Inspiration

jerryboi · Post by **jerryboi** » Thu Sep 25, 2014 5:10 pm

According to the wikipedia the "Community Server was based on the work done by Rob Howard on the ASP.NET Forums". I checked it out and http:// for ums.asp.net (if i don't insert the spaces then a giant monster gif eats up the editor -- try it yourself if you don't believe me) is something I could totally live with. If there is indeed a designer working on making this forum suck a little less hard, then perhaps he could use that forum for inspiration. I am sure Rob would approve.

phoenix · Post by **phoenix** » Fri Sep 26, 2014 12:22 am

That monster gif is another serious design flaw but ..... I pasted a link in another thread and fortunately it does change into a preview when you post the message on the forums. I just don't know how anyone else on these forums hasn't seen any of these problems in the past or perhaps the Zimbra users are just more demanding and used to a forum that was more adapted to a technical support environment and somewhat better performance than I'm experiencing here.

ApparentlyMyUsernameIsNotAvailable · Fri Sep 26, 2014 12:34 am

a little sad, this is supposedly Telligent's flagship product (and what they specialize in), and I find it repulsive and riddled with bugs and serious design flaws. It's like nobody at Telligent has ever used any other forum product...

PS: why do we suddenly have a "community manager"? I think we got off just fine with self moderation + community super-stars like phoenix. (sorry Jenn, i know it's a job, but there isn't exactly much community left to manage...)

rhoward · Post by **rhoward** » Sat Sep 27, 2014 10:49 am

We screwed up the implementation / migration. It was done too quickly and it's pretty obvious. Just about everything that people are asking for or giving direct feedback on is configuration. Typically: we would have done a small migration of data, invited in 50-100 of the most active users to give feedback, applied as much of that feedback as possible and then launched.

phoenix · Post by **phoenix** » Sat Sep 27, 2014 11:05 am

Thanks for this feedback. [:)]

I think that for me the problem is that we are getting no updates and when there is an update it's always after the fact and seems to only occur when someone starts complaining. I appreciate this is a difficult time for everyone involved but a short note to say 'it's delayed because.....' would do wonders.

SnakeDoc · Post by **SnakeDoc** » Sat Sep 27, 2014 1:41 pm

Rob -- we still have zero information about your supposed "incident" with the previous forums (that were working just fine btw). Seems very fabricated and convenient at this point to say "oh ya, something happened so we had to take it all down and try a migration". I've been a sys admin for a long time -- and can't think of a single "incident" that would ground my servers permanently. Either your team is absolutely incompetent and should be terminated, or Telligent is lying about this entire mess. I'm not sure which is worse...

Furthermore -- the blatant lies about how it's somehow technically impossible to at-the-very-least bring the old forums back online in read-only mode while you guys stumble through this catastrophe you call a migration is downright unacceptable. This is a technical forum - you can't fool us with smoke and mirrors. So, we call you out -- then magically you guys are going to bring the old forums back online in read-only mode -- proving it was a lie from the very beginning! and!!! we could have had access to the data the entire freaking time!

Still don't think Telligent "gets it" -- we don't give 2 sh**s about your "social community"... we care about the data. That was a decade of knowledge... longer than your company has even existed.

And then -- you link us to some companies using your forum product -- have you personally even looked at the links yourself!?!?!? The rackspace forums in particular seems to have taken every design decision your company has made - and done the exact opposite (making it far more usable!). Seriously -- you guys lost more credibility in my eyes by even acknowledging they are the same product -- I seriously would never have known!

I quote you "We did a terrible job of rolling it out for ourselves " -- that is a serious understatement. This is complete amateur hour. As the CTO, you should be horribly embarrassed.

rhoward · Post by **rhoward** » Sat Sep 27, 2014 2:02 pm

Fair point. No, we haven't said what the issue was and I'm not sure why we haven't. I will look into this.

There is no "blatant lies" happening. No one is trying to fool you with smoke and mirrors. I don't mind being called out and will be as transparent as I can be.

Actually, Telligent - the company I founded in 2004 - existed long before Zimbra. But I understand your point.

Have I looked at the links myself? Of course. They are examples of what happens when this product is rolled out correctly. This product is designed to be tailored -- unfortunately, this didn't happen here. I'm not sure what else I can say about that other than acknowledge it.

Embarrassed? Yes.

jerryboi · Post by **jerryboi** » Sun Sep 28, 2014 5:40 pm

Rob,

Let me just say that the fact that you respond to these posts and your totally frank no-bs approach is very reassuring. As per "long before Zimbra", though, here is a blogpost from 2005 - the time I first installed the product: http://blog.zimbra.com/blog/archives/20 ... imbra.html

Telligent Systems Inc. was only a couple of months old that time.

btriem · Post by **btriem** » Sun Sep 28, 2014 7:07 pm

Rob,

It is good to know you are embarrassed about this transition because it tells the community you are human and that you would have it different if you could turn back the clock. But the clock is set and what we, the community, really need is what this company stakes it's name on. Communication. I've been passively watching the back and forth from the community about their dissatisfaction with this transition of critical historical support data, biding my time, giving the newly combined Zimbra/Telligent company the benefit of the doubt. I'm not going to go into a long rant but I will say that regardless of the brashness and dissatisfaction that has been expressed by Zimbra supporters, their position is validated. So please, understand that you cannot communicate with the community too much. There is no such thing as too much communication. Keep it real, keep it forthright and know we will walk through the mud with you and that the community is there to help should you need it. Having said that, anything we can do to lend a hand?

Regards,

Brad

quanah · Post by **quanah** » Sun Sep 28, 2014 8:26 pm

First import of Zimbra code was done on March 5, 2004, from the original subversion. I.e., Zimbra likely started in at least 2003.