Feedback on the FeedDemon 1.6 BETA

Last week's release of FeedDemon 1.6 Beta 1 has resulted in a ton of feedback, and I'd like to thank those who have taken the time to give the beta a test drive. Due to some really bad timing on my part I needed to take some downtime towards the end of last week, so I'd also like to thank Jack Brewster for his heroic efforts in dealing with so many issues in my absence. Jack, I owe you one - again :)

Much of the feedback we've received has been related to a handful of problem areas in the beta, and I'd like to address a few of them here:

• As many people unfortunately discovered, we had some problems with the new activation system used by the beta. We do have a temporary fix for this available, and the fix will be rolled into a new beta later this week.
• Related to the above, it appears that a number of serial numbers are missing from our database, specifically ones generated for PayPal orders or generated manually by me for translators and others who deserved a free copy. This was my fault, so if you're affected by this problem, my apologies - I should have all the missing serials imported before the next beta is released.
• Also related to this, there appears to be some confusion as to why the FeedDemon beta requires a NewsGator account, which is understandable given our flip-flop regarding subscription. Please understand, though, that this requirement isn't part of some covert scheme to force you into a subscription model. Since FeedDemon is now a NewsGator product, the activation system used by the previous version of FeedDemon has been replaced with NewsGator's activation system - that's all.
• Although the new sync features are being well-received, we've received a few comments from users complaining that they don't wish to use them. As I mentioned in the beta announcement, you can continue to use FeedDemon without the sync features - we're not going to force you to use them, no matter how much we like them :)
• Right now my inbox is overflowing with beta questions and bug reports. As much as I appreciate the feedback, I really must ask that you use post your comments in the FeedDemon Beta Forum rather than email them to me.
• I'm going to be kinder about this than I probably should, but an over-zealous user of a competing product has been spamming our forums with FUD about FeedDemon. As a result, I've taken the very rare step of banning this person from our forums and deleting the offending messages (criticism is fine, spam is not). BTW, this is the same person who posted a slew of negative comments about FeedDemon in other peoples' blogs last week.

That's all for now - thanks again for giving the beta a spin, despite its still-buggy status.

Comments

[Neil T.]

Ah, so that's why my serial number didn't work :) . Thanks Nick, I figured you'd be able to work out the problem.

The blog spamming guy is still about - I had him hit mine a few minutes ago. I deleted it since I didn't think it was a fair criticism - or FUD, as you say.

[Roger Benningfield]

Nick: Any chance that wfw:commentRss support is on the roadmap? I really like a lot of things about Feeddemon, and with "inactive updates", you've addressed one of my biggest concerns... but without integrated comment feed support, I still can't see using FD on a day-to-day basis.

[Neville Hobson]

Interesting to learn of your action, Nick, re the FUD commenter. That person posted a comment to a post I'd written about FeedDemon on one of my blogs with the exact same comment he'd posted in the forum.

I answered that comment to my post with the same answer I posted to his forum comment (which looks to be part of your delete, and which now explains why my forum post total went down by one!).

I'm not removing the comment nor banning the commenter (well, not banning yet anyway) from my blog. Anyone reading the comment and my detailed response in context can see quite quickly the complete lack of objectivity (and, indeed reasoning) in the original comment.

Banning the person is one thing. Deleting a comment is another entirely. Other than obvious spam, the only time I've ever deleted a comment on my blog (and I have, just once) is where the comment was xeonophobic and likely to seriously offend many people.

But that's my policy, not yours. I do wonder, though, whether deleting an unfavourable comment - no matter how much FUD it could present - really is a good idea.

[Nick Bradbury]

Neville, I'd usually agree with you, but in this case I feel completely justified in removing this person from our support forums.

This wasn't a situation where someone simply posted criticism - I can deal with that, as existing forum posts attest. This was a situation where one person was posting the exact same comment to many different blogs, and he signed up in our support forums for the sole purpose of spamming us as well.

Our forums are provided as a place where we support our customers, and there's no reason we should tolerate trolls from those who don't even use our software. That's an unnecessary distraction not only for us, but also for our customers.

[Neville Hobson]

Yes, I can see where you have the justification in this case. If I were running a forum like this, I would have done the same, for the specific reasons you mention.

Thanks for commenting on that.

[Russ W]

I had a problem where the BETA blew all my suscriptions and groups away. While I have recoved most of the critical feeds, I had wanted to hang onto old posts...

Discouraged, but still a fan...

--Russ

[Nick Bradbury]

Russ, can I get you to post this bug in the beta forum ( http://www.newsgator.com/forum/messages.aspx?ForumID=7 ), along with any information that might help us reproduce it?

[Peter Tilbrook]

Apart from the activision issue - it rocks!