@Chrome

Could we have a new forum where members can go to recommend extensions ...

We've previously had a thread where members can request an extension but this just got to be a mess ...

We had a thread where members were posting a list of their installed extensions (normally just a screenshot of the extensions page !!) ...

What I think would be of value to the membership and visitors (seeing as there are now over 2500 extensions on the Gallery) is a forum where members post a list of their installed extensions and, more importantly, exactly why they have installed them...

Specifically what benefits do they derive from having the extension installed and if there is more than one extension available for the specific function they wanted, why they chose the one that they installed (eg. easier to use, personal preference)...

Each member would start their own thread (eg StevePaul's Extensions, Chrome's Extensions)...

There would effectively be up to 3 sections to the post ...

1. The AdBlocker they use and why (assuming they use one)..
2. Their 'can't live without' and why ...
3. Personal favourites ...

Additional Thoughts on an Extension Forum

Thinking a bit more about the potential of this forum I thought about what must be, in most cases, the first extension anyone new to Chrome will install, imo it has to be an AdBlocker ...

Currently the 3 most used (I think) are AdBlock, AdBlock+ and Adthwart ...

What I'm suggesting is that we have an additional forum specifically for AdBlocking ...

In the new forum there would be a thread for each of the AdBlock extensions (also one for BFilter and Proxoxmitron) and that members could post details of any customisation they had done for sites they visit.

In addition members could ask questions about the specific adblocker they are interested in (under the relevant thread), this way their particular interest would not be lost ...

Chrome would you like to PM or Email me to discuss these ideas further ....

First, it is always a pleasure to see a post written in correct English

I totally agree with necessity of such a forum and I do not understand why it is so difficult to search on Google's extension repository... you search something specific and it comes up with many things totally different...

I was actually thinking about doing something similar to what you said, but as a standalone website (although it might actually be better as a forum project, as it will garner more support)

admins would need to create a sub-forum labeled: Recommended Extensions (with mod-only-post, all-reply, Description: Thousands of extensions, some of which do the same thing. Why waste hours finding, and comparing extensions, when we can do the work for you. ~~~ or something of that nature)

Additionally there would need to be someone to keep this forum updated (I already go to Google's extension page every other day, and here pretty much daily)


I would also need a few topics Pinned ( Index of Extensions, Top 20, Suggest an Extension, How Ranks Work)

I plan to setup a post, for each type of extension, discussing the performance, features, Usability, Reliability of each extension that meets the basic goal for that type.

Below is a sample extension type, it would be 1 post (not pinned up):

(Title)Notes: extensions that you type text into, for later reference.

Overall Top rated: nameofextension
Top rated, with Performance Priority: (for people with older computers)
Top rated, with Features Priority: (anything else beyond the basic, in this case, perhaps it has tabs, or syncing)
Top rated, with Usability Priority: (Beautiful design, with easy to use interface)
FeatureChart: List of all features covered by any extension in this catagory, along with the rank of every extension that covers each feature.

(extensions ranked from overall best, to overall worst)
(link)Extension 1link) Usability:4.5/5, Preformance 5/5, Features 3/5
a brief summarization on what this extension has/lacks that others dont,atmost 3 lines long.

2 (extension name):.......................
_________________________________________________________________
Replys: would be anyone who wishes to comment, on something...


Final Notes: I would really apreciate if anyone knows of a website, that i can setup anonymous 1-5(star) ranks. (aka people click on the rank here, and it adjust automatically, but through an outside service, that doesnt require login)

Example:
2 extension name: Usability:(Updates, if vote is made at link==>)4.5/5, Preformance 5/5, Features [url3/5[/url]

How do you guys what this forum to work? Each member who wants to share his/her Top 10 used extensions should create a new thread? Or should there be just one thread named (Post your Top 10 Used extensions) where members can post it?

We should have a sub forum, with about a dozen stickies. And each stickied thread, has it's own genre. For example the first one could be adblocking, the second could be Tab Control, the next one security, and so on. And in these threads people post extensions, they find according to that thread topic. And then people can post any special or interesting they find on the sub-forum.

P.S. Steve Paul: Please write for the blog

@Chrome

To a certain degree I concur with Clouds but with one difference ...

I think we need two sub forums ...

1 for members where they can post an individual thread of their own installed extensions much in the format I suggested ...

For example I currently have 13 extensions installed ..

1 Adblock (Adblock), 3 Can't Live Without (Mouse Strokes, TP GoogleReader & IE Tab) then 9 others ...

For the Adblock and CLW's I would provide a brief description of why I installed them and for the Others just a list ...

For easy reference I would include a link to the Gallery ...

It would be the responsibility of the individual to update their own thread/post (eg New extensions installed/replaced/deleted)

Members could then post to an individuals thread asking them questions or making suggestions/recommendations...

The 2nd forum, as Clouds suggests, would be a thread for each genre ...

So under Adblocking you would have separate threads for Adblock, Adblock+ and Adthwart (apologies if I've missed someones favourite out) and under IE Tabs you would have IE Tab and IE Tab Classic ...

Members could then post their experiences with each of the extensions ...

In particular, under Adblocking members could post their customisation (ie added filters) ...

For example I have added 6 filters to Adblock, 5 for this site (4 courtesy of PAEz) and 1 for Only2Clicks ...

To prevent this 2nd forum becoming cluttered the threads within it need to be maintained either by yourself or one of the Mods, members can only post to it ...

For a particular extension to be included in a genre (or indeed a new genre) a request would need to be made to yourself, with a valid reason , and this would become the 2nd post (the 1st being your explanation)in any new thread ...

In the initial setup the 1st post (which would need to be pinned) would be just an explanation by you (would be the same for everything) outlining what the thread is all about and how to use it (I'll write it for you if you want)...

I believe this approach would ensure that the content of the forum remains focussed and would provide a valuable reference to people wanting to experience just what extensions on Chrome are capable of ...

At the outset, this forum was renowned for it's (simply excellent) Theme developers; I believe the introduction of an Extensions forum (as described) would propel the forum to the forefront once again and would provoke the kind of activity you are seeking ...

Make it to much hassle and no one will bother and I gotta wonder how many people would bother at all. I mean even extension developers dont post on here new releases any more, why would they when the can just post it to the official extension page or another.
Genres seems better as Im personally allways interested in any extension to do with images, other than that Im interested in anything I might have not seen. Which is why Im more interested in your "other nine" than I am your favourites as most people would list the same.
The adblock genre where people can help with filters for different sights for different extensions sounds like a great idea, some people are no good at makeing them and some of us dont mind helping.

@PAEz

It's not about posting extensions per se, as you say why would they when there is the gallery ...

I agree that in most instances there would be a lot of 'overlap' in people's top choices, however I still think it would be of interest to see exactly why a person chooses a certain extension over another

For instance I'm interested in knowing why more people don't use TPGooglReader as opposed to separate extensions for RSS Subscriptions and a Notifier ...

As for being too much hassle, it seems fairly simple to me, either you post or you don't ...

I'm also looking at this from the viewpoint of a 'newbie' Chrome user, not everyone comes from a FF background and knows about Extensions/Plug Ins (I didn't !!)...

Everyone has an opinion,

For Instance, I use Adblock and Proxomitron for my AdBlocking, if I remember right you use AdBlock+ and Proxomitron ...

If we were both to post our list of installed extensions the reader would get an 'informed view' of the relative merits of each solution and have something to base a decision on without the 'hassle' of installing each one to identify what the differences in implementation are...

There are currently just short of 3000 extensions on the Gallery and as LucVN mentioned in an earlier post it is virtually impossible to get any kind of sense out of doing a 'search' for a particular type of extension ...

PS:

Just for a bit of fun; list your installed extensions and lets see how many we have in common (Adblock, CLW, Others)....

AdBlock, Mouse Stroke, TPGoogleReader, IE Tab, Chrome Flags, Cleeki, Everymarks, FaceBook Adblock, ForecastFox Weather, GetYouTube, Live Soccer Scores, WebPage Sceenshot, VerticalTabs

Then there's a couple I've just installed to try out Tab Menu (to compare to VerticalTabs) and one of Google's own Google Similar Pages beta...

PPS for Chrome:

If space on the forum is a constraint for creating a new forum then you could consider getting rid of the Chrome Tech forum It's only ever had 212 posts on 35 threads, the last one being on 29th January and that was to do with a theme !!

As I would guess that most 'technical' issues these days would be about either Themes or Extensions it would support the case for an Extensions forum ...

My Final Thoughts on an Extensions Forum

As there seems to be minimal interest from the Admin of this forum, I thought I'd just reiterate my thoughts on an extensions forum with the aid of a schematic ...

The premise of the forum would be a number of sub forums as follows ...

Members Favourites

A forum where members could post a 'Thread' containing a list of their installed extensions explaining the relevant merits of each and could answer questions from other members ...

AdBlocking Forum

As this is probably the most used extension, the forum would contain a 'Thread' for each of the most popular AdBlockers (also to include the Proxies Proxomitron and BFilter) where members could post their questions and seek advice and also post thier own 'Customised filters' for the relevant AdBlock ...

Note: The Threads on this forum would be maintained by the Admins ...

Multiple Genre Forums

A forum for each of the more popular Genre's where members could post a 'Thread' for Extensions they like and use ...

Other members could then post against this 'Thread' and either ask questions or make recommendations for an alternative ...

Note: The Admins would need to monitor these Forums for abuse and duplicity ...

Finally, not so long ago Chrome asked the question about lack of activity on this forum amongst the older members ...

I'm wondering if Chrome equates activity with success ?

The success of a website is measured by the number of 'hits' it receives and not the number of members it has or the number of threads and posts it has on a daily basis ...

If a Forum is to be successful it needs to provide a service that no one else provides, or at the very least it has to be better than anyone elses ...

I would suggest that there is a lack of activity on all Forums that are associated with Chrome as there is no longer a 'learning experience' amongst developers of themes and extensions ...

As I've said previously, I believe there is a requirement for an Extensions Forum somewhere on the 'Net' it just needs someone to provide it ...

@BT

If Chrome doesn't want it here, go ahead and do it, I don't think you'll regret it ...

All I would suggest is you broadcast the fact, both Lifehacker and How-To-Geek do regular articles on Chrome and Extensions ...

As for a name, JustChromeExtensions sounds good to me ....

*thinking about*

it is an awful lota work.. although i might start a thread here listing some of the better extensions to look for, maybe once they see enough interest in the idea, theyl drag my post over to the newly created thread