Thread: Stability?

Originally Posted by socialnetworker

I tried to phone the number in your footer several times last week, with no response, and finally gave up.

That's a bit strange - as I would have seen the calls in my Skype (it's a Skype in number) but did not see any.... people call it all the time... I either answer or they leave voice mail and I call them back. If you PM me your phone number, I will be happy to call you.

How long do you think it might be before you come up with a "clean" version of Dolphin that is also stable, and will do all the things advertized for it?

The current CLEAN release 6.0.1CB3 seems to be OK right now.

If 6.0.2 is OK (jury out) - or if 6.0.3 is released (waiting) - we will evaluate them for a CLEAN release also.

Other people have posted in this forum that you really ought not to go with Dophin unless you have programming skills, or easy access to someone who does.

This is true with any of the scripts, not just Dolphin - if you need to add/change things.

How much do you think it would cost to get a fresh install made and fix it so that it runs properly?

Installs take about 30 minutes, in most cases. ($25).

If I had some idea about costs, then I could make a better decision.

Costs beyond install depends on what kinds of changes you need.

I do not want to pay $300 plus dollars for your userplane integration, and then find out that Dolphin is just one chronic headache after another which will require me to pour more and more money down the drain for troubleshooting. I already went through this kind of BS with phpFox before giving up.

Well - we have 3000+ dating / community site admins here on ModMySite - and most of them run aeDating or Dolphin.

I have said this many times - the headaches come to people who are always running the latest releases... the "bleeding edge" - if you run the stable releases (3.3, 4.1.4, 5.6.5, and perhaps CLEAN 6.0.1CB3) the headaches are minimal.

One needs some reassurance that the money is not just going into a Black Hole.

Well - if you are really serious, you should consider a Subversion (Version control) based site, with a demo site for development, and a live site, for your users. We use this method for most of our bigger projects - and it works well. We can set this up for you also if you are interested.

Using the development method of

BUG/ISSUE TRACKER --> PROGRAMMERS --> SUBVERSION --> DEMOSITE --> LIVESITE

has two results... one, your users only see changes until they have been tested on the DEMOSITE, and two, you can audit the programmers work via SUBVERSION logs and BUG/ISSUE TRACKER entries - avoiding the "black hole" syndrome.

Smoge

Ok, well, I realize this is mainly a Dolphin/AED support site, but I also see some comments on phpFox and a few others. So, either in this thread, or on another (perhaps already on the site somewhere), is it possible to get a cogent answer regarding the relatively best path for a COMPLETE site platform?...... In other words, as noted before, a main script + communication tools like Ray or Userplane? ...... Dolphin vs. PhPFox vs. whatever someone wants to cite as a comparable option.

I have one site with 1300 members and another niche site straggling because Dolphin 5.3 literally broke down to where no one can sign-up....while I watch fledgling but growing traffic of about 1500 unique visitors/month passing on by.

For those of us with bootstrap funding, growing by grass roots, SEOing our own sites etc, until traffic improves, it is imperative to initially setup with a reasonable limited outlay, with further expenses only justifiable when collections ramp up. True that one has to plan for contingencies and there is no free ride. However, some idea as to what package would likely lead to what cash outflow for what needs, stratified by what your personal programming skill-base might be would go a long way compared to preparing blind.

Taking wild guesses as to what will likely be required is a poor business model. I think it would benefit everyone if someone could lay that all out with a optimistic to pessimistic scenario financial and relative skills proforma using the software packages being discussed.

Thanks all.

Originally Posted by Modified

cogent answer

"cogent answer"-wise, I am sorry - I don't have more to add then what I have already said in this and other threads.

Dolphin 5.3 literally broke down

Generally, things don't just break without a reason... either you changed something, or your hosting company changed something.

financial and relative skills

Financial - this really depends on what kinds of changes you need or want that are different from the default install of any of these packages. Every site is different - no way to put a blanket price on this.

We have done installs for $25 that had met peoples needs - and modifications costing into the $20,000+ range (some ongoing still). It all depends on the functionality desired by the administrator.

Development-wise, use a professional method.... it's all the same for all the softwares - which would include:

Use of a known stable release (of any of the softwares)
Use of a bug/issue tracker to track issues
Use of a version control system (like Subversion)
Use of a demo/test site to test your changes before making live
Only roll out changes to your live site after testing on the demo/test site

It's what we do with lots of clients - with much success.

Smoge

Appreciate the input.

Regarding AED/Dolphin, I have had a lot of malfunctioning script problems with all versions of AED and Dolphin to 5.3. The hosting company, which professes to be "THE" best host for AED products (HFW), always says they did nothing.
On my end, how can I have done something when the site is running for months, no modifications on my part at all, then POOF....all of a sudden the join page starts giving undefined errors. Either files are auto-corrupting, or the dbase is, or the script is getting hacked. I don't know, but all are problems.

I have JOOMLA sites up, have had PHPNuke sites up, have freeform HMTL/PHP sites up and NOTHING like this ever happens to any of these sites.

So, I guess I am answering my own original question.........

Thanks again for the input, and thanks for being there to help us all out with AED/Dolphin.

Originally Posted by Modified

The hosting company, which professes to be "THE" best host for AED products (HFW), always says they did nothing.

I my experience, for the last... 5 years - HostForWeb is not a good choice for hosting.... and I have seen this over many many ModMySite clients using their hosting. Their server upkeep is spotty, and their shared and VPS hosts are overloaded.

Plus, their backups are sub-standard for shared accounts. We just had an experience with them with a ModMySite client on HostForWeb where she had some bone-head programmer (not from ModMySite) screw up her database, and that programmer did not do a backup before working, and the only backup available from HostForWeb was from almost 15 days prior.

all of a sudden the join page starts giving undefined errors.

As for join form errors - if they are database based - you should have received an email with the error to your bug report email. Script based errors, also troubleshoot-able... If you really did nothing - I would look to the hosting. Or, as you said - maybe you were/are hacked and that is causing trouble. Is register_globals on, for starters?

Smoge

This is hot off the Boonex press....offering an exlusive deal to only the most shrewd and serious businessmen.....

Turn over $1000 to them, and they will do for you what they ought to be doing in the first place...supporting what they produce....

The key point comes right out of their own mouths: if you expect to use Boonex products, you can expect to be paying at least $2,000 extra out of your pocket for support from them...and even more, according to their ad:

"Total value of the SmartPro 3 package is way over $2000 or even many times more if you expect to use BoonEx software and services heavily."

Source: http://www.boonex.com/products/smart...gn=DolSmartPro

If that is the truth, that I am going to end up paying at least $2,000 out of my pocket for the privilege of using Dolphin, then it most definitely is not worth it to me....

This just seems like a blatant money-grab to me.

As if I would turn over $1,000 to them after reading all the complaints about their service on their own website.

If I am going overboard in my cynicism, I hope someone will set me straight.

And further reassurance, also directly from their website:

"If you think that this offer is just "too good to be true" or maybe "fishy" - you might be right."

I think they are trying to tell us something.

We saw this too - and our internal communication about it was:

[9/25/2007 11:05:19 PM] ModMySite says: http://www.boonex.com/products/smart...gn=DolSmartPro
[9/25/2007 11:06:11 PM] ModMySite says: this is sure to piss off a lot of people when they can't deliver it
[9/25/2007 11:06:32 PM] mms_support2 says: right

Smoge

Wowee zowee.... too good to be true for sure!
For those of us that paid out $600+ for the early AED busted-ass products and non-existent support......this is like a bad acid trip with flashbacks!! I think I'm going to have a post-traumatic stress disorder event......where's my uzi?

Originally Posted by Modified

this is like a bad acid trip with flashbacks!!

It is pretty surreal, alright.
These guys are like Le Cirque du Soleil:

They do some incredible gymnastics and illusions.