Actinic Updates / Development Blog...

[CymraegKev]

If its going to be just new updates (i.e like the post about 9.04) and technical stuff, then it makes sense to leave it here I suppose.

However, if its going to be a productive disemination of information about where the product is going, ideas for the future, release dates, examples and samples from within the Towers then it really should be in a blog in my opinion.

We see it a lot on here when people tell shop builders to follow the big boys like Amazon - "they get it right", well, all the big boys in software have a blog that is not on their forums, and really isn't just a technical debate.

The blog could be a great tool - use it to demo potential new features, give videos of how to use some of the features, use it to give links to other sites that have useful information about eCommerce, announce when a new feature has been added to the Aug etc etc. Just take a look at the business (and developer) blogs of Adobe, MS, Apple, Mozilla - just to state a few.

It really does depend on what information is going to be detailed really.

[leehack]

Website, AUG, KB, Forum and now a Blog possibly. History tells us these areas are hard to assign time to when other things need that valuable time and thus keep them up to date long term. Whatever method is chosen in the end, it needs to be a long term decision with a committal to keep it up to date.

Personally I would choose the forum, but am happy either way. I'd like to see a list of current bugs and a list of those bugs 'hoped' to be fixed in the next release. I'd like some more transparency on release dates, so when we talk to clients, we can talk with some clear answers.

I've had quite a few frank discussions with Ben and Bruce offline of late and it has helped me in running my business tenfold. It's not always good news but there is something extremely satisfying about just knowing the future and being able to plan around it. Satisfaction with the towers is at the highest I have seen it for quite some time, that is undoubtedly linked to the 'upped' communication levels IMO, so long may it continue in whatever format.

[CymraegKev]

Whatever method is chosen in the end, it needs to be a long term decision with a committal to keep it up to date.

Yep, that is the key.

[dave_finlayson]

A blog would certainly be my choice, with a nice accompany RSS feed so I don;t always have to visit it! vBulletin do a blog add on so this could easily be kept as part of the forum too.

[RuralWeb]

vBulletin do a blog add on so this could easily be kept as part of the forum too.

best of both worlds then

[dave_finlayson]

best of both worlds then

They also do a bug tracker too, having that might be too much to ask for though

[TraceyHand]

They also do a bug tracker too, having that might be too much to ask for though

you just need one of THESE

[dave_finlayson]

Oh you're on form today Mrs H!

[gabrielcrowe]

having your cake and eating it:

http://www.vbulletin.com/features_blog.php

[dave_finlayson]

And for reference, the rather good bug tracker:-

http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/project.php?projectid=6

[pinbrook]

vBulletin do a blog add on so this could easily be kept as part of the forum too.

seems a smart idea to me.

I'd like to keep the 2 separate as the forum does get junked alot, whereas the blog could be kept quite sucinct and searchable with relevant results. Blog with comments will make the announcements stand out, whereas a long thread in the forum becomes tedious to read.

For this to be of benefit to us, it needs to be 2 way which a forum thread would not be

[Mike Hughes]

Like others I think it depends on what you want to do.

If the idea is to communicate important stuff to actinic users then it needs to go on the forum. That way we can all see it, find it in searches and avoid the need for duplicate posts and crossed threads, etc. I wouldn't necessarily sticky the posts, but put them in their own section.

On the other hand if it's to broadcast general stuff about what's going on to keep a flow of information going then a blog makes more sense. Unlike Forums, Blogs can be quickly scanned for interesting info without having to open every thread.

Probably both would be a good idea. As Lee says though, the important thing is to make good use of them otherwise there's no point.

Mike

[chris ashdown]

what is a blog
what is a twitter

kiss use the forum, you know it makes sense

[Golf Tee Warehouse]

I'd prefer to see the information kept on the forum or a vBulletin Blog add-on and not have to check somewhere else extra.

[Rich Brady]

Or a twitter feed if you want to be really up to date...

Actinic have a twitter feed, but it's not updated very often. Last post Dec 16th... http://twitter.com/actinic

Unless someone at Actinic is tasked to update on a regular long term basis there's little point IMO.