Beta Evaluation #2

OK, this should be #4, if I was anal and did one each month. So my bad.

But today is December 15. I started this blog on August 16, so this is my four month evaluation. And I guess that it's time to look at the handwriting on the wall (crayon scribblings, some might say). Pete, in Blogger Buzz Switching with team blogs and getting out of beta warns us

At this point, the pieces are in place:

• The new Blogger is feature complete
• All new accounts are created on the new version
• Known issues on the new Blogger are few and getting fewer
• (Almost*) all users are able to move their blogs to the new Blogger

This all means that we’ll be removing the “beta” from the new Blogger very soon! At that time, we’ll begin the process of requiring that users of old Blogger move to new Blogger.

So, if you have gotten the tap on the shoulder, you should at least do a dry run migration. Decide when it would be most convenient for your blog to be out of action for a few hours, or a day or so (hopefully not at all, but you cannot tell).

Planning now beats scratching your head later.

But how about a bit of cold water reality for Pete and the gang. I'lll bet that you've read my series of posts about Migration and Project Management. Maybe you could also read advice from AMR: beta blogger: not for everyone, and from Roberto: What Does Migrating Involve?.

These are real people, guys. Real people who work for you (though unpaid in cash). And real people, with real concerns. Maybe (Almost*) all users are able to move their blogs, by your standards. Does that mean at any time, or just occasionally?

Migration To Blogger Beta - The Final Chapter?

In my previous series Migration To Blogger Beta - Evaluation, and previously, I've discussed the practical issues surrounding the migration.

Today, in Blogger Help Group: Publishing Trouble When will all Blogger accounts be switched to Blogger beta?, we see the third statement by Jordan, aka Blogger Employee

Yes, a few months, max.

One week ago, in Google Blogger Help: An Open Question to "Blogger Employee"

We're looking forward to migrating all users to beta in the next few months, so, as there's limited time left with regular Blogger,

I just hope that there's some window of opportunity provided to all blog owners, so nobody goes from

Sorry, we can't allow you to migrate.

to

You have to migrate this week.

in the same week.

Common courtesy would require that those with larger, and maybe more complex, blogs, be given an appropriate amount of time to decide when to migrate. I would hate to interfere with some blogger employees coffee break time, but maybe it would be right to think of the unpaid employees slightly, and cut the breaks just a bit shorter.

Please.

Migration To Blogger Beta - Evaluation - 3

In this series about the migration to the Blogger Beta product, I've described (briefly) the technique of a migration project, the overall status of the migration, and where (I suspect) that Blogger thinks this project is right now.

As the Google Blogger Help community reacts to last weeks announcement (carefully hidden in the forums)

We're looking forward to migrating all users to beta in the next few months, so, as there's limited time left with regular Blogger

I see an interesting mixture of reactions.

I just migrated my blog, and I'm having no problems. You should migrate now, and enjoy yourself.

and

Don't migrate now, wait until all of the bugs are worked out.

My own personal opinion varies from day to day, according to what problems we are seeing (Classic or Beta), and / or what responses we are getting (or not getting) from Blogger Support. Several times in the past week, I have experienced moments of euphoria (from various causes), where I have contemplated pulling the pin, and migrating PChuck's Kitchen.

Being able to use MultiStyle Topics, to cross reference my recipes, would rock. PChuck's Kitchen is not large, and could be rebuilt if necessary, so it's a perfect candidate (to me) for migration.

Unfortunately, none of this matters, as Blogger says to me, and many other folks

We're not ready to allow you to migrate just yet. But setup a new Beta blog - and try out the neat features!

So, of the folks using Beta blogs right now, how many are using new blogs vs how many have actually been migrated? My guess - and I am being liberal - is maybe 1 Beta blog out of 3 was migrated - 2 out of 3 are new Beta blogs.

There are a lot of Classic blogs waiting to be migrated. Almost certainly, the blogs that haven't been migrated are the ones with interesting features. And that means that those features, and other features used by more complex blogs that can't be migrated, haven't been tested under Beta just yet.

Features that haven't been (won't be) tested under Beta are problems waiting to happen. Blogger is simply saying

Migrate anyway, and we'll deal with the problems after you migrate.

And after they migrate, they'll be saying

We can't respond to your problem personally - we're too busy dealing with all of the problems. Please describe your problem in Google Blogger Help - Troubleshooting, and wait for answers from your peers.

If there are features in Beta that you can't, or don't want to, wait for, then it's in your own best interest to migrate. Those of us who don't want to migrate our blogs immediately will benefit from waiting, and watching the problems that occur without us, occur without us. If you migrate, and you experience problems, then I can learn from your experience, as I watch you struggle.

Those of us that do eventually migrate will benefit from many having migrated before us, and already dealt with the problems. But the choice to migrate is not given freely to everybody. You can only migrate when you're allowed.

We're not ready to allow you to migrate just yet.

So here, again, is the suspicion that Blogger is ignoring the idea that many blogs are owned and cared for by real people.

• People who have hopes and dreams.
• People that won't enjoy migrating with the fear of having problems, and knowing that once you go forward, there's no coming back.
• People who know that possibly they will wait, but one day, possibly in the process of making an urgent post (new or updated), they will get the notice
  

  You must migrate now.

  
  Where now might be any future time convenient to Blogger Support, though not to the blog owner.
• People who know that one day, possibly in the process of making an urgent post (new or updated), they will get the notice
  

  You must migrate now.

  even though now, they see

  We're not ready to allow you to migrate just yet.

And that's the real downside of not migrating immediately. You have no idea when that shoe will drop. And there is another problem with The Silence.

(Edit 10/19): One week later, we see the third statement by Blogger Employee, and this story continues.

Migration To Blogger Beta - Evaluation - 2

So where are we in the rollout of Blogger Beta? The rollout, for me, began on August 16. Let's be casual, and call it 2 months.

And Blogger Employee, in Google Blogger Help: An Open Question to "Blogger Employee". says

We're looking forward to migrating all users to beta in the next few months.

Although my personal preference would be a year, I'll suspect we'll be lucky to see that stretch into 4 - 6 months. Let's equate "a few" to 4, which makes the total migration project 6 months. I'm using my Migration To Blogger Beta series and the (straw man, and yes, I realise the limitations here) 10% - 80% - 10% triage, as a reference.

When Blogger makes a reference like "a few months", it looks like they think that the pilot is over, and they're going to migrate everybody homogenously. Given a 6 months (24 weeks) overall project, and we are 8 weeks (1/3) into the project, with a 10% - 80% - 10% weighting, that puts us well into the main part of the project. Even at a 20% - 60% - 20% weighting, we are well into the main part.

Unfortunately, they're still telling a lot of folks

We're not ready to allow you to migrate just yet. Just setup a new Beta blog, and test Beta out.

Now, my suspicion is that they have no idea what problems might arise as the Classic blogs are migrated. They can't really. They have no ideas what features are used on any blogs, because they don't support the blogs. They only support the blogging infrastructure. All user support is provided by the users, in the forums.

The unfortunate thing (for us) is that many blogs haven't been migrated, because Blogger says

We're not ready to allow you to migrate just yet.

Now the reason why they aren't allowed certain blogs to be migrated is that they are still trying to work out the issues. Some issues they know about, and have delayed migration for those blogs. But without those blogs being migrated, they don't have any idea what other issues may be awaiting us.

And the reactions in the forums is interesting. I see a few Bloggers saying

I just migrated my blog, and I'm having no problems. You should migrate now, and enjoy yourself.

Other Bloggers advise

Don't migrate now, wait until all of the bugs are worked out.

I suspect that the answer lies in the middle. So, next I will discuss the variety of Bloggers and their opinions about the migration.

Migration To Blogger Beta - Evaluation

In my Classic blog series Migration To Blogger Beta, I wrote 4 posts to give an overview of the principles of project management, as it applies to migration projects. In those posts, I talked about principals (computers, software, users). What I was really talking about, once you get the principles down, is blogs.

You migrate blogs, just as you migrate computers. Even though you can't see blogs, as you can computers or users, they are still very real. And they are are owned, and cared for, by very real people.

I mention that fact first, in the hope that Blogger may realise this eventually. Because I don't think that they realise this, right now. At least, after reading that specific post in Google Blogger Help.

So next I will evaluate the progress in the Blogger Beta Rollout. I'll start by describing where (I suspect) Blogger Support thinks that we are. Then I'll continue with where other Bloggers like Roberto thinks that we are, other Bloggers in the Blogger community think that we are, and where I think that we are.