IPS Beyond Opened

[Natterbox]

Could somebody explain how to register for the Beyond area please? I've been to my client home centre, but there is no information there, only an inactive button telling me I have to select a user name first :unsure:

I would if I could, but I can't.... >_<

Edit - how odd, after a bit of frustrated clicking everywhere, it suddenly became active ... hoorah!

[princetontiger]

Weird... I remember it being on the front page of the client center.

[lupin84]

No offense but the customer doesn't care whether you maintain 1 office or 2 or n number of offices... its just the service u provide them.. be it via 1 room and by 1 person... :)

That's a fair point actually, Zainzz. When I think about it I really don't care much either, as long as I get the services I have paid for I really don't mind who's doing it or where from. I may be a bonus for IPB staff to be able to work in one office and work together but whether that could be considered a bonus for the customers, I'm not sure.

One thing that might be handy is a feedback forum. I'm guessing there isn't one because people would post their grievances and complaints in there, but I know I'd find it useful for getting quick responses. Now there appears to be nowhere aside from the client center (which I've never been too hot about). If I was new to Invision I'd find a questions/feedback forum very very helpful. There was something like that when I first signed up, and I signed up based on what I'd discussed with staff and heard from other forum users in there.

[ZainZ]

One thing that might be handy is a feedback forum. I'm guessing there isn't one because people would post their grievances and complaints in there, but I know I'd find it useful for getting quick responses. Now there appears to be nowhere aside from the client center (which I've never been too hot about). If I was new to Invision I'd find a questions/feedback forum very very helpful. There was something like that when I first signed up, and I signed up based on what I'd discussed with staff and heard from other forum users in there.

I guess ipsbeyond.com is there for the same reason HOWEVER.. i WONDER why dont they have LINK to ipsbeyond.com somewhere HERE ni this forum??????? maybe next to blog galley live chat?? as in we have to TYPE ipsbeyond.com in the address bar... there SHOULD've been a link here leading to ipsbeyond :S

[scorpion5005]

One thing that might be handy is a feedback forum. I'm guessing there isn't one because people would post their grievances and complaints in there, but I know I'd find it useful for getting quick responses.

I hate to say it, but there's been a trend with IPS for the last two years to move or prevent unfavorable customer feedback from being publicly posted and viewable. Now, a lot of people share the view that a company has the right to do that, even with its own paying customers, but some IPS customers have questioned the ultimate effect trying to hide negative opinions and experiences have on corporate mentality and work ethic. IPS has some long standing problems that upper management seems to have knowledge of. The old movie term "plausible deniability" comes to mind here.

CT2K4

[Smoothie]

I have a question. Why does this forum even exist?

You use to be able to get help from other customers, now you can't

You use to be able to get tips, now you can't

You use to be able to post questions about IPB and get answers, now you can't

You use to be able to post feedback, now you can't

I see more locked topics and that stupid RSS bot than useful ones

Now to get help we either have to open a ticket or post at another site.

[Lindy]

I hate to say it, but there's been a trend with IPS for the last two years to move or prevent unfavorable customer feedback from being publicly posted and viewable. Now, a lot of people share the view that a company has the right to do that, even with its own paying customers, but some IPS customers have questioned the ultimate effect trying to hide negative opinions and experiences have on corporate mentality and work ethic. IPS has some long standing problems that upper management seems to have knowledge of. The old movie term "plausible deniability" comes to mind here.

CT2K4

I'm sorry that you feel we have a "sweep it under the rug" mentality. Truth be told, we do welcome feedback - positive or negative. We do have a feedback and suggestions forum for each of our products and we encourage its use, be it "I don't like the way xyz feature works, perhaps you should consider..." or otherwise. The general feedback forum was removed because it was almost always a specific, personal issue that didn't benefit anyone other than making the original poster feel better - eg. "My ticket was opened two weeks ago and still hasn't been resolved" leaving out the fact that they failed to provide accurate FTP details for the first 13 of those 14 days. The "feedback" posted was rarely "I'm unhappy with this aspect of your company and would like a change." It was almost always a squeaky wheel attempting to get the grease at the expense of other customers and quite honestly, we don't subscribe to that logic -- we refuse to put another customer ahead of other paying customers who have been waiting in the queue, just to silence their public outcry. When we had a general feedback forum, many, as I'm sure you remember, would submit a ticket and literally 15 minutes later come to the forums and complain that their ticket hasn't been responded to. It's certainly not a matter of silencing feedback, it's more a case of most of what was posted was not feedback. It's unfortunate that those who do wish to provide corporate feedback (any type of feedback) no longer have the means to do so on these forums, but I do hope the above satisfies the question as to why -- and please know, we do have various methods of contact if you do wish to provide feedback or discuss any concerns/issues you may be having. :)

Again, we do welcome product/development feedback on these forums as we feel it's important for others to chime in on your product suggestions. For company and specific personal feedback/issues/concerns, we simply ask that you contact us at management @ invisionpower.com. We do listen and we do care. If there's been an oversight (and with as many customers as we have, oversights do unfortunately happen), miscommunication, or another fault on our part, we step-up and make things right to the best of our abilities. We're also always looking for ways to improve the level of service we provide to our customers.

I have a question. Why does this forum even exist?

You use to be able to get help from other customers, now you can't

You use to be able to get tips, now you can't

You use to be able to post questions about IPB and get answers, now you can't

You use to be able to post feedback, now you can't

I see more locked topics and that stupid RSS bot than useful ones

Now to get help we either have to open a ticket or post at another site.

With new products being rolled out in the near future, a division of content was simply necessary. This forum can be seen to relate to the core development and usage of our products and services. Corporate and product announcements and updates will be provided here, as will discussion of development and enhancements to products and services. Beyond that, there's IPSBeyond. You can get just about everything you've mentioned above (and then some) at IPSBeyond - it's simply been moved from here to there, so I'm unsure what the concern is, honestly.

I hope that clears up any confusion and having said all of that, this topic is about IPSBeyond, so let's please get back on-point. :)

[Smoothie]

well, I guess I just don't understand the reason for IPS beyond, whatever. Is there a reason why support/questions/answers had to be moved off site?

When I first registered here you were either a customer or you weren't. If I needed some help or had a question, I came here. This whole customer tag was dissolved in favor of IPS beyond? I guess it does relate to IPS beyond because now instead of coming to the site I bought the product from I have to go somewhere else?

Just don't comprehend why, that's all.

[Lindy]

well, I guess I just don't understand the reason for IPS beyond, whatever. Is there a reason why support/questions/answers had to be moved off site?

When I first registered here you were either a customer or you weren't. If I needed some help or had a question, I came here. This whole customer tag was dissolved in favor of IPS beyond? I guess it does relate to IPS beyond because now instead of coming to the site I bought the product from I have to go somewhere else?

Just don't comprehend why, that's all.

You do realize IPS owns IPSBeyond, right? We're not simply pawning you off on a third-party site -- it's still effectively us. :)

The support forums were moved to IPSBeyond because that is our customer resource site and customer-to-customer support is a resource - it just fits better over there, that's all. Again, as we move forward, these forums could easily become overwhelming with resource forums, development forums, support forums, etc. A division of the content just made sense... our customers have asked for quite some time for an official resource site that went beyond just mods and skins and now they have one. :)

[Smoothie]

You do realize IPS owns IPSBeyond, right? We're not simply pawning you off on a third-party site -- it's still effectively us. :)

The support forums were moved to IPSBeyond because that is our customer resource site and customer-to-customer support is a resource - it just fits better over there, that's all. Again, as we move forward, these forums could easily become overwhelming with resource forums, development forums, support forums, etc. A division of the content just made sense... our customers have asked for quite some time for an official resource site that went beyond just mods and skins and now they have one. :)

No, I didn't know.

[GolfDude]

i need help.. i cant access ipsbeyond.. i made my user name in the CP area, but when i go to teh tsite im not logged in and i cant log in b/c i dont know what password it wants

[Alex Duggan]

The password will be the same as your client area password :)

[GolfDude]

that didnt work.. i did the nick name i made and the client area password i have and it still wont let me in..

[Jonathan S.]

You can either use the "Lost Password feature" or send a ticket in with the desired password. We will manually change your password for you.

[GolfDude]

would it send the email to my master account or the email for the secondary user that i set up and is the one im tryign to get in..

[Finkbiner]

Why do IPS staff members continue to remove any negative criticism that is posted within these message boards regarding their products and services?

Due to the fact that I am a potential buyer of over $10,000.00 worth of software licenses (school districts related), I have been monitoring these forums for the past few weeks in addition to their competitor

[princetontiger]

School districts could definitely benefit from forums, too...

[Finkbiner]

School districts could definitely benefit from forums, too...

Yes, you are correct, they can.

The IPB software licenses would primarily be utilized in the new computer science classes and also integrated into the science classes and a variety of other "student hand's on technology" activities.

[Lindy]

Why do IPS staff members continue to remove any negative criticism that is posted within these message boards regarding their products and services?

Due to the fact that I am a potential buyer of over $10,000.00 worth of software licenses (school districts related), I have been monitoring these forums for the past few weeks in addition to their competitor

[GolfDude]

lindy, can you help me? ive been trying to get help accessing ipb beyond and i cant get anything, lost password emails, access to the site, or site support using tickets on here ( ive had a long wait between my reply and the response.. which is on 4 hours now.. )

[Lindy]

Sure. :) Please send me the e-mail address you used in the client area and I'll take it from there.

[bfarber]

I'm already working with GolfDude via email/pm. :)

[TwistedWeather]

I'm sorry that you feel we have a "sweep it under the rug" mentality. Truth be told, we do welcome feedback - positive or negative. We do have a feedback and suggestions forum for each of our products and we encourage its use, be it "I don't like the way xyz feature works, perhaps you should consider..." or otherwise. The general feedback forum was removed because it was almost always a specific, personal issue that didn't benefit anyone other than making the original poster feel better - eg. "My ticket was opened two weeks ago and still hasn't been resolved" leaving out the fact that they failed to provide accurate FTP details for the first 13 of those 14 days. The "feedback" posted was rarely "I'm unhappy with this aspect of your company and would like a change." It was almost always a squeaky wheel attempting to get the grease at the expense of other customers and quite honestly, we don't subscribe to that logic -- we refuse to put another customer ahead of other paying customers who have been waiting in the queue, just to silence their public outcry. When we had a general feedback forum, many, as I'm sure you remember, would submit a ticket and literally 15 minutes later come to the forums and complain that their ticket hasn't been responded to. It's certainly not a matter of silencing feedback, it's more a case of most of what was posted was not feedback. It's unfortunate that those who do wish to provide corporate feedback (any type of feedback) no longer have the means to do so on these forums, but I do hope the above satisfies the question as to why -- and please know, we do have various methods of contact if you do wish to provide feedback or discuss any concerns/issues you may be having. :)

Again, we do welcome product/development feedback on these forums as we feel it's important for others to chime in on your product suggestions. For company and specific personal feedback/issues/concerns, we simply ask that you contact us at management @ invisionpower.com. We do listen and we do care. If there's been an oversight (and with as many customers as we have, oversights do unfortunately happen), miscommunication, or another fault on our part, we step-up and make things right to the best of our abilities. We're also always looking for ways to improve the level of service we provide to our customers.

With new products being rolled out in the near future, a division of content was simply necessary. This forum can be seen to relate to the core development and usage of our products and services. Corporate and product announcements and updates will be provided here, as will discussion of development and enhancements to products and services. [i]Beyond[/i] that, there's IPSBeyond. You can get just about everything you've mentioned above (and then some) at IPSBeyond - it's simply been moved from here to there, so I'm unsure what the concern is, honestly.

I hope that clears up any confusion and having said all of that, this topic is about IPSBeyond, so let's please get back on-point. :)

My reply i expect to be deleted as well. This is usually what ends up getting deleted because the truth hurts. Either way i see no reason to delete it anyways as it has been obvious for a long time that a ton of people havent been happy with IPS sence the changes. Plus it as well seems to give credit to the ideas that you all are sweeping it under the rug. Hopefully you all will read this whole thing because you should.


Deny or try to talk in circles all you want but the numbers between this board and ips beyond speak VOLUMES about the who's in and who isnt. IPS Beyond imho wasnt a smart move because it now gives a very good idea as to exactly how many paying customers you have here at IPS. besides the fact you all are telling people that they will have to forever pay every year ( unless they do the Invision Power Board Perpetual License ) in order to recieve any future help/support with YOUR software. Not good because of all the endless updates made all the time to your SUPPOSED great product. If its so good then why all the needed updates? My guess is to get people to continue to pay for your product which imo is low. In short your saying to heck with the people who pay now after their year has passed. Nice selling point there. Or have used your product back when it was free and they built a huge site around it.

It is MY belief that Matt did himself and this company in by the sudden removal of the free software AFTER the old promise with NO warnings what so ever. Add to this the now no more support AT ALL for those that dont continue to pay every year. I call that a waste of money. Especially considering the endless updates that are always made. Then add to that the unrelenting trying to make everyone happy with first the removal of the customor only stuff here and then now this ips beyond. Add to that that there is much better newer software comming along that is free and basically has all the advantages of this one. A few do offer better support via paying but STILL provide a forum and as well support via their forums for those who dont. The added bonus for them is that all the old modders/skinners from here and elsewhere seem to be moving their way. I find it diffacult at best to find newer skins anymore for the newer IPB. Top that off making it worse what skinners are left are now trying to make a quick buck off of those as well. Sorry guy's but it would seem that the MAJORITY of people using BB software prefer what you use to be about here at IPS. Sure you have a estimated 6,000 to 7,000 customers paying but exactly how much more support did this company get BEFORE the removal of all your services of the old free stuff? I believe the numbers on this forum speaks for that. Matt i think forgets that people do talk ( Meaning even the new comers to the net are well aware of what happend here ) and that their memories arent as short as i am guessing he hopes they are. Sorry Matt but you made yourself untrustworthy to alot of potential buyers and those affects will linger. Your trying to be like Bill Gates doesnt help matters either as most people really dont care for him and microsoft as is evident by the onslought of newer browsers etc popping up and people moving to them.

Not sure of what else to say except that this company lost it's edge and alot of respect with doing away with the free services and support they use to give to their older bb products. Whats funny about this is i am sure alot of paying people will come blasting away ( If this doesnt get deleted that is ). But before they blast perhaps they should read some of their replies in that now closed thread "IPS Forum Reorganization". Seems to me most of those who complained are only here for the privlage of saying they have their own ipb forum. Gee what about the product itself? Even this thread suggests the same. Looks to me like the KIDS have taken over this company and now run it because Matt fall's to his knees everytime the SAME ONES gripe. IPS Beyond is a good example of this. Another real nice way to attract potential buyers.

Hopefully this wont get blown off or deleted because i believe alot could be gained from this. Havent you done enough damage to your reputation already Matt? If you believe so then you will let this reply of mine stay and maybe some solutions can be found to get the respect you and this company once had back. I am very sure i speak for ALOT MORE potential buyer's/potential customers then you already have by 10 fold. BTW whoever your numbers guy is should be fired as seing how they seem to think that 6,000 to 7,000 is the population of the internet and potential buyers/users of bb software.

If i were Matt i would simply just add a forum for the old people who did use the product and as well offer a less modified version of the bb software for free. Offering the less modified version as well imo would help with bringing back skinners/modders as well. And by less modified i mean something that doesnt have all the extra's such as portal's and such. I dont mean a coded version that doesnt work after so many day's etc. Just make it so that when they download it that it is known that they are not to redistribute it to others so all the work/modding etc done on them remains here. Have them fill out a form or even force them to register here as part of the agreement with downloading it and KEEP their info updated by forcing them to check in every so often or they lose thier support/future updates/account here. That will help as well to keep people coming back and help to with potential buyers. I say help with potential buyer's because if some come and see what can be done with this software and dont care to have to go thru all the modding process they will be inclined to buy the full featured version that doesnt have to be modded to get the full affect.


Good luck.

[Brandon C]

My reply i expect to be deleted as well. This is usually what ends up getting deleted because the truth hurts. Either way i see no reason to delete it anyways as it has been obvious for a long time that a ton of people havent been happy with IPS sence the changes. Plus it as well seems to give credit to the ideas that you all are sweeping it under the rug. Hopefully you all will read this whole thing because you should.

Deny or try to talk in circles all you want but the numbers between this board and ips beyond speak VOLUMES about the who's in and who isnt. IPS Beyond imho wasnt a smart move because it now gives a very good idea as to exactly how many paying customers you have here at IPS. besides the fact you all are telling people that they will have to forever pay every year ( unless they do the Invision Power Board Perpetual License ) in order to recieve any future help/support with YOUR software. Not good because of all the endless updates made all the time to your SUPPOSED great product. If its so good then why all the needed updates? My guess is to get people to continue to pay for your product which imo is low. In short your saying to heck with the people who pay now after their year has passed. Nice selling point there. Or have used your product back when it was free and they built a huge site around it.

It is MY belief that Matt did himself and this company in by the sudden removal of the free software AFTER the old promise with NO warnings what so ever. Add to this the now no more support AT ALL for those that dont continue to pay every year. I call that a waste of money. Especially considering the endless updates that are always made. Then add to that the unrelenting trying to make everyone happy with first the removal of the customor only stuff here and then now this ips beyond. Add to that that there is much better newer software comming along that is free and basically has all the advantages of this one. A few do offer better support via paying but STILL provide a forum and as well support via their forums for those who dont. The added bonus for them is that all the old modders/skinners from here and elsewhere seem to be moving their way. I find it diffacult at best to find newer skins anymore for the newer IPB. Top that off making it worse what skinners are left are now trying to make a quick buck off of those as well. Sorry guy's but it would seem that the MAJORITY of people using BB software prefer what you use to be about here at IPS. Sure you have a estimated 6,000 to 7,000 customers paying but exactly how much more support did this company get BEFORE the removal of all your services of the old free stuff? I believe the numbers on this forum speaks for that. Matt i think forgets that people do talk ( Meaning even the new comers to the net are well aware of what happend here ) and that their memories arent as short as i am guessing he hopes they are. Sorry Matt but you made yourself untrustworthy to alot of potential buyers and those affects will linger. Your trying to be like Bill Gates doesnt help matters either as most people really dont care for him and microsoft as is evident by the onslought of newer browsers etc popping up and people moving to them.

Not sure of what else to say except that this company lost it's edge and alot of respect with doing away with the free services and support they use to give to their older bb products. Whats funny about this is i am sure alot of paying people will come blasting away ( If this doesnt get deleted that is ). But before they blast perhaps they should read some of their replies in that now closed thread "IPS Forum Reorganization". Seems to me most of those who complained are only here for the privlage of saying they have their own ipb forum. Gee what about the product itself? Even this thread suggests the same. Looks to me like the KIDS have taken over this company and now run it because Matt fall's to his knees everytime the SAME ONES gripe. IPS Beyond is a good example of this. Another real nice way to attract potential buyers.

Hopefully this wont get blown off or deleted because i believe alot could be gained from this. Havent you done enough damage to your reputation already Matt? If you believe so then you will let this reply of mine stay and maybe some solutions can be found to get the respect you and this company once had back. I am very sure i speak for ALOT MORE potential buyer's/potential customers then you already have by 10 fold. BTW whoever your numbers guy is should be fired as seing how they seem to think that 6,000 to 7,000 is the population of the internet and potential buyers/users of bb software.

If i were Matt i would simply just add a forum for the old people who did use the product and as well offer a less modified version of the bb software for free. Offering the less modified version as well imo would help with bringing back skinners/modders as well. And by less modified i mean something that doesnt have all the extra's such as portal's and such. I dont mean a coded version that doesnt work after so many day's etc. Just make it so that when they download it that it is known that they are not to redistribute it to others so all the work/modding etc done on them remains here. Have them fill out a form or even force them to register here as part of the agreement with downloading it and KEEP their info updated by forcing them to check in every so often or they lose thier support/future updates/account here. That will help as well to keep people coming back and help to with potential buyers. I say help with potential buyer's because if some come and see what can be done with this software and dont care to have to go thru all the modding process they will be inclined to buy the full featured version that doesnt have to be modded to get the full affect.

Good luck.

TwistedWeather,

I'm not sure whether or not you understand whenever a company gets enough demand for its products and has tech support sitting around to take time out of their day to help, the company will most likely put a price on the software, as IPS needed money to pay its tech support for its excellent support which they have today, not to mention a high quality product. :D How you classify it as a waste of money I'm unsure of. Is it really to much to ask to pay some money for a high quality product?! :rolleyes: IPS Beyond is a great addition and benefit for paying customers to receive customer-to-customer support and customer-only benefits, such as downloads, etc. that are not normally available to regular members here or elsewhere. If you find it difficult to find skins for the newer IPB, then obviously you haven't done much research at all. :rolleyes: I can't believe you're going to blame Matt for his decisions just because he decided to make the company a paid-one, that's preposterous. :rolleyes:

This company is far from being run by "kids." It's run by professional people who care about their bulletin board and care to make a high quality product and back it with great support. If you don't like what decisions IPS has made for their product(s), then I suggest you go find a competitor's/alternate product. :)

Kind Regards,
Brandon

[TwistedWeather]

TwistedWeather,

I'm not sure whether or not you understand whenever a company gets enough demand for its products and has tech support sitting around to take time out of their day to help, the company will most likely put a price on the software, as IPS needed money to pay its tech support for its excellent support which they have today, not to mention a high quality product. :D How you classify it as a waste of money I'm unsure of. Is it really to much to ask to pay some money for a high quality product?! :rolleyes: IPS Beyond is a great addition and benefit for paying customers to receive customer-to-customer support and customer-only benefits, such as downloads, etc. that are not normally available to regular members here or elsewhere. If you find it difficult to find skins for the newer IPB, then obviously you haven't done much research at all. :rolleyes: I can't believe you're going to blame Matt for his decisions just because he decided to make the company a paid-one, that's preposterous. :rolleyes:

This company is [i]far[/i] from being run by "kids." It's run by professional people who care about their bulletin board and care to make a high quality product and back it with great support. If you don't like what decisions IPS has made for their product(s), then I suggest you go find a competitor's/alternate product. :)

Kind Regards,

Brandon

Umm other then the BB software this company has always been about payed for services. I guess you forgot that they do hosting and other sort of stuff as well related to that. And sorry i dont call great support for something people invest alot of time and money in only to not get support later on. If your gonna release something and wanna STAY IN BUSINESS then you had better ALWAYS Back your product by supporting it forever. If not thats like saying hey buy me for a year after which i dont think my product isnt so great because i will no longer support it and i can care less what happens to you or your site. Like i said as well i visit a ton of other software sites and BELIEVE ME there is a few who do offer as good a product as this and even VB for that matter that is free. Sorry but i choose my products on how good they run, look's, and most of all SUPPORT! If ALL is good no matter how much it does or doesnt cost i will get it and pay for it if need be. IPB Fails with support because they dont back their product after a year. The rest is a toss up. I mean why try to build a great website/forum if after a year the product doesnt function properly and you can no longer get support for it? This has a great chance of heppening too because of all the endless updates done here. And look at the recent comments about IPB 1.3 that they are now saying wont work with the new php. This forums page is a good example of all the endless updates btw. And sorry but the 80s "i gotta have the latest thing" free spenders is long gone as well. Thats no longer in. People dont have that kind of money to toss around anymore. Gas prices is a good example as to why.


And dont ever try to twist my words either. The Kid's who payed for their bb's thru here have overtaken the company.

And BTW you know nothing about Integrity do you? If so you would have not said what you did about me blaiming Matt about his decision making. Either that or you were not here back when all the promises etc were made. Sorry but in business your WORD is valued more then anything else. He broke his. I see nothing wrong with someone wanting to get payed for their hard work but i do when they do it as Matt did. As did alot of other people. Plus he did it underhandly by not giving anyone notice which really put the screws to alot of people who had been using this product and had built great sites with it and in some cases now their sites may no longer work because of THIS PRODUCT IPB 1.3 which no longer will work on newer php servers. Sorry to say but those are the facts like it or not. Not a smart business decision for sure. I am certain alot of people got turned off by this product when he did that and it remains that way to this day. I know of alot of forum owners who will not come here because they either have no respect for Matt/company or that they simply dont trust anything here because of his broken promises. Like anything else in this world when one pull's a stunt like that it is not forgotten and IS passed around especially in business. Plus like alot of them said why pay for something that will no longer be supported and may not work after a year when under normal circumstances it takes a whole lot longer then a year just to build a decent forum community?

Sorry if i came across as being just on the attack. The main reason is to share some ideas on how to help get some respect back for Matt and this company. The only way i figured how to do that was first explain what is wrong with it.