!%$*&@#! (don't erase my live site without warning)

[jxm28788]

if this hasn't been fixed in v8 then please fix it in v9 -

Under NO circumstances should actinic unilaterally initiate a REFRESH when the user has selected an UPLOAD.

I understand there are certain circumstances where this may be required (usually occuring when actinic has moved PC's or there has been some issue with the server), but PLEASE make it ASK PERMISSION first.

Actinic sites are by definition e-commerce sites, which are sites used for BUSINESS purposes and can be generating hundereds, thousands or 10's of thousands of pounds per day. Therefore, I can't imagine how you thought it would be appropriate to let your software ERASE A LIVE E-COMMERCE SITE with absolutely NO WARNING WHATSOEVER

So if the user tries an upload and actinic decides it requires a refresh - TELL THE USER first, and LET THEM CHOOSE if they want to continue or maybe they'd like to wait until midnight on friday INSTEAD OF HAVING THEIR ENTIRE SITE OFFLINE FOR A WHOLE WORKING DAY

And when you purge files as part of the refresh DON'T start with the important system files first! If you'd have started with some html files I could have recovered it as soon as I realised it was deleting stuff not uploading stuff...

ps. not such a big problem with a small site, but for big sites that take hours to upload it's a BIG problem.

[Duncan Rounding]

I do think Actinic could better warn of the impending impact of the current activity prior to starting especially if that will entail interrupting the store operation or if it may take some time to complete.

Out of interest, what were your circumstances that initiated a complete refresh as opposed to a normal update? Was it importing a snapshot or something else?

[jxm28788]

(title updated)

I reinstalled my PC, installed a fresh copy of actinic, patched it to the same version, imported the snapshot. Was planning to try an upload at a safer time, but then later made a small change to 1 page that needed uploading and simply didn't think about it. Went for a tea and came back to check progress to find it was 'purging files', went to the site and couldn't add anything to the basket because of missing .cat files...

Don't remember reading that a refresh was required after a snapshot, but even so - for such a drastic action a simple "Continue YES/NO" should be an absolute minimum!

And then after the refresh I got a merge error so the basket still didn't work and had to do a complete purge and refresh overnight... but that's another story...

Btw. here's a hint for large sites that need to do a refresh - the actinic delete is PAINFULLY slow for a site with a lot of pages, so use the DOS FTP program and use mdelete to remove the bulk of the files (eg. *.html *.cat) - it's MUCH quicker. just don't delete the order files... then do the refresh, letting actinic mop up the few remaining files. still takes forever to upload it all again though.

ps. I've seen this before on another site, but that time it was something to do with the server. think the host migrated to another sever and next time I came to upload it did a refresh instead...

[jont]

Don't remember reading that a refresh was required after a snapshot, but even so - for such a drastic action a simple "Continue YES/NO" should be an absolute minimum!

It doesn't usually but installing Actinic again trips the "this is all new stuff best send it" routine ... which in fairness is the best thing to do to ensure everything is in sync..... I agree though that some better warnings and additional notes about the implications would be welcomed.

[jxm28788]

It doesn't usually but installing Actinic again trips the "this is all new stuff best send it" routine ... which in fairness is the best thing to do to ensure everything is in sync.....

Sure, of course it's best to all be sync'd - but my site was running fine on the server and could have waited until maybe midnight before syncing with my PC, there was no need to sync it imediately. just tell me and let me decide, don't just do it!

I agree though that some better warnings and additional notes about the implications would be welcomed.

I think it is more essential rather than welcomed. There are some pretty big actinic sites out there, making a lot of money and to just wipe them out because it thinks things are a bit out of sync is unacceptable.