Genealogy Chat

Since GR seem unwilling or unable to setup Release Control Procedures for their site, I am proposing that we help them. The outline below is only one of several approaches but hopefully it will communicate how to: • Clean up the message boards so they can be concentrated on Genealogy • Get members the functionality they want as quickly as possible • Get bugs fixed more quickly and securely • Have better Beta Testing without upsetting members • Enable New Release education ahead of actual releases Releases For the moment the “old system” will be termed Release 1.0 and the “new system” 2.0B .Upcoming releases will be called 2.0; 2.01; 2.02………3.0; 3.01 as per normal conventions. Numbering Systems For this proposal, the following naming conventions are suggested: Fault Reports: FR/ddmmyy/Category/XXXX where Category can be: S=Search; V=Viewer; M=Messaging; G=Genealogy; T=Technology; B=Bulletin Boards; O=Other, and XXXX=4-digit sequential number. This should be issued by GR Support, but for the time being we may have to manage it ourselves by allocating volunteer moderators. In addition to the FR identity, there should be a Status such as O=Open; N=Needs Clarification; D=In Development; C=Closed; R=Rejected. Again this should be allocated by GR and maybe we can encourage them to do this. There should also be a Reason Code for each status, such as A=Already processed; M=Merged with other FR/CR; N=No problem found; R=in Release N. Change Requests: CR/ddmmyy/Category/XXXX where the same abbreviations and codes as above apply. Site Mechanisms On the GR site there needs to be two forms to be filled in by a member, one for FR and one for the CR. At a minimum these should have an explanation box and perhaps an importance level. These forms could be accessed under the Support tab. It wouldn’t take more than a few hours to set this up and could greatly assist Support in filtering out the real problems and the useful enhancements from the hundreds of messages. The “Tips” board could then be confined to Genealogy Tips and Queries. Release Documentation As per normal practice, Releases would be accompanied by a Document which would contain a List of Faults fixed and New Features with a brief explanation of how to use them or why the changes have been made. An updated screen capture tutorial would also be nice. It should also specify minimum PC configurations and which OS and browser versions it has been tested with. I am sending this to GR Support for their comments but would like to see feedback from other members.