THE IMPORTANCE OF SOFTWARE REVIEWS

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THE IMPORTANCE OF SOFTWARE REVIEWS

• Pasco Area Computer Users Group

By Shirley Finefrock
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Most important is establishing a review program
which eliminates having to search for vendors to
attend your club meetings. The program enables
you to have access to new and updated programs
of interest to your members at no cost to
them. Its a good way to get members involved in
something other than the weekly classes.
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Ive been chair person of the Review Program for
about 2 years. It is a very interesting project
and I really like working with it. Its great to
be able to accumulate the information and prepare
it for presentation to our group members. I go
to great lengths to have all the information
available, to make it as easy as possible for
the members to install the program on their
computer.
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CONTACT WITH SOFTWARE COMPANIES
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The main contact with software companies
develops through your Website. You have
exposure by being part of FACUG with the listing
of your site and your group e-mail address.
There are also ways of contacting companies by
checking for new product releases, with the help
of search engines.
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The company that contacts you will be notifying
you as a representative of your users group.
They request that you notify members by
presenting the information in their product
release. It is best to request the full version
of the program before making any announcements
to the members.
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We never do a review on a trial version. If the
company doesnt provide a license for a full
version, its best to simply file their release
in the Circular File.
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The method of contact is important. Using
e-mail directed to the CEO or their support
group. When you receive a release
notification it always lists the main contact and
if the persons name is included, always use
their full name when contacting them.
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I have been using my own personal e-mail address
and the replies have been directed to me. This
has worked well for me to date. I found that
the personal touch has been to the advantage of
the club.
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I use a form type letter for my contact and 99
of the time I get a response. There are some
occasions when the company just doesnt want to
give away the free program. That is their loss,
as reviewing their program gives us a chance to
present the benefits of the program to our
members via our newsletter and also presented on
our website for all to see.
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SAMPLE FORM
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HOW WHY TO DOWNLOAD PROGRAMS
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The main reason to download a program is to make
it easier to present to our club members. If it
is already on a CD, it is much easier to get a
member interested in reviewing the program.
There are some members that are on dial-up
service, which takes too much time to download,
making it possible that the service could be cut
off before the program is complete.
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When downloading the program I always choose
SAVE and direct it to my desk top. This makes
it very simple to locate the EXE file. I also
create a separate folder listed DOWNLOADED
PROGRAMS which I maintain until the program has
been reviewed and all aspects of the program have
been completed. This includes presenting
the printed review for proofreading, then sent to
the editor of the newsletter, then on to the Web
Master to enter on our Website.
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I burn the program to a CD and mark the CD
accordingly. I use a CD label program (Acoustica
CD Label Maker) which makes a very neat and clear
description of the program. I include the name
of the program, the name of the company and also
include any graphics that are available to
help visually describe the program. Another item
that I include is the fact that it is a PACUG
project and the date the program was burned to
the CD.
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The company supplies a license code to be used by
the member accepting the responsibility of
reviewing the program. The code, if it isnt
exceptionally large, can be placed on the label
for easy access. Some codes are very complex and
the company informs you that it is best to cut
and paste to prevent any error that may occur in
typing the code. I have also recorded the code
(when exceptionally difficult) on a floppy disk
but that is going out of style as most new
computers do not have a floppy drive. The
other option is to copy and paste the code to
some type of word processing program and then
print it on a separate paper that can be cut to
size and clipped to the CD jacket.
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WHY A PRINT-OUT IS IMPORTANT
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When first receiving an e-mail regarding a new
release , it provides information about the
sender and the person receiving the message and
then the release information follows.
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It is best to make a copy of the complete
information. Then copy and paste only the
release information. Also, edit the
contact information listed last in the release.
The reason this is done is to eliminate anyone
other than yourself to contact the person who
originated the message. The fewer contacts the
better.
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The full copy print-out is for your file and the
release copy, along with the CD, is to be given
to the member agreeing to do the review.
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It is necessary to keep a complete copy for
reference. You will have the necessary
information to help, if the member contacts
you regarding a problem. You also will need this
information to inform the company when the
review is completed.
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PRESENTING OPTIONS TO MEMBERS
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Before every meeting you should set up a separate
table displaying the programs that are available
for review.
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Encourage members to take advantage of the
programs that you have to offer, stressing that
they are great programs and the company
is providing the program at no charge. Most
programs vary from 30.00 all the way to 100.00
and several I have received were even higher.
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The program is on a CD and ready to be installed
on their computer and all they have to do is
work with the program and then report how it
works for them, noting the positive side and the
negative side if there is one. Its ok to list
the negatives, be truthful, but not to harsh, as
you hope to hear from the company again in the
future.
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Our clubs experience in that case found that
there was never another contact after reporting
a completely negative review. There has to be
something positive in every program, so be
sure that you make special note of that.

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PROPER PREPARATION OF REVIEW
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When a member has agreed to take a program for
review they should be given instructions as to
how you expect the review to be prepared.
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You should have a printed guideline indicating
the information required to prepare a good
review.
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1. Name of software being reviewed listed at the
top of the page.
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• Name the kind of software being reviewed, i.e.
  Games, graphics,
• utility programs.
• This is important since there are so many
  different types.

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• A description of the software what it does and
  so forth.
• Also include in your evaluation, matters
  such as ease of
• installation and operation, major features,
  user friendly, clarity
• of documentation, support and any special
  hardware
• requirements.

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• A summary of the programs features in your OWN
  words.
• Please DO NOT copy the software description
  off the box or
• the release form, as the review. The
  company will reject the
• review and the review will need to be
  redone.

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• Let everyone know if you would or would not
  recommend
• the software

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• Positive and negative comments about the
  software.
• Please remember that this is a review of
  the program
• and not necessarily what your preferences
  are.

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7. You have 30 days to do the review and return
it to the program chairman. Please have a
printed copy and a copy on a 3.5 diskette,
noting the word processor program used, i.e.
Word Perfect or Microsoft Word
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8. Please type title in ARIEL and use TIMES NEW
ROMAN for the body of the review. This is
requested by the editor of the newsletter to
prevent having to retype the entire review for
publication.
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9. REMEMBER This is your software to register
and keep once the review has been completed
and accepted.
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Please do not Include images such as photos,
clipart or screen shots. Some online form
submissions cannot accept image formats.
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Your signature is required, as the reviewer, at
the bottom of the document
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Also list the name of your club member they can
contact for help if they have a problem with the
program
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SAMPLE FORM
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GRAMMAR PUNCTUATION
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You want to be certain the version of the review
that is presented to the company is
PROFESSIONAL.
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You want to establish with the company that they
are dealing with a reputable and well-educated
group. The company may choose to use your
comments on their web site when advertising
their product and you want to know you are
grammatically correct.
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Having someone within your group that is
proficient in English Grammar and Punctuation,
should be a proof-reader of all submitted
documents.
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Some word processing programs have a tool that
checks and corrects grammar and spelling. This
can be used if the human factor is not available.
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Have the document as professional as possible, as
it will appear for all to see on your Website
and also appears in the newsletter that is
presented to all members.
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UPLOADING THE FINAL REVIEW
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When all phases of the document have been
finalized, it is time to send it onto the
software company
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Always address your e-mail to the main person
that sent you the original release information
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Be formal as Dear_________ and if they
included their position within their company, in
the original information also include that in
the salutation.
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Indicate that the attachment is a copy of the
review of their program _______. Most
companies seem to use MicroSoft Word and that is
what I use when uploading the review. I have had
a request to send as a PDF and this is acceptable
by most companies.
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Include information regarding the members name
that prepared the review and any additional
information that you feel is pertinent to the
review.
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Always include the information that the review
will be posted on your Website and list the URL
for that site.
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I also include the fact that the information
about their program has been presented to our
members and is included in our newsletter to all
members and list the number of members in our
group.
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Finalize the e-mail by thanking them for
including your group in their notification of
programs and to please keep you informed of any
future releases.
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Sign by including your name and position within
your group.
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MAINTAINING FILES
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In the very beginning I told you how I created
the printout of the original e-mail which
included the name of the Software Company And the
person directing the release information to you.
I noted that the information would be needed when
it is time to upload the review.
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You should be maintaining this printed record in
a Completed file along with a printed copy of
the review, showing the date the review was
returned to you and the date given to the editor
and the Webmaster and also the date uploaded.
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There are times when the company will notify you
that they have a free upgraded version of their
program. It is necessary to know which member
has the program installed on their computer so
you can notify them to take advantage of the
upgrade. Without maintaining these files you
wouldnt know who to contact.
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Carry all pertinent information to all
meetings. Keep folders for
1. Programs available for review (These are
put on display for members to check what is
available) 2. Pending
Reviews 3. Reviews to be proofread
4. Special folders for passing the printed
review and the floppy disk to the
Editor and Webmaster. 5. Also folders
containing the Guidelines and
review forms
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Make sure you have the necessary information
available at each meeting to get the programs
into the hands of members, keeping the review
program up-to-date. Its important to get the
review back to the company as quickly as possible.
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THE END
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This concludes our session for today
THANK YOU For attending this Round
Table presented by The Pasco Area Computer
Users Group The remainder of our time can be
devoted to Questions and
comments