New install or upgrade?
Yesterday I got a chance to check last week’s server log: 10K+ downloads in a week because of the new public beta. Not bad for a tiny rss reader in a crowded market, especially considering I hasn’t published it on any download sites like CNET or Tucows. Thank you everyone who helped spreading GreatNews! 
One thing in the log surprised me is that 52.7% of downloads are for GreatNews.zip. I thought most downloads are to upgrade from previous versions, and user would have downloaded much more setup_unicode.exe or GreatNews_upgrade.zip. No wonder I keep getting emails complaining channels disappeared after upgrade….
I guess having two zip files is too confusing for average users. I’m going to change GreatNews in upcoming build 336 so that a single zip file can be used for both new install and upgrade . Hopefully when next beta is released, nobody suffers losing channel subscription again.
October 6th, 2005 at 5:40 am
I don’t know what the problem was exactly, I’m guessing you’re overwriting the subscriptions file with a default one. I I f that’s the case, how about simply renaming the default to something like ’subscriptions-default.xml’ and doing something like:
if (!file_exists(’subscriptions.xml’)) copy(’subscriptions-default.xml’, ’subscriptions.xml’);
?
October 6th, 2005 at 8:50 am
…in build 336…. PROXY CONFIG?
October 6th, 2005 at 8:58 am
Pies, yes that’s basically what I did in build 336.
pablotossi, yes it will be in buld 336. But I might need your help to test it out.
October 6th, 2005 at 11:45 am
im a gooood tester!!!
October 6th, 2005 at 5:41 pm
Just a quick note to say: Great News is really great! It rocks… Thanks
October 6th, 2005 at 8:39 pm
Thanks webvand.
October 7th, 2005 at 7:12 pm
I just think since the installer is not named like GreatnewsSetup.exe, the average user doesn’t think to download it.
November 1st, 2005 at 6:14 am
The is great,even there is something not perfect.I love ..
November 1st, 2005 at 6:18 am
I want to say greatnews must keeks as a green software. It’s important.
December 1st, 2005 at 10:23 am
Thanks for a great program. It’s on par with some of the best readers out there. Although, I’d like to comment on the upgrade process. Originally, I downloaded the zipped version so I can use it on my thumb drive. I consider myself an above average user and I’m baffled at how I’m supposed to upgrade, or I’m just too lazy to keep researching it every time. When I click on the GreatNewsUpdater.exe I’m presented with two options - installer version and zipped version. If I download the installer version it proceeds in making a windows program group. I don’t want that. I want it to run freely from my thumb drive. So, I download the zipped version. From there, I contemplate my options. Do I drag files to my thumb drive and overwrite everything? Or do I take an export/import opml route? It’s confusing. I noticed in your chart there’s a Greatnews_upgrade.zip, is this available to the average user? It’s not in the download section or the upgrade options. I’m sorry for such a long comment, but I do love your program
December 1st, 2005 at 8:50 pm
TJ, sorry for the confusion. GreatNews_upgrade.zip is not longer needed. Please refer to my latest post for upgrade procedure. -Jack
http://www.curiostudio.com/blog/14
April 29th, 2006 at 9:45 pm
I think the problem was that the auto upgrade built into the previous version showed 2 versions (exe and zip).
I picked the first one, thinking I just want to run this, not unzip and run it. I also thought both were upgrade versions. I was suprised when the exe was the full install. Then I think I ran into a problem that others were having. I had a X:\GreatNews directory. When it asked where to install, I picked that. What really happens is that it installed to X:\GreatNews\GreatNews which gave a completely fresh install, losing all channels.
I realized what had happened, uninstalled, reinstalled to X:\ and all is good. I still never realized that I could have gotten to an upgrade file instead of the full version.
April 30th, 2006 at 10:27 pm
Mike, Thanks for the information. I will change the option to something like: “I have installer version”, “I have zipped version”. Hope this will be less confusing.