*** Will You Have the CMS up Before the Pre-Sale Ends? ***

[Reeve of Shinra]

I believe this has been a work in progress, but I would like to see the CMS in action prior to the pre-sale period ending so I can determine whether or not this system is what I need.

If you aren't able to put the CMS up for review, will you be extending the presale?

I hate to push, but I would like a deffinite answer on this today please.

Thank you

[Super Cat]

Unless they get it up today or tomorrow don't count on it. Wayne said all they need to do is add content. Seems they could add almost anything if that is the case. But they want to make sure it looks very professional.
Seems like one or two people could be devoted to it so we could get a good look.

Looking at how fast things are changing. I believe we may be seeing finish product faster than expected.

[Reeve of Shinra]

I would still like the CMS in action before commiting to the ugprades.

[WhatChaMissin]

I would still like the CMS in action before commiting to the ugprades.

So would I but time is quickly running out.

[Ray Morgan]

I believe this has been a work in progress, but I would like to see the CMS in action prior to the pre-sale period ending so I can determine whether or not this system is what I need.

If you aren't able to put the CMS up for review, will you be extending the presale?

No, there is no plan to extend the pre-sale. We are working on getting CMS up and running on vb.com as quickly as possible. We are hopeful, but I can't promise that it will be running here before the pre-sale ends.

[Antivirus]

No, there is no plan to extend the pre-sale. We are working on getting CMS up and running on vb.com as quickly as possible. We are hopeful, but I can't promise that it will be running here before the pre-sale ends.

very dissappointing to hear this Ray

[Shamil.]

from what I've seen, the CMS is promising, and is a good component.

[SimpleSchooling]

No, there is no plan to extend the pre-sale. We are working on getting CMS up and running on vb.com as quickly as possible. We are hopeful, but I can't promise that it will be running here before the pre-sale ends.

With all due respect Ray, why should I, a new potential customer, trust you or anyone else at your company when you can't tell me when your product will be released or what it will even look like? I want to know how I add content, how I can manipulate that content, how I change the layout of the home page, how my customers will interact with it etc. etc. etc.

Perhaps some people go out and buy business software sight unseen, but not me. I get the demo, the webinar, the live sales demo, and the sales pitch before I spend my money. I want to know that you guys know what you're talking about and that your software is the perfect fit for my company and my needs. Last year I wouldn't have even hesitated, but this is not last year and much has happened.

There is so much bad press about this software right now, I just don't know if IB can meet my professional expectations. I am so disappointed, not with the look and feel or any of that pointless stuff, but with the attitudes and the treatment of dissatisfied customers. Two weeks ago, before I came to the pre-sale forum actually, I thought for sure vB was the answer to my business challenges. Now - I have almost given up on this company entirely.

Convince me I am wrong and that you guys have what it takes to satisfy customers. Show me the CMS and give me a demo to play around with. I could care less about saving 50 stinking dollars. How insulting. It isn't about the money - my budget exceeds the price of your software. This is about trusting you and IB to deliver a product that meets my expectations and fulfills my requirements.

How can I possibly make an informed decision if you won't give me the information I require?

I can't tell you how badly I wish I had purchased 3.8 a few months ago. Then I could move forward and deal with this later, but I didn't. So I am stuck here asking questions and hoping that someone will start explaining things beyond "we don't know" and "no we can't".

[hoover]

you guys are aware that screen shots of 4.0 are available, right?

http://www.vbulletin.com/index.php?do=screenshots

it gives you a good idea about how the article editor works, etc... enough at least to make a call about saving $120 bucks!

[Shamil.]

The decision is your's after all, however, I myself have been priviledged to see the CMS in action in early form, and it is respectable. One can say that I am a rather critical person of vBulletin, however, pleasing me isn't very easy at all.

Unfortunately, I can't go into too much detail, since I don't want to spoil a pleasant surprise that you may get. I myself do not trust software that I haven't seen or used before I've tried it, and this is no exception. I have already upgraded one of my licenses to vB Suite.

I am sure than Internet Brands will try to resolve any outstanding issues, professionally and within reasonable time. We can't guarantee that the CMS will be fully usable right now, and I know that content is being populated and bugs are being ironed out. I believe that they should only release a demo of it when it is usable at least.

Like I said before, I see promising software, and I'm sure you will once you've seen it, but for now, you'll need to trust us. All we can do at this stage is provide you with screenshots of it in action.

I totally understand your situation you are in.

[SimpleSchooling]

you guys are aware that screen shots of 4.0 are available, right?

http://www.vbulletin.com/index.php?do=screenshots

it gives you a good idea about how the article editor works, etc... enough at least to make a call about saving $120 bucks!

I have gawked at those screenshots since they went up but it is not enough. It looks great, I think. I like it. I want to buy it now - to tell you the truth, but I've wanted LOTS of software before I actually tried it out. I have purchased thousands of dollars in software in the past year and not once did I buy something based on a screenshot. Everything comes with a demo - heck I have so many software demos on my computer right now it is pathetic. I seek the perfect solution to my business challenge and it cannot be found with a screenshot.

[Shamil.]

I have gawked at those screenshots since they went up but it is not enough. It looks great, I think. I like it. I want to buy it now - to tell you the truth, but I've wanted LOTS of software before I actually tried it out. I have purchased thousands of dollars in software in the past year and not once did I buy something based on a screenshot. Everything comes with a demo - heck I have so many software demos on my computer right now it is pathetic. I seek the perfect solution to my business challenge and it cannot be found with a screenshot.

Like I said above, you'll need to trust me.

[Mark.B]

With all due respect Ray, why should I, a new potential customer, trust you or anyone else at your company when you can't tell me when your product will be released or what it will even look like?

Problem they have is, it isn't ready yet. And they can't *possibly* give a release date. That's how software development is, at least at this level. Bit easier if you have the resources of Microsoft of course, but even they struggle with dates at times.

It's disappointing not to see it demo'd live during the presale - doesn't bother me actually since I have already bought it - but I don't believe this indicates anything shifty going on. If you think about it, if it was ready for demo and they were able to demo it, doing so would probably massively increase sales. But they're choosing not to, presumably because it would be wrong to demo it before it's in a state where it can be demo'd effectively.

So I don't think this situation should diminish trust in the company, arguably it should increase it since they could have demo'd it anyhow to try and go for the fast buck.

That's my way of viewing it at the moment anyhow. I have no doubt the CMS will be well worth the wait and that's one of the reasons I bought it up front even though I've not seen it live yet.

[Shamil.]

Just to give you a bit of more reassurance, I was listening to the IB Q3 2009 Financial results conference yesterday, as a stakeholder, and Bob Briscoe said, and I quote:

So, we will be releasing it in Q3 in the quarter end.

[ZippySLC]

With all due respect Ray, why should I, a new potential customer, trust you or anyone else at your company when you can't tell me when your product will be released or what it will even look like?

Then wait until it's released and buy it then.