It’s now mid-March, and those of you waiting for the release of Visual Liturgy Live, or for news about its release, have been waiting for too long. I owe you an apology, on behalf of Church House Publishing and the VL Development team; first for our misplaced optimism about the VL Live release date; and secondly for keeping you in the dark too long since we came across our latest set of issues and delayed the release for the second time.
The problem was that we have been “nearly there” for some time now, and we have been keen to wait until we were in a position to make a positive announcement – but as time has gone by, I now recognise that I should have kept you updated throughout recent weeks.
In this latest release, VL Live, we have designed a new user interface, which was relatively easy to graft on to the existing application. The registration, security, and group licensing features have been improved, which was a more complex set of changes. We have also made significant changes to the content and service-planning features, and it was the implementation of these in the VL program code and database which was more intricate than we thought it would be and which has lead to some of the delays.
That work is now nearly complete, which is why I’m writing to you to say “Thank You” for your patience, and to tell you about our progress. We hope to finish testing in the next few days, and we will make an announcement at the beginning of next week about the confirmed new release date. I will also make weekly announcements on the VL website about our progress and the run-up to launch.
We will also be launching a new-look website http://www.visualliturgylive.net/ to support VL Live, and it will include news, tips, hints, and and a set of discussion forums in which VL Live users can collaborate to share information and ideas. This will be also be the website where you will manage your subscription and licensing. Currently that website address points to the VL4 website www.vislit.com but we’ll be redirecting it very shortly.
I hope you’ll be pleased with VL Live when it finally comes out, and that you’ll think it was worth the wait. You can let us know what you think in the forums, or by contacting us directly at Church House Publishing on 020 7898 1451 or visual.liturgy@c-of-e.org.uk. In the meantime, please accept our apologies and our thanks for your patience.
Andrew Sweeney
New Media Manager
Church House Publishing