What is the best way to get a notification when new beta spots open up? I don't check this thread often enough, and I'm disappointed that I missed this opening :(
@carson.matt you get notified for the first comment after you added a comment. But if you don't visit the discussion you won't get notified for later comments. One way to get constant notifications is marking the discussion with the star sign on the discussions list page.(the icon the right side) That worked for me.
@ulahcherubim -- Thanks but I actually only got your notification, but not mmplx's, despite already having this thread starred. Not sure what's going on.
Starring only affects on-site notifications, not emails. Emails work as described above. The way to get notified via email is to click through on the link each time you get an email notification.
@dstillman What is the best way to stay updated with the forum? (I'm waiting to get an opportunity to use Zotero on Android and want to be notified when the next slots are available.)
@carson.matt: No, that's absolutely incorrect. As explained above, after you've posted to a thread, you'll get an email for the first comment since the last time you viewed the thread. You won't receive more emails after that until the next time you visit the thread. So if you want to make sure you get a notification for every comment, you just need to click the link in each email notification (and be logged into the forum). That's it.
Because there's no shortage of beta testers? The point of the beta program is to get people to test the app who should actually be using beta software and who will actively use the forums to provide feedback and report bugs. The current system is doing that just fine. If you haven't yet gotten access to the beta, I'm sorry about that, but the app just isn't out yet, and there are many more people who want to use it than we're comfortable allowing at this time.
I recall that back when Zotero 6 officially released and automatically replaced Zotero 5, a number of us took to this forum to say that we would have liked more warning and that some changes were not to our liking. We were told--I think by dstillman, in fact--that it's out fault for not trying out the Zotero 6 beta, which had been available for some time. Because of that statement, I have wanted to try the Zotero for Android beta so I can provide feedback prior to release, but there's no way for me to get a slot. So is it still my fault if I can't even test the beta?
I understand that development is complicated, but wouldn't it make more sense to communicate more thoroughly with your users (e.g. by posting to the Zotero blog more than once every two years) so we can help more (and ultimately whine less)?
Keep in mind that I'm speaking as a paid user. When I have posted on these forums, I have tended to feel like I'm seen as some kind of leach rather than as a valued customer.
@michaelanthonyabril: That's not comparable in any way, and you seem very confused about these forums and how Zotero development works.
Zotero 6 was in public beta for a year with probably tens of thousands of users, and the issue in question was just whether we had prioritized a particular advanced feature that was important to you when developing the new note editor. As I explained at the time, there was a huge amount of discussion about the Zotero 6 beta, and the feature you were interested in just didn't come up much. We added it a few weeks later in response to feedback, including yours, in a much more user-accessible way than had ever existed. Development doesn't stop the day we release something.
Similarly, there've been thousands of posts on the Zotero 7 beta in the last year, and we've been engaging with testers many times a day throughout that period and making countless changes in response to feedback. It looks like you've only made a handful of posts here — mostly about the above issue and wanting to stay on Zotero 5 — and haven't posted in a couple years, but the slightest glance at these forums should make it clear that we deeply value and engage with feedback here. The forums have been central to Zotero development for almost two decades. The idea that we don't "communicate" with our users because we don't put out blog posts very often is utterly bizarre.
The Android app is a totally different situation. It's a completely new app, and it will have a similar feature set as the iOS app to start. The beta is limited because it's a brand new codebase, and we're not going to risk corrupting tens of thousands of people's libraries with untested code or frustrating regular users with broken functionality. But whether or not you try the beta, you'll have plenty of chance to provide feedback and influence development once the app is out, because that's how Zotero development has always worked.
Haha, looks like I struck a nerve. Don't worry, I know how these forms work. @dstillman is always right, and the user is always wrong. A quick perusal of topics reveals that I'm not the only person who feels shut down when trying to contribute.
The thread you referenced is a clear example. I requested the ability to edit the note data in the raw. What you added "a few weeks later", instead, was bare-bones table support. Not the same thing. While it was made clear that raw HTML editing was no longer possible because of changes on the backend, one should not confuse one feature with another.
I appreciate that you do reply to forum threads. I hope, however, that you will consider that participating in Zotero's development as a user/tester is not as easy or as friendly as it ought to be.
A quick perusal of topics reveals that I'm not the only person who feels shut down when trying to contribute.
The thread you referenced is a clear example.
If you think my going into detail to explain why raw HTML note editing was no longer technically possible was "shutting you down" instead of treating you with respect, I don't know what to tell you. The specific feature you mentioned was table editing, which is what we added to the UI a few weeks later and continued to improve in response to feedback.
You've barely used these forums, so I'm genuinely confused by your approach and apparent feelings here. If you ever have requests other than that we throw out multiple popular new headline features that we've been publicly beta testing for a year, you should certainly start new threads for those and we'll be happy to discuss them with you.
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What is the best way to get a notification when new beta spots open up? I don't check this thread often enough, and I'm disappointed that I missed this opening :(
(I'm waiting to get an opportunity to use Zotero on Android and want to be notified when the next slots are available.)
I understand that development is complicated, but wouldn't it make more sense to communicate more thoroughly with your users (e.g. by posting to the Zotero blog more than once every two years) so we can help more (and ultimately whine less)?
Keep in mind that I'm speaking as a paid user. When I have posted on these forums, I have tended to feel like I'm seen as some kind of leach rather than as a valued customer.
Zotero 6 was in public beta for a year with probably tens of thousands of users, and the issue in question was just whether we had prioritized a particular advanced feature that was important to you when developing the new note editor. As I explained at the time, there was a huge amount of discussion about the Zotero 6 beta, and the feature you were interested in just didn't come up much. We added it a few weeks later in response to feedback, including yours, in a much more user-accessible way than had ever existed. Development doesn't stop the day we release something.
Similarly, there've been thousands of posts on the Zotero 7 beta in the last year, and we've been engaging with testers many times a day throughout that period and making countless changes in response to feedback. It looks like you've only made a handful of posts here — mostly about the above issue and wanting to stay on Zotero 5 — and haven't posted in a couple years, but the slightest glance at these forums should make it clear that we deeply value and engage with feedback here. The forums have been central to Zotero development for almost two decades. The idea that we don't "communicate" with our users because we don't put out blog posts very often is utterly bizarre.
The Android app is a totally different situation. It's a completely new app, and it will have a similar feature set as the iOS app to start. The beta is limited because it's a brand new codebase, and we're not going to risk corrupting tens of thousands of people's libraries with untested code or frustrating regular users with broken functionality. But whether or not you try the beta, you'll have plenty of chance to provide feedback and influence development once the app is out, because that's how Zotero development has always worked.
The thread you referenced is a clear example. I requested the ability to edit the note data in the raw. What you added "a few weeks later", instead, was bare-bones table support. Not the same thing. While it was made clear that raw HTML editing was no longer possible because of changes on the backend, one should not confuse one feature with another.
I appreciate that you do reply to forum threads. I hope, however, that you will consider that participating in Zotero's development as a user/tester is not as easy or as friendly as it ought to be.
You've barely used these forums, so I'm genuinely confused by your approach and apparent feelings here. If you ever have requests other than that we throw out multiple popular new headline features that we've been publicly beta testing for a year, you should certainly start new threads for those and we'll be happy to discuss them with you.