Thanks for the starting the topic called 'Ted'. I think you, and Greg, summed up what so many of us thought politely and coherently.
Thank you to Laurie at least, that sounds hopeful. And WOOO to the post tracking being fixed. Charles sounded a bit vague on that last time, so that's really good to hear that'll be fixed.
I'll go read the post at that other site now, which I wouldn't have known about if it wasn't for your "double post". I wish Ted hadn't taken that tone and closed it. We're ubb.threads users, we post here, and we read here. We're not to know what goes on elsewhere.
The first is that I "double posted" because I didn't get a timely response here. I knew that the post on the other infopop boards would receive an immediate response, which it got.
Secondly, Greg you say they are overloaded. Quite frankly, I'm not sure if they are. They certainly occur overloaded though. And, given Groupee's commitment to its web communities and their citizens, I'd kindly suggest there is some dissonance with the way .threads is being completed.
The general intention of my initial post was to have a conversation about how .threads is being completed. The fact that the topic was closed said a lot to me. I think there is a powerful way to complete .threads, not only in the actual product but the conversations around it. (To end with the negative conversations around it is really unfair; .threads as a product served its purpose well.)
I'll end on this.. I don't think they need more developers, as Greg suggested. The folks at Groupee are some of the best and the brightest in the biz. I have no doubt that the next generation product will be fantastic, functional, and influential.
I do, however, believe that the lack of communication and handling of the concerns we, as customers, have is a breakdown, especially given the Groupee vision.
There is now an opportunity to see how Groupee responds to this breakdown, separate and distinct from actually fixing the bugs and suggesting a "soon" release date. I'm really requesting a conversation - what this message board stuff is really about.
I think this is a pivotal time for us as a company, as we do have a LOT on our plates right now. Part of the intention in creating a new downloadable product was to make it the best that a downloadable message board could be. There are things about both UBB.classic and UBB.threads that make it difficult to go beyond a certain point, and the new product is being built with a lot of experience and knowledge that we have gained from developing UBB.classic and UBB.threads. As Allusivekudos said, "To end with the negative conversations around it is really unfair; .threads as a product served its purpose well."
Also, once the new product is released and development for the current downloadables really does stop, there will be ONE product to worry about, which is somewhat of a relief to our developers. Please keep in mind that we are still a small company with limited resources, so hiring more developers just isn't realistic right now. Unfortunately, that means that projects take a little longer to complete. I know that has been a great source of frustration for many of you. I think the best way to insure the ability of Groupee to hire more developers is to support the growth of our company by using our products and telling others about them. From what I've seen on this board lately, certain people are doing quite the opposite, which is very sad. That said, I agree that Groupee presence is essential on this board, and we will certainly make a concerted effort to be here.
Many people certainly agree with your sentiments Greg. In fact, it seems quite a few have reacted in the same manner as you.
I, however, want to see and experience the new product, and then make an informed choice with all available options. I have high expectations for the next product.
Quite frankly, aside from being annoyed with the latest release of .threads being broken, and having my own opinions about it. (Like why rewrite the post-tracking code, and all that jazz, and then dump the project for the next generation product?) But, it's just my opinion and pretty much irrelevant.
I think one of the biggest issues here is the silence, and breakdown in communication. My guess, is that you're being as forthcoming as possible Laurie and that it's as simple as folks at Groupee having a lot on their plates.
If the intentions, vision, and comitments of Groupee get thwarted by (internal) conversations of busy-ness, and other disempowering (internal) conversations, I think breakdowns like the one we're seeing now occur. It's the reason I initially titled that thread with Ted, because I think he's the one to pull *everyone* out of whatever disempowering conversations exist. Though, it could well be Rosemarry. I'm not sure.
I'll end on this....Busy-ness, or a full plate, should not be the excuse to give yourself permission to drop the ball. That's a very human pitfall, and as simple as that. Some people (and businesses) fall into this trap more than others.
I think the opportunity here is for Groupee, at the very least, to declare that what's happened with regard to conversation, and the bugs, a breakdown. And, this will all be history once the final version of .threads is complete. .Threads will be declared complete, and most of these conversations will rest with that. What's needed next will be the vision and commitment powerfully declared, with what we can count on and expect from Groupee. (I think we're all screaming that we can't wait for this too, dammit. <img src="https://www.ubbcentral.com/boards/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> )
I can agree that general business is not an excuse to drop the ball. In the case of the new product, it seems there were some difficulties at first in deciding how to do certain things without breaking other things, and there was a bit of backtracking and rewriting - hence the later release date. I don't think there's as much internal drama as some seem to think there is; it's simply a matter of transitioning from what this company was in the past to what we want it to be in the future. Transitions can be a bit bumpy, and they're harder for some people than for others, but I'm confident that we'll come out stronger for it. I also agree that there hasn't been enough Groupee presence on the board lately, and I'll do my best to help rectify that situation. It's encouraging to see that there are people who are willing to give us a chance and wait for the new product to come out before making any decisions (thanks, Allusivekudos!). Greg, I can understand that you have to do what you think is best for your community, but I hope you'll look in on us in the future and see what we're offering. <img src="https://www.ubbcentral.com/boards/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
I agree with the comments raised here... and agree that it's a bit late for Laurie to turn up. Having said that, it's better late than never, nice to hear and let's hope the communication lines open again (let's not scare Laurie off now).
On the ubb.threads front, I was speaking to Charles. I won't repeat what he said, it's not my place to do so. However I will say that I was encouraged by what he had to say about 6.5.2, it sounds like they're dedicated to sorting out ubb.threads before it's put to bed.
For starters I have to say that I'm terribly disappointed with Infopop as well as Threads of late. To me Infopop seems like it has abandoned the project altogether, or at least directed all its attention elsewhere with the "Threads users are last on our agenda" routine. This is a disgrace, especially if you've been duped into buying a lifetime Gold license like I have.
Every other similar software product is moving full speed ahead, improving things from a to z, adding countless features... and here we are... looking at a dead product and waiting for someone to find the spare time to develop the new one.
In hindsight I would never have paid for the Gold license, especially since recent "fixes" for Threads have introduced even more dangerous bugs. But overall the lack of effort and the diverting of priorities to other Infopop/Groupee products is what hurts the worst. It's sort of like going to a restaurant, ordering, and then seeing everyone else served before you during the next seven hours. Unbelievable...
