Modules versus core functionality

 i would revise the question - maybe not if everyone needs it but - do a lot of people need it?

@Geek_Girl it's an interesting question. Without going into detail, I'd like to comment in a generalistic way. I believe the Core should do nothing more than make the script work and everything after that should be a module. Swiss Army Knives, although interesting conversation starters really lack the ability to perform any job well.

In times gone by you could purchase a basic car and add extras as you wanted them. Today, cars come with almost everything and most owners never get to figure out how to use a lot of stuff.

That's what attracted me to Dolphin in the first place. I only had to install the modules I wanted and if I wanted more features, I could purchase a "premium" version from people like Modzzz.

To me, the decision whether to build a feature into the core comes down to two decisions based on a single question:

Does "everyone need this feature?"

1. If the answer is yes, then it should be in the core.
2.  If the answer is no, then it should be a module. Whether that module is included in the package or marketed separately should be a decision by the developer and possibly an opportunity to make a bit of extra income.

I think that Boonex almost had it right. They developed the core, then they added a few modules which allowed people to create sites to suit their needs. Those modules were basic, but they generally seemed to do the job and opened the door for third party developers to do better. One mistake that Boonex made was allowing developers to promote and sell their products without Boonex benefiting financially. To me that was shear madness. Even if they charged $10 a year to promote the module or $1 per sale, they would have received some benefit, but as far as I'm aware, that didn't happen.

I believe Deano should seriously consider how much he continues to develop the core. I believe that should be restricted to bugs, server requirements and overall efficiency. If I was in control, I'd leave the photos module as it is, develop a wiz-bang premium version and sell it separately. Then people have a choice. Stick with what you've got or upgrade. For some people the current module is probably fine.

The question is what should be a module and what should be a core function?  There were modules in the Boonex market that were to address issues with the core functionality; such as the "cross members block" in the Boonex market that added true blocking across sections of the site (which Deano has incorporated into Cheetah and which hopefully third party content modules will also include).  Another such area is admins and moderators.  The moderator code is incomplete; I don't know the history of moderators in the old Dolphin code.  There is a moderator role (2) but you will find moderator checks limited in the code.  I had a client once that wanted me to expand moderator role in Dolphin instead of the membership moderation.  I did some work on it but never completed it.

One area that is lacking in Cheetah is sub-admins.  If you grant someone admin role (3) they are a super-admin as far as the backend is concern; they can delete modules and take the whole site down essentially.  I remember once on a Multiply group (Multiply is gone so don't go looking for it) the admin of the group mentioned how they had given someone admin status to help with the group work and that admin became pissed off at something and just deleted the group; everything gone.  Of course a group on Multiply did not have access to the database backup to recover the group.

There was a module on the Boonex market that addressed the issue of having sub-admins; admins that could access the backend but had limited access to the sections.  I worked with a client that had the module so I got to see how it worked.  It basically checked to see if the admin (with role 3) was listed as a sub-admin and then checked the database to see which sections of the backend the sub-admin had been assigned.  For example, one could limit the sub-admin to only the content modules such as photos and videos and sounds to moderate the content of those modules.  They could not access the modules' add and install section.  It did this by limiting the menu structure as it was being built.  It also had checks to prevent the user from directly accessing the sections using the browser's URL bar.

This module is still on the market if you wish to take a look-see.  https://www.boonex.com/m/multi-admin-access  It did require some file changes.

I started to post this as a suggestion but decided to do a forum post for better discussion.  How much do we want to expand the core and what should be an add-on module?  I like the idea of having sub-admins with limited access to the backend as a core function.  I guess I just don't have the trust level to grant someone full access to the backend for help with moderation and other work.  The site I maintain does have three or four admins with full access; they were part of the development team and the trust was there they would not want to trash the site.  I have been reluctant to add any other person that I did not know directly when they offered to help run the site.