Forums/Announcements
We are late, we are late for a very important date...
Andrew Mobbs
posted this on July 07, 2010 10:37
Dear friends of Born Free Books who are waiting so patiently for the new version we have been promising for weeks now, I thought I would provide you all with an update.
Unfortunately we missed a vital window of opportunity to launch the new version due to some problems we were experiencing with the design in Internet Explorer 6 (our old 'friend' from 2001!) as well as other design commitments that Rohan (our Creative Director) needed to complete.
For the past 2 and a half weeks I have had my head buried in year end accounts for the three companies I manage (something I thought was only going to be required in October) and so haven't had an opportunity to finish off what we needed to in order to bring you all the fantastic features of our new version.
It looks like I will now be finished with these accounts in the middle of next week and so you can expect the new version to launch a few days later. I will try and be more proactive in keeping everyone up to date but I want to re-assure you that this next version is well worth the wait and thank you for your understanding, support and patience.
I hope you all have a great end to this week and enjoy this spectacular weather we are having.
Kind regards
Andrew Mobbs
Managing Director
P.S. you will know we are live with the new version when a beautiful email lands in your inbox informing you of the exciting news :)
Comments
Thank you so much - it's good to know what's up, what kind of timeframe we're talking about, and most importantly, that I don't need to give up waiting! :)
I'm sorry to hear it's all gone a bit hectic with you, I hope it all calms down soon.
Lottie
Thanks very much for your understanding and continued support in spite of our poor customer service Lottie.
I have felt terrible for not keeping you all updated sooner but every time I have logged on to do so, our accountant has called and I have been distracted with the provision of more accounts data for him.
With our house slightly more in order I am determined not to let this happen again.
I hope you are well? What are you reading now?
I've been a tad stressed lately, but trying to relax more and it's kind of working! I'm reading "Erewhon" by... someone. Samuel someone? Not sure! It starts off reallllllly boringly, and then gets better a little way in, it's all bonkers! They prosecute people who're physically ill or unlucky, but have big sympathy and doctors for people who embezzle or defraud or whatever! Strange. :D
I am really sorry to hear that Lottie. I hope things calm down properly for you soon too.
I have never heard of Erewhon. Sounds very strange. Let me know if it ends well :)
Thanks, Andrew. :) I will keep you posted on Erewhon! It's on the 1001 books to read before you die list, anyway, and it was written Back in the Day, ie: considered a classic...
W00t! I have finally finished the company accounts for all the businesses and I am now burying myself in the completion of the new version. Will post daily updates here for those that are interested in following progress but you can expect the launch in the next 2-3 days :)
Thanks again to everyone for their patience with the delays. As a thank you, we are offering all those of you that have already registered and been anxiously awaiting the new version, another free stationery pack. Drop us a note with your Born Free Books username on this forum post before the end of this month and we will stick it in the mail to you as soon as possible.
Another free stationary pack!?! You guys sure know how to reward your members!
Hoping dropping a note means posting something here. Keep popping back to see what's happening with the new version and very much looking forward to it
Hi Abigail, I will ensure we get a stationery pack in the post to you tomorrow morning.
We have realised that we need to restructure how we release new versions of BFB as the changes we have made to the site are so wide and deep that testing it has been a major nightmare. As you can no doubt tell we continue to run WAY too late with this new release so I have decided not to set any false expectations which only disappoint everyone when the deadlines aren't met.
With the incredible member feedback we received from the release of version 1 we have really defined our objectives for the site and so in the future (after the new version is live) we will be planning more rapid, regular and smaller updates to the site rather than the sweeping, all-encompassing changes that this new version has tried to tackle.
I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend and will let you know when the site has been finally updated.
Thanks Andrew.
I think you're quite right not to set any deadlines, but its good to have the knowledge that it may still be a while. And smaller updates in the future sound like a good idea as well.
Someone over on GoodReads just told us she's joined up here, and I've given her the link to the forums. Maybe a link on the "front" page would help new members find the forums? :)
Anyway, thanks Andrew for keeping us posted, and I hope life isn't throwing too much at you right now. ;)
That is great news and a very good suggestion Lottie. I have held off adding the forum link to the main navigation of the site until the new version is ready but I may be able to do this without having to update the entire site so will look into this as a stop gap solution.
Life has been a whirlwind for the past 2 months. The Hatchery has just sky-rocketed and is consuming all of my time as we try and find suitable resources to help us grow the business. I am very unhappy with our lack of resources to be able to deliver the update to BFB and so the sooner I can find a quality developer to join our team the better.
Speaking of which...if you or anyone on these forums knows an excellent .NET and SQL Server developer that would like to join our small team please ask them to get in touch with me asap.
In the meantime, I will try and jig the homepage menu today.
I hope you are well and that equally life hasn't thrown too much at you lately. I saw some of your tweets about your electricity monitor. Was that one you got as part of the monthly British Gas offer? I have been considering getting one myself but wasn't sure of its usefulness.
Helloo!
So, I've just popped back to the homepage and this is what I can see: http://skitch.com/lottielodge/d17nb/wonky-link-bfb
The "ting start" link leads to support.bornfreebooks.com so that's good, but people might not know where it goes? It might just be my computer that it's gone wrong on though. ;)
This sounds odd now that I think it through, but I'm really glad The Hatchery has exploded! I guess it's not so good that it's taking up all of your time right now, but you surely deserve mucho success. :) I'll ask on Twitter about the .NET and SQL Server developer thing for you, it may help.
My electricity monitor is indeed free from British Gas, and it is fascinating! It makes such a nice change from having your meter tucked away somewhere, and then having a bill come through with an amount of money owed that's a bit baffling. :) I've been pootling about the house, turning things on and off, and generally being fascinated. I would say it is useful, just because it's so *different* to be able to see exactly how much power you're using and where it's going and suchlike. Get iiiit!
Hi Lottie. Thanks very much for the feedback and screenshot. It really makes such a difference!
I suspect the problem may have something to do with caching. Could you refresh your page and let me know if it is still an issue please?
Thanks for the encouragement for The Hatchery and for the interesting bits about the British Gas monitor. I think I will give it a go and we can then compare performance ;)
Have a great weekend.
Refreshing totally worked, hurrah! :) Thanks, and keep me posted on the energy monitor majiggy!
Brilliant, thanks for letting me know Lottie.
I have just ordered my energy monitor so will let you know how I get on ;)
Hi Andrew,
I hope The Hatchery isn't taking all the time from you... so waiting for the updates on this site :)
I just dropped by to register a pile of books. I've got around 30 that are to travel by November on my various trips (got more labels?). Sigh - too bad it doesn't still seem to be possible to register the books yet before knowing exactly where to release them. It would be very useful if those could be registered prior to release, since once one is on the road (especially when travelling abroad) there isn't an internet connection always available.
Hi giax
Unfortunately our expansion and recruitment process for The Hatchery is taking much longer than we expected. There just don't seem to be many truly talented developers looking for work in the current economic climate which means I am still trying to do far too many things myself. If anyone on these forums knows of someone that might fit the bill please do ask them to email me asap.
I am really sorry that the new version is still in incubation and that you can't register your books without specifying a location yet. If you would like to register them and use the same location for them all then I would be happy to manually update those records when you get back and let me have a list of their drop points. I would also be very happy to send you some more stationery. Would 20 sets be ok?
Even if we don't find another developer soon, the new version should be able to nab enough of my attention at the beginning of October for me to finally finish it up. Let me not jinx it by making promises though! ;) Will keep you posted on these forums and you will receive an email as soon the new version goes live.
Would the developers have to be physically based in UK? I could think of a few people that I might ask if they are interested (or know someone else who would be) but they aren't UK based (but Ireland, California and Argentina). I think a more detailed list of skills and ambitions needed for the job helps too.
20 would be good I think. What I think is kind of accurate enough for now is that I decide what book should be released in which city, and then register it for there before and make a guess on what day I'll be there. But the exact location, time, or where to hunt for it won't be always possible to know especially in a city I haven't been to yet. Releasing books in different cities and villages when traveling makes an awesome 'souvenir' alternative. And definitely more fun to try to find a new city for each book. :)
Hi again giax
They wouldn't necessarily need to be based in the UK but if they aren't then they would need to come with some pretty impressive credentials that would give us sufficient confidence that they can work effectively and efficiently remotely. The key skills we are looking for are an experienced (5+ years) .NET (C#) and SQL Server 2005+ developer with solid business analytics skills and a passion for small business and job diversity. Any recommendations you can offer will be greatly appreciated.
I have just stuck 20 stationery sets in the mail to you and sent them Airmail so they should be with you in a few days.
Your idea of releasing books as a "souvenir" alternative is brilliant by the way. I really like that.
Have an excellent week.
Cheers
Andrew
Any more progress on this?
Hi Abigail
Thanks for checking in.
We have made good progress despite all the distractions of the past few months, and are pushing hard to get the new version out the door as soon as we possibly can. I realise we must be wearing everyone's patience thin but hope you will choose to stick with us. We are close ;)