Very long extension moderation process
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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
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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?
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rejzor 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?
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rejzor 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?
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rejzor last edited by
@leocg From 16 days ago...
https://forums.opera.com/post/141544
So, apart from total lack of any kind of communication, totally just about my extension getting denied. Build a whole picture not just picking out the parts you don't like because they don't absolutely adhere to this thread. Yeah, sure I was pissed, but whatever. There is a bigger issue with Opera in this regard than my story. I mean, comb through endless posts of devs who don't have a clue what the hell is happening to their extensions.
How can the rest of extension developers know their extension verification process is taking more than god damn half a year because it's just taking so long to verify or because some moderator thinks their extension is not "worthy enough" to be included in the Extensions page, if they don't even bother to give a bloody f*cking verdict for it?
Ignoring it is not a verdict. Telling developer about it is. And my even so dumb example proves that exactly. I could have been waiting half a year and never got an info that it's not accepted because it's too basic. Good knows what are the reasons hundreds of others are not accepted if they just can't be bothered to tell developers. There is no absolute guideline that dictates what can and cannot be made into extension, so how can devs know what stupid reason their extension isn't getting verified for? People will get tired and just go with Chrome where they at least won't wait like total idiots. GG Opera then, way to keep users aye? -
A Former User last edited by
We finally received our response! Our extension got published. We don't exactly know what triggered it, but we thought, it would be fair to tell the good news too and not only complain when things don't work.
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A Former User last edited by
Waiting for two weeks. Mozilla approved my Firefox extension for less than one hour! It is like Opera just doesn't care.
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A Former User last edited by A Former User
@mgeffro I stayed tuned, but can't see any improvements. What's the current status?
Improvements could be:
- Reduce moderation time
- Showing the position in the moderation queue
- Giving the possibility to contact the moderators
All of this is possible. Please check Mozilla.
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A Former User last edited by
Also frustrated by Opera moderation waiting times? There are many other developers out there. Just follow us, we want to give the extension developers a voice! https://twitter.com/operaextension
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A Former User last edited by
My extensions are too good to upload for people to use - who thinks like that? -> Opera does.
I'm amazed how locked down browser Opera really is. But Chrome Web Store doesn't object to people what kind of color they want to wear today
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rejzor last edited by
@rudrick They refused to confirm my ProtonMail extension because it's "too basic" even though it does what is even physically possible with the given service. So I have to host it myself on my own webpage. And I'm using it daily because it does what no bookmark can do. But they somehow feel that it's not worthy enough to be handed over to other users officially. It's because of stuff like this why most developers don't even bother with Opera anymore. And the long extension moderation process is not helping either. And when you have a dying extensions ecosystem you may just as well stop bothering entirely. If time has proven again and again is that you need a working ecosystem. Android has one, iOS has one, Firefox has one, Chrome has one. Internet Explorer didn't have one which is why most of the people stopped using it. BadaOS didn't have good ecosystem and it's now dead. SymbianOS had one but they weren't investing in it and it died. What makes Opera think they have the upper hand by not supporting ANY kind of developers who are willing to spend their time on their platform? Be it my "shitty" "too simple" extension or someone's super complex one which in the end both don't get published because "reasons". But who am I teaching Opera the working business model, right?
