TempServers Beta #2 Launched

The TempServers.com Public Beta #2 has been launched!

If you have been following the previous posts here about TempServers, you know that a lot of improvements have been made to the website and service since the previous beta. Now is your chance to see these changes for yourself and give your opinion. You can also fill out the optional survey to receive 2 free hours to use once the service is live.

Click the image below to visit the website and try the service for free for a limited time.

TempServers.com Beta #2

TempServers Status Update #2

It's been very quiet around here while we've been focusing on the TempServers project. Last week, I posted an update on the progress of the project and all of the changes that have been or were being made. Since then, all of the mentioned additions have been implemented. This includes user accounts, time zone support, custom configurations, email notifications, as well as some new features that I'll list below. In the coming weeks, the next public beta will be announced where you can try the service for free again for a limited time!

• IP Reservations. When your reservation is confirmed, you will be notified of the IP address the server will use. So you will now know the IP in advanced rather than finding out at the last minute.
• Credits. A credit system has been implemented, where one credit is worth 1 hour of server time. There will be multiple opportunities to gain these credits for free, one of which will be available during the next free beta.
• Support System. There is a simple ticket based support system that can be used for any issues related to the website or servers. This is the preferred way to contact the staff in case something goes wrong.

There are also a number of back end improvements and minor layout adjustments that have been made. Next, we'll be working on finalizing content and testing the site to prepare for the next public test. Stay tuned for details on Beta 2!

TempServers Status Update

This is just a quick update on the status of our TempServers project. After the first public beta, we realized there was much room for improvement, so we went back to the drawing board. The original goal was to create a simple yet powerful user interface that took as few steps as possible to perform each task. With this goal in mind, several parts of the site are undergoing changes to improve the user experience. Here is a brief overview of these changes:

• User Registration. During beta 1, there was no user registration required to use the service. Each server reservation was a sort of user account with its own unique name and password, but we decided this would get annoying, especially to repeat customers. So we decided it would be simpler in the long run to require a user account to reserve servers, with all servers accessible from the same account. This also allows us to save user preferences.
• Time Zone Conversions. Another problem we had to solve was the lack of internal time zone handling. During beta 1, the user had to deal with converting their local time to our server's local time, which does not fit the original goal of user-friendliness. Now during user registration, we ask the user to provide their time zone (we decided it was easier for the users to figure out their own time zone than to think in our time zone). This info allows us to automatically convert times to the user's local time seamlessly. Read about the process here
• Custom Configurations. We also improved the server control panel by allowing the user to add their own configuration options instead of the predefined options.

We are also working on more features such as email notifications, as well as adding more games to the lineup. Stay tuned for more updates!