Anyone got an ETA on the new site Thanks Will

We are not formally publishing the new sites release date until we are sure it's ready to impress you guys. Couple weeks maybe? We are as stoked as anyone but have lots and lots of things to finish. Wish we could say for sure!!!

How about a few teaser screenshots? Fred

Good idea: http://www.buzztouch.com/images/newsite-1.png http://www.buzztouch.com/images/newsite-2.png Don't get too anxious ;-)

Looking good!

@MacApple's approval = good sleep tonight.

Hey MacApple don't let him sleep! We want more. Fred Sweet Dreams

those pics made my day cant wait

lol. Good stuff, let the man sleep, his dreams bring good things.

David: I am a beginner, and love the idea of learning paths for the new site. I noted on the screen shots a pricing link. What impact will pricing have on current users of the platform as you roll out the new site?

Yeah how you gonna work the pricing thing, are the early adopter don't have to pay or we have some perks, or everyone has to pay. can you explain how is it gonna work? :D

Money, Fees, No Problem, Mitt Romney is giving every Buzztouch user $10,000 to develope an app to erase all references to anything dumb he has said. Fred

Some keen eyes! Guys, if you are doing BT well a small fee will be a drop in the ocean. Give the guys some time, we need this platform to grow and if that means new folk, or indeed us, paying a small annual fee to maintain a presence so be it. I don't know where it is going but I do know I'm going to be there, small nominal fee or not. BT 1.5 for free, BT server for free, server for free! You know what you can do with that on the back of these guys code? Just my 2 cents. In BT we trust, fret not.

Oh my!! it says we can earn badges... That means one day I may get to be an Eagle scout after all.... :)

Eagle Scout and more @gbakakos!

i have looked back over these pictures multiple times and have realized there is a pricing tab at the bottom, can you give us a teaser or price for the new buzztouch?

New site looks great ... looks like a lot of new ways to learn too.

The new site is absolutely gonna rock! I'm so looking forward to BTU...seeing exactly how much about BT I really know! Mark

Can we take proficiency test, or we will be required to sit through every class? Fred

I think it would be a good idea for everybody to sit through every class. That way we all have a common understanding from which to start. I'm always surprised how much I don't know that I think I do! Mark

What is the self hosting tab? (Just guessing) but i think that the pricing thing is for the self hosting but i don't know I'm just assuming. But can someone answer my first question?

Pricing: Ha, I knew that would start a fire, exactly as expected. As usual, no promises but I'll try. You realize that every time somebody eggs me on for an answer (like when or how much) I end up making a promise that doesn't come true right? LOL. Pricing details: It's all about API keys (registration keys). Every registered user will get an API key when they register. This API key is entered into the control panel (automatically in the case of the buzztouch.com control panel, self hosters need to enter the API key in their own self hosted panels because we don't have access to them). The buzztouch API is used to package source code for apps. An API call is made when you 'download the source code' for an app. This could be from your self hosted panel or from buzztouch.com, same thing. One source code download = one API request. Every API key will have a maximum number of monthly downloads allowed. This has zero to do with how many people are using your app, only how many times you 'download the code.' Don't confuse 'views' with 'source code downloads.' Each registered user will get a free API key that will allow them a certain number of API calls. We have not decided what this number is. However, we can say that it's far more than 'one.' It needs to be more than one because most users download the code for their app over and over again while they work out the details. This is OK and expected. Expect about 50 API calls per month for free. You may use these API calls on one single app or on multiple apps, doesn't matter, you decide this. Package the source code for an app, an API call is counted. For self-hosted folks, additional API calls may or may not be necessary - it all depends on the usage of their self-hosted panels. In many cases, no additional API calls will be necessary (build an app, get it in the store, it no longer contacts us so no more API calls are needed). But, some folks will for sure need to purchase additional API allowances. Expect these to be sold for $99.00 / per year each additional 100 API calls per month. 50 API Calls Month: Free. 150 API Calls Month: $99.00 / year. 250 API Calls Month: $199.00 / year, etc. Super Busy Apps: We are strongly considering forcing app owners with extraordinarily busy apps (hundreds of thousands of views, millions of views, etc) to either get a self hosted panel running or to pay us to set one up for them. This is necessary because lots of folks suffer performance degradation when a few apps 'go crazy.' This isn't fair on a FREE backend. You can expect a maximum views figure when this change occurs. Again, not sure what figure this is. But, if you have an app with tens of thousands of users, you're NOT doing anyone any favors by leaving it on a free backend (you, your end users, us, other buzztouch users, etc). Expect to be pay or setup your own backend when your app goes crazy (this is a good thing). @Fred: There isn't anyway to force anyone to take lessons and pass quizzes. The learning paths are simple.....watch a video, take quiz. You can jump straight to the quiz if you want. They dont' take long (simple intentionally) and you can tackle the learning however you want. HInt: If you don't answer quiz questions correctly you will LOSE points and the number under your avatar will go down (negative is possible). This may or may not be important to you? Keep in mind that points may actually have a value someday (API calls, schwag, gift cards, who knows). No sense is giving folks points if they don't have any value - right? LOL. K, back to work I go.

It seems fair to me, David.

Love the idea of reward for learning. I was a a science teacher and had great success with less focused kids, one part of this was small rewards like stickers. I had two who were close to being in some form of expulsion from school, coming to lesson in lunchtime so that they could out do the other with the cheeky stickers I had done. PS A tiny suggestion is that when you complete course you get a little certificate PDf to say you have graduated at BT university.

Wonderful, now I can earn BT points to payoff my Super Bowl wager. Fred :-)

Fabulous!! So happy I'm on this train! As for the pricing, I guess if you plan your development careful you will be on the safe side with the free APIs. And as I think of it, I really hope I will need to buy additional API credits as it will be sign of a successful business. Can't wait for it ! :)

awesome. a plug in repository and a more complex forum and training. looking good David! glad to get a little insight on the pricing. knowing changes are coming has made me a bit uneasy about rollling out a company app. once it's out there i gotta be able to support and maintain it seemlessly or it will be a short lived failure. my marketing folks here are all fired up to start using it.

The pricing seems very fair...especially for us self hosted guys :-)

I'd say it's not expensive enough... :D More seriously, what you guys at buzztouch are doing is just amazing. Truly. Everyone one of us here owes you a lot, and I'm pretty sure we'll all keep thanking you to the point you eventually hate us all!

you pricing is very resonaible, and its way more affordable then sites like game-salad that charge you 500$ a year, which is crazy.

GameSalad - $500 / yr. It must come with Avocado's, those babies are expensive these days!

ahhahahahah thats hilarious

Hey david I was thinking about that the new BT should also have a offer that offers users to send the app that they have created to BT and for a fee of course BT would publish. The app for them, that's for who don't have developers account ? Just spitballing here I would like to hear feedback on that :D

Having others submit apps for you is a bad idea on many levels and involves someone taking over the management of said app and not just the initial publication. My 2 cents (is it 10 cents) by the time someone has submitted your app for you, no matter their level of expertise they have spent over $100 of their time. Far more sense, if you want to publish apps, to get a dev account yourself. Their are legal angles, support angles, time restraint angles and I maybe wrong (i often am) but BT empowers you to be a dev, you ain't a developer if you ain't got an Apple account, you are just filling in fields and customizing someone's code. The fee would have to higher than the actual cost of paying Apple $99. It takes time, I have been sent a few apps from folks asking to publish and for a variety of reasons I just wouldn't want them under my name in App store. Just pitching in, I know little but have views, it's a Scottish thing! If your app gets feedback, don't you want that feedback as opposed to a faceless publishing house? Apps require a contact / support email as well, who gets those questions / emails? There is so much mire involved than just sending off an app. Create app, ready for upload, updates, support emails, the cost involved would and should be 100's of dollars, far better spending a fraction of that and signing up to Apple. That said BT may do it I just think there is a lot involved and that the price would run into 100's.

but you know that some people want to create apps, but they are lazy. But in your perspective everything that you said is correct and i agree

Try not to agree with me, it'll be a lonely path we both have to walk!

@LocoLopez: Glad you're keeping an open mind. For sure there is value in submitting apps for people. This has been going on for a few dozens years, it's just been renamed. Hiring a developer is a great way to get your software problems solved. All sorts of folks are looking to hire programmers, developers, and designers. This is the basis behind dozens of 'app creator site' that have surfaced over the past few years. These sites offer mostly the exact same service as developers have been offering for years, it just looks different. Think of it this way... 15 years ago, a meeting, developer + client. Client has the need, developer has the skill, both very helpful to each other. Client pays developer, developer makes software, problem solved. Today: Client lands on an 'app builder site' that promises to do lots of the heavy lifting. This service company (the developer in a modern way) does the coding, submitting, adjusting, tweaking until it's perfect. The client uses a web site, control panel, mobile, app, anything really to 'explain' the problem he's trying to solve. Today this just means the client uses the online tools to 'design the app' but the developer is still needed to take it from an idea to an actual piece of working software. This is where the service comes, they make it software. Of course they charge a fee, as they should, their providing a service EXACTLY like we've always done it they just 'listen' to the problem a little different by providing tools to help the client design. Bottom line, there is a difference between helping folks actually create apps and making apps for them. There is a time and place for both. We are not focussed on making apps for people (we have to sometimes to keep the lights on) , we are focussed on becoming absolutely the best place on the planet to 'get started' in the app development process. After learning the ropes, the skys the limit. We get folks started by providing software that helps reduce the anxiety (anyone can do this, really), friendly discussions that help, and soon to come formalized learning processes specifically design for people that actually make software. Of course you can use our tools to make software without much effort but ultimately all good software (software worth making) does take some effort, time, tinkering and a level of enthusiasm that only an aspiring developer has. Simply put, apps made by CLIENTS (that really should hire somebody) are generally not of high quality, generally serve little purpose, and generally are ugly at best. Apps made by an aspiring developer, willing to tinker, eager to improve, and focussed on results are generally high quality, useful, and well designed. Clients looking for a service: Google 'app developer' and choose from ten thousand. Aspiring developers looking to actually make software: Google 'app builder' and click the top choice in the list (wink). Happy apping....

Good point that's why your the boss but thank for answering me :D

Boss, funny. With those cool shades and that hip car, you my friend are the BOSS. Good stuff. night...

@David You said: For self-hosted folks, additional API calls may or may not be necessary - it all depends on the usage of their self-hosted panels. Are you in the position yet to explain further? What does depends on the usage mean? Thanks!! Susanna

Hi Susanna, I think what David is talking about for self-hosted people is whether you intend to be the sole user of the site, and thus a small number of API calls, or if you intend to allow people to sign up and use your server, in which case there would be more API calls (more users = more code packaging = more API calls). Mark

I can also see some kid cranking out apps for his classmates. Medium size high school 500 students, now that's a lot of API's. Fred

I plan on making 2-3 apps per year on my own self hosted so I am hoping that BT comes up with a price level that would fit a guy with under 25 API calls. I woul still make a donation if it were free.

If you are making tons of apps and keeping them long term you have to be making money off them. So the pricing structure makes sense to me. Thanks for the clarity Mark. ;-)

I've been away from the forum lately, so I'm late for this thread... But better late than never, right? My opinion is (and I believe that all the folks that use BT as it should be used will agree): Buzztouch should charge the necessary amount for it to sustain its current structure + some extra to grow the structure and the team + some extra so @david can buy at least one pretty red Ferrari (I want a ride, ok?)! =D Seriously now... Its for the good of everyone that this service keeps growing and getting better and better. We are not sure since there's no official info on the site, but I guess that the BT team is quite small, probably less than 10 people, and it's already an amazing service. Now, can you imagine how it would be if there were 50 or 100 people working full time every day just to make BT even better?! I'm talking about engineers, marketing people, creative designer, sales and support staff, etc. This could probably become bigger than we can all imagine. But unfortunately (or not) this can only be done with $$$, and money can be gathered in a bunch of ways, through donation (Wikipedia), foundations (Mozilla), sales or subscription. I don't know about you but when I'm relying on a service to make business (selling apps, advertisement or build apps for someone else) I want to stick with someone that charges me a fair amount of money for their service but that gives the confidence that they will not shutdown overnight, and even better, that their success will depend (even for a little) on my success. I don't understand why people are worried about paying for the service, there will be a free option and if this option is not enough for you it's probably because you are been so successful with your apps that you should be making much more than $99/year, either by selling your app or through advertisement. If you're not making $99 or more per year on your apps and you use more than 50 APIs/month, forgive me for being honest and saying it out loud, you should go back to BT University or just leave it alone. :) Finally, for me $99 is too cheap for what I'm getting out of BT. It might be the fair cut for the average user, but I fell like I own so much more than that.