When a bug gets reported (and even verified by other BIAB users) it would be great if PG staff would also take a moment to acknowledge/confirm it. Maybe even suggest when it might be fixed. Maybe even PM the user who reported it when it is fixed!
Currently it feels like a bug is reported and you never know for sure if PG even noted it. Then maybe it gets fixed in a future update but by then I've already figured out a work-around. Or I just cease to use a feature so I never even bother checking that feature again. This process discourages future bug reporting.
+1
Every so often there is response, but an acknowledgement and/or feedback maybe with proposed actions would greatly appreciated. Without that, it is not possible to know if the report has been noticed.
This is a reasonable request as long as the person reporting is prepared to accept a simple "report noted" response.
The problem for PG is that once the "bug" has been noted many people will expect more than that. I think it would be unreasonable to expect a considered response on every report or for PG to keep track of when or if the alleged bug will or has been addressed. Expecting PG to keep track of and report the status of every alleged bug for reporting purposes could take a lot of effort.
If I have a bug that is a real problem for me I find it better to start an email thread directly with tech support.
Tony
I certainly don't expect any instant resolution. Sometimes this is not practical or even possible.
I don't even mind to hear that it may or may not be fixed in the next major release, or the one after that. Just so long as I know it has been received. I think this is what the O/P was mainly suggesting.
I would be OK for them to acknowledge they received the report. I would not want then to estimate when it would be corrected.
Does anyone remember the vaporware issues of the past? If not that was when companies used to promise things and then not deliver on time or at all. A company would promise A, B,and C but only deliver A and B. Even if those two were great upgrades someone would always b*tch the C wasn't delivered.
I served as a beta tester for another software program (the name isn't important since it wasn't for music, and they're gone now, compliments of Microsoft competition). The company posted bug reports in an area accessible only by developers and testers, which obviously meant they received and 'acknowledged' the report. The reports were loosely categorized by function, such as editing, printing, etc. I thought this system was very effective, since testers could check first before reporting a bug. Sometimes the developers would comment, but no promises were made.
Many BIAB users may not know there is constant development work being done by some experienced users who do testing of pending releases. We also report problems to the developers that we think might not have been noticed by staff in the general forums.
+1
It is extremely important that people reporting bugs should at least be notified that the report has at least been read.
On the whole I have found PG Music to be responsive to bug/potential bug responses. Occasionally, I have to nudge. I think, speaking as an ex IT Help Desk / Trainer, that support staff often don't like to admit that some problems are hard to replicate / fix especially when everyone is racing around at a million miles an hour. Most Help Desk software has automated features to deal with this kind of complaint with time based features to flick reports up the chain of command.
Yes, FogBugz and Jira are two others. I have to guess that maybe PGM use an internal system.
Wow! We dare not even dream of such things. I would be happy if someone just said "saw it and verified it."
About the comment that support staff might not like to admit a problem is hard to replicate, no, I don’t see that here at all. One of the most frequent responses is “We can’t duplicate that”, followed by a request for a song that shows the problem. Then far more often than not, PG Music acknowledges it and promises a patch. Otherwise they ask for more info.
+1
And I think there is a need for a pure bug report forum also. This is a wish forum, so it is often mixed up those two different things.
I believe the way things are intended to work is a post is made in the BIAB for Windows (or Mac) forum. There we determine if it’s a question of user education, missing feature or a bug.