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PortableApps.com Status Update (2011-02-26): New Apps, Platform Progress, Site Progress and More

John T. Haller's picture
Submitted by John T. Haller on February 26, 2011 - 9:48pm

It's time for another 'PortableApps.com Status Update' on what's new in the last week. We've got new apps, an update on the platform progress, an update on site upgrade progress, and more. Read on for the details

New Apps

In the last 7 days we've had another 7 new apps go live. You can easily track new releases in the New Apps Tracker we debuted last week. It's linked from the homepage just below the news announcements, too.

Drupal Upgrade Progress

Some more progress has been made on the Drupal upgrade scripts. We may wind up hiring a Drupal expert to assist with the process, though, due to the complexity. We should know more at some point this week. As a reminder, Drupal is the content management system on which the site runs and it is in need of an upgrade to the latest major version release. However, the upgrade process is crashing without any useful errors or any indication of the issue. So, we'll be performing a manual upgrade from version 6 to 7. This will allow us better localization and allow us to implement our site redesign and new app directory.

Financial Update

Nothing new financially to report this week, so I am including last week's report here...

We're still exploring some options for fund-raising in the run-up to 2.0. We like the idea of a PortableApps.com store where you can buy t-shirts, mousepads, mugs, etc. We're also looking into doing a branded drive just as a fundraiser. We don't want to do it long-term as we're not looking to compete with our upcoming hardware partnerships.

As mentioned before, bandwidth costs continue to grow and the need for additional hardware presents itself, the additional funds are definitely going to help. In terms of monthly unique visitors, we're closing in on the likes of BoingBoing, SlashDot and similar sites and the hosting costs are reflecting that. Currently, we're covering the additional overhead from personal funding sources.

We still plan to kick this off soon after the 1.9 release is posted and will be providing more details at the time. We may do something similar to wikipedia's call for donations, though likely without my face looking sad on every page of the site. :) We're always looking for ideas and suggestions as well, so feel free to drop us a note to our developer contact address or post a note in the forums.

1.9 / 2.0 Beta 6 Platform Progress

We're going to stick with a single way to list new apps to add to the platform for now until the Drupal 7 upgrade is complete (to eliminate some duplicated work). I'm hopeful that we'll have some screenshots to show everyone in the next few days and the 1.9 release soon after that. We'll have a good handle on the timeframe for 1.9, 1.9.1, 1.9.2 and 2.0 in the next few days and be posting it here.

That's it for this update. Sorry it was a few days later than expected again. I'm hopeful we'll have it out mid-week this week to keep everyone up to date. So keep an eye on this blog. Have a great weekend everybody!

Comments

The date should be 26 or 27/2/11 (depending on what part of the world you are in), not 19/2/11. RSS also says the 19th.

I used to have a sig...until one of the mods ate it

John T. Haller's picture

I updated it in the URLs but hadn't in the title. RSS should refresh in about 15 mins.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

solanus's picture

I hate to sound like a broken record, but I think it's a BAD idea to post timeframes.
Every time you do, it turns into troll-food. Heck, we even have people that kvetch if you are a few days late on your updates!
Just let us know after you are done and the platform is released, thanks.

I made this half-pony, half-monkey monster to please you.

I agree to a certain extent as I have been one of those who've been disappointed a few times when the day came and nothing happened. But I've also seen from all the posts following someone's request for an update that it ain't "popular" to ask for that kind of stuff so I've never bitched about it... and won't either in the future. I know some of you guys put a lot of hard work into this project in your free time for absolutely no money and I greatly appreciate it. I must say though that I love these updates and being "kept in the loop", even if some parts just are "cut & paste" from last week's update it's better than nothing in my opinion. I like the updates so keep them coming.

3D1T0R's picture

I particularly liked that there was a little blurb at the top of the "Cut&Paste"ed section to let us know that it's the same as last week and if we already read it it won't be any different. Smile

~3D1T0R

.. there are people who see it differently.
Reporting in such a situation is difficult and I appreciate your regular update - maybe even without progress.
There is a German saying "Sprechen ist vorweggenommenes Handeln", means: "Saying is anticipated acting".
I trust in the ability to learn, although development never will be completely predictable, and thus I like the way of your communication. You choose not to go the "easy way".

All the best and our understanding for your hard work.. and a success in your sponsoring and fund-raising activities!

Greetz from Switzerland

Thanks for making such a great work turning this into freeware world #1, but you are actually stressing out some people by updating so often. Could you release some monthly update packs with all the new apps and version upgrades from the old ones in the future, so that I don't have to follow my RSS notifications on this site every day?

LOGAN-Portable's picture

You know what's even better? The PortableApps.com menu v2.0b5 has an autoupdater. It actually works like a charm.

Does it include ALL new apps released here inclusive updates for existing ones? Unless it isn't like that, it won't fulfill my needs, because I like having a complete suite.

Simeon's picture

it only updates already installed apps. But a future version will include a downloader for new/not installed apps.

"What about Love?" - "Overrated. Biochemically no different than eating large quantities of chocolate." - Al Pacino in The Devils Advocate

Something to think about to get more money for your projects. Sell custom flash drives with your logo on them and have them contain all of the portable apps you have available already installed.

I wouldn't mine a few non intrusive adds on the site to add some revenue, idk how anyone feels about this.

Or maybe even a service where you can brand a platform for a company and preload applications (possibly branded with the splash screens, dont know if that violates the GNU for some apps) then put them on a flash drive
(also could be branded, but then you have to have a 3rd party company do that portion)

Maybe have a donationthon with some prizes and every time someone donates a certain amount they are entered in the raffle to win the prizes.

Just brain storming Smile

Ads on the site wouldn't bother me provided the site was still reasonably easy to navigate and not overwhelmed with ads. As far as the ads go, to me it would make sense to have ads for any partners that PortableApps has, whether hardware, software, etc. Obvious choices to me might be ads for Kingston, Patriot, Corsair and other USB drives as well as any software or service that PortableApps really believes in and wants to be associated with.

An ad-free site is nice, but if PortableApps can stay free by using tasteful, appropriate ads for hardware, software, and/or services that visitors might actually be interested in and care about, then I have no problem with those ads.

Simeon's picture

There are already small ads on the left hand side (spomsored links). And they are text only to keep things clean and not annoy the users too much.

"What about Love?" - "Overrated. Biochemically no different than eating large quantities of chocolate." - Al Pacino in The Devils Advocate

I love the regular updates. They show us that regular progress is being made. Keep up the excellent work! I intend to donate what I can when your "call for donations" comes around. I'm a broke college student so it won't be much but if we all chip in.. Smile

want a good hoster, try hosting insiders Great stuff, and they have Fantastico with i beleive drupal, so you can import your existing install into it and update will a button push!

Hi

do you reckon there could be a category "Network Applications" rather than putting for example Team Viewer in Utilities.

Seriously?

I had to CTRL + F on the applications page.

Dev comment?

Hi, John.

While we wait for your next update, I have a question.

In this latest update under the "1.9 / 2.0 Beta 6 Platform Progress" section, you wrote...

"We're going to stick with a single way to list new apps to add to the platform for now until the Drupal 7 upgrade is complete (to eliminate some duplicated work)."

I have never been able to figure out exactly what you are talking about with this statement. Pardon Could you explain? Are you referring to the online listing of apps vs. an integrated catalog inside the platform?

Thanks for the feedback.

John T. Haller's picture

You'll be able to add apps via the platform's updater. There were going to be a few features and options associated with this, but without the full app database up on the site, this feature will be limited at first.

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

OK. Well, I knew the ability to add apps right inside the platform (updater from what you are saying) was being tested, but I wasn't sure exactly what you were talking about in that statement in your last status update.

Thanks for the clarification. Now, I understand how the Drupal 7 upgrade plays in that and what you were referring to.

I've been scratching my head over that statement too! To be honest, I didn't know what Drupal had to do with this, since I thought all the apps were hosted on SF, but I'm guessing now that the "full app database" is a middleman between the Updater and SF.

I made this half-pony, half-monkey monster to please you.