Changelog Application: Read here! :)

Good evening everyone!

In an effort in ensure thorough communication with all clients regarding (per server):

• Problems/Downtime
• Upcoming Modifications/Status changes
• Previous Modifications

We're currently discussing developing an application that would allow the following:

It would essentially be a combination of a system 'tray' application for windows, mac and *nix systems (kde/gnome) that would feed off of some remotely hosted rss feeds and update you upon any issues occurring, upcoming changes and general news regarding the system you're located on.

It would allow you to select multiple servers to monitor the changes to.

A few examples of the types of announcements you would see would be reboots, upcoming network changes, upcoming reboots, explanations for any performance issues that are occurring along with the changes that will take place to amend them, etc.

Basically it would be an application that would allow our representatives to thoroughly and effectively communicate directly to you, the client.

Would you be interested?
There would be 4 versions available to use:

1. One directly available via your cPanel as a 'feature' to add to your accounts/clients, so they could view the changelog.
2. A system tray application for multiple operating systems
3. A web version of a changelog.
4. E-mail notification of the changelog.

If you vote for this poll please respond with which version you would be most interested in having and if possible list your reasons why.

Thank you for your time!

And please feel free to post any input that you have. We'd love to setup a very thorough system for you to use.

The system would be in place for:

• Reseller Servers
• Shared Servers
• Semidedicated Servers

Some other available uses that we would consider implementing if the above is approved would be:

• A news system to notify you of upcoming changes. An example would be the most recent Neomail replacement.
• Minor billing changes, notifications of upcoming invoices

The above two would be optional 'additions' that wouldn't directly post to the public changelogs of course but would be available for you to use within the system tray application.

Input!

[b33r]

I'd prefer the system tray one but email notification would be fine too.

Info on upcoming changes would be great, with an explanation of what it's likely to break, script wise, too. Also if there's any network problems I'd definitely like to hear about them, estimated fix time/downtime etc.

In fact, even just a basic RSS feed for each server would be great.

I'm glad you've decided to tackle this, it is really the only major problem HG currently has. Looking forward to this being implemented.

b33r,

I'm also looking forward to implementation of the aforementioned system: I consider communication clients the most important aspect of support.

Thank you for your feedback: We would definitely ensure that posts to the system would be as thorough as possible and outline any possible effects of upcoming changes.

This is espescially important to resellers who also have clients relying on them to communicate any upcoming issues, changes or past issues effectively.

Another possible addition that would be nice is a 'ticket submission' feature directly via the system tray application.

[chaloupe]

What an excellent idea you had!

System tray is my vote

Even if I will not be able to have it because I am on dedicated server.

Chaloupe,

Thank you for your feedback. We appreciate it!

[dema]

I voted for system tray, but any of the last three would be great. cPanel just seems strange as this system would probably be reporting problems that prevent us from accessing cPanel anway. Great idea, hope to see it come to fruition (:

[vtrain]

GatorDaveM,

a applaud this decision. In fact beeing noticed in advance like it was for the neomail remove is important and prepare ourselves for the change. On the other hand the phpSuExec warning (no date) and the maildir change warning (a few hours before it's effectively done) it's better then nothing but not enough in my view.

I vote for 2+3 or 2+4. The systray application is nice and can be multi-OS but isn't still acessible from everywhere so I think if implemented should be toghether with an e-mail or web based changelog.

Vtrain

[edit]
Forgot to say that in case we can only get one my vote goes for the web one (I voted on that).
[/edit]

[esl]

I voted for the web one even though the system tray would be really cool because when I am not on my computer my firewall is locked and I having a feeling some popups would come up saying it wouldn't connect. I hope we get all 4 versions!

[Hadoken]

Hello GatorDaveM,
It's very nice idea !

I voted for the email one, because my email client is always open and it's easy to check it everywhere. It would be great if more than 1 person can receive these notifications (the admin and the webmaster for example).

I love the systray idea too, but too bad we can't vote a second time.
The 2 last ideas are good too.

Good luck for developing these applis !

Have great day.

++
Hadoken

The plan (or at least my plan ) is to have all 4 available.
The benefits I see in each are as follows:

1. E-mail: Easy forwarding direct to clients and catching changes while on the run via cell or other pda devices.
2. Web: Great as it will have RSS built directly into it, accessible from anywhere and even something you can 'include' onto your own pages easily with some simple php code. Should also be cell accessible.
3. System tray: For those who don't check mail 24/7 this will be a nice little system.
4. cPanel: Perfect for your clients (if you're a reseller) as you can allow them to directly access the feeds without having to communicate all of the changes to them via e-mail.

The initial plan is to have all 4 available. The first one released would most likely be the 'web' one as it should be the easiest to develop. From there I think we would then go e-mail > cpanel > system tray.

I'm glad everyone likes the idea so far. I can assure you I've been looking for ways day and night to ensure the communication doesn't stop when the tickets close.

Again, thank you everyone for your feedback it is greatly appreciated.

[esl]

How long until this will be available? A year? Thanks.

Originally Posted by esl

How long until this will be available? A year? Thanks.

Evan,

Weeks or less. I think we'll begin seeing a basic system begin to get implemented almost immediately.

Communication is a top priority and I see this as one of the few ways to communicate effectively without spamming a billion e-mails out every day.

The forums are great but not everyone has time to check them (or can remember to check them) for updates: I feel this is the only feasible option that I think would work for everyone.

[esl]

That's great news! Thanks! Now would HostGator be making these programs or would you be paying someone else to?

Originally Posted by esl

That's great news! Thanks! Now would HostGator be making these programs or would you be paying someone else to?

All development should be inhouse. We have an amazing team and there would be no reason to outsource a project of such importance.

[esl]

Okay, thanks.

[dema]

With regards to the system tray version I suggest a Dashboard widget for us OS X users. Granted, not everyone using OS X is on 10.4, but widgets are painfully simply to make and integrate nicely with the system.

http://developer.apple.com/documenta...oard-date.html

Originally Posted by dema

With regards to the system tray version I suggest a Dashboard widget for us OS X users. Granted, not everyone using OS X is on 10.4, but widgets are painfully simply to make and integrate nicely with the system.

http://developer.apple.com/documenta...oard-date.html

Dema,

Thank you for the input and recommendation.

[gdwoods]

Kudos! I'm very pleased that this is in the works. As others have noted, it is the one area that I can see that needs improvement.

I voted email because of the simplicity. A "system tray" app. may be "cool" but I'm reluctant to install another software program and I fear that you'll run into support issues troubleshooting it... Web-based is good, and I can see the cPanel plugin being useful for clients, but of course if the system is down we probably won't be able to access that anyway. All 4 would be great!

Thanks!

gdwoods,

Thank you for the thorough feedback!

[Kelmas]

I prefer notifications and updates via e-mail. At the moment I am receiving vBulletin, phpBB and SquirrelMail updates to the same box, so I don't need to check these three sites each and every day.

I personally would like to receive all important information to my e-mail that is set at cPanel's contact information.

System tray application wouldn't be very suitable for me as sometimes I'm out of home and use other computers to update necessary things rather than my own.

My vote is for e-mail.

[PFunk]

I voted email but would rather have an RSS feed instead.

Originally Posted by PFunk

I voted email but would rather have an RSS feed instead.

The web page version will have an available RSS feed to abuse.

[silentcry]

It seems to me the Web version and e-mail would be the most logical versions to work with.

Cpanel is no good, because if your server is down, you can't log in to it..

As for an application (systray), I find that less convinient since i would like to be able to see the status from any computer, not just mine.

I would like to see a web/rss version for all servers, and maybe the e-mail service for updates pertaining to a users server only..

[Sergio]

Hi,
I really like the idea of the system tray, the email and the web version, but voted for the email.

It could be nice on the system tray that it could be developed for customers to send any feed back when there is an error in our servers, so if you see that 10+ customers are sending you a message is because effectively that server could have some issues.

Thanks a lot for taking your time in developing this type of customer service.

Regards,
Sergio