Very long extension moderation process

[A Former User]

A Former User last edited by

It's really weird, submitted an extension on Feb 13, since no any reply...

[rejzor]

rejzor last edited by

I sent mine 14 days ago. It's literally a simple button that even a hamster could verify to be clean. Still not verified and listed. What kind of joke is this? No wonder Opera just doesn't get more market share when extensions ecosystem which is one of the most important things is such a joke. get your act together Opera.

[haterapps]

haterapps last edited by

It's more frustrating when you see popular extensions in the store that were updated very recently, few days ago. For a second it makes me think that they have higher priority, regardless of who was first in the approval queue.

[A Former User]

A Former User last edited by

My extension was submitted on the Sept. 11th and is still not reviewed ? What happens with Opera ?
Are you kidding us ... ?

[A Former User]

A Former User last edited by

We have submitted our extension for moderation review on Feb 16, 2018 and is not yet reviewed. When can we expect it to be reviewed?

[A Former User]

A Former User @Guest last edited by

@jonathandekhtiar
You'd be better off submitting again.

Opera goes through the code more promptly than for example Google. That's why there are viruses and malware on Chrome Web Store.

If only Firefox (webext) would work in Opera. Though some do but there's still tiny differences so can't be taken as face value like in CWS.

[rejzor]

rejzor last edited by

So, I sent a message to "moderators" why it is taking so long and the reply was "Extension cannot consist of only button pointing to webpage or URL". Since when is access to Opera Flags SETTINGS a webpage? Is it my fault that Opera uses internal URL addresses to access own settings? What a joke. No wonder people just don't bother making extensions for Opera if this is the policy they are rocking...

I've created this extension because I access Opera Flags regularly and having direct access to it from extensions toolbar is super convenient. But nope, can't have that or share it with others who might happen to fiddle with it often as well and would find it convention. And being a settings page to which there is NO button in existence but you have to manually input the settings address, I frankly really don't see a reason why it shouldn't be allowed to the extensions page.

[A Former User]

A Former User last edited by

We have submitted our extension in June 2017, still no reply. Then, we tried to contact opera via different sources - no sign of life anywhere. Feels like opera is a big black hole where everything gets lost. Any suggestions about what we can do to get their attention?

[A Former User]

A Former User last edited by

We submitted our extension last year (June 2017) since then no reply. We really wanna know why they take decades to approve an extension. I really doubt, they can grow if they continue like that.

[rejzor]

rejzor last edited by

Mine just got straight denied by the moderators because it was "too basic" being just a button to directly access Opera Flags menu with an excuse that you can do it as a bookmark. Well, I don't want it as a god damn bookmark and probably there are people with same idea as me.

Best way to get attention is to send a message through the panel to the "moderators". I heard nothing from anyone for ages until I posted there and then someone responded. They don't even seem to give it a "denied" verdict, they just sort of leave it there hanging without any status. That's just dumb policy that needs to be sorted out if Opera wants their extensions ecosystem to thrive. Because browser without good extensions ecosystem is no browser at all.

[A Former User]

A Former User last edited by

Thanks rejzor. Yeah, we already have sent several messages to the moderators, without any success. We also have sent several emails to service contacts we could find online, no response there either. We caught someone on the phone in Poland (one of several phone numbers we tried), obviously they didn't know much and gave us another email address. That email was a dead end too.
Our extension is quite the opposite of yours, it's very long, so our guess is that no one can be bothered to look through it. However, we still think our extension worth being considered and in any case, it would be nice to receive an actual response.

[A Former User]

A Former User last edited by

We have two in queue for a while now...anyone find success in any methods to get the Moderators to review?

The extensions are not simple but not crazy complicated / long either.

[dessant]

dessant last edited by dessant

I have been waiting for my extensions to be reviewed for 6 months now, two months ago I've posted on this forum, but the thread just got locked and redirected here, without addressing my concerns. I have submitted clear instructions for building the extensions, yet there are no requests for more information or any replies from reviewers.

I can't begin to express how disheartening this experience is, and it makes me regret my decision to submit my work to Opera. I've spent considerable time debugging the extensions and making them compatible with this browser, then preparing the listings for submission. All to not even get a reply.

I'd advise developers to refrain from doing business with Opera when it comes to browser extensions.

https://forums.opera.com/topic/24382/opera-extensions-waiting-to-be-reviewed-for-more-than-4-months

[rejzor]

rejzor last edited by

I don't get it why is usage of simple webpage access buttons prohibited. Sure, it's a very simple extension with very basic functionality. But has one key thing that no bookmark is able to do. I can make extension button to always open a new tab with webpage. So, no matter how many tabs I have open, it'll always open a new empty tab and open a designated webpage in there. This ensures I won't ever screw up content in my current tab (which can't be said for regular bookmarks) and it'll save me one extra click on the "New tab" button every time I want to open that. But they just stubbornly deny it because it's "just a link to webpage". Well, I disagree. Sometimes some sites don't really give you anything to work with like an API, but you want the icon up there because it's more convenient than bookmark. That's for example the case for Tutanota mail service I've just discovered. They don't provide any notifier, but I want it in the same spot as I used to have GMail notifier icon. In the extensions bar. And instead of conveniently having such button on Opera Extensions gallery I'll have to host the damn thing myself because Opera will just straight reject it (with silence and no reply ever).

Dumb policy that just steers away developers of any kind to even bother with Opera (which is a very damning thing because browser popularity and use depends on flexibility to user needs and extensions provide that). I'm just learning to code Opera extensions and making a simple button is as advanced as I can do now. But it serves a purpose and it works. Why shouldn't others be able to use it if they find it useful?

[leocg]

leocg Moderator Volunteer @rejzor last edited by

@rejzor I guess it's something to be discussed somewhere else since it's not related to the subject of this topic.

[rejzor]

rejzor @leocg last edited by

@leocg That's not entirely true. If it's a problem, let me know as a moderation verdict, not leaving me up in the air for 2 weeks and after I make an inquiry I finally get this verdict. Communication is total garbage.

[leocg]

leocg Moderator Volunteer @rejzor last edited by

@rejzor Your post is just a complaint because your extension was not approved and this topic is not to discuss about decisions themselves but how long they are getting to be taken.

[rejzor]

rejzor @leocg last edited by rejzor

@leocg It's a complaint that no one said a thing for 2 weeks about it when someone could just easily give a verdict "Denied" and stated the reason. No, instead I had to wait one more week to poke moderators with a message and then finally someone took time to say NO. It's a full story that may not be absolutely related to the thread, but it shows that communication between Opera and extensions developers is garbage and needs to be improved if they want larger user share. Because seeing it from my perspective, it entirely depends on how flexible browser is to user needs. Poor extensions selection and people won't bother using the browser. Speed and all that has very little to do with it. Chrome has none of it and yet it's the browser with larger share? Why?

[leocg]

leocg Moderator Volunteer @rejzor last edited by

@rejzor Nope, it's not. You didn't complain about it at any time.

[rejzor]

rejzor @leocg last edited by rejzor

@leocg Yes I have. Read this thread and you'll see that I complained over not getting ANY response. It was only after I posted another message to "moderators" when someone finally took time to respond with a denied entry just by words. The extension verdict still has no actual status after weeks now. Well, is it so hard to respond in 1 day if you already know in advance what the verdict is because clearly it would have been denied no mater what because it's "too simple". So, why no one gave a damn verdict in freaking 2 weeks time?