IPB Doesn't support Designers Mode?

[DesignzShop]

I'm missing all my css

Can someone please explain why you do not support your product?

From  a ticket because designers mode doesn't work for me..
Marc says:
 

Quote

Unfortunately we do not support designer mode from here in the support area as this is related to development of themes only, of which is outside the scope of support. If you are having issues you would need to post these up within the bug tracker.

 

Just to note however, I would suggest first of all switching off designer mode, then ensure that the themes directory is writable, then switch designer mode back on again as thats likely to resolve the issue for you here.

 

I'm sorry but, this is not right... I can't work because of this issue and now you wont support a major part of your software. Please don't do this

 

Now since the problem can't be reproduced from tracker you say I get no help. ????

[DesignzShop]

What a nightmare

 

I meet with Hemi Parts King locally Tuesday to sell 3 new IPB licenses. That will not happen now...

[Woodsman]

Since when has an IPS Tool as Designers Mode become a 3rd party plugin?

From here this is exactly how I read this unless there is a whole Chapter I am missing....

[steve00]

19 hours ago, DesignzShop said:

I'm missing all my css

Can someone please explain why you do not support your product?

From  a ticket because designers mode doesn't work for me..
Marc says:
 

I'm sorry but, this is not right... I can't work because of this issue and now you wont support a major part of your software. Please don't do this

 

Now since the problem can't be reproduced from tracker you say I get no help. ????

Wow, that is not good.

Unfortunately (or fortunately) I do not use Designers Mode (right or wrong I have no idea)

As DM is a part and parcel of IPB 4 (I recall there was a lot of write up by IPS when it was being developed) then it should be supported if there is a problem and if it is removing the files then something does appear to be wrong with DM

Perhaps Support mis-read your ticket ?

[Charles]

Hold on... hold on here...

Before anyone jumps on the bandwagon you should actually read the bug report the original poster is referencing and see that we are assisting him. I do not know why he is saying otherwise but this is in public so you can read it yourself:

 

[DesignzShop]

A little clarity

Quote

Unfortunately we do not support designer mode from here in the support area as this is related to development of themes only, of which is outside the scope of support. If you are having issues you would need to post these up within the bug tracker.

I submitted my Official Support ticket early Friday afternoon along with the Bug Report. Never got a response Friday or over the weekend and was told Monday what was quoted above.

1. Never before have I been told to submit a Official Support post to bug tracker, Official Support meant Official Support. as far as I knew.. Now support is bug tracker for certain things. Dividing up Support for certain things without telling us in advance or during the process before filling out the ticket is confusing.
2. Since this Bug Tracker support is new and I knew nothing of it until this incident I had no clue how long it would take for someone to help out if at all because sometimes bug tracker reports go unanswered.. I do a lot of work locally for businesses, I was supposed to meet a client to update 3 websites of his actually today. Unfortunately not being able to work over the weekend didn't let that happen and knowing Tracker I decided before I lost a client I better get someone else to look at the issue like my host.
3. Ryan H as usual done a great job locating the issue in Official Advanced Support however it was already resolved by the time he answered Monday. (not blaming Ryan here, Ryan's one of them who get it right most of the time for sure)

To be a little clearer here I should of worded some of the above like so
Can someone please explain why you do not support DM in Official Support but instead bug tracker which reports go unanswered in and we are not guaranteed a response in?

I guess all of this could of been avoided with a better approach to this issue like maybe better communication from IPB. My only suggestion here is please don't take something in the software away from Official Support without letting us know and let us know what to expect since it's being supported elsewhere. When you take it from Official Support it appears it's not officially supported anymore especially when you are told from staff in a ticket to use bug tracker..

I might also add most of my business comes from my local area. I have around 50 solid clients, none of them use IPB. Once IPB can get a consistent support policy in place I will consider asking some of my clients to invest in the product. This week will be the first time a local business has considered this investment and it will be implemented this week with a single license for sure. If all goes well for this client who knows. I do know I don't want to depend on tracker or the community for official support.

Anyhoo, clarified..
Regards

 

[Lindy]

We do not provide any developer related support via the client area, that's always been the case as our techs are not designers and developers. In regards to Designers Mode, the general course of action would be to post in the developer forums or if there's an actual issue (bug) with DM, post it in the bug tracker (which isn't new.) You've done so, the developer escalated it and determined, as is often the case, it was server related (Suhosin.) They're further reviewing it for you, according to the ticket notes. 

I'm sorry you were led full-circle from tickets to bug tracker to tickets. We did our best to help you and it was ultimately a hosting issue (have I mentioned we provide hosting lately? :D)   I'm also sorry for the confusion on the confines of support.

[DesignzShop]

1 hour ago, Lindy said:

We do not provide any developer related support via the client area, that's always been the case as our techs are not designers and developers. In regards to Designers Mode, the general course of action would be to post in the developer forums or if there's an actual issue (bug) with DM, post it in the bug tracker (which isn't new.) You've done so, the developer escalated it and determined, as is often the case, it was server related (Suhosin.) They're further reviewing it for you, according to the ticket notes. 

I'm sorry you were led full-circle from tickets to bug tracker to tickets. We did our best to help you and it was ultimately a hosting issue (have I mentioned we provide hosting lately? :D)   I'm also sorry for the confusion on the confines of support.

Hi Lindy

It wasn't IPB who fixed this or guided me to the issue, for the record again, it was my host. I don't see this as developer related support, it's part of your software but obviously how I see it and how you work it are 2 different pov's. We are not talking about a third party theme here but the actual software but since I now know any designer mode issue should be reported to the tracker and not official support, thank you for confirming that.

I can't see the developer forum or maybe I would of posted something there but you already know that Still can't see a link to be added to the providers list either, I can only do so much with the little permissions you give me and I pay a whole lot not to get.

[Lindy]

Respectfully, we're not talking about the actual software - you reported a broken theme and CSS while using DM that ultimately proved, like many issues, to be a matter of self-hosting configuration. Ryan provided you suhosin information, unaware your host had already made the suggested change as you were apparently communicating with them simultaneously. I'm not sure it's a contest to see who fixed your issue first, but I don't appreciate the implication that we ultimately did nothing for you. I have no idea why you distort facts -- like not being able to access developer forums: https://invisionpower.com/forums/forum/503-customization-resources/ (I signed in as you and confirmed you can in fact access them and, to be fair, I can confirm you do not have an add profile button at present) but it does get exhausting. 

Ultimately, there's an obvious issue of poor communication on our part (for which I apologize and will ensure we do better in the future) and an issue of expectations on your part. I know, understand and appreciate that you've long felt IPS should do and support the entire experience from host to keyboard, but it's not a reasonable expectation in a self-hosted situation, especially as a designer/developer.  You say "we're not talking third party theme here" - but in fact, you were creating a third party theme and the issue was third party (hosting) related and it couldn't be reproduced once you submitted it to the tracker.

The takeaway here is: it seems your ending feedback is to provide better communication and clarity and I absolutely agree with you on that point. Much of the rest of this topic is misleading assumptions and general dialogue. Hopefully we're now clear on DM (recap: DM usage and support -> forums; bugs / broken (not to be confused with general support) -> bug tracker) and I'm happy to carry on a dialogue with you via PM or customer service, but I think we've extracted the actionable feedback here and will improve upon it accordingly.