Confused

[davidagbr]

As the title of this thread suggests, I am a little confused.

When Racks and Tags was introduced (or My Genres as it was then)... when were invited to sign up for a free account. This offer was only supposed to be for a limited time, and my understanding was that for a limited time we could sign up for free unlimited "Pro" account.

I've not really used Racks and tags that much, mainly due to difficulties in uploading to my account. However, recently I completely rebuilt my OrangeCD database (filling in missing information, correcting typos, adding images etc).

So now I come to re-uploading my database which is currently around 4,600 albums (ironically a considerably smaller than the original), and of course, I find that I can now only upload 1000 albums, as I only have a free account!

Now, maybe I missed something back when My Genres/Racks and Tags started, but right now I just feel a little let down.

Incidentally, I also have another account which has 3,700 albums in it (opened at the same time), which of course I cannot now add too!

So, what's going on?

[davidagbr]

Even weirder....

After writing the last post, I tried again....

4,163 uploaded this time! However, without cover art. OrangeCD showed a time-out message.

The number of albums uploaded does kind of imply that I do have a Pro account. But then, when I try to alter my privacy settings, I'm told that I need a Pro account to choose to hide personal notes, ratings etc etc.

So, I am even more confused now!!! Will try uploading again, see if I can can cover art.

[davidagbr]

Several attempts later, all I have managed to upload are several cover images before I get the time-out message. I read in another post about force syncing, so thought I'd give that ago... again timed-out. In that post someone mentioned that it doesn't take long (about a minute for 2,000 albums).... One attempt was about 25 minutes, the others have timed-out between five and ten minutes.

Clearly the uploading problems that I had when the service was introduced haven't been completely fixed!

[Joebugs]

Even weirder....

After writing the last post, I tried again....

4,163 uploaded this time! However, without cover art. OrangeCD showed a time-out message.

The number of albums uploaded does kind of imply that I do have a Pro account. But then, when I try to alter my privacy settings, I'm told that I need a Pro account to choose to hide personal notes, ratings etc etc.

So, I am even more confused now!!! Will try uploading again, see if I can can cover art.

David,

If you are a Pro User a PRO icon should show near your name in Racks and Tags.

There is a fee to upgrade to a Pro User.

Joe

[davidagbr]

Thanks Joe, I am aware that there is an upgrade fee, I don't have a PRO icon, so I guess I don't have a Pro account.

However, my original point was that back when MyGenres/Racks and Tags was introduced, for a limited period we were offered free accounts. I don't ever remember us being told that functionality would be limited, and we would be forced to upgrade to a Pro account to get very basic functionality.

The implication at the time was definately that we we (as early users) would get full use of the service, but that was a limited time offer. It appears that I am getting some of the benefits of a Pro account, I can upload more than 1000 albums - albeit most without cover images (although I think that is a separate syncing issue).

I remain confused!

[Joebugs]

Thanks Joe, I am aware that there is an upgrade fee, I don't have a PRO icon, so I guess I don't have a Pro account.

However, my original point was that back when MyGenres/Racks and Tags was introduced, for a limited period we were offered free accounts. I don't ever remember us being told that functionality would be limited, and we would be forced to upgrade to a Pro account to get very basic functionality.

The implication at the time was definately that we we (as early users) would get full use of the service, but that was a limited time offer. It appears that I am getting some of the benefits of a Pro account, I can upload more than 1000 albums - albeit most without cover images (although I think that is a separate syncing issue).

I remain confused!

If I remember well (and I may be wrong) early users could upgrade for a one time fee; others users have a yearly fee. Maybe Andrei can clarify??

[davidagbr]

If I remember well (and I may be wrong) early users could upgrade for a one time fee; others users have a yearly fee. Maybe Andrei can clarify??

That could well be the case... I've been trying to see if I received an email about it, but can't find anything!

Hopefully Andrei will be able to shed some light on things!

[frederf]

I remember this exactly as David does, and I signed up for an account when it was offered for early sign up for free pro account.

I have been using it ever since and I now have 4500+ albums and can upload and update with no problem.. However I do not have any Pro Icon that I can see.

It appears that this is something that Andrei maintained manually and maybe hasn't updated all the beta users consistantly...

Hopefully he will be reading this thread and fix David's account shortly.

Fred

[davidagbr]

Thanks Fred, I'm quite relieved that I didn't just imagine this!

One question though, are you able to personalise your privacy settings (for example hide your notes and ratings)? As those are Pro-only functions, and I really would like to be able to keep my collection public, but hide personal notes (in my case this include notes about where the record/CD/tape etc is located; "box 4, bedroom" and "singles, box 2").

David

[frederf]

Just went and checked... and NO.. I don't have access to those options... so seems like there are variations on the FREE LIFETIME Pro Account for us early adopters... ;O(

Andrei.. please weigh in on this discussion please.

Fred

[davidagbr]

Again, thanks for your reply Fred!

After your last response, I was inspired to once again try to sync my OCD database with Racks and Tags.... low and behold, it appeared to sync perfectly! Took about 20(+) minutes, but I now have 4,321 albums, all with cover art, so it is looking like I do have one of the old free Pro accounts. Albeit without all the Pro options.

As this is the first time in several years that I have actually managed to get a full sync, I am quite pleased!

Now, if I could hide fields that I don't want to share, that'd be great. Until then, my collection will have to remain "private" (which kind of defeats the object in my opinion).

And I agree, it would be nice to hear from Andrei about now!

David

[davidagbr]

Have to say that I'm more than a little shocked that after TWO weeks, Andrei still hasn't commented yet. I can't see that this bodes too well for the future of either Racks and Tags OR OrangeCD.

[andrei_c]

Technically, there are 3 types of accounts on server: free, auto-upgraded, and pro.

Free accounts: users who registered after beta period has ended have these by default. They are limited to 1000 albums and have no "pro" icon displayed anywhere (duh.)

Auto-Upgraded accounts: users who registered during beta period several years ago but haven't explicitly upgraded their accounts. These accounts have no limitations on upload (as promised), but they don't display "pro" icon. They also don't have access to pro-only features like privacy controls.

Pro accounts: users who explicitly upgraded their account one way or another get the "pro" icon.

I hope I'm making sense.

Andrei

[frederf]

Just to see if I understand this correctly...

The only difference between an Auto-Upgraded account and a free account is the upload limit. I am not sure what you meant by the upgrade "One way or another" to get the Pro icon... how many ways are there? Or do the Auto-Upgraded accounts have different options of upgrad than the free accounts?

Thanks

Fred

[andrei_c]

Fred and all,

I've just made few changes and now "auto-upgraded" should be identical to "pro" in all features. Could you check if you have access to privacy controls in Settings?

The only difference now is "pro" icon. I hope that's not big issue because it's pretty tedious to fix and I'd like to avoid disturbing codebase at this point. If lack of "pro" icon bothers you, post your account name and I'll manually upgrade it :)

Andrei

[frederf]

Andrei.. looks good... thank you kind sir ;O)
And I don't need no stinkin' icon.... ;O)

Fred...