The Verge is reporting that Reddit has begun testing add-ons that have been developed using its Developer Platform Beta which launched back in August 2022 as a means for developers to easily create new tools and apps for the site and its many communities.
The current selection of add-ons that are being tested are limited to a select few communities at the moment, and only for community moderators. The available tools are designed to support moderation on the platform, such as monitoring and removing comment threads and banning spammers. Additionally, sports-focused subreddits will have a tool that can create live scoreboard posts. However this will be limited to soccer-focused communities to begin with.
Courtney Geesey-Dorr, Reddit's spokesperson who confirmed this information to The Verge, declined to comment on when the Developer Platform will come out of closed beta, but did say that the beta test will help the platform "test out different functionalities of how a post-add-on will be used," as well as stress testing the site's ability to support use of this new feature.
However, Geesey-Dorr went on to say that other types of add-ons will be added to the testing roster in the coming months, such as variations on polls and countdown timer posts. Eventually, once testing has been completed, and Reddit is satisfied with the results, it will roll out add-ons to all users on the site.
This move could be seen as a positive one for those who continue to run communities on the platform, given the recent disagreements between staff and moderators which began with the changes to the API pricing structure back in June. Since then, the site has been pushing new features to draw people back, such as the launch of its Moderator Rewards Program, as well as its Contributor Program.
Source: The Verge
