prolific.org

6A’s Mena asks: How are you using the tool?

An overview:

On U2log.com we have currently 11 authors, most of which are doubles or dormant. Current active authors: 4. When U2 start touring next year, our team will grow to between 6 and 10 authors.

I was going to pay for the new 3.0 release anyway, but with the recent changes to the license, it works out even better for U2log.com. I’m impatiently waiting for the personal release so we can switch ASAP. TypeKey is a godsend for our site.

But of course I use MT elsewhere too. Here at prolific.org, the free version will cover things nicely.

Then there’s gavinfriday.com (1 author, 1 blog, but possibly more in future). All MT does there is run a simple news log. I don’t really have to upgrade from 2.6, unless things change drastically with this year’s impending rethinking and redesign. Gavinfriday.com is an odd fish, in that it is an ‘official’ site, but it’s not commercial – I do not get paid for the work.

Virginprunes.com (2 authors, one blog) is completely MT driven. Static pages as well as the main news blog are all done with MT templates. No real need to upgrade, although it would be nice to be able to switch comments back on with the upcoming re-release of the band’s entire back catalogue.

Then there’s a new site I was hoping to start. 1 blog, 3 authors or more. I could use MT, or I could use Pivot. I don’t mind using other software for it. It’s nice to stick with what you know best. Eventually, I would be ok with paying for a second license for this one – it would be great if there was some sort of discount for that.

My main concern is with these multiple installations of the free version. I’m not sure I am allowed to do that – I bet I’m not.

(… and by the way, I’ve just noticed that control-shift-a (to link text in the editor) doesn’t work anymore in MT3.0)

Briefly (and roughly, since it’s 2.30 am already) then, my take on today’s Movable Type 3.0 release and its pricing scheme.

Good software costs money. Well, a lot of the time, anyway. Deal with it. That said…

Do they EVER need a full time PR person! ‘Mena’s Corner’ did very little to improve communication. The announcement was very abrupt and confusing. They could save themselves so much trouble if they got it together in that department.

So, beta testing had ended? How come we didn’t know? Hey, I had signed up for beta testing. Never did get in, despite being told everyone would be phased in.

The naming is confusing too. Developer? Huh? It took me a few hours reading comments and threads to find out there will be another version later on for non ‘developers’.

Equally, all the talk about ‘commitment to developers’ and other corporate quack meant zilch to me. Dumb user here, what’s in it for meeeeeeee? (What I got from it all was the impression I should be using TypePad, not MT. But I don’t wanna!)

How many announcements do you need? A blog entry here, a statement with quotes there. Yet nothing on the Six Apart homepage itself?

I am quite willing to pay. When Six Apart quizzed users on this, I said I’d pay $100 dollars for a version that had comment registration.

The site I ‘needed’ MT 3.0 for (and put on design hold for many months to wait for this release) can just about fit into the 6-author license. Just about. There’s not much leeway. Still, we could ask users to donate to get the next license up. or I could kick some editors out. Heh.

Since you can only install the free version on one computer, all the other sites I use MT on will have to stick with the 2.6xx version as I simply cannot afford paying for multiple installs. And that’s ok. (God knows, I can live without comments.) But I do think the schemes for personal usage at least need to be re-evaluated.

By the way… Blogger? That redesign/launch was some impressive timing.

Update: Here’s some other people who say a lot of sensible stuff about MT 3.0 ‘developer’’s pricing scheme.