Beta Tester Page/Becoming a Beta Tester

Who can be a beta tester?

You can become a beta-tester of Analytica or ADE if your Analytica support/maintenance is current. If you are the registered end-user of an Analytica license purchsed in the previous 12 months, then your support is automatically current. If your license was purchased more than 12 months ago, then your annual support renewal needs to be current.

You can also become a beta tester of the Analytica Free 101 edition even if you currently have no Analytica license.

Why become a beta tester?

• Test drive the next upcoming release of Analytica early at no cost.
• Take advantage of the many new features immediately.
• Help improve the final release.
• Ensure that your model works in the new release, letting us know of issues while they can still be fixed, ensuring a seamless transition for you and your model users when the next release becomes available.
• Participate in webinars on tips and guides on new features.

How to start beta-testing

Just download the installer and run it. In almost all cases, if you are eligible to be a beta tester, the installer can figure this out and obtain the required licenses.

For the installer to acquire the 4.5 beta license, the following should hold:

• Your computer already has an activated Analytica 4.2, 4.3 or 4.4 license installed.
• Your support is active
• Your computer has an internet connection.

If you have active support but the installer is unable to acquire a license, then send us an email with the details: support@lumina.com.

Responsibilities as a beta tester

We expect beta testers to:

• Sign up as a beta tester (by filling in the form when you run the installer).
• Keep up-to-date by installing the latest beta build. You should receive alerts through Analytica when new builds are ready, and we may also send you email reminders when they become available. New builds will become available on average each 2 weeks.
• When you encounter an issue, submit a bug report.
• Read through What's New in Analytica 4.5? so you know what new features are available.
• Explore new Analytica enhancements of interest to you.
• Revisit the Analytica Wiki periodically. We will be updating and adding to content here throughout the beta period.

Contributing documention on the Analytica wiki

During early beta testing, the Analytica Wiki will remains the most up-to-date source on new features. Updates to the PDF manuals will occur throughout the beta period, but in general we refine new material on the Wiki prior to incorporating it into the manuals, so the manuals will lag, although at present the User Guide and Tutorial are already up-to-date with the new features.

As an Analytica user, you are invited to contribute to the documentation! Since it's on a wiki (using Mediawiki software, just like Wikipedia), you can add or edit any content. And others can edit or improve your additions. If you find text that is unclear or downright errors, feel free to fix them yourself. Or add comments, asking someone else to. If you find stubs or missing information, feel free to fill them in yourself, or add requests. Or if you come up with tips or interesting examples on how to use a feature, those also will be welcome.

This is a new experiment in the community development of user documentation. At Lumina, we know how important it is to have good User Guides and other documentation. But our resources are limited. We know that there are many highly knowledgeable Analytica users who may know more than us about ways to use particular features. And people seeing new features for the first time are better able to see holes or unclarities than we are. Together the community of users should be able to create better documentation than any single documentation writer. We look forward to your contributions!