whats happened to the support???

[simplyd]

Whats happeneed to whmcs support???

 

i upgraded to latest version and now i cant take orders on my site...

 

been waiting almost 2 days now to get this resolved.... problem is this is our business and whmcs is the only means of us taking orders...

 

i cant be waiting 24 hours per response...

 

im stuffed...

 

been a client of whmcs for 4 years now and the support has generally been good and quick...

 

so whats happened???

[BILLT]

Seems they have shot everyone in the foot with these security patches and new version releases.

 

I know this cost me days in additional unneeded labor trying to sort out all of the issues. I put up with the issues for over a week, after the release of 5.2.3 and still had way too many issues. This update even broke iWHMCS, I have not seen a fix for that issue.

 

In the end I restored a backup from before the security patch that led to a update to 5.2.3 because of issues.

Re-created a weeks worth of transactions. at least it was a slow week, most likely due to all of the issues.

 

I'm just going to wait to see if they get these issues sorted out anytime soon.

[merlinpa1969]

do your upgrade in a dev folder, and test hell out of it long before you think about messing with your live site

[Infopro]

do your upgrade in a dev folder, and test hell out of it long before you think about messing with your live site

 

I agree with this post. Who upgrades a production website without testing the new software in advance?

[openmind]

I agree with this post. Who upgrades a production website without testing the new software in advance?

 

About 90% of the users who then subsequently moan on here that things are broken I would guess...

[Infopro]

About 90% of the users who then subsequently moan on here that things are broken I would guess...

 

Agreed. Although the question was rhetorical of course.

[LDHosting]

Guys, before we bash customers for not using a dev licence, lets try to remember that these are 'stable' releases that people are upgrading to. These people trusted the WHMCS dev team to have done their job properly and that a 'stable' release would be.. I don't know.. stable?

 

How many of us have cPanel set to auto update on the stable tier, trusting that the upgrades have been thoroughly tested before being tagged as stable? How about your operating systems, do you test each OS update manually on test servers before issuing a manual 'yum update' on each of your production machines, or do you trust that these updates have been tested and will not hose your server?

 

Also, could someone point me to where the dev licence is advertised? I couldn't find anything on the main site or in the docs/upgrade notes. It's been a while since we took out our licence, so perhaps it's in the welcome email? If the information isn't readily available to a new WHMCS customer, how would they know to use a dev licence?

 

I don't mean this post to sound confrontational, I just think maybe we should look at things from a new customer's perspective before blaming them for the failed releases.

Edited April 12, 2013 by LDHosting

[merlinpa1969]

I wasnt trying to start an argument, ( I know you are not being confrontational )

I can understand your comments about new customers, however alot of the people I have seen that are updating to live versions are people that "Claim" to be experts. as to your other questions, any issues that are going to have an impact on my MONEY, are tested and re-tested and tested a third time before they go live, so that I know what I have in front of me,

I make sure that the upgrade works as expected, that all the template changes are made and correct, then I can pick up the entire fileset and move it into production, then run the quick upgrade for the Database. This way there are NO surprises.

When I was new I didnt know about Dev License until the first update came out and I ASKED if I could do the upgrade in a test environment. I think it would be great to put in Docs that its never a good idea to do a new upgrade on your live site, to do it offsite then migrate it in place. Sometimes its just down to common sense.

[Infopro]

I'm not bashing anyone. You can call someone new to WHMCS, a new customer if you want to. And/or I think, Businessman fits as well. If you're running this software, you're in business selling something. As a Businessman you should understand that things like software should be tested. That goes for cPanel software as well. There are many levels of testing that's done. And even then, sometimes things don't go perfectly smooth for whatever reason.

 

Something as important as upgrades for your store's front end, accounting and billing dept. should be tested before being deployed to a live setup.

 

You know what else is important? Security.

Disable register_globals in your PHP config

 

 

As Businessmen we should all be more alert, aware and prepared. I think.

[Damo]

LDHosting you are spot on with your comments.

 

We are now running 5.2.3 without any significant issues. We aren't the largest host by any stretch but we do make use of a lot of the built-in features. Granted we have a dev license which is used mostly for developing a customised template and taking a peek at new features/settings before pushing it live.

 

I really am hoping that this is the teething transition from the partnership with cPanel. The previous WHMCS caused a lot issues for users, this one including the patches, appear to have been in-part rushed out. All in all though WHMCS is a great product.

[VicToMeyeZR]

As Businessmen we should all be more alert, aware and prepared. I think.

 

Does your same thought apply to WHMCS also? Did they have a business plan? Is there a guide to where Matt wants his business to go? I'm not seeing that any of those are true statements. You can't just tell customers "your running a business and you should have a plan", when in response to a customer complaining about a company doing the same thing....

[Infopro]

Does your same thought apply to WHMCS also? Did they have a business plan? Is there a guide to where Matt wants his business to go? I'm not seeing that any of those are true statements. You can't just tell customers "your running a business and you should have a plan", when in response to a customer complaining about a company doing the same thing....

 

Your comment is not accurate. If you'd like to discuss this please rephrase it in a comment I can understand.

 

 

Thanks!

[BILLT]

I agree with this post. Who upgrades a production website without testing the new software in advance?

 

A security patch when going from 5.1.3 to 5.1.4 should not cause as many issues as it did. after all its a security patch not a upgrade to a new version.

 

So one could say "How does a company release a patch with so many issues that the patch needs a patch" Much less these releases were labeled as stable. both the security patch and the new version release. both needed to be patched within days. The beta testers are posting that its not the version they tested. totally blind sided the people developing add on's for WHMCS.

 

Then point the finger at your customer base and developers. I Think You Need To Look A Bit Closer To Home and ask how these releases were even put out as stable.

 

 

I normally do test upgrades, but you would think a patch with only a 0.0.1 reversion change would not need such testing when its put out as stable. especially since in an email WHMCS stated how urgent this security patch was. Did WHMCS not Test it either?

 

Also I was not aware I was in a beta program here. These release sure seem like they should be beta releases. When a security patch release is labeled stable. I would have expected that someone at WHMCS tested the thing before releasing it.

 

Lets see here the security patch 5.1.4 need to be patched to 5.1.5 and looks like it may need 5.1.6

the new release of 5.2.1 was patched to 5.2.2 then to 5.2.3 and many issues are still being reported and this is all within a few weeks time. also almost forgot to mention 5.2.x broke iWHMCS, are you working on a fix for that $40 add on? Each of these were labeled as stable. This is also paid software that is encoded so no one can fix issues with coding them self's not open source. SO I DO EXPECT STABLE RELEASES TO BE STABLE. Does anyone see a issue with this?

 

As a side note I have been using WHMCS since early 2007 and this has to be one of the worst/rushed/disaster of a release to date. I hope this is not a sign of things to come since partnering with cPanel.

Edited April 13, 2013 by BILLT

[Infopro]

Now there's a post I can read and understand.

 

are you working on a fix for that $40 add on?

 

Not me, I manage forums. If you have any problems here with those, please let me know.

 

Have a look here:

Introducing the New WHMCS Mobile Edition

 

SO I DO EXPECT STABLE RELEASES TO BE STABLE. Does anyone see a issue with this?

 

You bet I do. We all do I think, that's clear. At the same time, I don't care what any email says, if I am alerted about a security patch for my business software that I make money from, I upgrade my stage first and test it. And before I upgrade my production site, I take backups, just in case I need to roll back for whatever reason.

 

Which by the way, is step #1, listed here:

http://docs.whmcs.com/Upgrading

[Damo]

The only mobile edition I have in our account for download is v1.4. The blog entry you've linked to states that the new one is available now.

 

Also the demo link on the mobile edition page is broken.

[BILLT]

Now there's a post I can read and understand.

 

 

 

Not me, I manage forums. If you have any problems here with those, please let me know.

 

Have a look here:

Introducing the New WHMCS Mobile Edition

 

 

 

You bet I do. We all do I think, that's clear. At the same time, I don't care what any email says, if I am alerted about a security patch for my business software that I make money from, I upgrade my stage first and test it. And before I upgrade my production site, I take backups, just in case I need to roll back for whatever reason.

 

Which by the way, is step #1, listed here:

http://docs.whmcs.com/Upgrading

 

That post was not meant to point at you, but WHMCS. As far as the rest of your post. Are you telling me that you do not trust WHMCS security patches or new releases labeled as stable. And that no one should trust these security patch releases without extensive testing. I though that was one of the reasons I paid for ongoing support/development with WHMCS.

 

I also did take backup, just waited a week before restoring it. Tried to sort out the issue, My first step was security patch 5.1.4, and with the issues I was having related to the patch and knowing I had backup of the WHMCS site and the entire server. I seen that WHMCS had released 5.2.3 the supposed stable release to fix 5.2.1/5.2.2. I though as long as I was already having issues with WHMCS why not try the 3rd reversion 5.2.3. It did resolve the issues presented by patch 5.1.4 and gave me a whole new set of issues plus broke the iphone app. In the end I restored back to 5.1.3 and finally patched to 5.1.5

 

The link you provided is for a beta mobile edition. Not the apple iphone/ipad edition. This is a app not a mobile template.

Edited April 13, 2013 by BILLT

[Troy]

The only mobile edition I have in our account for download is v1.4. The blog entry you've linked to states that the new one is available now.

 

Same here. I'm hoping they're not planning on making us purchase again. I purchased this years ago and it has been fairly useless. I have a ticket in asking where the new version can be found in the client area.

[zomex]

The only mobile edition I have in our account for download is v1.4. The blog entry you've linked to states that the new one is available now.

 

Also the demo link on the mobile edition page is broken.

 

Same here. I'm looking forward to testing the new update.

 

Jack

[simplyd]

do your upgrade in a dev folder, and test hell out of it long before you think about messing with your live site

 

infopro... who are you??? do you work for WHMCS??? i seen a few of your posts and you just seem to slate everyone..

 

Not everyone may be the same as you... were all different, you should be a little more accomodating in your outlook and not expect everyone to be a perfectionist like yourself, because thats not how the world is.

 

anyway... i get an email from whmcs saying to upgrade... so i upgrade, they say make a backup, i make a backup... they dont say (DO NOT UPGRADE UNTIL YOU HAVE TESTED IT ON A DEV SERVER) and in any case.. why should I.. like others have said a stable upgrade should be stable... otherwsie why is it called "stable"

 

my original post was only asking what had happened to the support...

 

You wrote:

 

"I agree with this post. Who upgrades a production website without testing the new software in advance?"

 

what are you implying here???

[DavidJ]

In the interim, here's where you can report cPanel/whmcs to the BBB for lack of response:

https://www.bbb.org/consumer-complaints/file-a-complaint/get-started

 

Upgrading a system from stable -> stable under a 'security release', imho, should not come with these sorts of issues. Inherently cpanel/whmcs doesn't have dev systems where they test things *either*. Don't blame the end-user for **************** code.

[Infopro]

infopro... who are you???

 

 

You're not the first to ask me that. This post should be helpful:

WHMCS - Support Team Enhancements - WHMCS Forums

 

 

do you work for WHMCS??? i seen a few of your posts and you just seem to slate everyone..

 

I'm not sure what you mean by slate. If you mean point out the obvious of taking precautions to make sure your server is secure, and that you test any upgrades to any software you use for anything, always, yes I do seem to slate here in this thread a bit.

 

Not everyone may be the same as you... were all different, you should be a little more accomodating in your outlook and not expect everyone to be a perfectionist like yourself, because thats not how the world is.

 

I disagree that I'm not being accommodating. Testing upgrades before going live, taking backups before touching anything so that roll back is possible in minutes, disabling register_globals, those are all fine ideas that I did not come up with on my own. That's just how we do it. Check out the read me for any software you use, I'm quite sure they all explain taking backups before updating. As I mentioned, this is just good business sense.

 

anyway... i get an email from whmcs saying to upgrade... so i upgrade, they say make a backup, i make a backup... they dont say (DO NOT UPGRADE UNTIL YOU HAVE TESTED IT ON A DEV SERVER) and in any case.. why should I.. like others have said a stable upgrade should be stable... otherwsie why is it called "stable"

 

Yes in a perfect world, that's all well and good. But there are many variables at play to consider too. How many had issues due to register_globals in recent days? How many did not, just on that one item? As one example.

 

my original post was only asking what had happened to the support...

 

Your original post also said you had been waiting 2 days, waiting 24 hours for a reply to your ticket too. If I tested the software before I went live with an important security update, and it failed there, I'd still be up and in business. I would be aware that I'm not secure, need to update, but cannot, it failed on my stage. But, I'd still be up and in business.

 

That last bit is the most important part.

 

You wrote:

 

"I agree with this post. Who upgrades a production website without testing the new software in advance?"

 

what are you implying here???

 

I am implying just as that quote reads. My extended comments here add to that.

[Infopro]

In the interim, here's where you can report cPanel/whmcs to the BBB for lack of response:

https://www.bbb.org/consumer-complaints/file-a-complaint/get-started

 

Upgrading a system from stable -> stable under a 'security release', imho, should not come with these sorts of issues. Inherently cpanel/whmcs doesn't have dev systems where they test things *either*. Don't blame the end-user for **************** code.

 

 

Lack of response to what? The last 3 updates that came with many new enhancements, improvements and features are indeed, responses I think...

[Bubka3]

infopro... who are you??? do you work for WHMCS??? i seen a few of your posts and you just seem to slate everyone..

Infopro is a admin and "negativity reducer" for WHMCS & cPanel's forum. Most of the time he just posts rude responses and defends the product when clearly there is an issue.

[simplyd]

Infopro is a admin and "negativity reducer" for WHMCS & cPanel's forum. Most of the time he just posts rude responses and defends the product when clearly there is an issue.

 

yes, very true.... i certainly would not post on these forums again due to the condescending nature and comments of infopro

[Infopro]

Infopro is a admin and "negativity reducer" for WHMCS & cPanel's forum. Most of the time he just posts rude responses and defends the product when clearly there is an issue.

 

 

Last call for this sort of comment Bubka3. You have been warned several times now.