Upcoming Connect Feedback Improvements
Microsoft Connect (http://connect.microsoft.com) has supported bug reporting and feedback since its launch. However, as those of you who have used Connect to any degree know, there have been some issues with it. Firstly, users often receive spurious emails notifying them that an item they submitted on Connect has been updated, but when visiting the Connect site, no change has been made. I've been working for some time to find and fix these issues, and have managed to reduce the number of these items users are seeing.
I'm pleased to be able to say that I believe I've identified and fixed what is likely the most significant source of these "phantom" updates. I found a situation where a field was being updated on the Connect side, but that change was not visible to the user. It was a tough one to track down, but I'm pretty certain this should take care of the vast majority of the "phantom updates" people are seeing in their email inboxes. Of course, we'll continue to monitor the notification process to ensure that you get only the updates you need and want.
Also, in the next version of Connect, version 1.1, which will be launching in the next few weeks, we've changed the format of the notification emails you get to be more informative. We've also added notification emails for when a comment is added. Here's a sample of what you'll get when a comment is added by Microsoft to a Feedback item you submit via Connect:
Subject: Microsoft Connect: Notification, Comment or Request for Information for Feedback ID 12345
Greetings from Microsoft Connect!
This notification was generated for the following Feedback item:
Notification Sample
which you submitted at the Microsoft Connect site (http://connect.microsoft.com). The text of the comment, request or notification message is:
This is the text of the comment.
You may receive a general "Feedback Item Updated" notification as well, if any other changes were made by Microsoft.
Please click the following link, or paste the link into your web browser, to view the changes:
[URL to Feedback Item here]
Thank you for using Microsoft Connect!
When a change is made to the status of a bug, you'll get a "Feedback Item Updated" email, similar to what is sent today, but with some changes to format and content.
Subject: Microsoft Connect: Feedback item 12345 updated
A Feedback item which you submitted at Microsoft Connect has been updated.
Title: Notification Sample
Site: Notification Sample Site
The following fields were updated:
Field Status changed from Active to Resolved
Field Resolution changed from Not Set to Fixed
Please click the following link, or paste the link into your web browser, to view the changes:
[URL to Feedback Item here]
We definitely took some of your suggestions to heart- in particular that you weren't seeing proper notifications for comments added to Feedback, and that it would be extremely helpful to have more context information about the Feedback item in question, such as its ID, Title, and the Site it was filed for. Some of the beta testers using Connect are extremely active in more than one site, and I sincerely hope this change will help them organize the information they're getting back from Connect more effectively.
I know I'm excited to see these changes- and these are just the tip of the iceberg. There's a lot of other great changes, enhancements and bug fixes coming in 1.1. We're also working on a huge number of major improvements to Feedback for version 1.2. I'll be sure to keep everyone up to date on those changes as well.
