Support for Buggy V8?

[PeterThake]

Hi, When using v7 I do not think I ever called Actinic technical support. Since upgrading to v8 I have had to make LOADS of calls to Actinic technical support, all to resolve issues arising from the the various bugs in v8. None were as a result of 'user error' or lack of knowledge.

My 30 days of free support expires soon and I am worried: will I continue to get free support after the 30 days for bug-related problems?

It seems unfair for me to have to pay for a support contract.

Any reassurances appreciated!

[remmo]

Hi Peter,

Not 100% sure if I am right but if you upgraded from v7 to v8 by taking out Cover then you have 12 months worth of telephone support - not just the 30 days.

Found this out on this page

[PeterThake]

Hi Remmo,
No, the cover was available as an optional extra. I purchased just the software upgrade from v7 to v8 through a licensed Actinic reseller. Much cheaper this way.

It does not seem fair that I might end up having to pay for cover to maintain buggy software, rather than through any fault of my own. I am hoping Actinic will extend my cover (free) until the bugs are ironed out or confirm that free support will be provided if the cause is a bug. It is bad enough being an unpaid system tester but if I find I have to pay for the priviledge...

Over to you Actinic!

[Darren B]

Valid Point Peter

Although i am not sure how a bug is determind before people know what it is. If you get my meaning

[pinbrook]

I am hoping Actinic will extend my cover (free)

Very optimistic!

I am sure Actinic will tell you to buy Cover, otherwise they would have to extend fee support to everyone and scrap Cover

[PeterThake]

Darren - true!

Pinbrook - I think you mean naive

With v7 I never needed to consider a support contract, the application was robust. v8 is not, and while it remains so I think it would be a much appreciated gesture of goodwill to customers if Actinic gave free support while so many bugs are still being identified and fixed.

Look at it another way Actinic: for free support I would continue to provide free system testing

[los_design]

Hi Remmo,
No, the cover was available as an optional extra. I purchased just the software upgrade from v7 to v8 through a licensed Actinic reseller. Much cheaper this way.

Over to you Actinic!

One for many people to note here Peter...

Buying from a reseller is one thing, but buying from a developer partner is another ball game entirely, with support possibly being offered (to a degree of course) for free as part of the VAS.

Many resellers just bang out the box with a margin added end of (this is not meant as a critism of resellers BTW), I know a few on here that would offer customer support if requested even if the Act cover was not bought...us included. (end plug )

But to address your immediate issues, this forum can be a very useful resource in the absence of cover...use it wisely (as a crutch not a replacement BTW)

[los_design]

With v7 I never needed to consider a support contract, the application was robust. v8 is not, and while it remains so I think it would be a much appreciated gesture of goodwill to customers if Actinic gave free support while so many bugs are still being identified and fixed.

I have to disagree here Peter, upgrading yes, then the words robust and actinic do not go together.

For guests reading this who are planning to build from new, V8.5.1 is as robust as V7 ever was IMHO.

And easier to learn too

[jont]

For guests reading this who are planning to build from new, V8.5.1 is as robust as V7 ever was IMHO.

v8 is certainly slanted towards new builds compared to upgrades - it was such a massive leap from v7 to v8 that old v7 sites have taken a beating. Starting from a clean slate and v8 will create a happy site for you.

[leehack]

I'd agree also, 8.5.1 is the best and most stable version of actinic i have personally worked with. I really like it and for site owners getting stuck in themselves, they have the biggest and largest FREE resource ever assembled IMO i.e. the forum. At least 95% of the things you could ever need have already been discussed or can be accessed from this forum.

[los_design]

I'd agree also, 8.5.1 is the best and most stable version of actinic i have personally worked with. I really like it and for site owners getting stuck in themselves, they have the biggest and largest FREE resource ever assembled IMO i.e. the forum. At least 95% of the things you could ever need have already been discussed or can be accessed from this forum.

Its been fun....

*calls staff into canteen to notify them of the up and coming redundancy deals*

[george]

Nice touch with the signature Pete, well done.


Regarding bugs, I think we're now at the tail end of them, most of the people who have replied to your thread were around when the real testing of v8 was going on, donating their time to the Actinic `cause`. Yes, they make a living out of site design etc, so no doubt its cost them a lot of money that they could otherwise have been earning.

Appreciate the forum, and treat the users with respect and I doubt you'll need to call support too much in the future anyway.

Good luck.

[Darren B]

Regarding bugs, I think we're now at the tail end of them, most of the people who have replied to your thread were around when the real testing of v8 was going on, donating their time to the Actinic `cause`. Yes, they make a living out of site design etc, so no doubt its cost them a lot of money that they could otherwise have been earning.

I have been lucky, very few bugs for me, been around since V5 so will agree with Lee and Jont upgrading sites was the biggest problem new sites are a dodle providing you do not want to customise too much.

Believe it or not i actually use actinic for 2 reasons.

1) it was the best and easiest out of the box option when we started.
2) i enjoy the forum and i find i learn alot from the product its self

I wish i made a living from design but i aint that good and it's not what i do, there is to many of you guys out there.

Darren

[PeterThake]

Wow, what a lot of replies!

The main bugs I have run into involve duplicates. Maybe it is the way I am using Actinic, as a seller rather than developer. I am using some of the Actinic functionality that a developer might not get invloved in. Such as trying to link Quickbooks to Actinic using the Quickbooks Link application, translation tables and manually typed unique product references in Actinic.

Trying to make use of the Link for Quickbooks application has revealed a few bugs and undocumented features which have, frankly, made my life a real pain since upgrading. Maybe if Actinic were better documented or if I were a developer with access to the Developer documentation (the truth is out there!!) and the developer forum section then I might not have made costly blunders. Such as discovering that the Link translation table was not case sensitive, (not documented anywhere), having unique products names longer than 17 characters before a duplicate is created etc (new bug under investigation by Actinic, see other threads). This has totally screwed up my application to the point it will not even start.

Jont, I have in effect started from a clean slate. I have not knowingly used any legacy bits from V7. My problems are all in the fringe functionality of Actinic.

I am greatly reassured to hear you all proclaiming the new version to be robust - I will find out soon when I make use of my multi-site licence to build other sites from scratch

ps George - cheers for your comment, it is good to be here

[remmo]

I too need to agree with what is said here... I've built my v8 site from scratch. Have experienced no bugs other than a few small things probably due to my own fault. Support from this forum has been absolutely brilliant... without it Actinic would probably not be in the shape it is today. My hat goes off to you all...