Disappointed With IP.Content, Cannot Get Straight Answers

[Rheddy]

While I originally enjoyed IP.Content/Pages when IPS first released it, I have grown so frustrated with this addon that it has become a useless and worthless feature of the IPS Suite. I have tried submitting Support Tickets to resolve this issue, tried searching the IPS4 Resources, even tried posting on the forums and nobody has a clue on how to fix this problem. I find it incomprehensible that nobody involved with IPS can figure out this problem.

When I installed IPS4 on a test site on my domain, I have IP.Content set up for "Article View" and it displays an image next to the article on the main index page for IP.Content:

However, when I try to do the same thing on my main site, I get this:

The problem is that I cannot get a straight answer and nobody will look into this problem. I thought about posting this in the client or technical forum but being as I'm not asking for support with this topic, I'm flabbergasted as to why nobody can't give me a straight answer to this issue. The settings between the databases on my test site and my live site are the same and I've even resorted to uninstalling IP.Content and re-installing it. The problem still persists. I just find it odd that not even IPS support can figure this problem out, despite me filing two support tickets and fawning excuses on the support forums and the documentation. I've searched the forums and the documentation and there isn't anything in there to point me in the right direction.

My last resort is this topic.

 

[Lindy]

I am sorry you're frustrated. It was explained to you - it seems you may not have liked the answer, which is understandable, but that's a bit different than "we couldn't figure it out" and we did make a solid effort at explaining how the system works with regards to previously created databases vs newly created. You indicated you were going to try a different database and you never followed up after that. If you have new information or require further assistance, you're welcome to ask that your issue be reopened and/or escalated. That's going to yield far more desirable results.

[TAMAN]

If your test install and your main website are the same version How about you just replace the database listing and display template codes with test install templates you have and then head over to articles database and change the settings and fields to be exactlly the same as the test install, it should work, it must work, IT WILL WORK  

 

[Rheddy]

@Lindy, it's not that I didn't like the answer. It's the fact that nobody can figure out exactly why IP.Content is acting the way it is on my site. Fact is, a fresh installation on my test site does exactly what it's intended to do, and displays the thumbnails exactly what I'm aiming for. However, when I try to do the same on my live site, it simply does not work as its intended to. It's grown beyond frustration at this point and I figured that IPS Support would be able to figure it out. On my test site, I've created a number of custom databases that display the images on article view. However, for some reason, no matter what method I try, IP.Content will not display the images on article view on the index page for IP.Content.

Since the settings for IP.Content databases are the same on my test site as they are on my main site, there is no reason why images shouldn't be appearing. I thought that when there is a problem with the IPS software, that our license provided us with technical support and I have never had major problems like this before. I just need a fix for this problem.

@Lindy, when I was running IPS3, the thumbnail images were displaying with no problem before IPS upgraded my site to IPS4. Now, all of a sudden, it doesn't work as it should and I simply cannot get a straight answer other than "search the forums". I would rather IPS Support look into this to try and figure this out, but, as I said, I can't get anyone in support to look into the issue. This problem cropped up after the upgrade to IPS4 so obviously, there's a problem with the installation. I would like support to look at this matter a little more closely because there does seem to be a problem with the upgrade for IP.Content on my site.

@TAMAN is correct in that it should work like it does on my test site, but it just will not work as it's supposed to on my main site.

[TAMAN]

1 minute ago, Morisato said:

@TAMAN is correct in that it should work like it does on my test site, but it just will not work as it's supposed to on my main site.

If the codes are same then the problem is with the image field as i said just make sure the settings are exactly the same open articles database from both test site and actual site and compare the settings from database and field settings im sure its with the settings.

[openfire]

58 minutes ago, TAMAN said:

it should work, it must work, IT WILL WORK  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Rheddy]

@opentype, LOLS. That image you posted explains my predicament with IP.Content exactly. The application worked precisely as it was intended, from IPS 3.0 through IPS 3.4.7. It wasn;t until I requested the upgrade from IPS 3.4.7 to 4.1 that IP.Content became a problem.

[TAMAN]

The problem is only on your side  pages works amazing and if you still cant fix it im free to fix it for you 

[Rheddy]

That may be but the point is, this problem with IP.Content didn't appear until after IPS upgraded my forums to the new version. Don't get me wrong, I'm not blaming IPS for this but I would have figured that they could have looked into this problem and worked out the glitch. I checked the settings for IP.Content, even the database settings, and they are all identical, which leaves me to believe that this glitch is a result of the upgrade. Hell, even IPS Support said as much when I opened the first support ticket on this issue. After getting nowhere on the first support ticket, I filed another one a week later after some other errors cropped up. Again, I couldn't get anyone to look deeper into the problem.

I just felt that they weren't taking this issue seriously. Everytime IPS releases a major upgrade, I go through these headaches before I have to go through several support tickets before they'll look into the issue and discover that there actually is a problem. Just a week ago, I went through a number support tickets relating to the upgrade before Brandon discovered that there actually was a glitch with IPS that kept displaying administrators' accounts twice in the ACP > Members tab for administrators. Before that glitch, where I requested support, there was another glitch that took a few support tickets before another another person from IPS tech Support investigated an issue and discovered yet another glitch that had reared its ugly head. It involved a loading glitch when you clicked on 'load more content' in activity streams.

I've found that it takes a lot of prodding to get IPS Support to investigate these problems before they'll start taking it seriously. I'm not upset at support but rather that it takes quite a few support tickets to get someone to look into these glitches. Overall, IPS Support has been tremendously helpful in resolving issues with these upgrades and I comment them on that. It's only this latest glitch that's driving me up the wall. The only thing I know is that it may take a few more support tickets to get someone to look into why these thumbnail images aren't display on the index page for Pages when you have it set to "Article View". The above linked images are proof that it's not working as it should be and it's becoming a hinder to my site.

 

[Lindy]

As best as I can tell from your ticket, the issue stems from the fact that IP.Content data doesn't convert the same way as other suite data... this is because other data is in a rigid format whereas Pages data is very much fluid and absent artificial intelligence, there's just no way to account for everything. 

That said, I think the best thing to do is reopen your ticket. Please add additional information to it and we'll get it escalated. We can't manually manipulate your databases, but we may be able to point you in a better direction.

[Rheddy]

Thanks, @Lindy, I'll do that. I'll relay what you said and another reason why IP.Content might be acting up in this manner. Sometimes my hard-head tends to get in the way of trying to explain the problem that I'm experiencing with IP.Content. @opentype was able to fix the problem but I think the reason why IP.Content is acting up is because IP.Content runs outside my forum structure on my main site whereas my test site doesn't run outside my forums. I'm going to create a custom database to see if opentype's fix will apply to other databases. If it doesn't, I'll include that in the support ticket.

[opentype]

I only checked and saw that there are no images for the records. Nothing was fixed, since the installation itself is working as intended. If there are no images, no images will show.

If the images were lost during an upgrade, than that’s a problem of the upgrade routine. Lindy’s answer is also pointing in that direction which makes me curious myself. Doesn’t the default 3.4 article image get converted to the record image field in 4.x? Or was it configured differently in this case?

[Rheddy]

I have no idea but I know that I had IP.Content setup to display articles through the "Article View" option in the database. But, when I requested an upgrade from IPS 3.4.7 to IPS 4.1, for some reason, something happened during the upgrade where it refused to display the images on the index page for IP.Content on my site. The original comments from support were that during the upgrade process, that since IPS3 and IPS4 were different, that IP.Content upgrade chooses a "best fit approach" and that the only solution they remarked was that it required some editing, bit by bit. I'm assuming that they were talking about template bits or the databases within IP.Content. I'm going to open up a new support ticket to see if I can get anywhere new with this issue. I'd hate to go through this again with a future upgrade.