Welcome To Simple Machines!

[Jeff Lewis]

Hey Jeff... any idea as to when we will see the first beta version of SMF?

Of course I know

We have given a target release date to Charter Members where will will set RC1 loose to them. The whole process will contain three release candidates before we release a 1.0.

Charter Members will work with RC1 and RC2 and an open beta will work with RC3.

[[Unknown]]

Umm.. I'd rather phrase it more like, they're getting beta 1, they'll get beta 2, and they'll get RC1... or something.  And then RC2 (and 3, if there is one..) is public...

Just because RC and beta mean different things to me - RC means I can't add new features...

-[Unknown]

[Jeff Lewis]

Whatever name we give them then, the idea is the same across the board   

[eFishie]

What? THat I'll be the last one with a copy of SMF because I can't afford Charter Membership?

You know, it would be nice of you to give me charter membership as a gift . . . 

[Jeff Lewis]

It's our way of thanking those that support us We then thank the rest of the user base with an open beta as opposed to a close beta

[Scott Hamilton]

I just signed up as a Charter Member, absolutely love the old, waiting on the new with much anticipation.

You guys ROCK!

[eFishie]

They do rock, but the only way I can support them is by sending them occasional dollar bills.

[Oldiesmann]

They do rock, but the only way I can support them is by sending them occasional dollar bills.

Same here... I don't like the idea that I won't get to see any development until the final release candidate. Surely you guys can come up with a better reward for supporters, and more options for support would also be nice. You could set it up so that people have several "support levels" to choose from, and give them free "stuff" for supporting you, and let everyone beta test all the release candidates. I didn't start running my own YaBB SE board until right around the time 1.51RC1 was released, so I haven't really had the fun experience of beta-testing stuff. Give us college students a break! I'll gladly send you guys a little bit of money here and there when I can afford it, but I don't think that people should get priveleges to test earlier releases just because they can afford to pay $50 a year.

[bostasp]

They do rock, but the only way I can support them is by sending them occasional dollar bills.

Then save up the dollar bills... and sell old stuff... 

[Jeff Lewis]

but I don't think that people should get priveleges to test earlier releases just because they can afford to pay $50 a month.

It's $50 for the year, not each month...

[eFishie]

I can get domain names cheaper than that!!

$4.95 for piranhaweb.us, a price I could pay, it's 5 bucks a year. 50 bucks a year, I could probably not manage.

How is a high school student supposed to be a charter member?

[Jeff Lewis]

How is a high school student supposed to be a charter member?

By getting a paper route? It's not for everyone I admit but it's there. I am sorry you can't take advantage of it.

You'll still get to beta test, just not the first go around.

One of our Charter Members has a lot of difficulty money wise and managed to become one after reorganizing things and chatting with me.

[eFishie]

How about if I become a mod developer? Do I get sooner beta tests so I can make mods? How the hell does (or did) BoardMod work?

[Tony Reid]

I remember suggesting  a while back, that YaBBSE had some form of paid membership - to allow users access to early betas....

http://www.yabbse.org/community/index.php?thread=23270/15

To me it certainly makes sense, and will help to provide a more focused product - with some umph behind it. Its a much better model, than a lot of other projects out there.

Maybe you'll just have to wait a little

[[Unknown]]

When it boils down to it, we're thanking you for supporting us.  After all, the server is not free... and even if it were, nothing else is.  If you help us pay for such things that we need, we're more than glad to thank you in the only way we can - but if you can't, sorry... we'll still thank you for being here... but later.

-[Unknown]

[Oldiesmann]

but I don't think that people should get priveleges to test earlier releases just because they can afford to pay $50 a month.

It's $50 for the year, not each month...

That's what I meant... What I'm saying though is that you should have more options for supporting you, like PBS and certain radio stations do, and also base the "premiums" on that level - ie, those who support you the most get the earliest version to test, and maybe a t-shirt or their choice of an item from the store, and then go down from there, so that everyone who supports you gets something and what they get depends on how much they can afford to spend.

[Wezz6400]

Thing is that with the charter membership you get something you couldn't get before. If don't want to pay or if you can't offord it you will still get access to every version you had access to before. Only now you can get access to versions you couldn't get access to before by paying $50 a year. Something that may be a lot for a student like me, but for an adult with a full-time job it shouldn't be a problem I think. And you still can get the software for free.

[Jeff Lewis]

Exactly

Perhaps we'll look at more down the road but for now, this is what we offer - and it's been well received so far.

[David]

Thing is that with the charter membership you get something you couldn't get before.

Exactly, the betas that charter members get were never prviously released to the public.

[antibob]

when will the charter members get their hands on SMF?

thanks,
AB