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There are a few similar questions to this one already. But mine differs enough to warrant being asked separately. I've written an authentication ASP.Net library and I'm looking for beta testers. I've posted to the forums I frequent, but they are not forums commonly used by .Net people. I've tried inviting friends, but honestly I don't personally know a whole lot of people that use ASP.Net. I'm afraid that posting such a request to http://asp.net/forums would be marked as spam and deleted.

What else can I do to find developers to test my library?

blueberryfields
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Earlz
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2 Answers2

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You might try this "web" thingy. Rumor has it that people from all over the world use it :)

Seriously, put up a small site on a cheap hosting service that details what your library is, why it exists, why it is superior to other similar libraries and make your library a download from there. Maybe throw in some code samples showing how to use it.

The key is to make it searchable so that it has a chance to appear in search results when people are out there looking for solutions to the problem you are solving. Make sure people know it is beta and that they have some way of reaching you if/when issues come up.

Even better, if this is an open-source project, you might be able to put it in Codeplex, which handles a lot of these things for you.

You also might want to promote it in an ethical manner. By that, I mean search out discussion boards where people are talking about the problem your library solves and for just the people affected, post a message that your beta library might do the trick for them and include a link to your library site. You must be responding to valid related messages, otherwise the moderators will (rightly) consider you a spammer and kick you from the board.

Dave Wise
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  • Yea, I'm thinking I'll do that with SO now that I've also found my competition lol. But I do have a blog pretty simply describing it. The thing is, I'd rather not carry out the beta for an extremely long time either(as in, long enough for people to start finding my site in google). I've considered paying a couple of subcontractors(a small amount) to beta test it. Do you think I'll get good feedback though? Also, to be clear. My site is already indexed by google including the relevant blog post. But it hasn't made it's way into search results without exact keywords as far as I can tell – Earlz Apr 13 '11 at 03:07
  • Unfortunately, increasing your ranking on Google is a dark art involving the use of chicken parts and green flames. Fortunately, Google provides a guide for this : http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35291 . – Dave Wise Apr 13 '11 at 03:23
  • If you are willing to pay for testers, you might want to check out eLance ( http://www.elance.com/p/landing/buyerE5.html ) as they sometimes list beta tester positions. – Dave Wise Apr 13 '11 at 03:27
  • the last paragraph is the most useful advice; don't bother trying to rank on google for any significant keywords unless you have a lot of time and content to devote to it. On the plus side, you can advertise using google adWords on relevant keywords and keep the bids low, and you might pick up some interested people that way. But probably not in Oklahoma. – Steven A. Lowe Apr 13 '11 at 04:06
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How about looking for a nearby .NET Users Group.

Dynamic
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Steven A. Lowe
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  • define nearby. I'm in rural Oklahoma. Developers of any sort are pretty hard to come by – Earlz Apr 13 '11 at 02:33
  • it's up to you to define nearby. Oklahoma has highways, how far are you willing to go? If not far enough, then go online; try linkedin.com discussion groups. – Steven A. Lowe Apr 13 '11 at 04:03