Welcome Emails change from 6.0 to 6.2?

[evotz]

We recently updated WHMCS to 6.2.2 from 6.0.4.

 

On 6.0.4, when we accepted an order and a welcome letter was generated, the welcome letter would go to the client and we would also get a copy of the welcome letter.

 

This no longer seems to be the case in WHMCS 6.2.2.

 

Are we overlooking something?

[brian!]

a few thoughts...

 

1. does the product being ordered have a welcome email template assigned to it ?

2. is the welcome email going to the client and not you, or to neither of you ?

3. anything in the activity / mail logs when the order is accepted?

 

perhaps the upgrade hasn't completed correctly and there are some corrupt files causing this to fail...

[evotz]

The client gets a the welcome letter.

 

Looking back through some old welcome letters (when we were on WHMCS 6.0) , I note that those welcome letters have:

 

CC: our@emailaddress.com

 

But the welcome letter now (WHMCS 6.2) do not contain this line.

 

I also note that in the Email Templates for the welcome letter, the value of Copy To is empty. But this was empty before as well (it was empty when we were running WHMCS 6.0.4).

 

It almost seems like in WHMCS 6.0, WHMCS was coded to automatically CC welcome letters to the WHMCS admin email address. But some where between WHMCS 6.0 and WHMC 6.2, this was removed

[brian!]

are you using the bcc address option in the settings...?

 

setup -> general settings -> mail -> BCC Messages

 

also, reading the v6.3 changelog, there is a bugfix in there...

 

CORE-9642 - Ensure CC option in email templates work properly

that implies that it was probably bugged in v6.2

Edited July 22, 2016 by brian!

[evotz]

No, but that wasn't set in WHMCS 6.0 either.

 

That BCCs everything, doesn't it? I think we just got the welcome letters or maybe a few other messages, I'm not sure which.

 

Was something changed in the core code of WHMCS involving admin emails between WHMCS 6.0 and WHMCS 6.2?

[brian!]

as I say, from the changelog, it is probably a bug that was fixed in v6.3

 

http://forum.whmcs.com/showthread.php?102831-V6-Carbon-Copy-option-for-email-templates-seems-to-be-ignored

Edited July 22, 2016 by brian!

[evotz]

OK, turns out I was looking at the wrong welcome letter template.

 

The welcome letter template is set to CC to our email address. WHMCS just isn't CCing it.

[evotz]

Is this bug not going to get fixed in 6.2?

 

What good is it to have 6.2 if you aren't going to fix bugs in 6.2?

 

Is 6.2 effectively end-of-life?

[brian!]

Is this bug not going to get fixed in 6.2?

What good is it to have 6.2 if you aren't going to fix bugs in 6.2?

Is 6.2 effectively end-of-life?

it's not end of life yet (Dec 2016)...

 

http://docs.whmcs.com/Long_Term_Support#WHMCS_Version_.26_LTS_Schedule

 

... but I wouldn't expect to see any future updates to v6.2 unless they are security or critical related.

 

if you want to fix the issue, you'll have to upgrade again to v6.3 or v6.3.1

[evotz]

I think you and I have different definitions of end-of-life.

 

This is pretty stupid to leave a bug like this in a piece of software that you are still "supporting"

 

It's a little concerning that this bug was already fixed in the 6.0 branch - CORE-8682. And then has to be fixed again in 6.3 - CORE-9642. Yet the bug also exists in 6.2. What happened between the bug fix in 6.0 and having to have it fixed again in 6.3? Are you just taking random chunks of code from previous versions to build a foundation for the next version?

 

If you're not going to fix bugs in 6.2, then you don't need to be "supporting" it. I understand that 6.2 isn't in active development. Active development means not having new features added to it. But when a bug like this exists in a version you are "supporting" then it needs to be fixed. If a bug is found in 6.3, then you need to find out if that bug is present in all of your "supported" versions and fix in those versions as well. Don't want to do that for 4 different versions? Then stop "supporting" 4 different versions.

 

The whole point of using 6.2 over 6.3 is to have a bit more stability. I'm not really interested in having to update WHMCS every week for new features and new changes. But I do expect 6.2 to work because you are "supporting" it. If 6.2 was end-of-life, then you would have all the reasons in the world to tell me to update to 6.3 to get the bug fix.

 

Currently you are "supporting" WHMCS 6.0 (through the end of this month), WHMCS 6.1, WHMCS 6.2, and WHMCS 6.3. That's a lot of versions. But I'm not the one that said we are going to "support" 4 different versions of WHMCS. If you are only going to make changes to WHMCS 6.3, then don't say you are "supporting" 6.2, 6.1, and 6.0. I do understand that it would be a ton easier if you just "supported" 1 version. But that's not what you are saying. You're actions tend to say otherwise, but you are saying that you are "supporting" 4 different versions.

 

I think you all need to take a good hard long look at your end of life schedule. If you're not going to "support" a version by fixing bugs in that version... STOP SUPPORTING IT! Don't say you are going to do something and then not do it.

[brian!]

I think you and I have different definitions of end-of-life.

I don't have one - I was quoting WHMCS' own definition... how they want to define it is really up to them and has absolutely nothing to do with me.

 

This is pretty stupid to leave a bug like this in a piece of software that you are still "supporting"

but they fixed the bug in v6.3 - two months after the final v6.2.2 release... WHMCS will expect you to upgrade in order to resolve the issue - but if you choose to live with v6.2's known bugs, that's your choice.

 

It's a little concerning that this bug was already fixed in the 6.0 branch - CORE-8682. And then has to be fixed again in 6.3 - CORE-9642. Yet the bug also exists in 6.2. What happened between the bug fix in 6.0 and having to have it fixed again in 6.3? Are you just taking random chunks of code from previous versions to build a foundation for the next version?

welcome to WHMCS... nearly every update has the potential (perhaps even likelihood) to break a feature that was working perfectly well in the previous version - sic semper erat, et sic semper erit.

 

If you're not going to fix bugs in 6.2, then you don't need to be "supporting" it. I understand that 6.2 isn't in active development. Active development means not having new features added to it. But when a bug like this exists in a version you are "supporting" then it needs to be fixed. If a bug is found in 6.3, then you need to find out if that bug is present in all of your "supported" versions and fix in those versions as well. Don't want to do that for 4 different versions? Then stop "supporting" 4 different version.

I think it's only fair that WHMCS define for themselves what their terms mean...

 

Active Development = A product version that is under Active Development is in the process of being refined... in other words, v6.3.

Long-Term Support = Once a version has moved from Active Development to LTS, it will not receive product enhancements or maintenance fixes unless they are deemed critical to the viability of a Targeted Critical or Security Release, and therefore delivered as part of LTS. If you require product enhancements or maintenance fixes, we suggest updating to a product version that is being actively developed. - in other words, v6.3

if you want to suggest to WHMCS about changing those definitions, then I don't believe a forum post will get you very far at all.

 

The whole point of using 6.2 over 6.3 is to have a bit more stability. I'm not really interested in having to update WHMCS every week for new features and new changes. But I do expect 6.2 to work because you are "supporting" it. If 6.2 was end-of-life, then you would have all the reasons in the world to tell me to update to 6.3 to get the bug fix.

it's been almost 4 months since the first proper v6.3 release, and 3 months since the last update - so I suspect that we're about due for the next maintenance release of v6.3.2... there's certainly been quite a number of bugs reported in those 3 months.... then once they get past that next maintenance release, and assuming it isn't so bugged they need to release a v6.3.3 within a fortnight, the next release after that may well be the first full version of v7.

 

Currently you are "supporting" WHMCS 6.0 (through the end of this month), WHMCS 6.1, WHMCS 6.2, and WHMCS 6.3. That's a lot of versions. But I'm not the one that said we are going to "support" 4 different versions of WHMCS. If you are only going to make changes to WHMCS 6.3, then don't say you are "supporting" 6.2, 6.1, and 6.0. I do understand that it would be a ton easier if you just "supported" 1 version. But that's not what you are saying. You're actions tend to say otherwise, but you are saying that you are "supporting" 4 different versions.

WHMCS "support" more than 4 versions as they'd answer questions on versions before v6 - but the only version that are actively updating is v6.3.

from past experience, v6.0, v6.1 and v6.2 will only be updated if there is a security issue involving them - other than that, they are practically dead in terms of future updates.

 

I think you all need to take a good hard long look at your end of life schedule. If you're not going to "support" a version by fixing bugs in that version... STOP SUPPORTING IT! Don't say you are going to do something and then not do it.

but they haven't said that they're going to fix bugs for that version... it clearly states that they're not going to unless they feel a fix is critical.

 

also, from a practical point of view, it makes more sense for there to be only one fixed version - otherwise, trying to bugfix older versions would likely require more beta testing and i'm not sure that would be a good use of their developers / testers time.

[evotz]

You're probably right that this isn't the correct venue to voice this concern. But it's the venue that most people will see.

 

And you're also probably right that "end-of-life" may mean something different to you, me, and the WHMCS developers. But in my opinion, what my definition of end-of-life doesn't fit with your apparent definition or the definition of WHMCS.

 

If you are supporting different branches of a piece of software and the "support" part of those other branches is to tell people to use the "actively developing" version, then you aren't really supporting those other branches.

 

Take a look at PHP as an example. They just released some new versions. PHP 5.5.38 (supposedly the last version of PHP 5.5), PHP 5.6.24, and PHP 7.0.9. I just quickly looked at the changelogs for each version:

 

PHP 5.5.38 -> http://php.net/ChangeLog-5.php#5.5.38

PHP 5.6.24 -> http://www.php.net/ChangeLog-5.php#5.6.24

PHP 7.0.9 -> http://www.php.net/ChangeLog-7.php#7.0.9

 

Look at the top of each of these Changelogs. See where bug #72613 was fixed in each branch? That's because PHP was actively supporting versions 5.5, 5.6, and 7.0. The fix was applied in each branch. WHMCS isn't doing this. Now granted, PHP and WHMCS are two different products. But do you see what I have an issue with? WHMCS is saying they are supporting different branches of their product, but they aren't. As for PHP, I don't expect them to fix any more bugs in PHP 5.5. If a new bug is discovered that affects all PHP branches, I would really only expect them to fix it in PHP 5.6 and PHP 7.0, because PHP 5.5 is end-of-life.

 

I agree wholeheartedly with your last statement, that it makes sense to have just one fixed version. But my point is, don't label older branches as LTS if you aren't going to support them. When WHMCS 6.4 or 7.0 - whatever the next version is - if that's all WHMCS is going to work on... don't say you are keeping 6.1, 6.2, 6.3 all in LTS. Just tell people they need to upgrade to 6.4 to stay within the supported parameters.

 

All bugs need to be fixed in supported version. You don't just fix bugs in the supported version that you want to fix. If you're going to have 4 different supported versions of a piece of software, you have to keep all 4 versions of that software in a workable state.

Edited July 23, 2016 by evotz

[brian!]

You're probably right that this isn't the correct venue to voice this concern. But it's the venue that most people will see.

possibly - but the developers don't necessarily read the forum - they certainly never reply (unless potentially during testing of a beta) - so it's very likely that the post is falling on deaf ears... and the only people that can change their policy is WHMCS themselves - not me or any other forum member.

 

And you're also probably right that "end-of-life" may mean something different to you, me, and the WHMCS developers. But in my opinion, what my definition of end-of-life doesn't fit with your apparent definition or the definition of WHMCS.

If you are supporting different branches of a piece of software and the "support" part of those other branches is to tell people to use the "actively developing" version, then you aren't really supporting those other branches.

Take a look at PHP as an example. They just released some new versions. PHP 5.5.38 (supposedly the last version of PHP 5.5), PHP 5.6.24, and PHP 7.0.9. I just quickly looked at the changelogs for each version:

 

PHP 5.5.38 -> http://php.net/ChangeLog-5.php#5.5.38

PHP 5.6.24 -> http://www.php.net/ChangeLog-5.php#5.6.24

PHP 7.0.9 -> http://www.php.net/ChangeLog-7.php#7.0.9

 

Look at the top of each of these Changelogs. See where bug #72613 was fixed in each branch? That's because PHP was actively supporting versions 5.5, 5.6, and 7.0. The fix was applied in each branch. WHMCS isn't doing this. Now granted, PHP and WHMCS are two different products. But do you see what I have an issue with? WHMCS is saying they are support different branches of their product, but they aren't.

I know what you you're saying - but my point is that WHMCS is what it is and it's not likely to change...

and they are supporting them, just not as thoroughly or in the way that you would want them to.

 

I agree wholeheartedly with your last statement, that it makes sense to have just one fixed version. But my point is, don't label older branches as LTS if you aren't going to support them. When WHMCS 6.4 or 7.0 - whatever the next version is - if that's all WHMCS is going to work on... don't say you are keeping 6.1, 6.2, 6.3 all in LTS. Just tell people they need to upgrade to 6.4 to stay within the supported parameters.

but that wouldn't be true - anyway, we're going around in circles... you want change to the definitions... but I know nothing will change...

 

All bugs need to be fixed in supported version. You don't just fix bugs in the supported version that you want to fix. If you're going to have 4 different supported versions of a piece of software, you have to keep all 4 versions of that software in a workable state.

with WHMCS, you have to work with how things are - not how you want them to be... I long ago gave up swimming against the tide.

 

basic rule - if the version you use has a bug, and it's been fixed in a later version, upgrade; if you upgrade and the bug is still there, report it as a bug.... it's possible, on some occasions, support may have a private hotfix you can use to prevent the need to upgrade, but waiting for an old version to be updated is pointless - you may wish for it not to be like that, but it is and likely always will be.