Pretty disappointed...

[Myrathi]

Originally Posted by forty2j But authors are finicky people. Particularly because they are putting a lot of time into coding that they could be spending playing, and getting no tangible benefit outside of the odd donation, and a lot of users yelling at them because their blender app isn't a good coffee grinder.

I understand what you mean but there's a vast difference between finicky and downright lazy. I have very little time for the lazy ones. :P

Which, to me, means that if WoWI unilaterally imposed a version # standard, I'd expect about a 50/50 split between authors who follow it and authors who think it's so stupid they can't name their version "Delta 4" and just stop posting updates to WoWI at all.

The 'version tag' doesn't stop them giving their versions a nickname, codename or anything else, for that matter... there are title and description fields that would allow them to call it "Delta 4" or "Pickle Echo" or whatever the heck they like (and lots of authors already do it this way). The version tag should specifically allow for automatic verification (not just with Minion but manually, too) of an upgrade path for their AddOn and would take less time to enter into a TOC than it would for that person to whine and moan on the forums about having to use it (and this should be pointed out to people that do).

A solid versioning standard doesn't just help users upgrade, it helps authors keep their AddOn organised, as well. Authors that whine about something as simple as standardising a version number need slapped with an old UNIX manual; they annoy me in the world of AddOns just as much as they annoy me in the outside development world. :P

Someone gave a good example, earlier in the thread: "Windows Vista" is a codename/nickname; 6.1 is a version.
Loads of companies and coders give their 'products' nifty codenames... but they also give them a numerical version identifier. AddOn authors need to grasp just why that's a good thing.

But they won't start unless someone requires it of them.

"We shouldn't enforce it because lots of authors will throw their toys out of their prams!" is not a good reason, ever, to avoid doing it.

Originally Posted by Tristanian True, very much true, however I was thinking of the possibility of using said tag (if it exists) to automatically retrieve the version number straight from the addon page, which would potentially make it easier to devise some kind of rough "standard".

That's also a very good idea. I heartily agree.