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During the commitment phase, I understand why you can no longer vote on questions, but what about all the other stuff a site needs before the beta period can begin? Things such as: a site name, a few moderators, a domain name, a logo, etc.

My suggestion is to allow users to vote on these issues during the commitment phase so that once the Beta phase is reached, everything is good to go.

This would also solve this issue:

Yeah, it's a real mood killer to see a proposal see more and more activity, and then suddenly go dark... – Ether

... by encouraging collaboration/discussions even during the commitment phase.

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    Ether has a very good point. Cutting all the activity from the commitment phase could bore users and cause them to never check back and/or not put much effort into the beta.
    – Vortico
    Jun 30, 2010 at 0:09
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    Completely agree; there needs to be SOME interactivity during the commitment phase. At least create a place where people can leave comments.
    – Modern Hacker
    Aug 17, 2010 at 0:17

3 Answers 3

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We always viewed the things you describe ...

  • actual site name / domain name (vs. generic placeholder)
  • initial moderators
  • logo

... as a private / public beta activity.

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    Don't you need the moderators at the start of the beta period though?
    – Senseful
    Jun 18, 2010 at 22:39
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    @eagle so they can be decided maybe in the 1 week private beta
    – Jeff Atwood
    Jun 18, 2010 at 23:31
  • Maybe the commitment phase should be viewed as part of the private beta, and not some weirdo limbo phase where people can't contribute. I mean I am really psyched by one of the proposals called "Compiler Design" because I love the description and the people involved, but the name is way off the mark.
    – cdiggins
    Sep 4, 2010 at 14:23
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    By the way I'm downvoting the response because it contributes no useful information. Effectively you are saying "we think it should be this way, therefore it is.". That is lame for several obvious reasons.
    – cdiggins
    Sep 4, 2010 at 14:24
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I mostly agree with this. Launching a beta without a name or logo seems odd to me on the surface.

But mods, however, it maybe makes some sense to find the most active people during the beta and choose them. Unless the most active people could be chosen during the definition phase and voted on in the commitment phase.

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The commitment phase should be made a sub-phase of the private beta. Not a separate phase where people try to recruit other people who aren't given the opportunity to make any useful contributions until it goes to public beta. It causes newcomers to lose interest quickly.

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  • Amen -- this has been my experience. It's difficult to recruit somebody and keep them, if they come to site right away and find that they can't do anything.
    – LarsH
    Apr 20, 2011 at 16:52

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