ForumsNews and FeedbackAG3 Calendar: February 22, 2011. Codename: Scimitar

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cormyn
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cormyn
2,892 posts
Nomad

The next beta release has not been given a codename yet, but we'll update the forum title once we do.

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All times are in Pacific Standard Time, relative to where our office is located. These times aren't set in stone, by any means, I only write it up here to give everyone some idea of what our typical day looks like for a beta release.

Our next release will be today, February 8th.

Here's a rough schedule of our day:

8:30am, we're all in the office, getting coffee or Diet Dr Pepper, and coordinating our morning events, squishing last-minute bugs. We furiously test our code internally on several operating systems and browsers to see if there are any specific layout/render bugs we need to fix.
9:00am, I generally start tweeting our status, what we're working on, and issues we see. Justin will probably send out several tweets about the release as well, either by re-tweeting me or sending his own notes.
9:00am, I flip a switch on the database to increment the next beta phase, and migrate new users to our mailing list software. Any users signing up after that will have to wait until the NEXT beta release to get an invite code.
11:30am, lunch time. BLT's, anyone?
12:30pm, we reconvene to do a final status check on our code, see how everything looks on our test server, and work furiously to fix last-second problems.

Between 1pm and 5:30pm, we get all of our code checked in, deployed to our production servers, start preparing our newsletter and get ready to queue up any invite codes.

The newsletter will explain more about what we've been working on, what's in the new release, that sort of thing, but does NOT include beta invite codes. Invite codes are always sent in a separate Email to users.

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It's important to note up front that several things will seem "missing" from the site, such as the forums, etc. This is to be expected, because we're rolling out the beta in phases where we add new features every two weeks or so.

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The next release's feature set isn't official yet, but may include the new goodies we've been working on for game favorites. We may also include some new features for keeping track of which games you play so you can see a history of what you play and how often. I think we have some stuff planned for the play page for each game as well.

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Found a bug? Found something you absolutely love-omg-squee-happybacondance? Please post it on GetSatisfaction for us. The rest of the webdev team is deathly allergic to lurking in the forums, but posting a message on GS will send an Email update to everyone, which usually gets priority over other things we're doing.

  • 22 Replies
Pedro97
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Pedro97
1,870 posts
Jester

I have just opened my newsletter and got the latest release... I love the new features and I don't see any bugs yet. The favorite game button is an awesome feature too.

GhostOfMatrix
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GhostOfMatrix
15,622 posts
Herald

I just checked my e-mail and got the newsletter. I read through it all and something caught my attention.
You guys are teasing us by putting in that there's a new slick feature that we can't use. . it's only for Administrators. -_-

Pedro97
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Pedro97
1,870 posts
Jester

You guys are teasing us by putting in that there's a new slick feature that we can't use.


I am curious to know what it is. I have noticed that the game counter of plays is not so right yet but some of them are close to the right number. And the featured game picture is a bit blurry yet. But the new features are awesome!
Freakenstein
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Freakenstein
9,507 posts
Jester

Didn't they talk about sleek administration features that help them do their jobs better, faster, and more efficiently? And I've been gone for 3 days!

I was looking forward to the favorite games feature, but, to be honest, I was imagining it involving the picture ad to the far right of the screen. I was like "Oh sweet, revolving favorite games for quick navigation!" but it's just a page.

caffeine101
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caffeine101
87 posts
Nomad

I am curious to know what it is. I have noticed that the game counter of plays is not so right yet but some of them are close to the right number. And the featured game picture is a bit blurry yet. But the new features are awesome!


part of the admin features that are not discussed in the newsletter, is the ability to load up newer icon images. soon all games will have images that are not stretched and blurry.
caffeine101
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caffeine101
87 posts
Nomad

I was looking forward to the favorite games feature, but, to be honest, I was imagining it involving the picture ad to the far right of the screen. I was like "Oh sweet, revolving favorite games for quick navigation!" but it's just a page.


i'm sure i'll have a revolving favorite games thing like the one in the ads section soon enough. i've already been playing with it on my spare time.
cormyn
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cormyn
2,892 posts
Nomad

As we said in the newsletter the new stuff we've worked on that users cannot see is the game administration panel for adding/managing games. James (caffeine101) has done a BOATLOAD of work making it all really simple to use, lots of helpful eye candy, etc. Dan and Larry love it.

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