WebAssist is Dedicated to the Developer

[neilo]

Hello Michael, WA Sales and WA Support,

WebAssist is Dedicated to the Developer (http://www.webassist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12909)

Exiting stuff. I have a couple of questions:

Data Grid

I have been hovering over the 'Buy now' button of DMXZone's Data Grid (http://www.dmxzone.com/go?15997#Features_in_Detail) for a week or so, and was on the point of committing, when your advance promo email (http://www.webassist.com/marketing/email/2010/0513/default.php?WAAID=892&utm_source=100513_Developers&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=100513_Developers&utm_content=view_online) arrived. I can only afford one such solution and I would prefer to keep all my eggs in the WA basket if possible, so would like an idea of how WA's DataGrid features, interface, usability (am assuming they're Ajax driven) compare with those of DMXZone's, and a rough estimate of a release date for WA's DataGrid.

DataAssist3 - Integrated CSS Form Builder

Will the integrated Form Builder be the new improved (leaner) version that people have been requesting and not just an integration of the existing (dire) version?

Advanced PHP Framework

I also think there should be a forum (seperate from the Wish List forum) where the progress, features, feature-requests and beta-testing news and feedback can be concentrated and coordinated, - to make sure that the delivered product can be released smoothly and satisfactorily into the wild. Is this a possibility?

Thanks

P.S. I couldn't find a place to respond to the announcement - where on earth has the Announcements Discussion forum gone? How or where does one respond? I'm assuming this is a temporary glitch (I can't think of an alternative non-sinister, non-retrogressive reason!).

[Ray Borduin]

DataGrid is chronologically the last thing on that roadmap. It won't be available for several months. I haven't looked at the DMXZone version, but ours will likely be built to create a spreadsheet-style database manipulation experience. It will likely include reordering, search, insert, update all from a single page. Since we aren't completely done with our planning I really can't give a final feature list or definitive answer as to what it will incliude or when it will be available for sure. The only thing we have determined is that it is on our roadmap and we will investigate all of the features it will need to be a success.

A lot of people have mentioned they would like an unstyled form option. We will definitely consider adding that feature in a future release. Thank you for the suggestion.

We will be adding a forum to help people who want to give more feedback. This forum is specifically for Support, so we really want to keep that focus here and create another forum for non-support related feadback. The Announcements Discussion was a clear example of a forum athat encouraged non-support related posts. That is why we removed it. We will be creating a more appropriate area for this type of feedback in the upcoming months.

[neilo]

Hi Ray,

Thanks for the clarification of the Road Map and Form Builder queries.

I'm not sure that I understand your reply about the Announcements Discussion forum, though! I was absent from the forums for a week or two (health), so may have missed any announcements (or discussion/reasons given) about the closure which may have prevented my current confusion.

As I understand it, the 'Announcements Discussion' forum was never designated a forum for support-related posts only (am missing something?) - I assumed that the Announcements Discussion area was an area for discussing announcements, especially as there is nowhere else that your clients/customers can freely provide you with similar valuable (to you!) feedback, opinions, food-for-thought.

I am also confused as to its disappearance as it means that quite a few of my posts have disappeared, something that you yourself once made an issue of (http://www.webassist.com/forums/showpost.php?p=45065&postcount=2) when specifically posting that this would 'never' happen. That looked very like a statement of principle, and I did not doubt your sincerity.

Until you create "a more appropriate area for this type of feedback", please could you reinstate the Annoucements Discussion forum, intact? The latest announcement invites much discussion, and this thread (http://www.webassist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12560) seems to be the designated place to have it. It may not be so apparent which threads should be used for other subjects!

Cheers Ray,

neilo

[Ray Borduin]

Our support staff are the ones that monitor and answer questions on this forum. We want to keep it that way. It was never intended to be an open discussion area or window to our management which people seem to think it should be when we create a forum for Announcement Discussion.

I made a mistake if I implied deleting posts would never happen. I have deleted many posts which included slander toward another user, us, or spam. We don't delete support related threads or threads that might help others even if we don't agree with them. But we are not above deleting anything from pornography to completely irrelavent posts and spam.

We do want to direct users to the correct channels for any constructive feedback we can get. This channel is really for support. We will be creating other channels for product feedback, and communication to our management.

[neilo]

OK Ray,

I can't say that I understand much of that. Forums/channels/areas that were open for (and inviting) discussion were somehow never meant to be open discussion areas, windows to management etc. I don't know what you're talking about.

Entire forums/channels/areas disappearing - apparently on a whim - and without forewarning, explanation or apology is an unusual occurrence under any circumstances, but particularly uncharacteristic of what I have come to expect here. Did I miss an email?

I have lost some of my posts and you are citing pornography, completely irrelavent posts, spam and slander. I am still considering what to do with that.

"Our support staff are the ones that monitor and answer questions on this forum. We want to keep it that way." Again, I don't know what you're talking about. Are you saying that non-WebAssist Staff contributors shouldn't be trying to help out? Maybe that was in the email too.

It might be an idea to have a clearer timescale in mind than 'in the coming months' for a new discussion forum, before someone else takes the initiative and builds one. You could call it: Webassist: The Future? As things are, I'd happily contribute to the WTF? forum. On a side-note, I don't think you need to put the word 'constructive' before the word 'feedback': - all feed back - positive, negative, angry, pleased, etc is still feedback. How constructive it is depends on what WebAssist (as the doers) does with it. Management should also consider all areas 'windows'.

Anyway, it's all a bit Marie Celeste here. Nobody else seems to be bothered, and I feel disincentivised and dismissed, and this is undoubtedly not the right place for discussion.

Thanks though for writing some words in reply, but I can't help feeling we're on different pages/channels/areas.