The Best Time to Install Accordance Upgrades for a Solid Experience

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

I’ve posted this in a few areas on the forums, but I’m also posting it here so people can find it easily.

 

Due to the issues surrounding the Accordance 14 launch, Accordance users are asking when is it “safe” to install Accordance 14, as well as future major versions of Accordance, to ensure most “launch day issues” are resolved.

 

My recommendation is to install major Accordance upgrades when you see the major version collections available on the Accordance store (in the case of Accordance 14, once you start seeing Accordance 14 collections on the Accordance store).

 

Once you see collections available for a major upgrade, you can generally assume that the majority of “launch day issues” have been resolved, and that the major Accordance upgrade will install and operate for a generally-solid experience. While there can always be an occasional issue that crops up with each unique installation, when major collections are released, that’s when Accordance has unleashed the upgrade “to the masses”.

 

I would make a suggestion that Accordance marketing starts timing the major upgrade collections with the first “.1" upgrade for Accordance (for Accordance 14, that would be when 14.1 is released). That would make for a logical version number for customers to upgrade to for those who need to hold off upgrading on “launch day” (so in Accordance 15, early adopters can install 15.0, whereas many users could wait until 15.1 when most “launch day issues” are corrected).

[Luckylou1980]

I updated to the 14.0.2 and for the most part to my knowledge it does ok ,until at times when it freezes and crashes. I have to then “recover” it.

[darrylmy]

11 hours ago, Nathan Parker said:

I would make a suggestion that Accordance marketing starts timing the major upgrade collections with the first “.1" upgrade for Accordance (for Accordance 14, that would be when 14.1 is released). That would make for a logical version number for customers to upgrade to for those who need to hold off upgrading on “launch day” (so in Accordance 15, early adopters can install 15.0, whereas many users could wait until 15.1 when most “launch day issues” are corrected).

 

While I can certainly appreciate the help this post is trying to offer, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to push back this a bit.

 

I find this information misleading regarding the future of Accordance, and completely inaccurate historically. It further seems to imply that the problems exhibited in the version 14 release is typical in the history of the release of Accordance (which it was not). Going back just a few versions, we see the following historically:

 

• Version 13 was released November 2019. 13.1 was released in in June 2020. OakTree did certainly did not take 7 months to release "to the masses." The collections were also released on launch.
• Version 12 was released November 2016. Version 12.1 was released June 2017. Again, seven months. The collections were also released on launch.
• Version 11 was released November 2014. Version 11.1 was released Nov 2015. A full year this time. Again, collections were released on launch.

 

Historically, ".1" updates brought significant new features. These ".1" updates were more a sign of OakTrees commitment to providing significant continued development for the lifecycle for the version (which indeed did including bug fixes), rather than a period for fixing "launch day issues."

[ukfraser]

28 minutes ago, darrylmy said:

 

• Version 13 was released November 2019. 13.1 was released in in June 2020. OakTree did certainly did not take 7 months to release "to the masses." The collections were also released on launch.
• Version 12 was released November 2016. Version 12.1 was released June 2017. Again, seven months. The collections were also released on launch.
• Version 11 was released November 2014. Version 11.1 was released Nov 2015. A full year this time. Again, collections were released on launch.

Thanks for this, do you happen to know if there were any XX.00.01 releases between the XX.0 and the XX.1 releases, for example a 13.0.01 between 13.0 and 13.1 as they tend to be the initial bug releases and as you indicated, 13.1 came with more features as well as bug fixes. 

[darrylmy]

9 minutes ago, ukfraser said:

Thanks for this, do you happen to know if there were any XX.00.01 releases between the XX.0 and the XX.1 releases, for example a 13.0.01 between 13.0 and 13.1 as they tend to be the initial bug releases and as you indicated, 13.1 came with more features as well as bug fixes. 

 

Absolutely. See here for version 13, for example (note also the many new features that were added even for .01 releases): https://www.accordancebible.com/new-since-13/

[Kurt O]

51 minutes ago, darrylmy said:

 

Absolutely. See here for version 13, for example (note also the many new features that were added even for .01 releases): https://www.accordancebible.com/new-since-13/

So there were 7 updates from launch of v13 within the first seven months.

[ukfraser]

Thanks for the link, not seen that before. impressive list of bug fixes. 
 

https://www.accordancebible.com/bug-fixes-since-13-0/

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

In the past, Accordance has generally released new packages at the same time as the major upgrade. This time around, it seems that Accordance released the upgrade first to those who pre-ordered Accordance, and due to the rocky nature of the rollout, seems they’re going to wait and announce any Accordance 14 packages after most of the “launch day issues” are corrected in Accordance 14. At the moment, it doesn’t make sense for a first-time buyer to buy the Accordance 14 engine and an Accordance 13 package (they can wait and buy everything in one package), plus Accordance will want to ensure first-time buyers don’t experience some of the “launch day issues” that existing Accordance users experienced with Accordance 14.

 

My suggestion isn’t to delay the “.1” update for many months like they did in the past, but to move the “.1” update number earlier in the release schedule, drawing from some of the comments that users stated about offering an “early access” version of Accordance. Ideally, this is what I’d like to see for Accordance 15.

 

Accordance 15 three-phase rollout:

 

• Phase 1-Accordance 15 Beta: Those who want to heavily test Accordance 15 could signup for the beta program, knowing the beta will likely be buggy. This is the time that many major bugs are squashed, and Accordance could set a deadline on when to report bugs that will be resolved before the public release. Accordance users could have the beta for a good few months to ensure they’re reporting any major bugs.
• Phase 2-Accordance 15 “Early Access” Pre-Order: Customers could pre-order Accordance 15, and they would also be offered “Early Access” to Accordance 15.0 when the beta program has finished. Some customers could pre-order solely to get the discount, others could choose to go ahead and install the “early access” version to help test any remaining “launch day issues” that weren’t discovered during the beta program. This is when updates such as 15.0.1, 15.0.2, etc., would release to resolve any remaining issues.
• Phase 3-Accordance 15 “General Release”: This could occur a couple of months after the “early access release”. This is when Accordance 15 packages could officially hit the Accordance Store, and Accordance 15 would be ready for the general public to install it on their system. They could call this version “Accordance 15.1” (to make it easier for customers who wait to install the upgrade to know to simply “wait for 15.1”). Most of the “launch day issues” would be resolved by then, plus any features Accordance were to announce that needed to take more time to rollout (similar to what happened with improved syncing and Accordance Cloud) could possibly be ready by the .1 release. 

[Steven S]

1 hour ago, Nathan Parker said:

Phase 2-Accordance 15 “Early Access” Pre-Order

 

In previous projects I've worked on, we typically called this a "release candidate." Versions would follow the pattern "15.0.0-rc1," "15.0.0-rc2," etc. until the general availability release "15.0.0." Specifically, it was hoped the term candidate in the title conveyed to the user the not-yet-quite-stable nature of the release and gave them fair warning about using (or not using) it in a production environment.

[John Fidel]

I agree with Steven that the standard process is beta, RC and then public release. I think that is how Accordance should continue to release, just make sure the public release is more ready than the release of Accordance 14. I would say this release is the exception not the rule... at least I hope so.

[Pastor Jonathan]

I like what has been said about the order of release.

 

Accordance, by doing this, will set themselves up to have strong success in roll outs!

[Dr. Nathan Parker]

Great feedback! Thanks everyone!

[Jordan Gowing]

14 hours ago, Steven S said:

 

In previous projects I've worked on, we typically called this a "release candidate." Versions would follow the pattern "15.0.0-rc1," "15.0.0-rc2," etc. until the general availability release "15.0.0." Specifically, it was hoped the term candidate in the title conveyed to the user the not-yet-quite-stable nature of the release and gave them fair warning about using (or not using) it in a production environment.

Yes, I would hesitate to make a less-than-ideal rollout the precedent for future paid upgrades. I imagine that the idea of releasing Accordance to pre-orders only with the potential for large bugs would be a headache from a marketing perspective.

 

Edit: I quoted the wrong forum post. Sorry @Steven S

Edited December 7, 2022 by Jordan Gowing
Wrong quote.

[darrylmy]

I would also have to agree with @Steven S and @Jordan Gowing. The proposed alternative above would seem to be a knee-jerk reaction to what the owner implied as a "stumble," to what the head developer described as the perfect storm between last minute decisions, time pressures, and personal illness, and to what one of Accordance's long time employees chose to assure the Accordance community would be short lived.

 

Why change development cycles, marketing strategies, and long-standing standards to accommodate that which merited the responses mentioned above?

[mgvh]

I had major issues like everyone with the release of version 14, and I have had issues with 14.0.2 and 14.0.3.

I am an Aleph tester, and there is a 14.0.3b2 release which has been mostly reliable for me. I hope Accordance moves to share this soon, since I've been urging patience to my students for whom Accordance is required and others who have been complaining about it on social media.