Automatic Notification of new build.
May I propose the following:
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Dear Forum Moderator.
Please create a new "sticky" forum topic
This topic should be "locked" but continue to have the the checkbox for "Notify me when new comments are posted"
Those of us in the user community that wish to be notifed of new builds (versus new versions)
can set the check box.
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Background:
I have TI_2010 with premium support.
Yet had I not manually looked I would not known/realized that a new build was published 2 weeks ago. I find this lack of communication disconcerting.
Thinking the issue was my fault I searched all over but have not found a mechanism to be automatically notified of a new build. Assuming none exists we can create one here within this forum.
Most forum topics have a check box at the end stating:
"X Notify me when new comments are posted"
The Forum Mods already have the power to post a comment into a locked topic.
I suggest this forum have such a topic us users can "monitor".
When a new build is released the forum mods would post a comment about it.
When they do all of us who set the checkbox would get an e-mail announcing the new build.
This would go a long way into increasing communication.
It may also go along way into reducing support costs since the first support action is always ask if you are running the current build with the answer often being no.
Yes, there should be a sticky for new builds, of both the full product and the recovery media .iso.
Please?
Makes a lot of sense. Although in Today's World, that can be a deal-breaker.
FYI: new build posting http://forum.acronis.com/forum/6174
It SEEMS they are trying...
FYI: new build posting http://forum.acronis.com/forum/6174
Sure wish the Real Programmers will come off vacation soon!
There can be no denying the need for Acronis users to be notified when a new build is released for their version; or when a new version is released which makes their existing version no longer supported. We know from past practice, once a complete new version is released (such as TIHome 2010), there will be no further build updates for the prior version which was TIHome 2009. Just as when TIH 2009 was released, the new builds for V11 ceased. With very few exceptions, the Acronis past practice is stop updating prior versions.
Most forum software (and I assume that includes this forum) has the capability of sending all forum registrants an email on any topic deemed necessary. Most certainly, Acronis has (or can create) an email listing of all the registered owners for any particular version, so such a list could again be used to send a email notification of an update or any other topic.
Again, most forum software offers their registered forum members an option whereby the user can subscribe to a particular topic (which in this case is the posting suggested by oracledba so if the user subscribed to the locked posting, the user could be notified of any posting made by the forum moderators or Acronis support personnel. Adding a response to a posting should NOT be a requirement in order to receive email acknowledge of actiivty within that posting. Merely subscribing to that posting should suffice.
There is a definite void right now for those users that want receive notification about when a posting is made to a posting to which they have not posted any content to. Being able to subscribe to any topic would be of distinct assistance to people who troll the forum looking for tidbits of information which can help them prevent or solve many of their issues. These are shortcomings of this forum and a prompt correction is needed.
If I heard you correctly. A major action item is the forum software needs to be configured such that a user can subscribe to a topic without making a comment/post on that topic.
As things are today if I make a comment to a topic then I am subscribed to it and will receive email notices about it.
However as things are at this red hot moment the acronis forum is configured such that it does NOT let you subscribe without making a comment.
If the above is true then I totally agree, this is a major action item. And this item can ONLY be resolved by the forum mods.
What I had suggested during beta testing is an "Check for updates" option within TI 2010. I don't alwasy go to the forum to check on things, thus, I would not get the new build notification either.
However, i go into TI 2010 nearly every day to check on the logs and backup duration, and at that time would also check for updates (like I do with Quickbooks).
Another option would be to get automatically notified of a new version whenever TI is started. The option would allow to either download or ignore the info, so it would be up to me to make a decission.
Here we are in the 21st century and the software seems to have functionality we already had in the 18th century!!!!!
I have 2010 installed and by opening double clicking on the install file, it reopens to a menu of choices. Once menu choice is to check for upgrades. When you click on the menu selection, the message changes to "checking for upgrades" but then it hangs.
Maybe someone with a faster connection can check to see if this install menu option really works. When I try this "check for updates" option, my Windows Task Manager shows it as "not responding". This menu option should really be part of the installed program menu options and not relegated to the install menu which is never used except for the initial install.
GroverH,
Just for your information, Acronis have released a new English language build of TI2009, - it slipped in under the radar - build 9809 released 20 November 2009.
OracleDBA, ALL,
Great suggestion. I am going to implement it Monday morning. We will post sticky threads for each product update expected. I am afraid it will take a bit longer to implement the code to subscribe without posting. That is great functionality and we will put that on the top of the list.
Just an FYI, we do have a notification process when you are registered in our database and choose to receive news letters. However due to bandwidth issues and the size of our customer database, we had to disable this service. We are going to upgrade to ensure we have a stable notification system for releases. I do not have an ETA for this, but wanted to let you know we understand the importance of this proactive type of communication. Thanks again for the suggestion. Look for it in the next 24-48 hours.
Our next version will have an auto check for updates. I realize we are late to the table on this one but we will get it done.
Rob Frost
Our next version will have an auto check for updates.
Please take the time to do it right. The user should have an option to opt in or out of the checking for updates plus the user should have control over how frequent the check is to occur. Remember some users are still using 56K dial-up. GroverH
Thanks for the feedback Grover, I will discuss it will the Dev team today to see what the planned functionality is and if this needs to be added.
Rob
Hello, sorry for the delay in responding. I haven't been able to put together the original plan due to bandwidth issues on the Forum server. If we post a sticky thread and 1000's of people subscribe, the notification alert could crash the server. We are still working on the permanent solution with newsletter functionality in My Account. We are also looking at creating a new script to notify people in staggered delays that will not impact the server. In the meantime I will post alerts when new updates come out.
Thank you for your patience and ideas,
Rob