Which version of Publishing Assistant 6 to install?

Question

I have a user that is migrating to Paratext 8 so will need to install Publishing Assistant 6. Does he need to be registered as a Beta tester for that? If so, how?

I’d like the most stable version of the beta to install. I don’t really understand how the beta release for PA works, so I’m a bit unsure where/how to find the install/update files for PA6.

I’m looking at 2 update locations online:

http://paratext.org/download/pt/updates-all?path=/PublishingAssistant: is this where the “stable” betas are located?
http://paratext.org/download/pt/updates-all?path=/PublishingAssistantTest: I am assuming that is more for “alpha/testing” versions?

Part of my confusion (on the “PublishingAssistant” page) comes from the created/modified dates for “PublishingAssistant_6.0.55.1_Installer.exe” and “PA_patch_6.0.54.70.msp”:

PublishingAssistant_6.0.55.1_Installer.exe was modified on 11/30/2017, but PA_patch_6.0.54.70.msp was modified on 12/05/2017 (so the patch was modified more recently).
PublishingAssistant_6.0.55.1_Installer.exe was created on 11/28/2017, but PA_patch_6.0.54.70.msp was created on 11/25/2017 (so the base installer was created more recently).

So which date/version takes priority in the case?

My next question in relation to the update options for PA6. There are 2 options under [SHIFT] + Help > Advanced > Release Stage: “Normal” and “Pre-release”. As PA6 is already a Beta, will choosing the “Normal” release stage be the more “stable” release, and choosing the “Pre-release” stage be more like an “alpha” release? I tried the “Check for Program Updates” option but it said it couldn’t download the update, so I wasn’t able to figure it out that way.

Thanks,

SIL+LSS+PNG

[cid:[Email Removed]]

SIL+LSS+PNG
Language Technology Consultant
SIL PNG Language Resources
Ukarumpa EHP 444 | Papua New Guinea
[Email Removed].pgmailto:[Email Removed].pg

Answer 1

Hi SIL+LSS+PNG,

There is no need to register to be a beta user of PA 6. Any registered
PA 6 user can be a beta user. In fact, right now, all PA 6 users are
beta users (smile).

As of today (Friday Dec 8) the release (aka most stable) version of PA 6
is 6.0.54.70 and the pre-release (aka cutting-edge) version of PA 6 is
6.0.55.5.

The dates that you see on files do not necessarily represent the build
or release dates. The third and fourth numbers in the version indicate
their order. 6.0.55.1 is more recent than 6.0.54.70.

Pre-release versions are intended for users who consider themselves
advanced. They provide a service to the PA community by vetting versions
before a general release.

Grace and peace,
PADev.

install? [Questions]

Comments

Thank you PADev and anon848905 for this info, it is helpful.

anon848905 said we should use the files found at http://pubassist.paratext.org/download, but that has 6.0.54.36 and PADev recommended 6.0.54.70. So… which one should we use?

I’m not sure who to send this next part to, but the link for “Publishing Assistant” at the bottom of https://pt8.paratext.org/ directs me to the PA 5 webpage (http://paratext.org/about/pa). Does that need to be updated to http://pubassist.paratext.org/? Or could there be a link added to get to http://pubassist.paratext.org/?

Thanks,

SIL+LSS+PNG

---

Hi SIL+LSS+PNG,

Normally people use 6.0.54.36 and it auto-updates to 6.0.54.70.

If you are in an Internet challenged part of the world, it might work
better to manually update to 6.0.54.70. Having said that, if you are in
an Internet challenged part of the world, you might as well completely
skip 6.0.54.x because I hope to make 6.0.55.3 a general release fairly
soon. Most users will auto-update to 6.0.55.3, but it will be a large
update and probably won’t work for Internet challenged users.

So, if you have good Internet, you can install pretty well anything and
it will auto-update as appropriate. If you have poor Internet, you might
as well manually use the following links:

http://update.ubs-icap.org/PublishingAssistant/PublishingAssistant_6.0.55.1_Installer.exe
http://update.ubs-icap.org/PublishingAssistant/PA_patch_6.0.55.3.msp

This will put you at 6.0.55.3 which will likely be the next general release.

If anyone else from an Internet challenged part of the world is reading
this email, they might as well use the above links to manually move to
6.0.55.3. Otherwise, they will be faced with a large auto-update. You do
not have to uninstall 6.0.54.x. The 6.0.55.1 installer should handle
everything.

Grace and peace,
PADev.

install? [Questions]

Answer 2

Information regarding registration for PA6 can be found at: http://pubassist.paratext.org/registration/
The key is that the user must be registered for PA5 and PT8. There have been some issues with the automatic approval going through so if the user was an approved PA5 user, but does not receive approval for PA8 you should report a problem via PT Help.

The current install files can be found at: http://pubassist.paratext.org/download/. There are later files found under the support files, but the average users should use the files from the download site.

I keep my PA set to “Normal” release and automatically receive updates that are appropriate. Often for PA the updates come one after another - so I might receive 2 or 3 updates during a session (update, restart, update, restart, etc).
If you want to be on the cutting edge then you should set the release stage to “Pre-release”. However this is not recommended for the average user.