version 9

[jont]

My suggestion has the client doing the import, yours has us doing it. Either way is fine as we are agreed that we need a last minute export of products and data that can be merged with a design- and the job accomplished in 15 mins.

In an ideal world there would be no need to mess around with merges, imports etc .....

1. client sends designer full ACD
2. designer edits design using the existing layouts in place
3. design creates partial design snapshot
4. client imports PDS over the top of their live data

In the 1 day or 2 months is takes to update the site the designer should not have to worry about orders, stock, new products etc as he is simply overlaying the new design over the top of the store data... so long as the same layout names are used these will instantly be picked up in the clients database.... new products can be added, prices changed, stock altered .. it does not matter as the design is separate to the "store" data.

This is how the PDS should work .. but reality has seen otherwise.

[cdicken]

Thanks for all your input on design handover. Really useful stuff.

With regards to Jo's question,

If i upgrade to v9 as part of my cover agreement, will i then be forced to upgrade v8 client sites before undertaking any design work ie will my clients have to upgrade in order for me to do work for them.

The Developer Subscription allows you to keep multiple versions of Actinic live, so you will still be able to maintain your v8 clients while you are developing for new clients in the new version. This is on our website here:

http://www.actinic.co.uk/products/developer_sub.htm
Easier Client Support
The Actinic Developer Subscription includes a licence to run multiple versions of Actinic Developer and Actinic Designer concurrently.

The only technical issue is with 'major point releases'. This is when we do an upgrade from 8.0.x to 8.5.x - i.e. the middle number in the version number changes. When that middle number changes, that means that the database structure is different between the two versions - the new version will have extra fields and tables in it (in the case of 8.5.0, these are all the new shipping fields).

This means that a database created in 8.5.1 will not work correctly in 8.0.4 so there is a problem swapping snapshots between the two versions.

When just the last number changes in the version number e.g. 8.5.0 to 8.5.1, there are no database structure differences, so you can swap snapshots between the two versions OK.

[RuralWeb]

In an ideal world there would be no need to mess around with merges, imports etc .....

1. client sends designer full ACD
2. designer edits design using the existing layouts in place
3. design creates partial design snapshot
4. client imports PDS over the top of their live data

In the 1 day or 2 months is takes to update the site the designer should not have to worry about orders, stock, new products etc as he is simply overlaying the new design over the top of the store data... so long as the same layout names are used these will instantly be picked up in the clients database.... new products can be added, prices changed, stock altered .. it does not matter as the design is separate to the "store" data.

This is certainly the way I would see it working and what I assumed Designer/Client would do when I bought it almost a year ago now but as jo and jont say thats not the way it works at the moment - IMO it is unworkable in it current state as it makes redesigning a large site not cost effective because of all the problems you are almost certainly to be faced with.

[pinbrook]

Yes Jonts scenario is the one we all aspire to. It is how I imagined the design snapshot to work - until we found out otherwise.

Mine and Lee's solutions are making a best of how we have to do it at the mo, its a real pigs ear trying to merge a design with a live shop and retain the data. Its amazing how you get sucked into making the best of a bad job rather than step back and say THIS IS HOW IT SHOULD DO IT

[RuralWeb]

Its amazing how you get sucked into making the best of a bad job rather than step back and say THIS IS HOW IT SHOULD DO IT

Its a cost effectiveness decision you need to make at the moment as to whether you take on a site design - if its a big site with lots of stock control/updates going on then IMO its not worth the effort as a designer because of the hastle involved in transfering the design which will eat into your costs - until it works as jont says then you will not get the designers to use it.

[george]

trying to merge a design with a live shop and retain the data.

And the data retention/accuracy is crucial for many 'site owners...


A good read (this thread) though folks.

[jont]

Its a cost effectiveness decision you need to make at the moment as to whether you take on a site design

The trouble is in knowing what you are letting yourself in for ... even the most benign v7 site can cause horrendous upgrade issues ... until you have it live on your v8 machine there is no simple way of knowing what is going to happen (let alone transferring back to the client).

Several upgrades and new builds into v8 starting to spot and side step the pitfalls but it can still be a walk in the dark at times.

[RuralWeb]

The trouble is in knowing what you are letting yourself in for

I always ask for a snapshot before I take a job on so I can check the site out first.

[leehack]

I always ask for a snapshot before I take a job on so I can check the site out first.

Same here, i did my first one blind and got stung bigtime, i soon learnt to check before quoting.

[jont]

I always ask for a snapshot before I take a job on so I can check the site out first.

Aye - but even then there are hidden nasties ready to pounce and bite you. Anyone selling a plug in USB Bug Detector?

[pinbrook]

I always ask for a snapshot before I take a job on so I can check the site out first.

Me too

it gives some indication.....

[RuralWeb]

but even then there are hidden nasties ready to pounce and bite you

Your telling me

[jont]

Its like one of Normans DOS role playing games ... you have to tread carefully each time you load a new site and try and remember where you stepped last time.

[RuralWeb]

Its like one of Normans DOS role playing games

Sorry Im a Zelda on a Wii man myself but its the same with less arm swinging

[jont]

Sorry Im a Zelda on a Wii man myself but its the same with less arm swinging

Minesweeper has cost me thousands of man hours in the past