A quick (slightly late) update….
Good news, I compiled v1.0 of Terian ID Creator on 17/Jun/2014, however it was not without a couple hurdles…
Packaging Woes:
Unfortunately compiling the application is only one part of the distribution puzzle, the next step was to figure out how I was going to package the application and make it simple enough for users to download and install. During the packaging testing stage I discovered a couple hurdles and a couple minor bugs that I had to overcome. My initial plan for distribution wasn’t compatible across all platforms supported, so I had to quickly rethink that.
I briefly toyed with the idea of simply dropping support for the platforms I was having issues with, but instead opted to find a method that would support my original intended list of supported platforms.
On 26/Jun/2014 I compiled v1.01 of Terian ID Creator ready for packaging, and finally built the installer package on 02/Jul/2014, so we are slowly making progress.
Documentation Woes:
Once the installation package was finalised It became evident during testing that some form of installation guide would be required, so I have spent the past couple days preparing a guide to briefly outline the steps required to install Terian ID Creator.
This also produced a couple of challenges, especially when Word and Acrobat didn’t want to co-operate in regards to Text hiding behind graphics and vice-versa in some places. After a small bit of arm-wrestling I succeeded in getting a ‘Quick’ 25 page Installation Guide prepared (granted most of it is screen shots), so at least users should have a good idea of how to install the application and what the requirements are.
Next Step, WebSite Update:
I’m currently working on a website update to include additional information and download links for the Terian ID Creator 30 Day Trial, so hope to have that go live within the next week. Once this step is completed then it will be time for celebration as everything will officially be in the wild.
Sneaky Pre-Website update availability:
If anyone is interested in having an early look at the final product here are the direct links that I will be using on the Terian website
Terian ID Creator v1.01 Trial Installer
Terian ID Creator Installation Guide (PDF)
As always any feedback is welcome.
Terian Blog 
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Hi Anthony, been reading your posts about this ‘adventure’. Stumbled across it by clicking on your new form layout blog – thanks for that. I used to use Delphi(3!) a long, long time ago and have come back to it after having an idea about a project in the world I’m in now. We’ll have to see where this goes, but still get a Delphi buzz seeing the old components again.
About your journey. I glanced through the pdf, it’s thorough but quite technical. Is this pointed at the IT dept. or the secretary/dogsbody? Also the animation, I thought yes well, it tells a story but not enough about the products benefits, and certainly not anything to make me purchase it or enquire about it. Hope you don’t mind the critical thoughts.
It’s hard at times but keep going, well done for getting this far.
Rob.
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Hi Rob,
The custom form blog entry has been quite surprising, as it certainly is the most popular post I’ve made. Decision to write something a little more detailed like that came after I had searched for a quick and easy ‘how-to’ for developing custom form shapes in Delphi and found limited resources at the time, if you need any more explanation or details then don’t hesitate to ask. While there may be a small number of us Delphi developers around, it certainly still holds a special place for us, so all the best with your project.
In regards to the installation documentation ultimately I would like to have something that is less technical, currently it is aimed towards an IT department, or at least a system administrator rather than the operator/secretary/user type role. One challenge I have had is that the system can be a little complicated to setup and install, especially in this day and age when many people are so accustomed to clicking an Icon in an App store and voilà the application is up and running. Even other desktop based systems have more user friendly installations. There are some fantastic packaging and installation tools available that will help with this and the tool I have (albeit a slightly older version) is capable of helping in this area, however there are some additional learning steps I need to take to figure it out. 🙂 (Especially if I want to make it as smooth and flexible as the ideas I have in my head are for the installation process). So most definitely plenty of room for improvement there, hopefully the installation process will get to the point of being more user friendly.
The short animation represented an experiment, with little marketing experience myself I could see the potential opportunity a short animation could provide, however I really need additional feedback like yours to figure out what direction I need to take them, as the GoAnimate tool makes them relatively simple to produce so I will probably utilise it for further short demos.
Definitely appreciate your thoughts as it will certainly help with future marketing/documentation, there are limitations to how much a one man band can know or do, and feedback is like gold. 🙂
Cheers
Anthony
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Are you going to have a website for the product? A walk through of videos regarding the installation maybe, A tutorial section? Had a gander at the GoAnimate site – is this ‘comical’ look right for the product? I’m no expert and I’ve no experience in marketing you have to study your clients and particularly the person who makes the decision to go with your software. Had a read at; http://www.switchvideo.com/2013/03/14/whats-the-best-animation-style-for-an-explainer-video/ thought it had some good ideas regarding style and your audience, first impressions and all that…. I’m an Adobe CC person but I haven’t even started Premier Pro up and the workload and effort you’d have to devote to it is probably completely out of the question.
The installation though has to be as seamless and pain free as possible. Referrals and recommendations are a great source of revenue. If they hurt and head scratch they’ll moan to their colleagues. Even if it meant a few more compilations I’d alter code if I could make it so.
…and for a one man band you’re doing great.
Rob.
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Product website is http://www.terian.co
I’m in the process of preparing additional documentation (i.e. tutorials etc), and hope to have these up soon. In regards to the right fit for demonstration videos, still in the learning stage at the moment, and haven’t received enough feedback to say one way or the other. However based on what I’ve seen around they appear to be quite popular for introductory videos, I imagine something more business-like would be required for more in-depth training videos. I have spent a bit of time in Premier for one of the demonstration videos for Image Capture Pro, and that particular video took a huge amount of time, and with my limited experience with Premier has plenty of room for improvement.
The challenge is ensuring everything that needs to be done is not only done, but done well. This also often comes to a head when you taken into consideration that something needs to get shipped, definitely a tricky balancing act at times.
Cheers
Anthony.
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