Did the install tonight of BT Server 2.0.7...great stuff! Works perfectly! I was thinking about it all, and started wondering what people intend to use BT Server 2.0 for? Is there a reason you want to self-host BT Server, as opposed to using the current system hosted by Buzztouch? Will you be using it for in house development? Do you think it offers something that the current Buzztouch server doesn't? I don't work for Buzztouch, but I'm very interested in hearing why you want to use it. It's probably good info to help their dev efforts as well. Mark

We plan to make self-hosted app management accessible to millions of folks -)

Nice one, David! We're glad you guys are working on that! Of course, I'm curious about what others are interested in as well...any general user out there willing to speak up?

World domination. Mwahahahaaa! :-) Seriously, my friend makes ridiculously technical apps (eg c2dm/server integration, custom social networking, voip, custom global leaderboards etc). We're hoping to use his knowledge and technical know-how to integrate with the server to allow me (and others) to more easily replicate what he does via custom plugins.

If there are millions of folks i guess the reasons would be varied. For me, education is a part of the attraction, but I think the core reason I am attracted to self-hosting is control of my creativity.

sounds amazing.

Good stuff so far!

Here's my two cents, or should I say 99 cents :) As I'm at my first approved app, the next thing to do is build more apps. And by hosting the server myself, allow for a greater flexibility. This would be for the near future. For the long run, I intend to build a business around BT self hosted server. How am I going to go about it? It depends a lot. From the plug in architecture that will soon be born to the pricing plans BT have decided upon. So there are many variables to think about, but I guess time will settle all. Oh, first thing would be to decide on a public developer name for my company and buy that .com domain :) David and co., I know I said it before, but you guys are amazing! Thanks for all your hard work. Hopefully, soon, I will express my gratitude by paying for the BT 2.0 PRO. Cheers from Romania. Vali

Good stuff. We've seen a few posts about pricing and we aren't dodging any quesitons intentionally. The idea is that we believe our software and solutions are innovative and useful for lots and lots of folks and we need to balance all the competing interests when we decide on how / what to charge for. We will be charging for two things in the very near future. a) API keys. An API key is used to connect your open source self-hosted software to the buzztouch backend. For most folks (large enterprises are not most folks) this will be very affordable and a huge value. For sure not more than a few hundred dollars per YEAR. Probably less. Cancel your account, your apps still work because they are powered by your control panel. In this case you would simply not be able to 'download the code' for new apps from our backend. b) Plugin subscriptions: This will allow you to take advantage of our development efforts and constant innovation. The idea is that a small but useful number of un-sophisticated plugins will be made available for free. Think of this as enough to build a basic app, experience what buzztouch does, and not create tons of support issues for us and everyone else tyring to help the new folks on the forum. Simple, unbreakable plugins that help new folks understand the power and possibilty without having to pay. Next, if our method to app development and philosophy makes sense, a subscription to an evolving list of more robust, powerful, flexible and useful plugins could help those that are seious about making a quality app do so without breaking the bank. This too will be a tremendous value, plan on less than $100 per year. Like any paid product we offer...cancel anytime. In this case your apps will still work, you can still make new apps (with the plugins you downloaded) and you simply would not be able to download new or updated plugins from us. Nothing would stop you from making your own plugins if you evolve to that skill level. When the doc gets done explaining how this works you'll see how easy it is to copy an existing plugin, change it slightly, tweak it, make it exactly what you want, then use it in all your apps. Because things change so quickly in mobile we think a small annual investment that allows you access to tens of thousands of lines of professional code is an amazing value. Finally, the best news: We are offering both of these services to our existing audience for free, no strings attached. We don't know the exact date that this will stop but it is coming. At some point the zeros will turn into $ and the idea of being 'grandfathered in' will be gone. It's our opinion that this very costly decision on our part ( we could market and sell to a very large list of registered users and site visitors today ) is in the best interest to the all the stakeholders - you being the number one stakeholder. You guys built this thing...we just coded. 2.0.8 later tonight. The next plugin I worked on all day exposed an entirely new issue with the breadcrumb navigation when you're working withing a screen...back to the drawing board!

This is crossing the bridge before we even get there - but David would you allow distribution rights to specific geographical areas? In the future. This way the evangelization and marketing of BT Server would be more disciplined, controlled and viable but that would clearly put far more pressure on the team and demand on the paying subscribers, which by the way is the sure thing to happen once you begin to charge subscription fees. Meanwhile, for a suggestion, we hope that after completing the initial plug-ins for the BT Server 2/3.x, priority screens will be on the lacking essential screens in Android 1.5. I don't know if there are many like me among the existing BT community, but I take BT App development in a disciplined manner and I'd rather complete my pending apps before taking the plunge to BT Server. I'm serious about BT App development. You call the shots really, and let me tell you guys I don't know so many persons as charitable as you are. Thank you guys.

Hi David , i'am new on this platform I going to install BT server 2.0 tonight on my server, my plans are to build a Club app for our visitors. Our websites are build on Joomla and WP platforms Do you think that BT will develop also a plugin, so you can recieve content from your WP or Joomla website in to the BT Server 2.0 Controlpanel grtz Sadik

Hi in Amsterdam... connection Joomla and WP to your buzztouch database / control panel makes perfect sense. I'm not an experienced Joomla or WP guy and can't speak to how their systems are engineered but I'm guessing it wouldn't be tough. I think it would be an issue of understanting the two platforms and figuring out just what the Joomla / WP plugin should do. In other words, is it a Joomla pluing or a WP plugin or a buzztouch plugin that needed to be made. Adding a script to the buzztouch package is easy enough...just not sure what it should do at this point. We for sure have long lists of ideas and plans but don't have a formal Joomla / WP plan yet.

So, this could be a tough decision. In general, I like to be in control of my own stuff, so hosting my own BT server is kinda appealing. The downside of that, of course, is that I have to maintain it myself, and pay for the hosting each month. I'd be responsible for BT Server patches and all that goodness. I'd also be responsible for server downtime, and maintaining the security of the server if I have users starting to access it for BT work. That could be a pain. But I'd probably be the only one using it. I could, however, turn this into somewhat of a mini-business. If I hosted a BT Server, I could charge people a monthly fee or something to do their development work on it. That would help pay for any API keys or BT keys I might end up having to buy (of which I'm all for, without a doubt!). But, then again, those are users I now have to manage, and you know how users can get (just check the forums when the BT v1.5 server has a hiccup). Using the BT server hosted by David and his amazing crew is pretty appealing also. They do all the maintenance...they make sure the server is up...they pay for all the costs related to all that. I'd still have to (very willingly) pay for an API key or something, but that's all goodness considering what I get for the money. Downside is that I'm at their mercy and the mercy of the traffic to their servers. Hasn't been an issue for me to this point, so maybe not going forward either. Lots of things to consider! If I've gotten any of this wrong...with respect to free vs. hosting it myself, David, please correct me. Just kinda thinking out loud here. Thanks! Mark

Well said. You summarized in a dozen lines what we've been trying to explain for two years! LOL. Not actually. It's taken us a few years to prove a few things... a) Does anyone want to use an online tool to build apps. v1.0 proved a few thousand folks did. ..v..v..v1.5 proved more than 50,000 folks did. b) Does anyone want to take responsibility for and more finely control their backend data. Overwhelming yes. Not everyone, proof that lots do. c) Is there a burning desire to learn how mobile app dev. works. Yes. Organized training modules are not only necessary but desired by thousands of folks. buzztouch Server 2.0 and it's plugin archituture represent our future roadmap. This does mean visitors will need to run their own backends to experience the goodness. It means that we will run a freely available hosted version for those that don't. Host it yourself, or use ours, same experience. It also means we have already begun creating organized training modules to guide new and aspiring developers. Step by step modules from Getting Started all the way through ...... v1.4 and v1.5 apps that are already created will not dissappear from visitor control panels. Plugin development on our end will help getting v1.5 for Anrdoid more functional. However, when the newly available online control panel is availalbe, visitors that do not run their own backends will be moved to that when they create new apps. This is a great post and we appreciate the thoughtful comments.

Ok , Thanx I understand that

I for one totally understand the money stand point. I cannot even start to imagine what you guys have invested so for, got to be mega bucks. For me, just trying to get an idea if self hosted is right. At this point just me using it, so wanting to get an idea of costs. Have you guys thought about basing it on so many apps created per month? This model may be to difficult to manage, but for folks wanting to use just for their apps would be cool.