How to explain a beta site

[bug_girl]

Hey, remember me? :D
I have been AWOL forever--job is massive time sucker.

Anyway, I need some advice. I recently invited my co-workers to look at the betasite that I've been slaving over for our new website. (I have 40+ users, so we are going to a CMS system/Joomla.)

I explained about a month ago that I wanted them to look and let me know what I needed to tweak before the launch (which is now one week away).

Predictably, they did not look until this weekend...and then flipped out. ThingsarebrokenOMGWTHOMGOMG!

Is there a nice essay somewhere that you can point me to that will explain, in more detail, what the purpose of a Beta site is?

Clearly my explanation was not sufficient :(

Thanks everyone!

[Zax63]

Best I could find was this (http://searchcio-midmarket.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid183_gci211654,00.html).
In software development, a beta test is the second phase of software testing in which a sampling of the intended audience tries the product out. (Beta is the second letter of the Greek alphabet.) Originally, the term alpha test meant the first phase of testing in a software development process. The first phase includes unit testing, component testing, and system testing. Beta testing can be considered "pre-release testing." Beta test versions of software are now distributed to a wide audience on the Web partly to give the program a "real-world" test and partly to provide a preview of the next release.

[Little 10 Toes]

Tell them beta means "work in progress" and "not fully functional". You want to see if some things and/or ideas are feasable before wasting time. If you were going to re-paint the interior of a house with colors other than white, wouldn't you want to see how it looks first? Same idea.

[Ducky]

"Listen, you mouth-breathing half-wits, you clicky and internet go wow! But we're not done making internet go wow. So clicky and sometimes internet go boom. uh oh! internet go boom need ouchie band-aid! Where does it hurt, internet? You tell me where internet go boom and where internet hurt and I fix with kisses and cookies. Then internet go wow when you clicky!"



(edit: Sadly I have to use this when the dimwitted customer service help desk calls me and says genius things like "the system is slow." Given we have 30+ platforms and literally thousands of servers...that's a useless statement to me.)

[CelticRose]

"Listen, you mouth-breathing half-wits, you clicky and internet go wow! But we're not done making internet go wow. So clicky and sometimes internet go boom. uh oh! internet go boom need ouchie band-aid! Where does it hurt, internet? You tell me where internet go boom and where internet hurt and I fix with kisses and cookies. Then internet go wow when you clicky!"
:dl:

[Ducky]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_version

Ok in all seriousness, Bug_girl, you should sent them to that link.


Also if your site isn't feature complete, it's not beta. it's technically still pre-alpha.

[bug_girl]

Well, I thought it was beta untll they looked at it :D

[Ducky]

Well, I thought it was beta untll they looked at it :D


These computers would run so much better without those pesky users!

[NoZed Avenger]

Hey, remember me? :D
I have been AWOL forever--job is massive time sucker.

Anyway, I need some advice.

Um. Completely out of my area; I am no help here.

But wanted to say "hi."


Um. "Hi."


But I personally would go with the "clicky internet go boom need ouchie band-aid" thing, which I am about to nominate.

[bug_girl]

An update--we pushed back the launch a week, and this worked out nicely for ME--I get more time to do all the stuff that needs to happen.

Also, it turns out that there are only 2 squeaky wheels, and about 40 happy cogs. Yay!

[geni]

Beta has picked up rather a wide range of meanings. If they were the first people other than you to look at the thing alpha would have been a better choice.