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Many of you have taken the time to fill out the questionnaire for signmeto that is linked to at the top of the signmeto homepage. This feedback, combined with the many comments offered up using the Feedback widget, has helped us immensely as we work through the many issues/tweaks/bugs/problems that have been cropping up at the site.

I thought it might be useful giving you all a quick run-through of the things we are currently working on to make the signmeto experience a lot better, and try and address your many concerns:

1. Improved ratings system: we know that the way the charts currently work need fixing. It isn't right that a band that uploads their stuff today can trump an established band with only one rating. So we are creating a new algorithm and quota system to address this problem and make the charts far more reflective of reality.

2. Fixing the problem with some ratings not working: some users have reported that even when logged in, they cannot get the ratings to work (ie. the skulls don't change when they roll over them). This bug has been logged and is in the process of being hunted down and killed.

3. Comments mysteriously disappearing or being posted against the wrong artist - we have also logged this bug. It seems to happen when people have signmeto opened up a few times (ie. multiple sessions). Our developers have got this high on their "fix it" agenda.

4. Confirmation emails not arriving - we are happy to say that we think this problem is now fixed! Our database expert identified a setting that had not been properly turned on...and has subsequently got it working. Emails should arrive shortly after signing up.

5. Weird "gray screen" freezing thing - this was a problem where your whole screen would freeze once you logged in with a gray shadow over the top. We discovered it was a problem to do with the terms of service box that pops up and asks for you to accept - it wasn't loading properly for some people. We have fixed that now.

6. Play counts not always ticking over - we know about this and are exploring the problem. It seems that some people play songs and it doesn't register in the two play counters beneath the player.....we hope to have a fix for this problem in the next few weeks

7. Search problems - this is a big issue that we are working hard to fix. Some bands who join up just can't be found when using the search page. Our developers are poring over the database code to see why certain bands are not being indexed properly - the last word we heard is that they think they have identified problems and are making repairs right now. We hope a rebuild in the next week will have solved the searching & indexing issue.

8. General navigation - we know that the site in general could use a much better navigation schematic. Scrolling through pages sometimes breaks things, and the search/genres page could use a complete makeover. We have put together a major document that outlines a new approach to navigation and design, and we hope to get started on some of those improvements over the next month or so.

9. Staff ratings. This is a big issue - tons of bands have been in touch asking, "When will A&R staff start rating??". It's a fair question, and I am sorry to say that this feature is currently broken!! When our A&R guys log in, they are currently unable to make the skulls work in the staff ratings area. Of course, we know how important this is, so our developers are moving mountains trying to figure out the problem. On that subject, it is also worth restating: we can't promise that our A&R staff will rate many bands....hell, we don't even promise they will look at every band. But they will (and are) looking at the site every day.

10. The empty "From" field - this is still an ongoing issue. I'm no programmer, and I thought it'd be easy for our guys to fix. But apparently it's a real bitch and they are doing their best trying to work out why it is that the locations of artists aren't appearing on an artist profile. I can assure you all that this is a major bug that is top of the list.

So there you have it, people. We are doing our best to manage the issues, and we thank you all for the patience you've shown. Keep using the feedback widget to tell us about your experiences.

I'm back in Australia for a week next week but will try my best to get another blog entry up to keep you all updated.

Cheers,

Jon

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