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I've bought two extension in Jed because I read many positive reviews about these but in both cases the extensions are full of bugs and the support it's very lack.
With Google I've found some other website and I've written to their web admin that have confirmed me the thing. They have had to pick up the code and modify it heavily to make it work.
I cannot believe that the other "customers" in JED are so satisfied to give always 5 stars and write long positive reviews without to find not even a little bug.

I write this because I've paid for these extensions, but the problem it is related also to many other free extensions and the JED team must find a solution.
For someone Joomla is a fun, but for many other of us this is a job and it is not acceptable to lose so much time (and much money) for these "developers" that, evidently, want only to make money easy knowing that nobody can impose them the refund of the payment.

I propose:

1. at least for the commercial extensions a positive review can be published only if there is a link to an active website totally functional.
2. it is published the IP address of reviewer or at least his/her country-city. So we can see if the "reviewer" is always the developer or someone near to this.
3. if a positive review will result false, then the developer will be banned to at least a year so this will think 1.000 times before declaring the false.
4. After the developer's reply to a negative review, the reviewer may respond again with a final response from the developer. Now the developer can change the cards on the table and to say "The review is false." I still want to leave the last word to the developer, but the reviewer has the right for at least a second opinion.

I don't wish to do here the name of extensions because:

1. I don't start a specific controversy. The problem is general.
2. I'd be blackmailed and I'd not even get the little support that there is now.

Best regards.

Main rule: JED do not require that you actually buy an extension to review it. Its only required that you actually use it!
Also: JED do not disclose informations about reviewers (IP's, email, website, country, and so on)
Those informations are available to JED editors only. And to prove a false review its not an easy task.
As for your proposals I see some questions (as it also not easy to create a better system):

1- Privacy concerns?
- How long would that site required to be up for consideration as a valid review?
- If after, say a month, it is a bad URL... would we need to remove the review also?
- Would this limit the right to review if your website its only in localhost in testing/building phase (a full feature store can take up some time)?
- What about those with sites in intranets, would they also be considered false reviewers?
- You could be a freelance/employee and the site owner do not allow that his site technology and technical info is disclosed (its true, I can assure you!): wouldn't you be able to review an extension?

2- Privacy disclosure!

3- The actual ban period is already quite strong!

4- That would turn the review system in a forum!
User can always report the reply from developer to JED editors as a false reply. So no need for a public thread!

_________________
Online translation for Joomla core and extensions: https://sites.google.com/site/transjoomla
- JED Editor / pt-PT Translation Team / Portuguese Joomla Community

I'm agree with you about privacy, but in my opinion this is a wrong approach.
Nobody is obliged to give a positive response and so if I want to give 5 star about a commercial extension then I have to accept to give a proof that I'm effectively using the extension.

If the URL is not active, then also the positve response ceases to be published; it should not be difficult to activate an automatic check to suspend or reactivate a comment if the URL is not active.

For Intranet, this is a problem of the reviewers. He must publish a website, for example that of company and to write somewhere that the extension is for Intranet.

Repeat! There is not an order of the doctor that I must post a positive review.
If I want to do it, then I have to accept some restrictions about my privacy.

It should be absolutely discouraged this harmful policy to flood JED of false positive reviews.

Also the point 3 moves from these reason.
If a developer creates false positive reviews, he damages not only the other honest developers, but also all those who use his extension wasting time and money.
A year to thieves and crooks is even little!

About point 4, the problem it is different.
Who writes a wrong negative response usually he is simply a novice; only in severe cases he wants to damage the developer with false reviews.
in most cases, however, he is someone who simply did not like the extension.
I have not proposed a thread, but simply a sequence of 1) review, 2) answer of the developer, 3) answer of the reviewer, the 4) final response of the developer.
Only 4 steps, not a thread.

With a final response of the developer we leave the last word to this, but the reviewer has the opportunity to explain his motivation and eventually to ask to move the question to the forum.

I repeat the reason of my proposal.
It should be absolutely discouraged the dishonest people and make them understand that they will have on JED life difficult.
Now they can do the good and the bad weather!

Thanks for your reply.

Question: do you want all those informations about reviewers to be available to public or just to JED editors?
If it is for public I'm totally against as no one need to have information about me besides that is required to the system. And if I want to post a review there should be a limited access on my details, specially the developer of that extension (you would be surprised on how many people just send messages "please take a look at this but I don't want troubles with developer" or other nasty claims.

I'm wonder if somebody would require proof that a reviewer its a real person (need to post link to CV and company where you work to be able to review). Maybe also some developers would not stand on such a proof to be on JED!

So before making a big privacy concern, hope you work a little more your proposals!

_________________
Online translation for Joomla core and extensions: https://sites.google.com/site/transjoomla
- JED Editor / pt-PT Translation Team / Portuguese Joomla Community

I rewrite what I written closing my previous post:

It should be absolutely discouraged the dishonest people and make them understand that they will have on JED life difficult.

If my proposal is wrong then the JED team must find another.
The privacy policy should not be an excuse behind which dishonest people can do whatever they want.

Thank you for your attention.
Good work.