Hi Everybody!

So the new site is up! We hope you like it.

And now, the work really begins :)

We've just started our 'usability testing' process. Without going into to much detail, it's basically an extensive, ongoing analysis of how people use the site, what they need, want and expect, and how we can improve the site to best meet those needs.

It's not a process that ever really gets finished, at least not on a site like MusBook that will always be changing and expanding, but we do hope that by early January we will have reached a point where things will look really good, and MusBook will be a pleasure to use!

At that point, we'll start telling people about the site and making a real effort to take MusBook.com out to the world :)

In the meantime, enjoy the fast new site - notice how much quicker it is than the old version? - and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE send us your feedback! We do respond incredibly quickly to all your suggestions, so however big or small your idea is, please send us an email (support at musbook dot com) - we REALLY appreciate your thoughts.

Yours in purple :)

- The MusBook Team

Well, our new design and server upgrade is FINISHED!

That's right, after several months of excruciating work, we're nearly ready to unveil a lovely new purple MusBook.com!

We hope to make the switchover within a few days. Before we do, we're moving forward fast (starting right now, Friday evening!) with a massive bug-testing / troubleshooting effort to get you a new, fast, professionally-designed MusBook just as soon as we feasibly can.

So we'll be in touch again next week.

Stay tuned!

- The MusBook Team

Well, the last two weeks at MusBook have been a manic focus on integrating our new design with our new server... and just about nothing else! Talk about one track minds... we're totally focused on that, and that alone.

If you've sharp eyes, you might detect the very first sneak peek of the new site attached to this blog post, but - without tempting the gods of fate by saying exactly when - the likelihood is that you'll see a lovely shiny new MusBook replacing this prototype site within the next 10 days or so.

But it's not just a facelift; we've gone through the entire site, sifting out all the unnecessary bits and creating a lean, mean social network machine that you'll find very easy to use, and FAST!

Now before you get too excited, it will still require a lot of testing and refining, and that's what we'll be doing over the next month or two, with a view to formally 'launching' early in the New Year. But we're now only a few days away from what will ultimately be the actual MusBook.com site.

Then we'll invite the world to come and have a look :)

Thanks for sticking with us in these final days of the prototype site... we really appreciate it.

Yours,

The MusBook Team (support [at] musbook [dot] com - all feedback gratefully appreciated!)

Hi Everyone!

BIG thank you to all you pioneers sticking with us as we move through the final stages of our pre-launch journey! We've faced some tough challenges, but with your help and feedback we've managed to successfully navigate our way through the hazardous maze of building a social network from scratch, and we hope to have the site finished and ready to take to the world by early in the New Year 2010!

As MusBook.com is not the product of a VC-funded silicon valley enterprise, but of a global team of musicians, we've had a tough challenge in learning what's necessary to conceive and create a project of MusBook's magnitude! But the great news is that over the past six months Peter and Simon have assembled a world class network of programmers and designers - as well as musicologists and business advisors - and we now have a strong, focused and highly resiliant team in Australia, India, the UK, and the USA, who are working flat out behind the scenes to bring you a world class site. Not long to wait now!

Here are the four things taking up most of our attention right now:

Site Speed

By far our biggest problem has been site speed. On a bad day, with many people using the site, it has been taking up to 20 seconds to load a page! Not good.

That's all about to change. We're in the final stages of testing a new set of dedicated servers, and we'll be transferring the site over in a matter of weeks. Optimization will follow, and you should see the results - or at least start to not notice the delays - within the next three weeks. No news is good news!

Design

It won't have escaped your attention that we haven't yet got a proper, professional design for the site. OK, perhaps we should have got that sorted earlier, but it's finally arrived, and our developers started preparation work today, getting ready to roll that out as soon as the new server is active. We'll have it implemented fully on our beta test site during the next fortnight, and you'll see it roll out on the actual MusBook.com site soon. What colour? Well, you'll have to wait and see...!!

ConSanFron

Whilst we're passionate about everything MusBook stands for, there's one idea in particular that's close to our hearts, and that's the Conservatoire Sans Frontiers... the music conservatorium without borders! We want to begin to assemble the world's music education resources so that access to the wisdom of the world's greatest music teachers and musicians is available to anyone, anywhere, at any time. We've finally got our hands on the first prototype of ConSanFron, and it won't be long before we roll this out to the site as well.

Big Secret Project

We might be working on something that could be so transformative to musicians and music lovers that we're not even allowed to tell you that we're working on it! If such a secret project exists, it could profoundly change the way people will look at their relationship with music performances, recordings, and research! Perhaps we'll be integrating it into MusBook in a big upgrade later in 2010!

Then again, perhaps we won't ;-)

Usability

Perhaps the most pressing and important task though, is to improve the usability of MusBook.com. This will start as soon as the new design and server are up. We'll be assembling musicians from all around the globe, both digitally and in person, to play with the site, and we'll study how they interact with the site, and how we can make it better and more intuitive.

This process starts in mid November, so if you're in either London (UK) or New York (USA) and would be happy to donate half an hour of your time (and we will ply you with the tea/coffee/beer of your choice!!)

***

We'll post another update in a week or two, but in the meantime, back to slaving over our hot computers.... ;)

As ever, we enormously appreciate your feedback: support (at) musbook (dot) com.

Yours,

-The MusBook Team