I think the disparity has more to due with features and simplicity than the name.
Heck I just call it b2evo most of the time and that sounds great to me.

I would say the most important features right now are

1 documentation that makes everything easy/painless for newbies 2 native support for enclosures in rss 2.0 ( for podcasting which is HUGE right now - Wordpress supports it already) 3 more attractive evoskins [/list:u] But if I'm wrong, I'll give up (donate) the Blogadise.com domain if you think it would be better for b2evo.

thegreenman wrote:

I think the disparity has more to due with features and simplicity than the name.
Heck I just call it b2evo most of the time and that sounds great to me.

I would say the most important features right now are
1 documentation that makes everything easy/painless for newbies
2 native support for enclosures in rss 2.0 ( for podcasting which is HUGE right now - Wordpress supports it already)
3 more attractive evoskins

I agree with this. Call it MudSoup for all I care. If it rocks it rocks, otherwise you look for something that suits your desires.

EDIT: I didn't vote because your optiosn seem skewed to support your opinion. Option 4: the name is not important because the product is.

EdB wrote:

thegreenman wrote:

I would say the most important features right now are
1 documentation that makes everything easy/painless for newbies
2 native support for enclosures in rss 2.0 ( for podcasting which is HUGE right now - Wordpress supports it already)
3 more attractive evoskins

Option 4: the name is not important because the product is.

I also vote option 4 !! :)

Thanks a lot timtak for all suggestions, this is good material if we decide to change the name. But this can't be done right now. Change of name should come with another event like major version or something like this.

For my part a more important feature than documentation is usability/ergonomy. In a perfect software users don't need it. Everything is easy, clear and understable. Everything is in the right place with the right names and the right interactions ;)

Hmm... I am not an expert on marketing but I did not include

4: the name is not important because the product is.

because it seemed to me that naming clearly is important. Isn't this clear? Isn't there fairly conclusive research on this? Are you sure you think that naming does not make much difference?

I am not saying that naming is the sole or even descive factor, but that naming has considerable impact. Certainly the marketing (naming, brand image, and adversing included) has a massive impact, equivalent to or greater than the reality of the product. There are books about this.

These present academic research (recommended)
http://www.ebusiness.xerox.com/isbm/dscgi/ds.py/Get/File-29/12-1995.pdf
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/popcult/handouts/adverts/forbrand.html

Companies that make money naming
http://www.namebase.com/whatwevedone.html
http://www.cintara.com/naming.html

A paper explaining the stages of product naming.
http://www.igorinternational.com/process/igor-naming-guide.pdf
(I missed out on the importance being different from the competition.

These links may also be relevant
http://www.ameinfo.com/news/Detailed/45059.html
http://www.softwaremarketsolution.com/software_product_naming_pg.htm

Ideally b2evolution should NOT become another movable type/type pad/wordpress/textpattern, but something suggesting the use, in a novel way, perhaps something "next-generation," evolved beyond type/text/words.

What is beyond words? Something more abstract? such as: idea(s), logos, inspiration, creation, concept, conception, image, impression, intellection, notion, perception, thought. Umm.

I would change the poll if I could but I think, with respect, that "names do not matter much" does not lie well with a lot of research done on this subject. Perhaps you mean in the case of b2evolution it is so good that the name does not matter much? On the contrary, I think that b2evolution, is a case in point.

I vote 4 as well, although I like the b2evo name.

timtak wrote:

lot of interessant stuff

ok you know very well your subject ;)

Of course name is important. But it's not yet time for this I thing. Marketing, branding people knowns better than me about this but I think the change of the name shouldn't come alone. For heavier impact it's better to make this change when release a major version or something like this ?

If you're interessed you are welcome on helping b2evo in marketing, branding, PR subjects. Feel free to drop an email to Fran?ois about this ;)

thegreenman wrote:

2 native support for enclosures in rss 2.0 ( for podcasting which is HUGE right now - Wordpress supports it already)

believe me, there are much more important feature requests, lots of bugfixes, necessary rewrites and so on.

just because YOU want enclosures, it's not in the top3 of the community :>

uuh, i forgot something...

<drum rolls>
as far as i noticed b2evolution is going to change it's name (slightly)
</ drum rolls>

kiesow wrote:

thegreenman wrote:

2 native support for enclosures in rss 2.0 ( for podcasting which is HUGE right now - Wordpress supports it already)

believe me, there are much more important feature requests, lots of bugfixes, necessary rewrites and so on.

just because YOU want enclosures, it's not in the top3 of the community :>

Agreed, but bugfixes and rewrites are not features, which was the topic at hand, So we can strike them and let's see your list of the most important NEW features.

1 concise documentation 2 ? 3 ?[/list:u] Also, enclosure support works nicely with moblogging, which "should" be in the top 3. I suggest anyone who hasn't heard of podcasting just google it it and you'll see how big it is in the blogosphere. it made CNN http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/12/08/podcasting/ Newsweek and Msnbc http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6640519/site/newsweek/ wired news http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,65237,00.html christian science monitor http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1210/p12s03-stct.html the Boston Herald http://theedge.bostonherald.com/tvNews/view.bg?articleid=60156 hell even Playboy has started a podcast of nude chicks http://www.thestandard.com/movabletype/mattmcalister/archives/000770.php Yes it's that big, whether or not is a bunch of hype doesn't matter. new bloggers moving from the blogservices like blogger will want it, even if they don't know what it is.

thegreenman wrote:

kiesow wrote:

thegreenman wrote:

2 native support for enclosures in rss 2.0 ( for podcasting which is HUGE right now - Wordpress supports it already)

believe me, there are much more important feature requests, lots of bugfixes, necessary rewrites and so on.

just because YOU want enclosures, it's not in the top3 of the community :>

Agreed, but bugfixes and rewrites are not features, which was the topic at hand, So we can strike them and let's see your list of the most important NEW features.

1 concise documentation 2 ? 3 ?[/list:u] [/quote] Unordered list where severity depends on profile (newbie, community, developper ...) - post : because actual Post writing interface has just too many options - backoffice : great job since 0.8.9, still some work to make it look simple and easy - multiuser/multiblog management - Import from other tools : Blogger, LJ, Nucleus, pMachine, Txp, WP ... - custom fields - comments preview - basic image management - plugins - tags for customising backoffice and skins - inline help in backoffice - hundreds more

<drum rolls> 
as far as i noticed b2evolution is going to change it's name (slightly) 
</ drum rolls>

Great to hear. I am sure that there will be more developers, more people that will pay when this product is marketed in a more effective way.

Is the naming process going to be performed in secrecy? Or is there going to be a public brainstorming and then poll?

Relatedly, in one of the pages linked above Cayenne, then name of the Porsche's SUV was cited as a successful name. I like the idea. Instead of "Range Rover," "Land Rover," "X Trail," "Land Cruiser" or other names that DIRECTLY relate to the product, they chose something that has an image related to that which they wanted to express. Cayenne is a town in Africa and
From MSN Encarta [url=http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_1861595622/cayenne_pepper.html]Cayenne Pepper[/url]

hot red pepper: a very hot-tasting red powder made of the dried and ground fruit and seeds of several kinds of chili. It is used in cooking and as a gastric astringent.

I guess that they trying to say that their SUV is hot, spicy, wild, exzotic. Another thing about Cayenne is that it is used in cooking. It is (if I am allowed to assume the continuation of traditional gender roles) more like to appeal to women.

Whatever the new name chosen for b2evolution, I suggest that it is one that appeals to people who are not nerds. Hence, rather than
neologisms (blogadise)
abbreviations (blog)
use of numbers inside a word (b2evolution)
scientific terms (evolution, cold fusion)

I think it would be preferable to use basic every day terms would have a wider appeal:

foods (Apple Mac, Cayenne)
Basic verbs (MOVable type)
Visual art related (text PATTERN)
Places (Manilla, Cayenne)

At the same time, unlike Porche, we cannot afford advertisements so I guess that the name should be closer to the use, so that the name advertises itself.

Whatever happens I pray that the name should be one that appeals to non-technical users.

I am thinking the new name's going to be b2evo

because:

Registrant: Make this info private
PLANQUE, Francois
(36747082P)
xxxxx St Louis
Jouars Pontchartrain, 78760
FR
Phone: xxxxxxxxxx

Domain Name: B2EVO.NET

And I was hoping for "MudSoup" :lol:

I vote for

tempusedaxrerum

I'd bet that domain's not taken.

timtak wrote:

Whatever happens I pray that the name should be one that appeals to non-technical users.

You're kidding right? You don't actually pray for program names, do you? So MudSoup is pretty good then? Mud is not technical and Soup is food. :roll:

I think that perhaps Francois has that domain because that is the name now.

I am thinking the new name's going to be b2evo

b2evo reminds me perhaps of a kind of adhesive, perhaps the sort where you have to mix two tubes of paste together. I hope that Francois investigates the attractive-ness of the new name.

"pray" is a bit of a Japanese-ism. I have been using Japanese for too long.

Mud Soup is a food but it does not seem to have any connection with the product and "mud" tends to have a negative connotation. Perhaps soup might convey the ability to mix things together but "in the soup" is a negative expression. I am not saying food is a must by anymeans. But something soft, non techo, would win I think. "BlueBerry" is recommended as a good name for a cell phone system apparently!

Dream Weaver is a good name. Weaving conveys the action of (in techno, precise) Internet site content management, and dream is a nice way of saying the content refered to as "text", "type", "word" by competitor systems.

Tim

thegreenman wrote:

let's see your list of the most important NEW features.

1. better documenation
2. mailinglist (for new comments, entries, whatever)
3. autocreation of a new blog for new members at registration
4. gallery integration
5. integrated rss-aggregator

not my favorites, but the most wanted

I thought about the naming thing alot last night and found that almost all good catchy names (and domains) are already taken by products or busineses, any combination of thought, dream, age, type, word, create, life, speak, etc... is 99.9% likelt to be taken.

You'd almost have to use a created word, neologism, or a latinization of an existing word, like garrulus to find anything unused.

I found one decent domain untaken that kinda fits for a blogware:

Carriagereturn.com or net.

But you'd have to be old like me to know what it refers to.

Thanks very much thegreenman.

carriagereturn is conceiable (and quite a nice domain name - perhaps you should buy it anyway) but, like you say, it may be lost on the young.

I had a quick look. Keeping with the name we have at the moment
blog2.com
is already taken by a provider of a hosted web logging system and registered as a tradmark.

However, off the top of my head, while 2blog.com is owned (it will expire in mid Januar 2005 if the owner does not renew) it is not being used, and 2blog.net is also not being used and it is for sale and
2BLOG.ORG
is available. I know I said that "blog" is perhaps not the best word but perhaps it has become and will remain part of the language. And I presume the "b" in b2evolution stands for blog. But I suppose it sounds too much like the activity "to blog" than software allowing us "to blog."

Or...

well I guess that it will be necessary to buy the domain name from someone. But I also guess that there are so many people hoarding domain names that they do not use, that they would probably part with them for not-all-that-much.

Tim

Hey maybe after the important name change maybe someone will come along and give us a preview button so it doesn't look like our b2evo blog commenters are all dyslexic or unschooled. Or something trivial like email notification. Or other features we're still trailing on.

Out of the box, we're good save for some wacky unplugged holes. Additions to and enhances, not so. Still lacking some basic features. We want to excel at all and not lag on anything; it makes other products go hey look they still can't figure that out and we had it for ages. I don't like lagging on any functionality and want what we all want a comparably better product all across the board.

Glad this board software has a preview button.

quard wrote:

Hey maybe after the important name change maybe someone will come along and give us a preview button so it doesn't look like our b2evo blog commenters are all dyslexic or unschooled.

Of course, comments should also come with spellchecker, scoring, quoting, edit button and all that kind of stuff ...

For your commenters problem just suggest them to read what they wrote before pushing buttons ;)

quard wrote:

Or something trivial like email notification. Or other features we're still trailing on.

Help, contributions and plug-ins for all these trivial features are welcome. This will let dev team concentrate on having a great core to support and drive all these features ;)

Feel free to list features you're trailing on.

Missing Features:

-Preview button
-Email Notification (mailing list) of new entries to a mailing list ala MT style. No RSS, no have to be a member to receive updates, no mumbo-jumbo just a simple subscribe/unsubscribe add your email to the notification list form like MT and others have. Make it more friendly with a admin interface to manage accounts list.

Others:

-Easy way to close off comments to old posts, ala perhaps a form that will display definable # of entry titles with a checkbox "Allow comments." Click the boxes on or off and select UPDATE and viola one step process instead of click entry, edit, close, submit, repeat for 300 entries.
-Perhaps an option to close comments for posts older than a specified date range, when they drop off the main page.

Hey :)

The b2evo.net domain is registered "just in case". I use it mostly for somes tests on a different server as well as for the dev mailing list, which makes the address a little shorter :)

If you guys come up with a really kick ass available name, please feel free to mail it to me. I'll seriously consider it.

However, for now I thought I would not play with the name until we get those 10 to 15% of remaining original b2/cafelog code out of the system.

My dream is that version 1.0 will be 100% rewritten with clean "evo" code and then we can change the name too :)

I hope that everyone chips in to think of a good name.

I presume that Wordpress still has more than 10-15% b2/cafelog code, and they changed the name so I guess your your reticence is out of a greater sense of loyalty to Michel Valdrighi.

I note you have stated [url=http://b2evolution.net/about/design.html]on the page about the design philosophy of b2evolution[/url] that you are not that keen to change code just for the sake of it, so I presume that it will be some time before b2evolution gets to the 10-15% figure.

In any event, I am sure that a new name would come only with a significant developmental milestone. I hope that someone can come up with a kick-ass name before then.

"kickassblog"? A bit risky.

Exploring the permutations of (those in both colums are both the stuff of blogs and the action of blogging)

stuff    verbs
idea	  creation
logos	 layout
blog	  print
print	 weave
dream	 stamp
text	  set
thought  process
page	  style
paper	 carve
screen	design
site	  evolution
book	  blog
	      diary
	      book
	      publish
	      write
	      compose
	      producer

ideacreation
idealayout
ideaprint
ideaweave
ideastamp
ideaset
ideaprocess
ideastyle
ideacarve
ideadesign
ideaevolution
ideablog
ideadiary
ideabook
ideapublish
ideawrite
ideacompose
ideaproducer
logoscreation
logoslayout
logosprint
logosweave
logosstamp
logosset
logosprocess
logosstyle
logoscarve
logosdesign
logosevolution
logosblog
logosdiary
logosbook
logospublish
logoswrite
logoscompose
logosproducer
blogcreation
bloglayout
blogprint
blogweave
blogstamp
blogset
blogprocess
blogstyle
blogcarve
blogdesign
blogevolution
blogblog
blogdiary
blogbook
blogpublish
blogwrite
blogcompose
blogproducer
printcreation
printlayout
printprint
printweave
printstamp
printset
printprocess
printstyle
printcarve
printdesign
printevolution
printblog
printdiary
printbook
printpublish
printwrite
printcompose
printproducer
dreamcreation
dreamlayout
dreamprint
dreamweave
dreamstamp
dreamset
dreamprocess
dreamstyle
dreamcarve
dreamdesign
dreamevolution
dreamblog
dreamdiary
dreambook
dreampublish
dreamwrite
dreamcompose
dreamproducer
textcreation
textlayout
textprint
textweave
textstamp
textset
textprocess
textstyle
textcarve
textdesign
textevolution
textblog
textdiary
textbook
textpublish
textwrite
textcompose
textproducer
thoughtcreation
thoughtlayout
thoughtprint
thoughtweave
thoughtstamp
thoughtset
thoughtprocess
thoughtstyle
thoughtcarve
thoughtdesign
thoughtevolution
thoughtblog
thoughtdiary
thoughtbook
thoughtpublish
thoughtwrite
thoughtcompose
thoughtproducer
pagecreation
pagelayout
pageprint
pageweave
pagestamp
pageset
pageprocess
pagestyle
pagecarve
pagedesign
pageevolution
pageblog
pagediary
pagebook
pagepublish
pagewrite
pagecompose
pageproducer
papercreation
paperlayout
paperprint
paperweave
paperstamp
paperset
paperprocess
paperstyle
papercarve
paperdesign
paperevolution
paperblog
paperdiary
paperbook
paperpublish
paperwrite
papercompose
paperproducer
screencreation
screenlayout
screenprint
screenweave
screenstamp
screenset
screenprocess
screenstyle
screencarve
screendesign
screenevolution
screenblog
screendiary
screenbook
screenpublish
screenwrite
screencompose
screenproducer
sitecreation
sitelayout
siteprint
siteweave
sitestamp
siteset
siteprocess
sitestyle
sitecarve
sitedesign
siteevolution
siteblog
sitediary
sitebook
sitepublish
sitewrite
sitecompose
siteproducer
bookcreation
booklayout
bookprint
bookweave
bookstamp
bookset
bookprocess
bookstyle
bookcarve
bookdesign
bookevolution
bookblog
bookdiary
bookbook
bookpublish
bookwrite
bookcompose
bookproducer

And I see I missed out "edit", and probably many other words. But looking at this list, it all seems rather too similar to typepad, textpatter, movable type, and wordpress. This has the advantage of signalling that the product is another one of the same kind of thing, but perhaps b2evolution deserves to be differentiated a little more?

I checked blogblog and blogset but both were taken in the .com form at least.

Tim[/code]

how about

wordspring?

I just registered wordspring.net I know it's a bite off of wordpress, but I think it's actually a better name, and it shows the fact that b2evo and wp are cousins.

Some of these I don't like

print/paper/book/page - more often looked at onscreen only
screen - in conjunction with other words makes me thing screen printing
dream - appeals to teenage diary writers and excludes others
idea - makes me thing the content is not fully formed and needs structure
logos - modern use evokes images, not blog content
thought - too long (evolution also falls into this category)
blog - will be added to the name in referencing a specific blog. e.g. I have a b2evolution blog.

creation - too long
layout - implies appearence is more important than content
process - too clinical
diary - unappealing to people who never successfully kept a diary. Also, for many people, a diary is a way to schedule future events. Journal is a preferable word
compose - music
producer - films

Note that Moveable Type and WordPress both fail in my categorising, and that I acknowledge the important part is getting people to use software, regardless of the name. For branding we have to avoid a name that is too generic.

TextWeaver works for me, makes me think of the creative aspects of dreamweaver but for content.

Can we create sub-names, to market it for the different audiences. E.g. I use b2evo - TestWeaver for my journal but some use b2evo - DreamDiary for their unicorn stories. Maybe the only difference will be the logo.

Dear Thegreenman

Wordspring is nice. I am not sure that Wordpress will like us emphasising the relationship, but I don't think that they could object legally because it is not so close as to be misleading. And it is rare that a domain name like that shoudl be left. At the same time, spring has a lot of meanings and not all of them (the season, coil of wire, jumping suddenly) are connected with creation. But of those with domain names at least, it is definately my favourite so far. I Wonder if [url=http://www.wordspringmedia.com/]Wordspring Media[/url] will have issues? What do others think of Wordspring?

Dear Shadowfoot
I largely agree with what you have to say above: my sentiments entirely, but better expressed. I cast my net as wide as my lexical limitations, and a quick thesaurus search, would allow, but that was both not very wide and, lacking art, not wide enough. Upon reflection I am sorry I recommended "dreamweaver;" you are right "dream" appeals to a particular, teenage, market segment.

I like Textweaver. Like Wordspring, however, it is close to the name of another blog, [url=http://textpattern.com]Textpattern[/url]. And alas at the moment Textweaver belongs to an [url=http://textweaver.com]Indian web designer[/url]. Perhaps she might consider selling it. I think that in order to find domain names that are available, we are going to have to cross out more than you point out from my list and use words like "spring" which are less directly associated with creation. Can you think of other ways to expand the list above?

By the way
TEXTSPRING.COM
is still available.
Wordweaver.com
is the name of an clinical assesment tool. Peraps they might be inclined to sell it?

I wonder if we should be aiming for somethign similar in some what to "b2evolution" or whether it is okay to have a complete break with the past?

"b2evolution" has a 600,000 strong link following so something that strikes a cord with current users would obviously be ideal.

Brainstorming "evolution"
eden (texteden)
evolve
God! (textgod?)
creation (yes, long)
gene
meme (too nerdy)
Darwin

B related
blog (yes I know, my suggestion above might lead to "I am using a 2blog blog.")
beaver (textbeaver?)
bake (wordbake?!)
bee (wordbee?)

2 related
To (as in the infinitive, toblog, tocreate, totype)
xxx2, the same as in the present name (typespring2)
I think that there would be no need for the 2 once there were a new name.

authorspring
authormax
authorjet
authorwhiz
authorforge

for me, "b2evo" still rocks. (beetoo-eeevoow..hehe)

no offense but "dreamdiary" would be too lame...(and the like)

as for branding or naming a software, I believe that the product can stand for itself if it is really good.. this is not about food, or some product that you use in your kitchen.

Softwares/applications earn their popularity by recommendations, word-of-mouth, good reviews, etc..

btw, the word "pentium" was nothing before it became a processor. but look at it now, almost all people knows it.

making people "curious" about something makes the product even more popular.

//edit// i forgot to say my opinion about MT and WP. no offense for the users of these apps but when i first saw it on the net,

1. i thought MT or Movable type, is some sort of font. like "True-type, sans serif, etc." this one is too "technical".

2. Wordpress is something like MS Word which gave me the impression that it's for writers(poets) and not for typical bloggers like me who wants plugins, customization, aesthetics. the name is too "geeky" for me.

imho, not that catchy at all. my webhost offered bundled blog apps to me when i was looking for a good one and i don't even know anything about blogging back then. in the list were, b2, b2evolution, wp, nucleus. what did i click first?

b2evolution.

Being someone who works in advertizing on and off, I have to say its not a name change you need, but a refocus.

the logo colors are great! the use of letters and numbers works well too

dropping the 2 below the line was a great idea

I would try this though: b2evo is how this software gets referred to in most of my conversations. That is easy on the tounge and quick to type and distinctive to the eye.

large companies use names that have no meaning to establish brand: Tesco, Walmart, Kodak, etc.

b2evo is fine as it is (and the lack of capital letters is nice on the eye)

I think it would just need some tag lines added to it (Multilingual multiuser multi-blog engine is very informative but not a tag line that inspires inquiry)

Try things like:

b2evo
evolve your blog

b2evo
the evolution revolution

b2evo
evolve beyond the blog

You get where I am going :)

play on brainstorm...

www.blogstorm.com
(sounds better than it looks)

here's a silly one:
www.evolver.com

(play on inspiration)
inspiria

a play on the old "stop the presses!" thing:
www.dotthepresses.com

blogcentral
blogmaker
webjournal
evojournal
journalmaker
newssource
newsmaker
blogster
blogsource
evolveme
newsme
journalme

journalistix

IMHO: none of these are as good as b2evo (see my previous post)

Steven

timtak wrote:

Dear Thegreenman
Brainstorming "evolution"
eden (texteden)
evolve
God! (textgod?)
creation (yes, long)
gene
meme (too nerdy)
Darwin

B related
blog (yes I know, my suggestion above might lead to "I am using a 2blog blog.")
beaver (textbeaver?)
bake (wordbake?!)
bee (wordbee?)

2 related
To (as in the infinitive, toblog, tocreate, totype)
xxx2, the same as in the present name (typespring2)
I think that there would be no need for the 2 once there were a new name.

I think the name is not the issue I don't think, It is the marketing and the way the communities have formed. No offence but I dont think b2evolution is out there enough. It has incomplete documentation, it has not steady income stream, it has next to no marketing that I have seen. The other names sound boring. Doesn't fiefox sound better than Internet Explorer!

If you must b2web, b2text or something like that. I just call it b2.

If you look at the list I think b2 is well up on the list and the reason is that it is a great product but requires more undertanding than the other weblog applications. Also note some are setup as turnkey setups like typepad etc where it is a no brainer to setup for the masses.

One good thing about b2 is that it is in the fantastico scripts. The best host for that at the moment that I have found is ace-host.net but I plan to do hosting soon at www.oz2.com

IMO it also needs a development cycle that incorporates more features, still lacking or otherwise and an easier code base that makes plugin development easier.

I don't know how to program and find doing any changes difficult but am willing to learn. I won't be able to get to a stage that I can contribute other than the documentation and that will be a while off. I can contribute money.

I suspect B2 suffers from lack of developers time and lack of money.

Tell us the users what you need to move this along. Maybe something can be done to help you and to help us to get the product we want.

To get mainstream it still has to be easier to manage. There is too much to learn for most people to get something decent going.

Typepad for example can be setup by my Grandmother. The reason is they make money and can spend the time. They also have a dumbed down version of b2evolution. Maybe b2 could have a basic mode for beginners and more advanced so people have a path to move on to.

I'm with EdB. B2e doesn't need a new name. Better promotion, better documentation, maybe a new logo and/or site design, sure. Some new skins would be a big help. But we don't need a new name. Besides, 'b2e' and 'b2evo' just sound cool. Oh, wait, how about 'Bevo'?

Um, I was just kidding about Bevo.

Maybe a good name:

b2pager

The scores on the doors are:

                         Dec 2004    May 2005
Movable Type            4,590,000 >> 10,200,000 
Wordpress               6,580,000 >> 7,690,000 
Typepad                 5,600,000 >> 6,340,000
b2evolution               618,000 >> 1,210,000 
pLog                      546,000 >> 1,160,000
bBlog                     634,000 >> 593,000
Textpattern               320,000 >> 557,000
Serendipity weblog        373,000 >> 426,000 
BLOG:CMS                  302,000 >> 250,000 
Nucleus CMS               125,000 >> 319,000 
Cafelog                    82,000 >> 103,000 

Movable Type has done incredibly well taking (back?) the top spot.Wordpress and Typepad have added more than a million hits each, and b2evolution has doubled, yes doubled, its hits bringing it up into the number 4 spot, just in front of a well performing pLog. Textpatter has overtaken Serendipity, and I predict it will have overtaken bBlog by next time.

I take Safefire's point that names likeWalmart Google and Kodak do not have any association with their respective products but are successful partly be virtue of their quirky originality.

But I still think that b2evolution is too long, three words 0-- "bee" "two" and "evolution" -- and too nerdy: there is a number in the middle of the name (c3po, Zilog z80, OS X). But it is probably too late now that b2evo (which is better) has such a large customer base. By the way b2evo.com belongs to Travis from Kanas but b2evo.org is still available.

Recently I have not been using b2evolution so much because I am so impressed with MediaWiki (google hits 5,350,000). It has a long way to go before it is easy to blog with but I think that the back-office-less editing and dead-intralink-creates-page interlinking has a lot of potential. Wikipedia did not become so big for nothing. I will ask for the features here.

I have left out "Manila" because I do not know how I searched for it.

Timothy

b2evolution's problem is not the name but the glacial pace of its development.

quard wrote:

b2evolution's problem is not the name but the glacial pace of its development.

IMHO, I don't think that a new release of a software every month or less is a good think. I don't like also to see security fix too often (only when needed). In the case of b2evo, it means that the software is mature.
The think missing is may be a list of available plugins in the home page. It should be easier to access plugins than searching in the forum.

My 2 pens,

Slamp

sagefire wrote:

Being someone who works in advertizing on and off, I have to say its not a name change you need, but a refocus.

the logo colors are great! the use of letters and numbers works well too

dropping the 2 below the line was a great idea

I would try this though: b2evo is how this software gets referred to in most of my conversations. That is easy on the tounge and quick to type and distinctive to the eye.

large companies use names that have no meaning to establish brand: Tesco, Walmart, Kodak, etc.

b2evo is fine as it is (and the lack of capital letters is nice on the eye)

I think it would just need some tag lines added to it (Multilingual multiuser multi-blog engine is very informative but not a tag line that inspires inquiry)

Try things like:

b2evo
evolve your blog

b2evo
the evolution revolution

b2evo
evolve beyond the blog

You get where I am going :)

My two penneth ... I'm with this guy, he talks sense :D

timtak wrote:

The scores on the doors are:

                         Dec 2004    May 2005
Movable Type            4,590,000 >> 10,200,000 
Wordpress               6,580,000 >> 7,690,000 
Typepad                 5,600,000 >> 6,340,000
b2evolution               618,000 >> 1,210,000 
pLog                      546,000 >> 1,160,000
bBlog                     634,000 >> 593,000
Textpattern               320,000 >> 557,000
Serendipity weblog        373,000 >> 426,000 
BLOG:CMS                  302,000 >> 250,000 
Nucleus CMS               125,000 >> 319,000 
Cafelog                    82,000 >> 103,000 

Movable Type has done incredibly well taking (back?) the top spot.Wordpress and Typepad have added more than a million hits each, and b2evolution has doubled, yes doubled, its hits bringing it up into the number 4 spot, just in front of a well performing pLog. Textpatter has overtaken Serendipity, and I predict it will have overtaken bBlog by next time.

I take Safefire's point that names likeWalmart Google and Kodak do not have any association with their respective products but are successful partly be virtue of their quirky originality.

But I still think that b2evolution is too long, three words 0-- "bee" "two" and "evolution" -- and too nerdy: there is a number in the middle of the name (c3po, Zilog z80, OS X). But it is probably too late now that b2evo (which is better) has such a large customer base. By the way b2evo.com belongs to Travis from Kanas but b2evo.org is still available.

Recently I have not been using b2evolution so much because I am so impressed with MediaWiki (google hits 5,350,000). It has a long way to go before it is easy to blog with but I think that the back-office-less editing and dead-intralink-creates-page interlinking has a lot of potential. Wikipedia did not become so big for nothing. I will ask for the features here.

I have left out "Manila" because I do not know how I searched for it.

Timothy

wow, a digup thread. But really, Thanks for the update! Impressive google numbers, nice seeing b2e as a popular 4th place. We're in pretty good company.

BTW - the travis that holds b2evo.com domain is Travis S on this forum. I know him. Good kid. Quite brilliant actually. But spreads himself thin (like most of us do, myself included). I think he's a contributing developer still.

As far as thread topic goes:

I would skip b2evo and just go with B2E. Nothing wrong with an acronym for a name, ask IBM, GE, NTT, and a world of others out there.

I also had some odd fummeling of brain fumes recently. Don't know why or where this came from and seemed kinda frilly at first but I attached onto it like a Kennedy on a friday 5 oclock beer, so here it is:

b3fore

It's just a silly name really. Elitists would call it "before", machinists would call it B34, and the blogger might just end up calling it "B3" (of which elitiists would refer to as just "Be" and machinists think of it as "b after 2 but before 4").

It would symbolize a progressive platform, that what comes came before. Or what was before is also after. Or is that too utopian? Anyway, it's a way to move (or evolve) past the B2 and incorporate our own identity as B3 (aka the next B2). Well, my mind is in circles now. It's a name with a number and the letter B.

b3fore [dot] com is unspoken for, so you domain wh0res (i'd use a lesser offending word but cannot think of one) hrry and snatch it up before we really put substantial thought behind it.

There is my contribution. A simple suggestion. Now go tear it up you heartless bastards. ;)

quard wrote:

b2evolution's problem is not the name but the glacial pace of its development.

You can say that again. Considering that b2evo was at the technological forefront in May 2004, it has performed pretty poorly in attracting new users... and I think it has to do with the "ambiance" here at the forums. In my opinion, it's not the name which is geeky... but the tone of the forums. Sorry folks, I tell it like I see it. The KEY to WP success has been the forums more than the "product"... which was very primitive to begin with... but with extremely active forums, development is also very active, and frankly, I think that if WordPress fixes its only glaring flaw (lack of multiple weblogs) there's no stopping it.

Also, a key issue in getting b2evo to be more popular are the SKINS, we need more SKINS, and the skin forum right now doesn't work. A picture is worth a thousand words... so it's the skin doing the selling for the true newbies. And WP rules in skins... but there are cultural aspects to this too... I happen to know one member who has ported the 10 best skins available anywhere, from Nucleus' Leaf to the very latest and best from WP... and where are the skins? Only on his forum, not posted here, none of them.

I think shortening the name to b2evo (which has already happen in de facto usage) is a given, but the key is to SEX UP the forums (Please get something sexier for the site and forums!) PORT the BEST SKINS and work on GREAT INNOVATIVE TECH STUFF like cacheing plugin and especially PODCASTING. Regain the lead!

I not agree with all you said strojanoff, but skins and forums is very important. I choose b2evo because when I posted on the forum a stupid neewbie question, I got a polite answer, also there are local supports (french, spanish and so on) in the forum. I don't think we need to change the skin of the forum. It's a support tool, not the product.

About skins, there is a competition to add more skins to b2evo: http://b2evolution.net/news/2004/07/16/evoskins_competition

thegreenman wrote:

how about

wordspring?

I just registered wordspring.net I know it's a bite off of wordpress, but I think it's actually a better name, and it shows the fact that b2evo and wp are cousins.

haha that was hilarious..

sorry for digging this ancient topic up, i just met this topic random and sounded interesting, i ve even voted.. guess which :P
couldnt read whole 3 pages intensively but had a quick peek, obviously the community has reached a verdict back than, as the name is still as is , lol : P

just to tell my opinion in this 4 year matter, b2evolution is 'fine' i dont claim it's great in long but the short one 'b2' and 'b2evo' are cool, esp. b2..

and my idea is it shouldnt be like that guys suggested, i mean, Hitpress, wordlog , texttype etc.. it shouldnt be related that much to the thing you do, if it does than it means your creativity actually sucks.. you shouldnt name ur company as cleanit wipeup deletepaper whitepage if you have an eraser factory for instance.. it should be sth imaginative , if you cant find imaginative at least put sth 'irrelevant', or maybe i should say 'independent'... [url=http://b2evolution.net/about/evolutionofb2.html]this[/url] explains the name pretty much, it meant much to me when i had read..

dont know why i wrote a rather long post in an obsolete topic, aaah nvm :p

Oh so that means you don't like "mudsoup" as a name eh? GRRRRR!!!! ME WANTS MUDSOUP!

This topic was freakin hilarious. The original author had absolutely nothing to contribute other than "the name must change because google shows more results for other platforms". Never did the original author explain how google went from total nothing to a world-wide verb eh?

The name ain't shit. It's the product that matters.

EdB wrote:

Oh so that means you don't like "mudsoup" as a name eh? GRRRRR!!!! ME WANTS MUDSOUP!

This topic was freakin hilarious. The original author had absolutely nothing to contribute other than "the name must change because google shows more results for other platforms". Never did the original author explain how google went from total nothing to a world-wide verb eh?

The name ain't shit. It's the product that matters.

you have summarized it all pretty brief but accurate, recently i remember seeing somewhere fp was asking to change that 'multilingual multiuser multiblog engine' motto, to sth else, it's always hard to make such changes, as the number of ppl wants a change is same as number of ppl who doesnt , that's very like it in every matter(look at mccain and obama , eh : p) , so hard to compromise on such a decision.

However since b2 is as good as his competitors, it's not popular as it deserves -even the paid ones(ah well they are going opensource too AFAI ve heard)-, surely needs better marketing strategies.Though i am not disappointed with b2's current situation, it takes its steps more confident but a bit slow (: - 4 months without an update ?- and the upcoming 2.4.3 wont change much, lets hope 3.x days are not too long.Frankly, 3.x looks promising, but need further 'unique' features and the more important thing is it should arrive at a shortest time

tilqicom wrote:

Frankly, 3.x looks promising, but need further 'unique' features and the more important thing is it should arrive at a shortest time

More features in less time ..... hmmmm ..... either one is doable, but a smidge tough to do both ;)

There are plenty of features planned for 3.0 but they all take a fair amount of time/coding/testing before they're ready ;)

¥

Here's my views:-

1) I like B2evolution, it suggests that it's always changing and developing into something stronger and more impressive with each evolutionary leap.

2) I'm quite happy with upgrading to a well tested and stable release once in a while and not having to continually do it every month/week/day.

Matt