BoonEx.com Update Aftermath

Andrew Boon posted 25th of May 2011 in Boonex News. 51 comments.

So, 4 weeks after the update, with many bugs busted, we're trying to have a look back and understand what happened. First impression is generally deceptive, but after 4 weeks of clicking many of you would have developed a solid opinion of what's good and what's bad about this update. Do let us know your opinion now, please. 

Some hard facts would also help a lot... things like feedback from your clients, sales trends, your findings about pages discovery, etc, etc. 

....

Right now we have some people on Dolphin and some finalising work on BoonEx.com. Dolphin, however, wants everyone back and we need to know if BoonEx.com is OK as it is for now. Also, it is finally decided that the upcoming big Dolphin update will indeed power BoonEx.com.

I will be posting more specifics on current Dolphin development in a separate note soon.

 
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okiewardoyo
I though Andrew was gone!! ^_^
okiewardoyo
And what about Dolphin 7.1 prescrening? is it just for premium member only?
Andrew Boon
Dolphin details will be posted a little later.
Andrew Boon
Andrew can never be gone from BoonEx ;) . If you don't see him around he's deep in Dolphin guts.
tomakali
Awaiting 7.1 so badly...
It should be more than a milestone...
Congrats and keepup the good work!!!

PS: It would be nice if you can share few more screenshots at least in premium sections for the respect of the "premium" badge :)
Andrew Boon
it's not long before the fun-run begins
snp
i hope to hear soon new news about the dolphin update....and any releasedate
wolf2217
I like the way BoonEx.com is.
The site has come along ways.
I think the home page could have something similar to "What others are saying about us" or "As published on..." or something in that nature.

From my users i've gotten alot of "How do i...", "This is different, but cool"
Me and a user have been communicating back and forth via the IM and sharing confidential project layouts using files and protecting them via custom privacy groups, this has leant see more me a business partnership for a city hall property software system.
The downside i get from some users find it difficult navigating around because of how big it is and how many links to click to upload items or post content.

As for BoonEx if D7.1 is going to be a big thing i would intergrate it into BoonEx.com but maybe leave the home page of BoonEx as is.
Dolphin is about Uniting people and with features that Dolphin has would fit that slogan well for BoonEx.com...my opinion anyways.
Thanks for the update...We're waiting for some teaser screenshots of 7.1 lol
nazzal
ok.. as usual boonex is the best even in it's updates ..
but the only problem im facing in here .. is when i sign in to unity (you know it redirects you to the check page ) and get redirected it shows page not found .. any ways it's not that big issue you just should go back and refresh the page and every thing is good ..
this is a great job and yeah really a nice update
Andrew Boon
Hm, interesting... when you sign in from which page do you have that problem?
nazzal
i get this when i sign in from every where :D .. im using firefox... but i dont think it's a browser thing
sorry for my late reply

================================
update : i have checked the other browser and its working .. so hell yeah it's a browser thing ... any ways just to let you know that im using firefox 4.0.1
mods4dolphin
Hi Andrew, here's our feedback:

We have seen a huge drop in sales ever since this new version
came into place. And we think the direct reason is the Market. It's hard for our customers to
find the product. For e.g. if someone clicks "Most Popular", it shows top products with "7 reviews",
"5 reviews" etc. We think the "Most Popular" category should respect the reviews and sort the entries
based on the number of positive reviews for the product.

Same see more thing applies when someone searches for a product e.g. Facebook. It should sort the entries based on
number of reviews the product has received. The whole idea of reviews is that the customers gets the best
product based on the feedback received by previous buyers.

The old version had a much cleaner interface for the Market and I think it was easier to find products which
hold strong ratings.

Hope you take this seriously as it's affecting our business a lot.

Thanks,
Armaan
Andrew Boon
Yes, we will see how else we could push the high-rated products.
yaya01
My friend after paying a licence fee for life. I cannot receive the help I signed for. None of the widget can be registered. I am receiving undefined message. How you can not help people who pay you a money. Please help
ilbellodelweb
The same for me....we have seen a huge drop in sales with this new version
danielmarseille
new unit a bit confusing - at first - but with a little practice
I am beginning to appreciate this new version - I prefer this version -

may be it would be well classified the categories in alphabetical order

adult (3)
administration (15)
advertisement (2)
affiliates (4)
authentication (11)
theguypc
Not to be negative, or overly skeptical Andrew, but you've already said Boonex would be powered by Dolphin in the past but it didn't happen.

About Boonex.com - I'm sorry, but I hate the way this site is now. There are some things that I really like - like the way comments are shown & the pics showing who liked a post - but I find this site nearly unusable for the most part. It is not at all user friendly.

I look forward to Dolphin 7.1 though so thanks for the update : )
Titan86
I agree. I can get around in the new Boonex but it's not fast or enjoyable.

Not using Dolphin for Boonex is a big red flag to your user base saying that you don't think Dolphin is good enough for you.

Plus, you wouldn't have to pull developers away from Dolphin if you used Dolphin! It's simply ludicrous.
Andrew Boon
We have always been looking at possibility o f using Dolphin at BoonEx.com and normally we'd keep using iterations of "Trident" framework to custom-build BoonEx pages. The reason for that almost always came from time contraints - we had to rely on existing BoonEx code to build faster.

Now, however, we decided to "bridge" Dolphin 7 with Trident and finally focus on one and only platform. The work is be doen as we speak and this time around ti definitely will be just Dolphin see more everywhere.
theguypc
Well the idea of using Dolphin here strikes me as a very good one & always has. It would really help to be able to root out bugs, increase speed, security etc.. It would even provide a platform by which the developers can test out new features and functions in advance of putting them in an official release. There is a huge user base here that can act as beta testers by default that way.

Does using Dolphin for Boonex.com mean we are looking at a facelift here on Unity again then too? (I'm see more assuming Unity will replicate Dolphin) (?)
Andrew Boon
Yes, it would certainly change the way BoonEx.com looks. What we are trying to do is to make default Dolphin package work for BoonEx needs. Obviously license activation won't be a default package module, but everything else would. This is a challenging task, but we have finally settled our opinion on a few "principal" aspects that should make it happen. I will start posting details very soon.
theguypc
Very cool - thanks for the update!
yaya01
Bought a permanent licence and I cannot make work any of my widget. I cannot register them. I am receiving undefined message.
wolf2217
I have to agree with you theguypc, i'm sure the activity is much higher and much more frequent than the demo site itself will ever be
wolf2217
Besides the tickets is that where alot of delay time came in from releasing next versions? BoonEx working on multiple platforms at one time.
I like the idea of bridging D7 with Trident :)
yaya01
I need help with all my widget. I cannot register anything.
AlexT
please submit pre-sale ticket
CALTRADE
Honestly - I can't think of a single functional improvement you made with the the new Boonex.com software - it made the navigation system a bit worse, but that is about it. I wouldn't mind being the product manager for Boonex.com - especially if you used D7. Look at the profiles here - they are a joke - and what is more, they are a culture of being a joke. I don't believe you have added a single new information field to this site in all the years I have been here. At this point - please - just see more get back to D7 - we will live with this version of Boonex somehow but don't put more time and energy into this until you convert Boonex.com to D7. I think it will be very enlightening for you to try to use your own software in the real world - i.e. "dogfooding" - and I imaging some of the critical issues many of us have will be dealt with much more quickly.
lancashiredates
The string that I'm dangling on is about to SNAP!
lawaxes1
You do not need me to praise the impressive .. Because it is really wonderful .. (But) you need to complete the Modules Dolphin .. Example: THE FAQ ..To become a member is able to ask a question in FAQ ..And the administration responded to this question ..

And to the commercialization of the world you need a small book, even if a fee on how the amendment and management of Dolphin .. Multilingual


This is my opinion according to my vision of the Dolphin

I apologize to poor language because see more I am Arabic man from kuwait, and my English is bad

thnx .. mr .. Andrew Boon
lawaxes1
For the interaction of members, including .. Nerve interaction is the exchange of comments, including .. We note that the profile which places to write comments added to it the video and the other is the wall .. I suggested that the two places become available when one - and start to upload an image and a link to a video from YouTube and raise the video and write natural, so be Altamal profile with smooth and easy and clear.

thnx
tomakali
Boonex Market will surely be an International Quality Scale for others if it follows
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/?browse=featured
layout
cbassthefish
I have posted this one the forums but my 6.1.x website (with permanent license) now shows the boonex banners again at the bottom ;( You not supporting 6.1.x anymore? If so should I hack this out so they do not appear anymore?
AlexT
it should work, please submit pre-sale ticket
bpadberg
You should focus more on Dolphin developing than creating new BoonEx sites...
DolphinTemplate
1. The market "organization" is a mess. Try 3 categories: Modules, Templates, Services and then sub-categories or tags.
2. The ad box system is VERY unattractive/inaccessible to many sellers. Make it cheaper, allow png, gif formats and no transform on upload. Allow external links, many of us sell off-site and you can't stop that, maybe you can just stop us buying ads on boonex.
mods4dolphin
Totally agree, re-organize the Market. So far, I see three main developers saying the same thing - mods4dolphin, DeolphinTemplate and ilbellodelweb. So for sure, the Market needs an Overhall and that too pretty quick like in 2-4 days. You should really take this feedback seriously as we all have one common goal i.e. to make Boonex a big SUCCESS.
When 7.1 is going to release :-(
Just a couple of suggestions from a mods buyer's point of view whilst using the Market place:

- It will be great to have on the product's info. section fields showing the web browsers compatibility of the product.

IMHO, a lot of time will be saved from the buyer having to send messages to vendors to find out which browsers the product is compatible with and also from the vendors having to reply to such routine question.

- It will also be good to know the 'last logon date' of the product's see more vendor so that buyers can make better informed decision based on this as an indication of how active the vendor is on Boonex.com and by inference the propensity of having a product enquiry response in reasonable time from the vendor.

ie. as an indication, it will be more likely for the buyer to have a product enquiry response from a vendor who was logged in within a week than from one who has not logged in for a year.

Just a couple of observations on this.

Thanks once again for all the hard work by the Boonex team and also those of the extension mods vendors helping us in our community websites development endeavours. Keep up the good work. Looking forward to D7.1
silverado350
I really miss having the latest forum activity and Unity Activity Feed on the same page. I think the old layout was better.
Profesize
Wow! That would be ideal if Boonex.com was ACTUALLY using their own software to run their own site. I have mentioned this point a few times, as have others.

Hopefully you will also have the Simple Messenger running and chat room to simulate a proper working environment with all its niggles. I think that Dolphin is a great bit of kit but now it will be awesome because BOONEX will be able to appreciate a server that spikes and maybe we can finally see an end to this problem once and for all, plus see more all the other little bugs and then we can update our sites with much more confidence.

Well done on this decision Boonex. Its about bloody time!!! Looking forward to a new era of Boonex!
annabel
As I said before, this layout isn't motivating me anymore to read ...

Besides that, I have the impression that some people who I knew here 3 or 4 years ago, have gone. So forums aren't interesting either, because they don't offer solutions for problems anymore, as they did in the past.

I think business has taken over friendship and good fellowship.

Pity ...
SkyForum
I hate the new design. It is hard to read, follows no known conventions as far as page to page viewing and has a ton of small little bugs. Here's one: someone sends a message to me, i see it in the upper menu,. I click on the messages link to open it, I see a snippet of the message but cannot actually open the message from there. I have to navigate around for a while until I stumble on the extended messages link so I cab actually open it and read it.

It is poorly thought out with not nearly enough see more contrast for older viewers. I also felt the Older unity site had a certain panache to the it's look that made it distinctly Boonex, that has been completely lost on the new look.

I used to stop in every day to see what was up. No longer, now i only come when I need to solve a problem or I need something. I also think the market is even worse than it was before. Actually finding something in it is like searching for a needle in an all white with black text haystack.
i think u re making sense
frdji70
BoonEx me on the unit, I can not receive messages.

I am obliged to search contacts to see. It's very annoying.

It's the only problem I encounter. The rest is perfect
ilbellodelweb
Hello Andrew and Boonex staff,

I need to have information about the products pages: featured, popular, most popular, hot.

Why it appears ever products with very few reviews?
What is the logic of visualization?
Why it's changed?

Our modules were always present in the pages featured, hot, staff pick (here Spywall was in the first position).
Why is this ranking is completely different?

We have published for about 10 days the ads.
The statistics are very disappointing: about 1 click see more per 100 impressions, even though we are average, 4 or 5 developers that use your ads service.
I believe that this method of advertising is not working with us but also for Boonex (only 4 / 5 publishers..what's the business??).
We can also publish the announcement 30 days a month, but what would be the result?

Since it was updated this market, as also mod4dolphin said, sales were down 80%.

Finally we would like to suggest to add the ability of discount coupons. This would help a lot in the case of offers or for customer who have already buyed one or more extensions.

Thank you for your attention.
It's a great idea that boonex will be using dolphin to power its website. It will build trust and the sales can go up. It can detect bugs also as you use your own product, you test your own product, so you save time from developing and separate time of detecting bugs. I believe Dolphin is a great software and can dominate its competitor and reach its full potential in the market Boonex team has just to find their way on to this road. I believe its not the Boonex.com new look that hinders the sales see more or made some people go away because website developers are intelligent people you won't be stopped by inconvenience in the navigation or a change in the looks of the website well this may be true for people who are lurkers. I think it is because Boonex expanded and have a lot of customers than before. So more people less support. Boonex must find a new way how to increase their support for the customers. For example Boonex can ask volunteers to develop a detailed documentation on how to run Dolphin. Or form a volunteer team about bugs. By letting customers join teams help build trust and friendly Boonex community. In this way Boonex team won't be overloaded with people after all that's what they should be after more people, because more people could increase sales. People tend to go away if they can't find a help on how to make their website powered by dolphin work or function. If you can't make it work then why stay? Boonex help system is overloaded I think because the response time is slow and also some are paid, you have to pay for a support. Boonex competitor have a free support or easy way to find documentation on how to build their website using their software/product. It's like saying "why buy something if there is no support", or saying it in another way "you can't sell something that you don't want to support" Still a better way of saying it "you can't increase your sales if you yourself don't use your product" Hmm so it's a definite yes that Boonex must use Dolphin to power Boonex.com. Which version of Dolphin are you going to use? Dolphin 7.0.7 or 7.1 Sorry I don't know I've been away for sometime but it doesn't mean I left Boonex Dolphin coz I love this software.
howard29
The old expertzzz.com site was better...it wasn`t brook so it didn`t need fixing. why not bring it back.
nikoma
First it was very annoying because I got used to the old Boonex.com. However, I find it easy to navigate and easy to use. I am pleased the way it is.

Can't wait until the release of D 7.1 though:-)
rickyricky
This is why I'm still running 7.0.4! It took me about six months to get my website right where I want it, and I don't wanna have to go through that again! As much as I love Boonex/Dolphin, no one is without their problems and bugs, that's just the law of the Internet! I am waiting for all the bugs to be worked out, then I'll update!!! I'll prolly do the same for the next one too!!
 
 
Below is the legacy version of the Boonex site, maintained for Dolphin.Pro 7.x support.
The new Dolphin solution is powered by UNA Community Management System.
PET:0.088136911392212