I want to make a point since all CS-Cart vendors are checking this section on regular basis. I have purchased add-on from all of you, I mean "ALL" of you.
You know the biggest pain of dealing with you guys?
Updates to Add-ons. I have seen only 1 vendor so far (SimTech Dev) that provides proper versioning of their addons and when you login to SimTech Dev website, you can see when was new version released and the upload date for their file. There is no vendor that notifies us via email or via a notification system saying "we have a newer version of this addon". We have to actively look for new updates or follow the forum if there was a new version.
There are very easy things you could do to make difference.
You can filename and put the version in the filename. SimTechDev does it for CS-Cart versions. Example:
addon_name_v4.2.0.1 for 4.2.x version, 0.1 symbolizes their versioning
addon_name_v4.3.0.1 for 4.3.x version, 0.1 symbolizes their versioning
addon_name_v4.4.0.1 for 4.4.x version, 0.1 symbolizes their versioning
Put the same version number in addon.xml
Put a "ChangeLog" tab in your addon pages and put the date of last update to your addon and what was changed. It could be as simple as "Bug fixes".
This is really like 101 for software development but it is lacking big time and causing lots of time waste for store owners.
Absolutely, similar to how they are checking licenses, there should be another mechanism similar to Wordpress to let you know about the updates.
Even if it is not there, there are very simple tactics that could be done differently. To give you an example, I was going to install some of the addons that I purchased from eComLabs, great company. Their file names are the same for the longest time. I can never understand if they have an update or not. I have to download them all and upload them hoping they had some fixes in 6-7 months.
Instead, simple tactics mentioned in my first post is very simple, manageable and solves the problem.
I have seen only 1 vendor so far (SimTech Dev) that provides proper versioning of their addons and when you login to SimTech Dev website, you can see when was new version released and the upload date for their file. There is no vendor that notifies us via email or via a notification system saying "we have a newer version of this addon". We have to actively look for new updates or follow the forum if there was a new version.
I beg to differ with you. All our addons are versioned and automatically updated when a new version is available (or it can wait for a manual click in a notification). Version currency is checked once a day (by default) when the root admin logs in.
Hence there is no need for us to keep a bunch of links on our site to different versions. When we release something for V4, we make sure it runs on all of V4. Hence a newer version may simply be a modification to maintain compatibility with all versions of V4. We notify you via a standard notification message when you login. The only addons we have that are not automatically updated are our payment addons. All others are automatically updated (unless disabled in the addon settings).
Tony, you are right. You are an exception and I should have included you in the list. Last I purchased addons from you back when it was 3.x version (2012-2013) and now I remember you had those notifications in place.
You should get our new ones. Especially since they're all on sale for $29.99 till Christmas!
I'm actually considering to re-purchase Auto Mailer addon. Thanks for giving good discount.
Rest of the CS-Cart family likes to stay silent, huh?
Should I start making a list of those CS-Cart vendors who have no versioning and no notification what so ever?? Even the major names in this forum has this problem and the fact that they are not even getting involved in this conversation tells me they have no desire to change it.
Should I start making a list of those CS-Cart vendors who have no versioning and no notification what so ever?? Even the major names in this forum has this problem and the fact that they are not even getting involved in this conversation tells me they have no desire to change it.
Can't address what you should do... We consider our addons as "products". When someone purchases a product it should have a reasonable lifetime and be supported. I can't speak for other vendors. Almost all I consider reputable will respond to reported issues and support their customers.
I would question some vendors who say they have extensive experience but then have 27 posts on the forum or a status of "trial users".