In our continuing efforts to bring some coherence to the plethora of websites we’ve created to support our products, this week’s update features a brand new system for beta testing.

Before I get into the specifics, I should mention a couple points about our beta testing program for those who might be new to the concept. For MusicIP, when we have new releases which are basically stable, but haven’t been tested across a wider scope of machines and users, we make these available to a limited audience. This group of people generally contains more experienced users, who are more likely to kick on the tires, let us know if they find a leak, and take appropriate precautions to back up their files for those rare occasions where things go wrong. In exchange for helping us find any issues we might have missed, these people gets to experience the newest features up front and personal - and we’re also more likely to fix any pet peeves if we actually know what they are. It’s a great way to help out if you enjoy the product, and want to participate in making it better.

In our old beta program, people could request to join the beta program by sending an email to our support address and mentioning which platform and product they wanted to test. A MusicIP team member would add the email to the appropriate mailing list, and the next time we updated that product, the user would get email with instructions on how to get the beta. This worked pretty well for a couple years, but now we’re ready to open the scope a bit more, and make things easier for both sides of the equation.

How Do I Become a Beta Tester? Glad you asked. In the new system, you’ll first need to create an account with MusicIP (if you already have one, congratulations! Enjoy these fine truffles while I show the new guys & gals around). You’ll also need to validate your email address - just click on the link in the email you receive.

Once you’ve successfully validated your account, go to your Profile page. You can find this page under your Account Options, located on the lower left corner of the website. Unless you’re me, you won’t see nearly so many options. (The extra options there have to do with running services and maintaining our system.) For now, just click the last one, labelled Profile. From the bottom of your profile page, you should see something like this:

If you don’t see this text on your profile page, you are either already a beta tester, or you haven’t validated your email address yet. The next page lets you select which applications you want to test.

Choose the products and operating systems which apply, and press the Join! button.

From this point on, you will be able to immediately access the Beta Testing section under your Account Options, where you can download beta versions, and you will also receive emails whenever a new beta is made available. You can change which products you are interested in at any time, or opt out of the beta program from this page.

Notice that in the downloads area, there’s a section to provide a simple yes/no feeback on whether the beta is working for you. This will only show up for you after you’ve downloaded that particular product. If you change your mind, you can alter your feedback at any time before that particular beta is closed. If you have specific feedback (especially appreciated if you voted Needs Work), you can email us at the address provided, or post to our beta forum.

We hope that this new way of managing the beta program will help get more people involved, and make it easier for everyone involved. If you have feedback about the new program, please let me know at support@musicip.com.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 4th, 2006 at 12:25 pm and is filed under MusicIP. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.