Questions and suggestions from Bossgard

[bossgard]

George: Thank you, and I think you know what I am thanking you for!

So here goes:

As a user of Genie Pro for a very short year?s time, there are two things that are absolutely necessary for my success with PRO:
1. Purchase and the installation of the Genie program, including any updates.
2, Easy access to training materials to use the program preferably by opening screen Nos. which at this time would include tutorials (whether printed or actual), postings to the Forum either by you or members, and support e-mails direct from you. (Might be others, as they come along.) Forgot the HELP buttons.

You have given WGP a dedicated board.

May I ask you to give a dedicated board to all PRO downloads, including WGP, that will indicate that they are available, how and where, even though they may be mentioned on the Forum elsewhere.

And a dedicated board relating to instructions on how to use those downloads and where they are available for reading or hard-copy, even though they may be mentioned on the Forum elsewhere.

In doing the above, it seems to me that it would make it easier for you rather than corresponding individually to members, to have the above central locations on the Forum or other locations to refer Members for help.

(I realize that there might be other software of the Genie Family to also include in above.)

Thanks, for the consideration.

- Toby

[ideasguy]

Hi Toby
I'll deal with your points one by one
RE

Purchase and the installation of the Genie program, including any updates

Once Ive made program changes, I very rarely send out "old" CD's. I want new users to See the very latest set of programs on start-up.


2, Easy access to training materials to use the program preferably by opening screen Nos. which at this time would include tutorials (whether printed or actual), postings to the Forum either by you or members, and support e-mails direct from you. (Might be others, as they come along.) Forgot the HELP buttons.

RE

You have given WGP a dedicated board

Yes, per your request. I misunderstood what you had in mind (this topic) but nevertheless, I think a dedicated board for the WPG was warranted.

RE:

May I ask you to give a dedicated board to all PRO downloads, including WGP, that will indicate that they are available, how and where, even though they may be mentioned on the Forum elsewhere

I rather thought I'd got that covered.
On the Product Support Web Site
The summary of the latest program versions can be located using the same procedure for each product.
e.g. In the case if Ideas Genie, you click the Ideas Genie on the Web - GA153 Button
This takes you to the Product support home page.
On it you'll find a link to Ideas Genie Program updates
On that page, a summary of the programs, and latest issue information.
Also on that page, links to documents explaining the various upgrades

On the forum:
Under each product, Ive created a dedicated section to discuss updates. In each case, its called Whats new


RE:

And a dedicated board relating to instructions on how to use those downloads and where they are available for reading or hard-copy, even though they may be mentioned on the Forum elsewhere.

I hope to find time to glean the forum and write up more formal documents in the form of "Sessions"  for the Product Support Web Sites.
Along the lines of what Ive done for Flower Genie:
http://www.flowergenie.co.uk/UserGuide/
I also plan a revamp of the Product Support Web Sites

RE:

In doing the above, it seems to me that it would make it easier for you rather than corresponding individually to members, to have the above central locations on the Forum or other locations to refer Members for help

Yes, it would indeed make my support role easier. e.g. Ive been able to point FG users to a relevant session in Flower Genie User Guide.
The information would be on the respective Product support web sites, not dedicated boards on the forum.
The reason is quite simple. Only a small percentage of users have registered on the forum.
I used to think it was because they weren't using the software. Ive been pleasantly surprised to get emails from customers of 3 to 6 years ago, who have bought a new computer and want to transfer their data.
I get them upgraded and up and running, and invite them to the forum, but ...

[bossgard]

George: Again, thank you very much. You have given me some procedures to follow so that I can always stay current with Ideas Genie PRO and its happenings. I will try to form the habit to look in on WHATS NEW first each time I sign in on the Forum.

- Toby

[ideasguy]

It was an eye-opener for me, and a very good exercise.

I made the old mistake of "assume"-ing (ass out of you and me, and all that ballarney) that you and everyone knew about the respective "XXXX on the web" websites, and the links to Downloads on those web sites.

From the web stats, I can see that they are being used quite often, so that is a good sign.
To explain that, I can look up statistics for each of my web sites, and see how many "hits" there have been to each page.

To other members:
Any comments, suggestions, requests?

[JohnB]

Hi George,
On the topic of program updates, my suggestion is not actually new, I think you and I discussed this a couple of years ago. For someone who doesn't use the program day-in-day-out or the message board - I find it to be quite a tedious process to get the program updated. These days, we are all quite spoiled by Microsoft, Adobe, Google and the rest of the mainstream software developers - they typically have a single button update mechanism that checks their websites for updates and if any are needed, downloads and installs them for you.

Now, I do realize you are not quite so well funded as Microsoft and Google  - but if there was a script I could run that would check what versions of all the component programs I have against a master list of the latest versions on your site - and told me which ones I need to download and install - that would really help. Now perhaps that exists and you'll just have to educate me (again?) - if not - then consider it a suggestion!

All the best and thank you for your continued support.

[ideasguy]

Yes, I do recall discussing this subject before, John. I gave it a lot of thought then, and Ive given it a lot of thought before replying to this latest posting.

First, I'm afraid there is no magic script as yet.

Most applications are one single program.
When that program is started, a version number/issue date could be identified automatically. By connecting automatically to the Product Support server, the latest version available can be read from a database, and a comparison made. Automatic updating kicks in if program is out of date.

In my apps (IG, FG BG etc) there are multiple programs, all maintained individually - each with their own unique Version No.
I don't see any reliable way of doing a check on all programs in one script.

I do have a few ideas which need more thought before diving in.
I will do my best to offer something in the next upgrade.