Thread

Cem,
Thanks for the response, and again I appreciate the effort you put into this.

I’ve been reading posts here in the forum, and it seems I am not alone in wanting some kind of full demo of EE.  I’ve seen this done with other CMSs, where people can go in and really run the software fully, then every hour or so the server clears out any changes.  I’ve done some research on how to implement this, so I know it’s possible.

The point is, I really feel that EE needs a full demo site, especially for designers like me who are very tempted to jump in with EE but just aren’t quite sure about how well it would work for them.

While we’re at it, imagine a demo site where one could also (temporarily) run various extensions to see how they work!  Maybe that’s a bit too much to expect, but I thought I’d throw it out there.

I could imagine a new Web site (http://www.demo-ee.com) where this kind of thing could be housed.  I’d even consider being the one to start it.

What would it take to develop something like this?

Thanks,
Matthew

I would like to echo an interest in this… Sometimes, I have people who are interested in EE but really want to “try it out” before even talking to me about their project. While I could build out a demo site, it would be nice to have a standard demo install (with an active frontend, unlike the eehosting demo install) so that they could see how their edits are pushed live instantly, etc etc.

@MatthewSchenker Projects are quite hectic at the moment. While I can’t promise everything, as soon as we have free time there will be changes to the current setup. Including a dedicated home http://eecms.net/ 😉

@DelukoMedia Once logged in front end becomes accessible so you can test your edits. Is that what you mean?

Yes, exactly. People can understand what CMS means when they use it first hand. It’s a selling point just explaining what a CMS is. haha…

Cem,
Sounds excellent.

I would definitely be interested in this.  At the moment, I’m stalled with EE: I like what I see and I have researched everything, but I still need to see how it actually works before I make a commitment to moving my site projects there.

A working demo would make a huge difference.  Let us know when you have it ready!

Thanks,
Matthew

I heartily second that.

(the rest of this is addressed to EE not Cem by the way!)

A demo site is surely absolutely fundamental when there are so many options in this market place that not only allow you to demo for free but also simply to have it for free (Joomla Drupal etc).

You may say they are rubbish and have lots of people to back you up, but the bottom line is I have to take your word for it, or more to the point assume that you understand exactly my specific requirements, when even I may not know these.

I appreciate that you have a money back guarantee, and maybe this is cynical, but if that really is a ‘no strings attached’ guarantee then why not just provide a demo. The only reason I can see is that you maybe hope there will be a significant number of people who once they have tried it out will not get around to asking for their money back, so you just get to keep it.

I think it really is very, very bad form not to provide a demo, it gives a very bad and arrogant opening impression. If you believe in your product, give us a demo. If you are not trying to rip people off, give us a demo. If you simply understand that no matter how good your product is, or how good your explanations of it are, that your product may still, simply, not be the best choice for every situation/project and you would like to allow people to assess this for themselves without having to stump up cash just for the privilege, please just give us a demo.

I second what davidosullivan says…

I agree with everything here. If we want our clients to buy into what we know is the right choice we have to try and make it an industry standard. A demo gets people talking. It gets people who may have never tryed it trying it. It gives us a place to show a customer why the want this not just tell them why they want this. Allowing anyone to get a taste of what your program can do will benefit all of us. More people being familiar with it makes it easier for us to sell and more sales for EE.