Concrete5 survey
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To further improve c5 by bringing more of a business approach to c5’s forums, here are some questions about c5 that I hope several c5 developers will be able to answer:
1) When did you start using c5?
2) What CMS did you primarily use before c5?
3) What CMSes do you currently use and what is currently your most used CMS?
4) About how many developers have you TRIED to convince to switch to c5 from another CMS?
5) About how many developers have you SUCCESSFULLY convinced to switch to c5 from another CMS?
6) What are the main reasons other developers are deciding against c5?
7) About how many co’s or org’s have you TRIED to convince to switch to c5 from another CMS?
8) About how many co’s or org’s have you SUCCESSFULLY convinced to switch to c5 from another CMS?
9) About how many LARGE co’s or org’s have you TRIED to convince to switch to c5 from another CMS?
10) About how many LARGE co’s or org’s have you SUCCESSFULLY convinced to switch to c5 from another CMS?
11) What are the main reasons why co’s or org’s are deciding against c5?
12) What Fortune 1000 co’s or large org’s do you know that have switched to c5?
13) What well-known web designers or tech experts do you know that have switched to c5?
14) About what percentage of your clients’ c5 sites are new sites vs sites converted from another CMS?
15) What do you think c5’s top priorities should be?
16) What do you think are some of c5’s Top features?
17) What are some features c5 does not currently have that you wish c5 did have?
I’m not a developer, but here are my answers:
1. Summer 2010
2. Wordpress, Squarespace, SiteKreator
3. c5, Wordpress, Squarespace, LightCMS
4. Several
5. None so far
6. c5 is: too limiting, has too small of a following, has the most expensive add-ons, has too few add-ons, etc.
7. Several
8. None so far
9. None
10. None
11. My guess is that the risks and effort required to switch isn’t worth it to them.
12. No clue
13. No clue
14. n/a
15. a) Do what most CMSes do, make helping people switch a priority, b) Make add-on updates a priority; c5 updates will remain nightmarish until most c5 developers update their add-ons immediately, c) Hire some people who are not developers who are hired to focus on customer relations and mktg, d) Implement a better system for feature requests and support tickets, e) Change the culture of c5 from a geek fest to a more business-like culture (a business-focused org can also promote a fun work environment).
16. a) inline editing, b) it’s CMS not blog-based, c) it’s more of a drag-and-drop CMS than most other CMSes
17. a) a true drag-and-drop interface, b) more reliable add-ons, c) a migration tool, d) WYSIWYG pagination, e) a system for submitting and tracking feature requests and/or support tickets, f) a file mgr that allowed users to ftp their files and/or to put their files in specific folders that they can name themselves, g) encourage more developers to work on c5 add-ons by showing how many copies of add-ons have been sold, h) disclose c5’s criteria for recommending add-ons
The slowness and unreliability of c5’s add-ons being updated is obviously a HUGE issue. Instead of encouraging the use and growth of c5, c5 add-ons are instead a major deterrent. It’s actually prudent to avoid use of c5 add-ons as much as possible if you want/need to be able to keep up with c5 version updates and feature improvements.
Besides helping each other out with solutions to c5 issues, c5 forums should be focused on improving c5 and expanding its footprint. Those who instead use c5 forums to showcase their high schoolish approach to business, while claiming to be supportive of c5, are doing far more to impede c5 than to help c5 or its developers and users.
Hope this helps!
1) When did you start using c5?
2) What CMS did you primarily use before c5?
3) What CMSes do you currently use and what is currently your most used CMS?
4) About how many developers have you TRIED to convince to switch to c5 from another CMS?
5) About how many developers have you SUCCESSFULLY convinced to switch to c5 from another CMS?
6) What are the main reasons other developers are deciding against c5?
7) About how many co’s or org’s have you TRIED to convince to switch to c5 from another CMS?
8) About how many co’s or org’s have you SUCCESSFULLY convinced to switch to c5 from another CMS?
9) About how many LARGE co’s or org’s have you TRIED to convince to switch to c5 from another CMS?
10) About how many LARGE co’s or org’s have you SUCCESSFULLY convinced to switch to c5 from another CMS?
11) What are the main reasons why co’s or org’s are deciding against c5?
12) What Fortune 1000 co’s or large org’s do you know that have switched to c5?
13) What well-known web designers or tech experts do you know that have switched to c5?
14) About what percentage of your clients’ c5 sites are new sites vs sites converted from another CMS?
15) What do you think c5’s top priorities should be?
16) What do you think are some of c5’s Top features?
17) What are some features c5 does not currently have that you wish c5 did have?
I’m not a developer, but here are my answers:
1. Summer 2010
2. Wordpress, Squarespace, SiteKreator
3. c5, Wordpress, Squarespace, LightCMS
4. Several
5. None so far
6. c5 is: too limiting, has too small of a following, has the most expensive add-ons, has too few add-ons, etc.
7. Several
8. None so far
9. None
10. None
11. My guess is that the risks and effort required to switch isn’t worth it to them.
12. No clue
13. No clue
14. n/a
15. a) Do what most CMSes do, make helping people switch a priority, b) Make add-on updates a priority; c5 updates will remain nightmarish until most c5 developers update their add-ons immediately, c) Hire some people who are not developers who are hired to focus on customer relations and mktg, d) Implement a better system for feature requests and support tickets, e) Change the culture of c5 from a geek fest to a more business-like culture (a business-focused org can also promote a fun work environment).
16. a) inline editing, b) it’s CMS not blog-based, c) it’s more of a drag-and-drop CMS than most other CMSes
17. a) a true drag-and-drop interface, b) more reliable add-ons, c) a migration tool, d) WYSIWYG pagination, e) a system for submitting and tracking feature requests and/or support tickets, f) a file mgr that allowed users to ftp their files and/or to put their files in specific folders that they can name themselves, g) encourage more developers to work on c5 add-ons by showing how many copies of add-ons have been sold, h) disclose c5’s criteria for recommending add-ons
The slowness and unreliability of c5’s add-ons being updated is obviously a HUGE issue. Instead of encouraging the use and growth of c5, c5 add-ons are instead a major deterrent. It’s actually prudent to avoid use of c5 add-ons as much as possible if you want/need to be able to keep up with c5 version updates and feature improvements.
Besides helping each other out with solutions to c5 issues, c5 forums should be focused on improving c5 and expanding its footprint. Those who instead use c5 forums to showcase their high schoolish approach to business, while claiming to be supportive of c5, are doing far more to impede c5 than to help c5 or its developers and users.
Hope this helps!
Thanks ChadStrat.
What have you done to improve c5 and make it more of a niche player?
For example, how many developers or co's have you been able to convince to switch to c5 from another CMS?
What have you done to improve c5 and make it more of a niche player?
For example, how many developers or co's have you been able to convince to switch to c5 from another CMS?
we have open a discussion regarding the updates and that was useful and lead to results for the community.
I do not see any value in your post and if I wish to see some polls etc the internet is full of review sites.
I think that you can give a better contribution if you stop making such posts and start focusing on something else.
As chad says I will not feed further the troll .
so if you expect some reply from now on just act as a person and not a troll.
remember .
1. you can use another cms
2. you can hire developers if you think you can do better with your ideas.
3. you can make your cms
choice is yours.
I have nothing more t say about this topic.
bye.
I do not see any value in your post and if I wish to see some polls etc the internet is full of review sites.
I think that you can give a better contribution if you stop making such posts and start focusing on something else.
As chad says I will not feed further the troll .
so if you expect some reply from now on just act as a person and not a troll.
remember .
1. you can use another cms
2. you can hire developers if you think you can do better with your ideas.
3. you can make your cms
choice is yours.
I have nothing more t say about this topic.
bye.
I hear ya. What does it say that /ChadStrat/ is the one calling foul on this?!?
<chuckling>
I dunno man, I'm torn. Certainly I could deactivate this guy, or just close or delete this thread. I don't feel like that's really productive tho. Anyone who offers something with merit gets heard around here and if BizStarz ever stopped trolling he might actually turn into a helpful presence - who knows. I'll shut people off for being crude, but the way I see it this is mostly just rude to us.
What I can tell you is I have spent considerable time answering his long lists of poorly researched concerns in the past and I never got any meaningful reply out of it. I'd provide inline responses in detail and everything would just be completely ignored and he'd be on to some new "massive issue." What's the point in that?
All you have to compare us to any other open source project, or read any 3rd party review sites. Reasonable minds would have to agree, we compare favorably. We routinely pull 4.7+ out of 5 stars, we're frequently mentioned in "top 10 cms's for xxx." articles on design sites, and we're growing at a healthy rate. Last year we doubled our revenue. This year I plan on doing the same or better. According to the independent Water&Stone report our weekly downloads increased over 500% while our closest competitor was in the 30's. I personally have done work with major brands and concrete5, we just don't have the rights to use their logos on our home page.
I'm perfectly happy to admit that last point is a failing we need to address, but it's hardly a crisis. No, I'm not going to share my revenue numbers as biZstarZ has requested in another thread. Yes, 2011 was our best year ever - since 2002.
I agree with you Chad (and I know Lucas was saying the same thing elsewhere), it's bizarre this guy is so focused on concrete5. I mean it's so over the top it'd make a Super-PACs robo-call writer blush. The weirdest part is he also gets up in my email too telling me I'm an ego maniac and I should be paying for his time. That makes me think he's not just trolling for pleasure, but he's actually earnest about it.
I gotohttp://www.bizstarz.com/ and it doesn't really inspire me.
I dunno. It's weird to watch, but I don't think it serves my/our interests to lock him out.
I will tell you that for a few days Akismit started just blocking everything he posted on its own and we all thought that amazing. Those guys at Automattik have some secret mojo man. ;)
<chuckling>
I dunno man, I'm torn. Certainly I could deactivate this guy, or just close or delete this thread. I don't feel like that's really productive tho. Anyone who offers something with merit gets heard around here and if BizStarz ever stopped trolling he might actually turn into a helpful presence - who knows. I'll shut people off for being crude, but the way I see it this is mostly just rude to us.
What I can tell you is I have spent considerable time answering his long lists of poorly researched concerns in the past and I never got any meaningful reply out of it. I'd provide inline responses in detail and everything would just be completely ignored and he'd be on to some new "massive issue." What's the point in that?
All you have to compare us to any other open source project, or read any 3rd party review sites. Reasonable minds would have to agree, we compare favorably. We routinely pull 4.7+ out of 5 stars, we're frequently mentioned in "top 10 cms's for xxx." articles on design sites, and we're growing at a healthy rate. Last year we doubled our revenue. This year I plan on doing the same or better. According to the independent Water&Stone report our weekly downloads increased over 500% while our closest competitor was in the 30's. I personally have done work with major brands and concrete5, we just don't have the rights to use their logos on our home page.
I'm perfectly happy to admit that last point is a failing we need to address, but it's hardly a crisis. No, I'm not going to share my revenue numbers as biZstarZ has requested in another thread. Yes, 2011 was our best year ever - since 2002.
I agree with you Chad (and I know Lucas was saying the same thing elsewhere), it's bizarre this guy is so focused on concrete5. I mean it's so over the top it'd make a Super-PACs robo-call writer blush. The weirdest part is he also gets up in my email too telling me I'm an ego maniac and I should be paying for his time. That makes me think he's not just trolling for pleasure, but he's actually earnest about it.
I gotohttp://www.bizstarz.com/ and it doesn't really inspire me.
I dunno. It's weird to watch, but I don't think it serves my/our interests to lock him out.
I will tell you that for a few days Akismit started just blocking everything he posted on its own and we all thought that amazing. Those guys at Automattik have some secret mojo man. ;)
"I have spent considerable time answering his long lists of poorly researched concerns in the past and I never got any meaningful reply out of it"
>> I must say @frz that you're 100% correct on this one. I used yesterday some time to answer his long list because everyone should get a second chance IMO (I know you've already given him like 10 chances)
I can say that my long answer was 100% ignored by him and this thread even raises up THE SAME questions that were answered by few people in that same thread.
Don't know if he's on some level illiterate or does he just enormously enjoy wasting people's time (=trolling). Dunno, starting to get the point why he usually gets 2-3 word answers here saying what Chad said in the beginning of this post.
He seems to have some kinds of concerns of the system because he's clearly aiming at serving some specific need with it that he cannot do himself. I'd say he's a terrible business owner and marketer if he really does PUBLIC RELATIONS (his website xD and these posts together).
Also, as a business owner (as he has pointed out himself several times), I think he does not know much. He seems to be like one of those guys who come up every now and then that keep telling me that "I need the next Facebook ready by the end of the week with a really low budget!!! This is all the information you need from me, get on with the job and start doing it!"
Antti / Mainio
>> I must say @frz that you're 100% correct on this one. I used yesterday some time to answer his long list because everyone should get a second chance IMO (I know you've already given him like 10 chances)
I can say that my long answer was 100% ignored by him and this thread even raises up THE SAME questions that were answered by few people in that same thread.
Don't know if he's on some level illiterate or does he just enormously enjoy wasting people's time (=trolling). Dunno, starting to get the point why he usually gets 2-3 word answers here saying what Chad said in the beginning of this post.
He seems to have some kinds of concerns of the system because he's clearly aiming at serving some specific need with it that he cannot do himself. I'd say he's a terrible business owner and marketer if he really does PUBLIC RELATIONS (his website xD and these posts together).
Also, as a business owner (as he has pointed out himself several times), I think he does not know much. He seems to be like one of those guys who come up every now and then that keep telling me that "I need the next Facebook ready by the end of the week with a really low budget!!! This is all the information you need from me, get on with the job and start doing it!"
Antti / Mainio
"I go tohttp://www.bizstarz.com/ and it doesn't really inspire me."
Wow that is scary. That does not instill any confidence in his experience or business.
Wow that is scary. That does not instill any confidence in his experience or business.
"I hear ya. What does it say that /ChadStrat/ is the one calling foul on this?!?
<chuckling>" lol
hey, I don't troll...I "prod". lol
C
<chuckling>" lol
hey, I don't troll...I "prod". lol
C
<laughing>
No, no - you never trolled. I don't think anyone could label you a
"fan boy" of everything I say though. ;)
In all seriousness guys it really touches me to have your alls
support. I know somehow we've lost the heart and mind of this biZStarZ
guy, and I don't think it's very likely we're going to get it back.
Stepping back to reality however, JordanLev was having a beer at the
office the other day and mentioned how supportive and friendly our
community was. I believe he is correct.
In fact I think people are generally so well behaved in here that its
truly dissettling when someone comes along and brings the tone down.
It seems to happen every 6 months or so, we just get a wild one and we
all have to weather the storm. To be honest it drives me up the wall
and keeps me awake at night. I know it shouldn't. I know you can't win
em all. I know the world is a diverse and crazy place and a good
approval rating for a politician is in the 60-70% range - meaning 3-4
people out of 10 still hate you. I know that there isn't an artist or
business person I look up to who has ever given two shakes about their
critics, and I know the difference between valuable feedback and
someone trying to pick a fight. I've been around the block more than
enough times to know the only positive way out is to simply ignore and
rise above. Still, it gets under my skin, consumes my head, and
generally has the effect of turning good days into bad ones for me.
As we continue to grow, that's going to be something I'm going to have
to continue to work on. I'm sure we will continue to have loud
uninformed voices of hatred emerge from the wood work as we get more
successful. It really, really helps to have a chorus of supporters
when one of these trolls comes along. There's just, ahem, quite a few
things I can not say as the CEO - but they sometimes still need to be
said.
Any rate, I'm getting all verklemt - pooring out some coffee for my
homies... thanks guys, lets keep making things better in 2012 and
here's to 5x growth instead of just 2x this year!
best wishes
Franz Maruna
CEO - concrete5.org
http://about.me/frz
No, no - you never trolled. I don't think anyone could label you a
"fan boy" of everything I say though. ;)
In all seriousness guys it really touches me to have your alls
support. I know somehow we've lost the heart and mind of this biZStarZ
guy, and I don't think it's very likely we're going to get it back.
Stepping back to reality however, JordanLev was having a beer at the
office the other day and mentioned how supportive and friendly our
community was. I believe he is correct.
In fact I think people are generally so well behaved in here that its
truly dissettling when someone comes along and brings the tone down.
It seems to happen every 6 months or so, we just get a wild one and we
all have to weather the storm. To be honest it drives me up the wall
and keeps me awake at night. I know it shouldn't. I know you can't win
em all. I know the world is a diverse and crazy place and a good
approval rating for a politician is in the 60-70% range - meaning 3-4
people out of 10 still hate you. I know that there isn't an artist or
business person I look up to who has ever given two shakes about their
critics, and I know the difference between valuable feedback and
someone trying to pick a fight. I've been around the block more than
enough times to know the only positive way out is to simply ignore and
rise above. Still, it gets under my skin, consumes my head, and
generally has the effect of turning good days into bad ones for me.
As we continue to grow, that's going to be something I'm going to have
to continue to work on. I'm sure we will continue to have loud
uninformed voices of hatred emerge from the wood work as we get more
successful. It really, really helps to have a chorus of supporters
when one of these trolls comes along. There's just, ahem, quite a few
things I can not say as the CEO - but they sometimes still need to be
said.
Any rate, I'm getting all verklemt - pooring out some coffee for my
homies... thanks guys, lets keep making things better in 2012 and
here's to 5x growth instead of just 2x this year!
best wishes
Franz Maruna
CEO - concrete5.org
http://about.me/frz
I think bizstarz opinion is the businessman opinion, and he did not know about developer/ coding. and he want a product which is ready for end user with some add on to use and less/ No coding.
Meanwhile in my Opinion Concrete5 is a Good Foundations to build products, and it is intended more to the Developer to develop something.
CMIIW
Meanwhile in my Opinion Concrete5 is a Good Foundations to build products, and it is intended more to the Developer to develop something.
CMIIW
bizstarz, you need to improve you pitching skills, or hire some one to do it for you.
do yourself and the community a favor...don't feed the troll.
I wish I could lock threads. Frz?
ChadStrat