Tom, I'd recommend this post, but the software won't let me.

Tom -- I don't blame people for being pissed about the continuing bugs and problems with the site. But candidly it's been an even bigger nightmare for our staff here at TPM. And we've been working at this constantly to get things fixed. I almost don't know whether to cry or to laugh when I hear that people have "shot down the bug excuse" since I talk to our tech people every day and the manufacturers of the software a few times a week and all we talk about is the bugs. We probably could have done better at various points providing more on-going information. But it's a difficult balance since we also don't want to tell people that X and Y are going to be done on a given day only to see that not happen. And that's pretty much how it's been for weeks.

For the last ten days or so we and our tech people have been debugging a new version of the software platform. And for the last two nights and also tonight our staff is going to be beta-testing the new set up.

We are hopeful that we're going to have the password, forced log out, byline and publishing delay issues either fixed or substantially improved by next week. I will try to provide more information in a new post, but I have to just conclude by saying that I really don't have anything to add for people who think there's some sort of conspiracy to keep the real truth hidden from readers. The truth is depressingly mundane. We were early adopters of the new version of our publishing software. It had design flaws and bugs. We took that on the chin in a big way. It's been a lousy situation. But I'm convinced that our consultants and the software vendors are working with us in good faith to fix the problems. So we're working with them on that basis. Again, I apologize for the problems. I understand that people are unhappy and I cannot blame anyone if they are just fed up and want to leave even though I very much hope people will not do that. We are working as hard as we can and I'm confident that you'll start seeing the results soon.

A note on programming, which I know absolutely nothing about but about which I have learned to intuit in the results I see:

A user's comments upon submission appear vitually immediately on their My Profile listing. The long time delay in publishing them only happens regarding their appearance on the thread itself. This suggests to me a really really clueless traffic design, one that doesn't even understand how people use a site like this: people don't need to see their comments on their user list right away, they need to see them on the thread they were commenting on. The user comments like they use much later in time, when they want to return to a thread. Just clueless programmer design!

As a software developer, I deplore the way the site was rolled out--insufficiently stress tested and almost unusable. But TPM did get it up to a functional level, and Tom, I think that you're underestimating the complexity involved in fixing remaining issues. First of all, the software, Movable Type, is not built by TPM's vendor. It's a commercial and open-source off-the-shelf program. The vendor just customized it for TPM. To get those bugs fixed, TPM has to go through the software maker, Six Apart, which has many customers other than TPM. You can bitch on TPM all you want, but it won't get the Movable Type bugs fixed any faster.

Second, you're conflating bugs and features. The bugs that interfere with the basic usability are the most critical and should be handled in a short time frame. Features are different. As Josh explained previously, the new platform lacks some features like comment tracking. TPM plans to add this, but they have to build a plugin from scratch, which will take time and money. The value of some features, like 1-5 comment rating, while missed by cafe oldsters, is debatable. I have no trouble distinguishing smart comments from dumb ones without the assistance of someone's rating, and I seem to recall some whining about low ratings. I'm happy to have a recommendations system, but I don't care to have some troll give me a 1 because he disagrees with me.

Third, many of the complaints that I've seen about the new TPM have to do with content--how it's all elections all the time. I wasn't a big cafe frequenter before the change, but I'm willing to bet that a lot of the election content is the result of a passionately contested primary that pits progressive TPM readers against one another, and that this tendency was further enhanced by integrating TPM Election Central with TPM Cafe. This change was what really brought me into the cafe, as I had been commenting at Election Central for some months but barely touched the cafe unless Josh drew attention to a thread there. In any case, I expect there to be a drop in election posts after the nomination has been settled and of course a much bigger drop after November. The cafe will probably lose a lot of readers at that point, but hopefully, enough of us election bloggers will stick around to help maintain the vibrant community of the past few months.

Finally, the FBI theory, if you meant it sincerely, is just ridiculous. I would, however, agree with posters calling for more transparency from TPM on tech status and future plans, which would do much to contain the fantasies of frustrated readers. Josh and Andrew do occasionally post about it, but it would be nice to have a sticky page devoted to known bugs and planned features.

Folks, as I noted in my earlier comment in this thread, we want some help beta-testing the new version of the tpm software we hope to roll out soon. Your help will make a big difference in allowing us to roll out a bug free version of TPMCafe in the near future. If you'd like to help, please send us an email today (Saturday) at tpmbugs@gmail.com. We'll send instructions and details.

Parting comment:

I am of course aware, as are most here, that bugs and features are distinct. The difference led to two populations with differing complaints. I have rarely emphasized the bugs, except to the point of showing TPM as acting opaque on the subject. My purpose was to be enough of a pest to get a more detailed answer.

Josh's point about the small number of participants at the old Cafe is noted, but there is a small number of staff at TPM, and a small number of contributing guest writers. The existence of that small number of chatty Cafe members was what attracted me to remain, and I saw comments quite often, from new members, about how pleasing it was to find thoughtful conversation.

This is why I am still here, the hope of continuing that conversation. I remember an old AOL feature, private rooms for chat. Perhaps Josh would be willing to link to an outside site where we could keep that happening? (I have one in mind.)