IP Board Bot Fault Finder Idea

[VladTheGreat]

What we need is a community bot, which tests the whole website, collect reports of faults in all areas and aspects of IP Board, like a standalone app which sits on our desktop, logs in with admin user / pass, makes articles, topics, guides, support requests, messaging, template edits etc etc to give us a something like an XML file to give ips and they give us one back for a single solution for all our faults, otherwise I'll expect to be repaid for faulty software!

Like make it easy to fault find!

That's why we need a bot, we can't be expected to work on faulty software till we discover one or 10 faults and have to ask the community for help because support is 9 to 5 (not even that)(maybe in your country)

We need an automated way to check for faults, can't be that hard, someone?

*From your not so favourite N00b*

[Joel R]

3 hours ago, VladTheGreat said:

That's why we need a bot, we can't be expected to work on faulty software till we discover one or 10 faults and have to ask the community for help because support is 9 to 5

Hi @VladTheGreat 

I haven't had a chance to read through your other posts, but I wanted to say "hi" as the Community Advocate.  I'm not a developer or a coder, but I do passionately believe in the strength of the peer community in building each other up and helping each other when we can.  I will always be a tireless advocate of the member community, and to ensure IPS places the concerns of clients first and foremost.  

It sounds like part of your frustration is not knowing where to go for critical issues, so to help you out:   

1. Ticket support is a valuable part of your license and you should send in a ticket for issues related to suite.  It's recommended you run the Support Tool through the ACP, which can automatically disable the theme, disable all third-party apps and plugins, and clear the cache.  That will automatically clear a lot of the issues for you.  If you do have a critical issue, don't hesitate to start your ticket with "This is an Emergency."  I've done that myself in rare circumstances, and it helps the support staff triage important tickets.  On the other hand, I've also voluntarily marked tickets as low priority, to let them know this is a low impact bug or issue that can be addressed as time permits.  
2. Customization can be an important part of making the community uniquely your own, but you should also weigh the customization against the risk.  As you've seen first-hand, the rapid development lifecycle of IPS are an extra challenge to consider.  If you run third-party themes and mods, checking for compatibility can be part of your upgrade checklist BEFORE you upgrade rather than after.  For any third-party issues, you must go to the support topic of the third-party.        
3. Finally, there are several things you can do within the suite to stay as close to 'vanilla' as possible.  For example, you can actually create a theme with the Easy Editor, which colorizes the theme.  

Welcome to Invision Community.  It's okay to be noob.  Just try not to be a dick, and we'll try to help you out.  

@Joel R

[VladTheGreat]

I thank you for your positive input BUT, I only ever messaged support 4 times, the very first time I lost all my back ups and needed the last version of software I was running at the time of license, to be belittled by staff, trying to squeeze me for license renewal, I was so frustrated that I needed to pay for the software that I already purchased, I was angry, I tried to keep cool, but support just mugged me off, I lost it a bit and was rude (justified I think) so.... not a good start.

I wanted to keep everything above board and not turn to nulled software just to use what I paid IP for in the first place, technically still legal in my eyes since I have a valid license, but a security risk, I learned everything from scratch without ONE message to support since I bought back in 2016 what ever, I messaged them twice recently because things were not as they should be but just found solutions myself in the end as support are slow to reply, the only time I ask them for the location of a setting or file, they mugged me off telling me that it's a customization and out of scope for support (are you joking? because I'm not laughing), now I'm not feeling like being cool about it, it's not cool, I'm not afraid to to speak my mind here unlike most other users, I paid and have receipts to prove a court that I paid and am entitled to use this software.

I'm not remotely interested in wasting my time fault finding and searching for hours to answers which should be simply relayed to me in low priority support (I pay support, not the other way round, I'm not here to keep fixing this faulty product), being directed to turn to customers of IPS for support, that isn't even a level I'll entertain.

IPS staff have now "warned me" and listed me as an abusive customer, I just speak my mind, the only thing they could use against me was a message from 2016 where back then they upset me to the point I ranted off the chain in private message, I made the mistake to renew my license (because I already bought the product) which support was meant to be included with but is non existent for the best part, a joke!

Now, I'm still facing problems, I'm learning daily how to over come them, something I feel is out of the scope to being a customer, I see many members across this board feeling the same but the cowardly will just fall off when it gets real, in fear of "upsetting a grown man or woman with text", I shouldn't have to be made to feel such anger.

Now, you know where my anger stems from, not from not knowing where to turn to, no, not getting what I was promised.

I didn't sign a contract that I would have to solve all the problems with this software to use it and so I'm not under any obligations to do so, nor ask IPS customers for advice (very iffy if you ask me)(what if they get it wrong and I break something, then it's like "on but it's 3rd party advice so can't help you"), if my post offend anyone just remember one thing, offence is taken not given, I can't be offended by IPS, only taken for a ride, 

Now, I want a working website, I really want to rant on more, but I'm real, be real with me I'll be real with you, I don't want to be ranting about it, though it's good practice typing if anything but a little boring, I could be taking the time to write content, but I can't because the software is so buggy I don't want to risk using it to be let down down the line, as you probably understand, wasting years of my life on a dead project isn't on any ones wish list let alone mine, I would like to write great master pieces and progress past this but so far it's very difficult to say the least, I'm having to turn to places where I thought I'd never turn to again since purchasing the license for support because at least them areas like to keep their users happy!

Now, you know where I'm coming from, and since my content replies are now restricted and need to be moderated for something I said in 2016, I think that spells it out loud and clear.

Viktor

www,seekandsupply.co.uk

[Lindy]

I’m sorry to hear that you’re frustrated. 

With thousands of customers across the globe, we try our very best to provide the stellar support that is consistent with our 17yr+ reputation while still maintaining an efficient workflow. Like most companies, we admittedly don’t always hit the mark and when such occurrences are due to a breakdown on our side, we do our best to make it right. With that said, your comments about support and the product are a bit confusing. You’ve submitted 4 tickets this year (not including the “your support sucks” ticket - which we will gloss over as I know emotions can run high.) 

All tickets were promptly answered - one within 30 minutes. Another within 12 hours - on a weekend. Another submitted on Saturday evening was addressed first thing Monday morning. 

I’m unable to find any indication that you’ve actually experienced any technical issues that are due to software “faults” based on your ticket history. One ticket was related to branding removal, two were due to third party customizations which, when you said you removed/reinstalled, resolved the issue and finally, the other that seemed to push you over the proverbial edge was our inability to help you change HTTP status codes and customize your server-side error messages, via a support ticket. Your latest issue you’ve posted about elsewhere, but haven’t brought up in a ticket, suggests you may have a rewrite issue.

I realize you didn’t get the outcome you were looking for and you have an expectation that we should provide third party / customization support. In a perfect world, we would have the luxury of being everything to everyone, but unfortunately, our product support team are not developers and unfortunately, traversing server systems, debugging code we didn’t write (third party plugins/apps) and pinpointing line numbers to change code for HTTP status codes is simply not a reasonable expectation of base/included support. It’s always disheartening to disappoint a customer and it’s something we take seriously, however, sometimes expectations don’t always fall in line with what can reasonably be provided. 

Finally, while I have never subscribed to the customer is always right philosophy. I do firmly believe in approaching every service issue individually, ensuring I understand the customer concerns, reviewing the background and identifying where the breakdown occurred. With me personally, approach is everything and as a consumer, I practice what I preach. If my Internet service goes down, I do not call Comcast and berate the agent for I know it is not their fault personally and I find people are much more receptive to a calm, respectful exchange vs rants and insults — treat others like you wish to be treated. Likewise, if a customer approaches and says “I know things happen, but I’m having this issue and not getting anywhere. Can you please help?” I personally guarantee the results will be far more favorable than “you guys suck”, “this is a _____ joke”, “I’m going to sue you”, “I’m starting a social media campaign against you.” The latter will never yield any positive results here. We prefer positive relationships with mutual respect and courtesy; we’re all on the same side and your success is our success. If you’re ever unhappy with a support interaction, please ask for it to be escalated. 

At this point, I suggest taking a couple of days and then I would absolutely welcome you to contact me personally for further discussion — in hopes of “rebooting” and working towards more positive interactions. 

Thank you for taking the time to provide your feedback.