Detailed release notes

[lisec 283]

Is it possible to have detailed version notes, or perhaps they exist somewhere and I don't know where to look in which case could a url be included with the available update notice?

 

I'm not sure I am ready to update to versions that  display all the notebooks and tags in a single scroll-able list when selecting Notebooks or Tags in the tree that was implemented a couple of versions ago, but that "new feature" was never indicated anywhere with any of the release notes as far as I can see, and I can't tell if Evernote rolled back on that with the latest update.

 

Perhaps I am too used to such detailed notes when upgrading, working closely with two software companies that provide very detailed information about what a new version fixes, updates and adds, but I must confess that I quite like that way of doing things.

[pleasemakeitwork 10]

Good luck.  I've tried many times on this Forum to get an answer from EN; but, ,so far no information has been provided, not even by that EN employee who frequently responds to this Forum (and whose avatar wears a silly hat).  Support tells me that even they are kept in the dark about the details of what any particular upgrade actually changes and, therefore, they tell me that they cannot answer any such questions, and that the Developers will not respond to even their inquiries.  Updates have been helpful in some respects but they often have included undisclosed "improvements" which, after downloading, ruined critical EN functionality for me. So, when notes to a release say that features A, B, C have been changed in a certain way plus "other bug fixes", I skip the download unless A,B and C are things that I desperately need. Otherwise the risk that some undisclosed "improvement" will further degrade my user experience is far too great for me to risk that upgrade.  I have not downloaded any upgrades in at least a year.

[Wordsgood 526]

Unfortunately, this is quite true. The KB has seen a number of new articles lately, but still needs a whole lot of work.

The only actual release notes I have ever seen are the short blurbs when Google Play update my Android phone. I could be wrong, but I get the feeling that neither Support or the devs who work directly for EN are permitted to say much. (When I say directly, I mean not apps they have partnered with.) It's very frustrating.

Good luck. I've tried many times on this Forum to get an answer from EN; but, ,so far no information has been provided, not even by that EN employee who frequently responds to this Forum (and whose avatar wears a silly hat). Support tells me that even they are kept in the dark about the details of what any particular upgrade actually changes and, therefore, they tell me that they cannot answer any such questions, and that the Developers will not respond to even their inquiries. Updates have been helpful in some respects but they often have included undisclosed "improvements" which, after downloading, ruined critical EN functionality for me. So, when notes to a release say that features A, B, C have been changed in a certain way plus "other bug fixes", I skip the download unless A,B and C are things that I desperately need. Otherwise the risk that some undisclosed "improvement" will further degrade my user experience is far too great for me to risk that upgrade. I have not downloaded any upgrades in at least a year.

[s2sailor 2,183]

The lack of detail in version updates is frustrating for those of us that test beta versions and report problems.  It would be very helpful to know if updates include a fix to a reported problem or not.  Currently if we try a new version and still see a previously reported problem we don't know if a fix wasn't attempted, or was attempted but we are finding it didn't work.  Seems inefficient to me.  I would think that it would be helpful to EN to have feedback from the community on whether implemented fixes actually work for the greater user community or not.

 

It is because of this frustration that I find myself not as inclined to participate in the beta program as I previously did.

[lisec 283]

The lack of detail in version updates is frustrating for those of us that test beta versions and report problems.  It would be very helpful to know if updates include a fix to a reported problem or not.  Currently if we try a new version and still see a previously reported problem we don't know if a fix wasn't attempted, or was attempted but we are finding it didn't work.  Seems inefficient to me.  I would think that it would be helpful to EN to have feedback from the community on whether implemented fixes actually work for the greater user community or not.

 

It is because of this frustration that I find myself not as inclined to participate in the beta program as I previously did.

 

I'm surprised they have any beta testers at all, without such notes.  How do you know what to test? I am a beta tester (and technical writer) for a software company and I can tell you that I insist on such notes, if only to allow me to check stuff off as "fixed" and move on to something else.  J River Media Center have a public system much like evernote, in that users are the testers. The difference is that it works for them because they indicate every single change, bug fix, new feature, I mean everything is there clear as day. And each new release is posted on their forum with all those changes indicated so you know exactly what you are getting and programmers know exactly what to work on.

 

I don't know how Evernote is run, exactly, but it's not looking that great in my eyes.  I was using it as a repository for all my notes with that "everything in one place" state of mind, but I lose confidence every day. I think it might be time to undo everything I have invested in it so far and just use it for very few specific projects, which means going to the free account rather than the paid one. After trying so many different systems, I really thought this was the one. Very disappointing.

[CalS 5,280]

Hand in hand with release notes I would like to see a status list of "significant" bugs.  Significant in quotes since defining as such is a slippery slope.  I think in terms of items that don't match the specifications.  For example, the reminder searches still don't work as defined for me, plus other trouble tickets that were handed off to development.  Because of these items I have workarounds that I have to use.  It would be nice to know when these workarounds could be terminated.  Doesn't seem like I should have to go through my backlog of issues each time to find out if an error has been corrected.

[pgdahl 133]

I agree that the level of disclosure from Evernote in the Betas leaves a lot to be desired. I've struggled with an issue with the 5.6 Beta and have reported it numerous times with no response leaving me guessing whether this is a bug or expected behaviour. I could probably have saved a lot of time if there were proper change logs disclosing such details.