Functionality is unique or is an improvement over existing solutions
- New plugins should add functionality that does not already exist or provide a substantial improvement over existing solutions.
Explanation
This guideline requires that the submission must add value to what is already on the website. This means that if the functionality of the plugin already exists within other plugins on the website, the developer will need to explain what is different about their plugin and what it offers over the rest of the existing plugins.
This is to avoid over-saturating the website with hundreds of the same plugin and to encourage developers to collaborate on one version of a plugin instead of recreating their own version for every minor change.
The importance of this guideline depends on the number of types of this plugin. If there is only one or two other plugins with similar functionality, then generally it is only required that the plugin improves several aspects of the existing plugins and that the author expresses some interest in actually maintaining the plugin, which can be inferred from any reasonable response to the question "What separates this plugin from the existing plugins with similar functionality?"[1].
However, if multiple similar plugins already exist, then the developer should provide a good and more detailed reason as to why their plugin is a substantial improvement over existing plugins.
Important: It is worth noting that while this guideline is important, we value creating a community of developers that are keen to engage with us and continue to express their creativity through modding.
There is no right or wrong answer to this question, this question is only really to gauge how serious the developer is about maintaining their plugin. ↩︎