Mod Portal moderation and "forks" tab in mods

A place to talk about the official Factorio mod portal (https://mods.factorio.com)
protocol_1903
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Mod Portal moderation and "forks" tab in mods

Post by protocol_1903 »

TL;DR
Moderation for mod portal submissions to add tags to mods that are generally unused such as hotfix mods, compatability mods, "my modlist" mods, minor changes to other mods, etc

There should be a forks tab under each mod, to list mods that include minor changes, fix certain bugs, or are forks when a mod is abandoned.

What ?
I want a way for moderators to filter out mods that most people ignore even while browsing the mod portal. This list includes:
- Minor changes to mods (ex, ex, ex, ex, ex)
- Compatability mods (ex, ex, ex, ex, ex)
- Modlists (ex, ex, ex, ex, ex)
- Hotfix mods/"Fixed for 1.1" (ex, ex, ex, i mean come on this is a fixed version of a mod of a mod, oh look another one)

I don't think removing them is the right idea, as the mod portal is a place to share these kind of mods. However, I do think they should be tagged, and those tags should be disabled by default. That way if people do want those mods, they can still search for them. I'd recommend tags like:

- Personal (sometimes modlists, sometimes modifications of other mods only changing a few things)
- Modlist (to differentiate from modpacks, they are two very different things)
- Compatability
- Minor modification (say, changing SE's science packs to produce 4x the amount and only that) (also includes the fixed and hotfix mods mentioned above)

The "personal" mods could really just be marked as internal, as those mods are automatically hidden.

This request outlines a way for modders to give their mods to others if they are inactive for a period of time. I think the way they suggest doing it is a bit off, but the idea of passing on mods after a period of inactivity is a good idea. There are already too many "fixed" and "for 0.7" and "for 1.0" mods on the portal, and there will be even more with the advent of 2.0. I suggest a tab similar to the dependencies tab, where you can browse forks and minor modifications of the main mod. These forks and mods of mods would not show up when searching normally, but would appear when selecting a mod. Like, "Hey this mod is old, there are new versions for the current version of Factorio". If this is implemented, some of the aforementioned tags would not be needed.
Why ?
There are already a ton of mods on the portal, a good chunk of which are not wanted by the average player. Filtering them out and putting them in specific places will greatly clear up the mod portal for 2.0, including the in-game mod portal, as well as make it easier for players to find new versions of mods that are no longer being maintained. It will also help mod developers that wish to maintain olders mods from other developers that are no longer active, without creating a new mod page entirely. It will also help with 2.0, so that there are fewer "x but for 2.0" mods in the weeks following release.
If you need to reach me, message me on discord.

I make qol mods. Check them out, maybe.
https://mods.factorio.com/user/protocol_1903
If you have a mod idea, I can look into it.
protocol_1903
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Re: Mod Portal moderation and "forks" tab in mods

Post by protocol_1903 »

If getting moderators to do the moderation is an issue, allow users to mark mods with tags, then if enough users tag a mod as "internal" or "modlist" then the tag will automatically be added given other parameters (not updated recently, etc)
If you need to reach me, message me on discord.

I make qol mods. Check them out, maybe.
https://mods.factorio.com/user/protocol_1903
If you have a mod idea, I can look into it.
protocol_1903
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Re: Mod Portal moderation and "forks" tab in mods

Post by protocol_1903 »

Additionally, after a period of time of a mod being abandoned, the in-game mod portal should recommend "fixed" versions of the mod if they are avaliable, so that users can switch to a new version under active maintinence.

Sorry for so many separate posts i keep thinking of new things
If you need to reach me, message me on discord.

I make qol mods. Check them out, maybe.
https://mods.factorio.com/user/protocol_1903
If you have a mod idea, I can look into it.
MrSmoothieHuman
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Re: Mod Portal moderation and "forks" tab in mods

Post by MrSmoothieHuman »

theres not much i can add to this content wise, i just really like the sound of it - +1

(also yeah, any sort of preventative measure to stop the influx of “Mod but for 2.0” would be great)
coder? i hardly know her!
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