Add more feature to the zen mods store

[Else00]

Feature Request: Zen Mods Store Enhancement

Reference

Similar to issue #375

Summary

I'd like to request several usability improvements to the Zen Mods Store to enhance the user experience and make it easier to discover and evaluate mods.

Requested Features

Content and Information Improvements

• Detailed Mod Descriptions: Many mods currently only display screenshots and short description without clear explanations of what the mod does or which game elements it affects. Please implement mandatory description fields that explain mod functionality.
• Rating System: Add a likes/stars feature to allow users to rate mods, helping others identify quality content.

Navigation and Organization

• Sorting Options: Implement additional sorting methods, particularly:
  • Sort by number of downloads (popularity)
  • Sort by user ratings (once implemented)
• Categorization System: Create a category system to organize mods by type

[taroj1205]

Hi, the number of downloads and user ratings require a database to manage, and @mauro-balades doesn't want to have a database for it.

[Else00]

These features are critical for users to find quality mods. Without them, your store risks:

• Users getting frustrated with poor-quality mods
• Good mod creators not getting recognition
• Difficulty discovering the best content
• Difficulty to find mods of a particular category

Simple database solutions that don't require heavy infrastructure:

1. JSON files: Store download counts and ratings in simple JSON files
2. SQLite: A zero-config, single-file database perfect for this use case
3. Client-side storage: Use localStorage with periodic server syncs
4. Serverless options: Firebase or Supabase provide ready-made solutions

These approaches offer the benefits of a database without the maintenance overhead. Many popular open-source projects use these lightweight methods successfully.

The implementation could start small (just download counts) and expand later, providing immediate value to users with minimal development effort.

Hi, the number of downloads and user ratings require a database to manage, and @mauro-balades doesn't want to have a database for it.

[KyleDL101]

The problem isn't a development effort or a lack of solutions. My understanding is that @mauro-balades doesn't want any database/server infrastructure, period. One motivation for this is from a privacy standpoint; neither the browser nor the website can log any details if there are no servers to which to log them.

[mr-cheffy]

Real reason is concerning infrastructure costs

[Kaedriz]

The problem isn't a development effort or a lack of solutions. My understanding is that @mauro-balades doesn't want any database/server infrastructure, period. One motivation for this is from a privacy standpoint; neither the browser nor the website can log any details if there are no servers to which to log them.

But there wouldn't be any logging, tho? Logging, as far as I interpret it, is just behind the back process, used by the app for debugging etc. Which by, they just send crash logs to the server for analyzing.
Downloads count could be omitted, and just replaced by rating entirely, albeit not that accurately. But I don't think people, even these privacy focused ones, would be against it, if it were open-sourced, and only used by a website. Hell, even analytics on a website could be considered logging, but people are not entirely against it.

Here it would be just a user posting their rating, with their consent. Authentication could maybe be borrowed, same as Sync, from Firefox Account?

Real reason is concerning infrastructure costs

Many of these services offer "Open Source" license, which is pretty generous. But I don't know if simple rating + description DB would result in such large storage/bandwidth. Proper caching for rating would lessen this even further. The only concerning factor here could really be individual user's ratings, which could be huge with bigger user bases. This is really a problem for DB Engineer to solve, how to store & architect this.