Third party addon developers seem to take it for granted that people will know how to update their addons. Is it simply a matter of going to the CS-Cart admin and going to the Manage Addons section, click the plus sign, and go from there as if installing it for the first time? Or is the procedure something different?
Depends on the vendor. Ours are updated automatically and account for what you have previously done (like preserving table data, customized templates, etc.). Backups of prior versions are also done automatically.
Cs-cart is supposedly developing a method to allow addon developers to provide the same methods as used for a cs-cart upgrade but specifically for addons. However, if they do it the same was as the primary cart with just slamming in new files and then listing conflicts, I'm not sure how that will help things.
The best approach (for both main cart and addons) is to identify conflicts BEFORE installation and then NOT allow the install until all conflicts are resolved and/or reviewed and allowed.
You will need to ask each addon develop whether or not their addon should be upgraded by uninstalling and reinstalling or by just overwriting the old files by new files. In quite a few cases uninstalling means losing all data associated with the addon. For some addons this is not an issue. For other addons this is a major issue.
[quote name='P-Pharma' timestamp='1416396921' post='197371']
In quite a few cases uninstalling means losing all data associated with the addon.[/quote]
Exactly. Problem is, I can't get the add-on developer to give me clear, step by step instructions, in layman's terms (not savvy developer's terms), on how to update. They just say vague things like, “copy the files over.” Which files? Over to where?
I tried following these vague instructions, but the problem the update was supposed to fix was still there. When I complained the problem was still there, they said, “The update hasn't been installed properly.” Well duh.
When the developer lives in a different time zone, sometimes it can take several days to get stuff working–which is not good when there's a critical bug that could cause lost sales.
This developer installed the update for me in the end. Why don't they just publish a user-friendly guide on how to update their add-on so they don't have to spend time doing updates on people's sites? Beats me.
@Kingsley - developers are not “one size fits all”. Some are really good technically and bad with customer service or communication. Others do crappy work and have to constantly fiddle with your site to keep it working as you expect.
Choosing an addon is not just about what functionality they publish that it provides. It is the whole life-cycle of the product.
There are also big differences in how people name things. Something called an add-on should be wholly self contained and not have any distributed files in the archive. A “modification” or 'mod' usually implies that standard files need to be modified to achieve the goals.
Using a developer with a good reputation in all areas should be part of the buying decision. If you have trouble communicating or getting responses in the time frames you expect, then you should weigh this into your purchase decisions. Pre-sales experience can be a good indicator of post-sales experience.
Note too that there are many new developers who show up here and then after a couple of months, don't see the volumes they expect (cs-cart is a low volume cart) and so they move on and leave you stranded.
So far I've had really good experiences with CS-Cart add-on developers and not been left stranded. I'm a bit nervous about this one, but only time will tell I guess. Thanks for the good advice.
[quote name='kingsleypress' timestamp='1416399190' post='197373']
This developer installed the update for me in the end. Why don't they just publish a user-friendly guide on how to update their add-on so they don't have to spend time doing updates on people's sites? Beats me.
[/quote]
My experience is that many addon sellers dont know themselves and have to try some things to see what works. Often they offer a lot of addons and its different for every addon. The main problem is that CS-Cart doesn't have an upgrade function. So that leaves only re-install or overwrite files by ftp/ssh.
If the addon modifies core files then it gets muddier. I dont install any addons with core file changes.