Invision Going Downhill

[Charles]

By the way I didn't mean literally disable the AdminCP :) I said "all but disable" it. As in make people have to jump through a few hoops to get past the "seriously install this patch" warnings.

[Bob van Leeuwen]

Didn't receive any up to now.

I also didn't recieve anything.

[Woodsman]

Not to pick on anyone but...
It still boils down to People Don't Read or ask questions if they don't find an instant answer.
For them it is just easier to accuse or rant.
I agree not everyone visits their ACP everyday but they should on a regular basis.
Messaging would be a nice feature up near the AdminCP/ModCP yes but until then people still need to take on a bit of the responsibility themselves.

You get call back warnings with mechanical errors found with your vehicle whether you act on them is your choice not the manufacturers.
Same with regular maintenance, If you as the vehicle owner don't follow up per prescribed maintenance how is that the manufactures fault?
Same applies to IPS or any other If a person blows off a warning or suggestion it automatically becomes the manufacturers fault... NOT!

There is a reason IPS has a News and Information category at the top of the forum... Truly it is no there just to fill space!
Same applies to the notifications through out the Clients Services... If you don't bother to read you won't know but again it is easier to blame than it is to read or ask!
I see way to much of this damn blame game from people who refuse to take a step forward because it may take a minute of their time...

And of course the Documentation Articles are also only there to fill a void!
Well I better get off my damn soap box before I get myself banned for writing what I TRULY feel about Smutt Grubbers!
To bad your Doctor don't take time to listen!

[Hexsplosions]

I agree not everyone visits their ACP everyday but they should on a regular basis.

Why?

I run a small forum with little need to go into the ACP. The ACP is the place for me to administer my community, so unless there is something I need to do then I do not go in there. In my line of work I would call the forcing of a user to check an element that may or may not be present "waste". Waste in a process should be eliminated, through automation where possible. The solution therefore is to make the notification more visible without the need to check the ACP manually.

Charles already said IPS were looking into this. This is the appropriate solution.

[Dmacleo]

I would hesitate to have msgs flash up on board side w/o having a manner to make them show to specific people.

and you may not want all admins seeing warnings like that, but if we could limit to groups we could create group just for that I suppose.

[Woodsman]

Why?

I run a small forum with little need to go into the ACP. The ACP is the place for me to administer my community, so unless there is something I need to do then I do not go in there. In my line of work I would call the forcing of a user to check an element that may or may not be present "waste". Waste in a process should be eliminated, through automation where possible. The solution therefore is to make the notification more visible without the need to check the ACP manually.

Charles already said IPS were looking into this. This is the appropriate solution.

Well until this "appropriate solution" is actually implemented it is the responsibility of the board owner or one designated to administer ALL functions of the board including making sure the security patches are in place and working properly.

It is not the duty of IPS Staff to hold their hands like a child and to remind them to look both ways before crossing the street.

For those who would rather Bash and Complain without looking first (checking for patches in the APC) or reading pertinent information then making the attempt to rectify a situation or potential situation is a total waste of air space...

You may not take the time or may not have the time to visit your ACP, but it is obvious to me the OP not only has the time to read more about a product he does not fully understand but would rather Bash the product instead.

[Woodsman]

As for those that never receive patch update emails.

Here is one I JUST received not even a minute ago.

[Joshua Hina]

Not to hijack this thread but I agree with the OP; granted I have looked at alternitives and would rather stay with IPS. The support services I have gotten as of late have gone very far down hill since the point when I ran four forums and filed tickets on a daily basis. Back then I got responses in like five minutes; now there is no phone support that I can call. I have to file a ticket just to get Mark to call me and then it takes like 4 - 8 hours to get that call. When before I was able to talk to a person AND when the phone support was eliminated I still got call requests answered in like 2 hours. Lets move on to ticket support though; as I mentioned I use to get five minute reponses when I was filing tickets EVERY DAY. Now that my company no longer manages forums and only has ONE (our main corporate forum; which is hosted by IPS using a business license) and I file a ticket every like month or two depending on what its going on. It takes 6 - 8 hours to get a response if not longer and that is ONLY becuase I have a business license. Now to get anything actually done it takes 12 - 24 or so hours when before Jason would just do it for me; the level of service for the money people pay has gone down hill. I even ask IPS's techs to help me change my companies forum permissions (becuase they are utterly broken right now) and I just get a response saying when you have done it and if you ahve problems tell us; I dont have the time to change 100 forums by hand. Isn't that what I pay you guys 50 dollars every six months and 10 dollars a month to do when I only file a ticket every like month... Consider that your making 25 dollars or so per ticket if you calculate it out.

(Forgive my spelling; I am on a work site and dont have time to check my work but saw this thread and figured I would make this known since everyone seesms to be attacking the OP; while security issues are his problem becuase its his server that is compramised it does not mean that his entire point is invalidated; IPS support has gone down hill)

[Makoto]

The support services I have gotten as of late have gone very far down hill since the point when I ran four forums and filed tickets on a daily basis.

You would expect priority support for daily support tickets at $50/6 months?

Okay then.

What in the world are/were you even doing that gave you a justifiable reason for needing to create daily support tickets?

[Woodsman]

And????

Where is it said that where it comes to customer support that all real and critical support must stop for 1...

Where it does say it can take 24-48 hours (normally less)

Am I the only one who can see this?

There are thing that one must do as an Administrator whether he or she likes it or not and that is to be responsible for their board. This also means functions.

To rely on IPS to drop everything just for you is practically insane and trust me I know insane

[Makoto]

Maybe IPS should start charging people by the hour for truly high-priority support :P.

[Woodsman]

You would expect priority support for daily support tickets at $50/6 months?

Okay then.

What in the world are/were you even doing that gave you had a justifiable reason for creating daily support tickets?

Never mind I can't answer this without busting out in total laughter...

But I will refer back to this...

It is not the duty of IPS Staff to hold their hands like a child and to remind them to look both ways before crossing the street.

[Wolfie]

I have been using Invision software now for over 10 years for my community, and in that time the level of service as declined in the last 3 or 4 years. I now feel this latest issue is a step too far, and I don't think I am being unreasonable to expect more from the software provider, afterall, you have made hundreds of pounds off me in the years I have been a customer.

Let's say that you spent $5k in the last decade for IPS software and support (I'm sure it's much less than that though). Where else can you spend roughly $500/year and have practically unlimited support and upgrades? I doubt there's anyone who will be at your beck and call for $500/year. You might find someone like that for $500/week, especially if they only need to be "on call" for when they are needed but otherwise are free to do whatever they want. So let's put that into perspective first.

while I don't think it is IPS's fault that someone got his board compromised, I'm concerned with the recent security vulnerabilities that are being discovered lately. They are now at the rate of one per month?

Considering the thousands upon thousands of code just for the core applications and IP.Board alone, an exploit found once a month is rather good in my opinion. Look at the thousands upon thousands of clients IPS has and the fact that there aren't many more exploits being found. Also look at how some of the exploits aren't truly the fault of IPS programming but none the less they patch it up to try to minimize the potential impact. They've done rather well considering. Now let's factor in the apps of Blog, Content, Downloads, Gallery and Nexus.. Even at one a month, it's still impressive.

There are thing that one must do as an Administrator whether he or she likes it or not and that is to be responsible for their board. This also means functions.
To rely on IPS to drop everything just for you is practically insane and trust me I know insane

IPS support are not additional staff members for the communities that people set up, they are technical support to make sure the software is working as it should and to guide on proper use of features if there are any issues. Some people seem to forget that or not grasp that concept.

[Andrej]

As for those that never receive patch update emails.

Here is one I JUST received not even a minute ago.

ipb notice1.png

Weird, I have 'Receive news and updates from IPS' ticked yet I haven't received any emails about patches. :frantics:

[Charles]

I dont have the time to change 100 forums by hand. Isn't that what I pay you guys 50 dollars every six months and 10 dollars a month to do when I only file a ticket every like month... Consider that your making 25 dollars or so per ticket if you calculate it out.

Managing your forum permissions on your behalf is not what you pay us for. If you think that's what our support is for then I fear we can never please you as managing your forums for you is not what our support is for.

[Woodsman]

Let's say that you spent $5k in the last decade for IPS software and support (I'm sure it's much less than that though). Where else can you spend roughly $500/year and have practically unlimited support and upgrades? I doubt there's anyone who will be at your beck and call for $500/year. You might find someone like that for $500/week, especially if they only need to be "on call" for when they are needed but otherwise are free to do whatever they want. So let's put that into perspective first.

Considering the thousands upon thousands of code just for the core applications and IP.Board alone, an exploit found once a month is rather good in my opinion. Look at the thousands upon thousands of clients IPS has and the fact that there aren't many more exploits being found. Also look at how some of the exploits aren't truly the fault of IPS programming but none the less they patch it up to try to minimize the potential impact. They've done rather well considering. Now let's factor in the apps of Blog, Content, Downloads, Gallery and Nexus.. Even at one a month, it's still impressive.

IPS support are not additional staff members for the communities that people set up, they are technical support to make sure the software is working as it should and to guide on proper use of features if there are any issues. Some people seem to forget that or not grasp that concept.

Again IPS Is not a babysitter.

If these people are in need of a baby sitter or a Nanny to have their boards run smooth as silk then maybe the need to hire one.

Rather than playing the blame game...

[Charles]

Weird, I have 'Receive news and updates from IPS' ticked yet I haven't received any emails about patches. :frantics:

The last email sent to your address was about 3.4.2's release and it shows as delivered.

[Charles]

As for those that never receive patch update emails.

Here is one I JUST received not even a minute ago.

ipb notice1.png

It just occurred to me that there may be some confusion:

As this recent patch only impacted IP.Gallery we only sent it to clients with an active IP.Gallery license.

So if you didn't get it that's why :)

[.Ian]

Just as easy to follow the forum at http://community.invisionpower.com/forum/1-news-and-information/ and get notified via email :)

[Joshua Hina]

You would expect priority support for daily support tickets at $50/6 months?

Okay then.

What in the world are/were you even doing that gave you a justifiable reason for needing to create daily support tickets?

Actually the SLA for priority support is 1 business day. If they can't provide that 100 percent of the time they should not offer that. If they were a dedicated server provider they would get a lot of SLA claims and lose money. I am not saying they need to respond to my current tickets daily; read my statement; I said that is what I use to get whereas now I just at least expect them to help when I ask. I got replies to my tickets so I am fine; though how some of the active folks on this forum act is part of the reason I never post here. In the hosting world and that of provided dedicated servers and project management solutions there is some expectation of a reliable level of service; while IPS is a software provider they themselves also walked into the hosting world of their own accord thus I hold them to the standard anyone would hold my company to (if we dont respond to them and resolve their concern within a reasonable time something should be done about that; now as far as people in this thrad saying pay extra; I have contacted IPS sales in the past when we had those four forums I mentioned and specifically asked if there was any other things we could pay for to increase the level of support offerings even though we already had a business liense. They told me they do not; maybe they should offer addictional support levels for businesses like me that even though we are small our cliente is VERY demanding and MUST have access to something... BUesinesses that would be willing to throw IPS an extra hundred or so dollars when we need it for an extra EMERGENCY level of service for issues that are critical to our operations (Not nessecarily forums being down but something making the forum semi-unseable for non staff).

EDIT: I hate laptop keyboards.

Managing your forum permissions on your behalf is not what you pay us for. If you think that's what our support is for then I fear we can never please you as managing your forums for you is not what our support is for.

It is when the forum software is not working to expectations (like when you set a permission group to see a forum but it can not see said forum; which is what we are facing with all of our permission groups.

[Woodsman]

Weird, I have 'Receive news and updates from IPS' ticked yet I haven't received any emails about patches. :frantics:

I know for a fact I am not a privilege client but I get notices all the time... And have been for as long as I have been with IPS..

Hell I don't think Charles even likes me but feels compelled not to give me the boot quite yet... :hyper:

[Charles]

Actually the SLA for priority support is 1 business day. If they can't provide that 100 percent of the time they should not offer that. If they were a dedicated server provider they would get a lot of SLA claims and lose money. I am not saying they need to respond to my current tickets daily; read my statement; I said that is what I use to get whereas now I just at least expect them to help when I ask. I got replies to my tickets so I am fine; though how some of the active folks on this forum act is part of the reason I never post here. In the hosting world and that of provided dedicated servers and project management solutions there is some expectation of a reliable level of service; while IPS is a software provider they themselves also walked into the hosting world of their own accord thus I hold them to the standard anyone would hold my company to (if we dont respond to them and resolve their concern within a reasonable time something should be done about that; now as far as people in this thrad saying pay extra; I have contacted IPS sales in the past when we had those four forums I mentioned and specifically asked if there was any other things we could pay for to increase the level of support offerings even though we already had a business liense. They told me they do not; maybe they should offer addictional support levels for businesses like me that even though we are small our cliente is VERY emanding and MUST have access to something... BUesinesses that would be willing to throw IPS an extra hundred or so dollars when we need it for an extra EMERGENCY level of service for issues that are critical to our operations (Not nessecarily forums being down but something making the forum semi-unseable for non staff).

I looked at the 4 tickets you have submitted this month.

1. Your request for a phone call was submitted at 12:04 pm and we left you a voice mail at 2:27 pm. We indicated you should reply back if you needed another call or had other questions. You did not reply back.
2. You submitted an upgrade request at 2:39 pm. It was completed the next morning at 8:38 am. As we quote a 5 day turnaround for upgrades, I would say less than 24 hours is very good.
3. You submitted a support ticket at 10:28 pm. We replied just a couple hours later at 12:47 am (after midnight). You replied again at 4:29 am, us back again at 6:30 am, you again at 3:02 pm, and then finally us once more at 3:41 pm. In this case our staff actually replied to you faster than you replied back to us. The entire ticket, start to finish, was less than 24 hours.
4. Finally one more support ticket (submitted today) at 3:14 pm. We replied at 3:49 pm and then you replied back at 5:02 pm (just 2 minutes ago as I type this).

Of course this is a summary of the tickets you have submitted this month (February 2013) to date. However, I think I can safely defend against your statements that our support is poor using this summary. I would argue it's pretty darn good.

[Woodsman]

It just occurred to me that there may be some confusion:

As this recent patch only impacted IP.Gallery we only sent it to clients with an active IP.Gallery license.

So if you didn't get it that's why :smile:

This is understandable for those who don't have gallery as an app.

The Point I was attempting to make (and this happens to be just one of them)

I get IPS Notices on a regular basis Upgrades Patches as other correspondences.

[Charles]

This is understandable for those who don't have gallery as an app.

The Point I was attempting to make (and this happens to be just one of them)

I get IPS Notices on a regular basis Upgrades Patches as other correspondences.

Oh yes I know :) I just wanted to point that out to people who were confused as to why they may not have this time.

[Lewis P]

I would argue it's pretty darn good.

Nah, you should have replied before it was sent in. Shame on you! :sad:

To make it clear to anyone unsure, that was sarcasm.