Next server release: Collections, improved voting, ratings, last update/dashboard, improved tag user interface

The next server release will contain the following new features:

1. Collections — this is Niklas’ SoC project. Collections will allow MusicBrainz users to indicate which releases are in their collection and have MusicBrainz show which releases for a given artist are missing. This feature will also allow you to watch a list of artists and when a new release for your watched artist is entered into MusicBrainz, you will receive an email alerting you of the new release. This new feature will go on public test hopefully sometime this week after we resolve issues with our test server. For details visit the in-progress documentation page or visit Niklas’ blog.
2. Improved voting — Murdos has been working on a number of improvements to make voting easier. I haven’t had the chance to look at his work yet, but I will try to make this new feature available on our old test server. Stay tuned for details and a chance to test.
3. Ratings — Murdos has also picked up where Sharon from last year’s Summer of Code left off. Rating music will give us a number of benefits and gives us fuel to create more advanced features like collaborative filtering for artists. Once this work is complete we’ll upload it to a test server and let you play.
4. Last update/Dashboard — I’m working on a feature that keeps track of when data in MusicBrainz was changed. This then makes it possible to create a Dashboard page that shows recently changed data in MusicBrainz. The Dashboard will also feature hot edits (edits that receive a lot of votes/comments) and edit statistics to give our users a better view into what data is currently changing inside MusicBrainz. For details, see the documentation page.
5. Improved tag interface — After last year’s new tag feature, we’ve collected a lot of feedback on how to improve the tags. I will work to improve the tag features to make them easier to use and more visible the MusicBrainz interface.
6. Bug fixes — We have already fixed a number of bugs and will tackle many more bugs before the release.

There will probably be other features in the next release, but these are the major features we have planned right now. Unfortunately we do not have a release date set yet. However, the next server release is my highest priority right now.

Stay tuned for more blog posts about new features going into testing!

UPDATE: Voiceinsideyou adds that you can see the bugs that are currently slated to be fixed for the upcoming release here in our bug tracker.