my devices (sgs3 and nexus 7) appear above all the others?
Or whats the easiest way to access those devices forum? I keep scrolling through twenty other phones to find mine and that cannot be the best way..
Thanks
NVM- I found out how to subsribe through use of the app... Awesome app! almost preferable to using the site forums
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if you are on the main page www.xda-developers.com, just click on "forums" then there is a box at the top right. Start to type the name of your device and it will give you only those options that match the name.
for instance, I use the Galaxy Nexus forum a alot, what I do is go to the box and type "Galax..." and I already have it there to select with the other Galaxy Phones, or just type "nexus" etc...
I do the same for harder to find forums like Nexus One (currently using), HP TouchPad, HD2, etc... as well.
Because I frequent so many forums and switch phones on the regular, that search box is really the best way to go.
The thing is this forum supports SO many phones, many of them different only because of SoC (international Note / One X etc.. vs US variants) and they have to be split. if you use an N7000 Odin image on an i717, you are going to have problems. So no matter how they are arranged, it is likely that someone is going to want it changed.
The best advice I can give is to use the search bar I mentioned.

1.Bookmark
2.Subscribe
3.Device Search bar
That's it