Problems with 1.5- Store Owners Point of View

[jbskaggs]

I may get angry responses but I am venting here:

 

Every single aspect of setting up 1.5 has required intensive research and jumping back and forth to forums, bug posts, and hacks.

 

1.4 was relatively simple to setup and use. but 1.5 has been a nightmare. I am seriously debating switching to another cart. I need back office capabilities of adding customers and orders easily, which is why I want to switch to 1.5. But after 60 plus hours on 1.5 it is nowhere near production ready. My 1.4 site excluding the ability to add orders back office has worked very well for me.

 

here is my prob's with 1.5:

 

1. Themes do not work properly. (even those marked 1.5 compatible)

2. Categories do not work properly and are not found by modules

3. live edit does not work properly

4. combination pricing not working properly

5. images had to be hacked

6. color picker seriously messed up

7. attributes not working

8. modules functioning improperly

9. no ability to mass edit

etc, etc, etc

 

And in every situation I found "solutions" that required either hacks or complete reinstallations. With many of the problems marked as "will be addressed in ver 1.5xx" yet I have reinstalled these versions and the problems are not addressed.

 

To the staff at prestashop: I appreciate the effort to produce this software, but store owners are not programmers. And every minute I spend hacking my site is a minute it is not up and selling my products. Im sorry but 1.5 is not usable for me now. If I have to spend 60 hours to simply upgrade my store why should I? upgrades should not break your site, they should improve it. I think the proverb "you threw the baby out with the bathwater" applies here.

[Online Office USA]

I may get angry responses but I am venting here:

 

Every single aspect of setting up 1.5 has required intensive research and jumping back and forth to forums, bug posts, and hacks.

 

1.4 was relatively simple to setup and use. but 1.5 has been a nightmare. I am seriously debating switching to another cart. I need back office capabilities of adding customers and orders easily, which is why I want to switch to 1.5. But after 60 plus hours on 1.5 it is nowhere near production ready. My 1.4 site excluding the ability to add orders back office has worked very well for me.

 

here is my prob's with 1.5:

 

1. Themes do not work properly. (even those marked 1.5 compatible)

2. Categories do not work properly and are not found by modules

3. live edit does not work properly

4. combination pricing not working properly

5. images had to be hacked

6. color picker seriously messed up

7. attributes not working

8. modules functioning improperly

9. no ability to mass edit

etc, etc, etc

 

And in every situation I found "solutions" that required either hacks or complete reinstallations. With many of the problems marked as "will be addressed in ver 1.5xx" yet I have reinstalled these versions and the problems are not addressed.

 

To the staff at prestashop: I appreciate the effort to produce this software, but store owners are not programmers. And every minute I spend hacking my site is a minute it is not up and selling my products. Im sorry but 1.5 is not usable for me now. If I have to spend 60 hours to simply upgrade my store why should I? upgrades should not break your site, they should improve it. I think the proverb "you threw the baby out with the bathwater" applies here.

Here here! It's been a nightmare...

[MassiveRC]

I think the very least PS could do is remove 1.5> as stable so new users (or upgraders) don't have to go through the same headaches. This whole experience has been more stressful than my layoff.

[oldlock]

Agreed. A total disaster of an upgrade with little to NIL support or resolution of most issues,

[Yngvi]

Completely agree. 1.5 is anything but stable. I am sure it will get there eventually but it still has a long way to go any help from moderators is selective at best. I would not recommend anyone but a thoroughly experienced programmer use the program as is.

[mytwocentimes]

My 2 centimes

 

1.5.2 on a fresh install is fine

 

I am glad I did NOT upgrade my existing shop, nut I am also glad to have a new operation beginning to relie on the 1.5PS.

 

Creating products is quicker now ... And uploading the pics is a dream compared to before

 

Managing stock will take some learning, but it is better than the non-solution I have with the other shop

 

AND the hope that multishop actually does what I need, keeps me here

 

 

[moses5407]

I did a fresh install .. and cant' even reliably login to the store .. or add items to the cart (!!!)

Agreed that the information is scattered all over the place and hard to find .. and seems lacking an authoritative developer's vice in most cases.

 

Does anyone have any info regarding rolling back to 1.4?

 

I'd love to see 1.5.2 up and going .. but instability and "successful, user-friendly e-commerce" do NOT go together.

 

I need either quick fixes and answers .. or a rollback path, if anyone has done this successfully.

[Dead]

I did a fresh install .. and cant' even reliably login to the store .. or add items to the cart (!!!)

 

you can assume from the very beginning that this is problem with your hosting provider or installation.

Edited November 30, 2012 by Dead (see edit history)

[steve_c]

Upgrade for one of my clients from 1.4.9 > 1.5.2 took around 100+ hours.

 

It was HARD work. Even now I'm not overly convinced it is working properly.

 

My main issues are the following:

 

1) Google Checkout is no longer supported

2) PayPal module is buggy and 50% of orders fail

3) Support from PS team is now zero on these forums. No responses to problems or bugs reported

 

I know it's free software but through my clients I have spent nearly £3k on modules through the PrestaShop store and now it seems there is no longer any support available.

[Yngvi]

Paypal and Prestashop 1.5 are not friends. It is virtually impossible to get it to work properly and considering that so many shop owners rely on Paypal, a lot more effort should have been given to ensure that it is a workable module.

[Dh42]

Upgrade for one of my clients from 1.4.9 > 1.5.2 took around 100+ hours.

 

It was HARD work. Even now I'm not overly convinced it is working properly.

 

My main issues are the following:

 

1) Google Checkout is no longer supported

2) PayPal module is buggy and 50% of orders fail

3) Support from PS team is now zero on these forums. No responses to problems or bugs reported

 

I know it's free software but through my clients I have spent nearly £3k on modules through the PrestaShop store and now it seems there is no longer any support available.

 

Why would you migrate client to new software? No one does that. Most companies wait at least a year to migrate to a new version of Windows, which is paid software by one of the biggest software companies in the world.

[Yngvi]

"Why would you migrate client to new software?"

 

Because after many months of waiting, it claims to be STABLE.

[steve_c]

Why would you migrate client to new software? No one does that. Most companies wait at least a year to migrate to a new version of Windows, which is paid software by one of the biggest software companies in the world.

 

Two reasons.

 

Firstly, support for 1.4x has stopped. I have had issues with 1.4 versions and raised bug tracker reports. They weren't addressed (and still haven't been).

 

Secondly, the customer needed multi-store facility and was well aware that "stable" 1.5 shipped with this function.

 

I decided it would be easier to upgrade than to transfer to a store which offered this solution.

 

I admit that on hindsight it probably wasn't a good idea. I did think that there would have been some support for 1.5 but the community seems to have dwindled somewhat over the last few weeks and the deafening silence from PS on certain issues such as G Checkout and PayPal is most disconcerting.

[moses5407]

Not so, Dead .. I got it log in and cart working by switching themes .. and in about two hours got the white screen of death .. with no errors showing, tho errors are set to show..??

 

On Paypal, it seemed to be working after I uninstalled and reinstalled it. At least, I got the configuration screen.

 

Now, can't tell due to the white screen..

[steve_c]

You need to enable SQL debug and show errors in your config file.

[Dh42]

Steve_c,

Since you are using it for a client, which I assume is a paying job, have you considered contacting Prestashop support?

[steve_c]

Steve_c,

Since you are using it for a client, which I assume is a paying job, have you considered contacting Prestashop support?

 

Over the last 4 weeks I have sent 5 emails via the contact form at Prestashop support. As of today I am still awaiting a reply.

 

I have only just seen the following page:

 

https://www.prestashop.com/en/support

 

This is definitely an option but I must admit that it will leave a slightly bitter taste in the mouth paying $399 to get the main payment modules to work with the latest stable version of the shop.

 

It seems like the complete blackout of information regarding certain bugs is pushing people into paying for bug fixes which really should have been addressed in the latest stable version.

Edited November 30, 2012 by steve_c (see edit history)

[steve_c]

I would like to add that I purchased the support for $399 to fix the bug.

 

I chose the 4hr response time option.

 

It has now been 60 hours and I haven't heard a thing back from PrestaShop. My card has been charged.

 

I am inclined to believe that perhaps all is not well with PS as a whole

Edited December 3, 2012 by steve_c (see edit history)

[Dh42]

Being just a moderator, I can't see purchase details or anything of that nature, but by your calculations you bought it around 9pm cst on Friday night?

[steve_c]

Yes that's correct.

[benjamin utterback]

Hello Steve, it seems that your ticket was placed on Saturday. We have been working on your issue since this morning and we have found a resolution. We will be contacting you shortly either through E-mail or phone. We have a 4 hour response time Monday-Friday 9-5 PM, as it clearly says on the Support Agreement. To be clear, we have not breached this agreement in any way. You were not waiting 60 hours as these were outside the operating hours, and outside the agreement in which you purchased.

 

Our Development team was working on this issue and has now found a resolution, it should be on it's way to be working today. Please PM me if you have any questions about a Support Ticket. I can definitely help.

 

Thanks!

 

Regards,

 

Benjamin

[steve_c]

Hi Benjamin,

 

Thank you very much.

 

I would like to point out that directly underneath the $399 option it states:

 

"Rapid Response Time - 4hr Max"

 

If this isn't the case it might be prudent to display this *clearly* rather than to put a caveat in the virtual small print.

 

Thanks for fixing the issue and I will look for an email from the support team as I have a few other things I need help with.

[benjamin utterback]

Hi Steve,

 

Yes, I do understand what you mean. It does say the hours in a large banner graphic underneath the three different Support Options. It also does state all the stipulations in the short 3 Page Agreement that must be read and agreed. We are working on your second ticket now and we will respond shortly. Thanks!

[oldlock]

While it's great that those paying for premium support are getting resolution - Benjamin do you acknowledge that given the feedback from others on this forum that you have serious issues with 1.5.2 ?? Are the issues being resolved ?

[Jan Jansen]

The whole shopping cart doesn't work with multishop and shared quantities enabled. It simply doesn't work at all 1.5.2... It's great that it has been fixed in the last SVN, but I am still waiting on the next; so called "final release 1.5.3" to launch my shop after more then a year waiting on a stable v1.5. I want to use Prestashop because I custom coded everything in the program. But the basic most important feature of any e-commerce software, the shopping cart, doesn't work at all with a proper multishop configuration. It isn't acceptable for a "final release"

 

So my question is: when will the next version with a stable cart, be released?

 

Thanks for all the hard work, its much appreciated, but I'm getting really tired by this situation, we missed all the Christmas sales because of the malfunctioning shopping cart.

[steve_c]

Hi Steve,

 

Yes, I do understand what you mean. It does say the hours in a large banner graphic underneath the three different Support Options. It also does state all the stipulations in the short 3 Page Agreement that must be read and agreed. We are working on your second ticket now and we will respond shortly. Thanks!

 

The first issue has not been fixed.

 

I received *another* payment error last night and the items in that cart qty were increased by 1.

 

I am not sure how the billing will work because in all honesty, I don't feel I should be paying for bug fixes on payment modules but I have no choice as my shop and business is in complete disarray because of these errors.

[jbskaggs]

This whole discussion is what I mean.

 

I have issues I need to fix in 1.4 that 1.5 promises to fix. But 1.5 does not work for me. I cannot afford $400 to hire support to fix it.

 

Prestashop needs to address the 1.5 issues or prestashop could find itself being abandoned for other carts. Because like I said the first time, prestashop should be released for store owners not for programmers. And that is a huge difference.