9.2 ta-da! What else doesn't work in 9.2

  • The calendar (list of events) popped up - it’s a drama.
  • Survey - exactly 6 months in version 9.x I reported problems with the survey (marked as “done”) - nothing has changed - it’s worse.

Is it worth reporting problems with the basic functionality of this system? I guess I’m naive but I still hope so - that someone from Portland Lab is reading this.

Add the bugs you find below - maybe the summary will help us fix them in version 9.2.x. Hopefully soon

Marcin,
I appreciate your passion for Concrete CMS, and I know you want to find ways to help move the project forward. You asked in the last town hall what the best way to communicate questions and concerns about Concrete was, and Andrew and I spoke at some length about what worked well in open source communities, along with what didn’t.

Bugs are best reported on github as issues.
Issues · concretecms/concretecms · GitHub

There’s over a million lines of code in Concrete, inherited from multiple 3rd party projects and custom development work from almost two decades of Andrew and I working together on a client’s dime, and countless volunteers contributing their time to help. All of this is offered at no cost to you and others to enjoy.

Glance over the release notes for v9.2 here:

There are over 60 explicit bugs identified and closed with this version, more than 25 behavioral improvements, and I’m sure these notes are under reporting as this list gets built at the end of a long development cycle from reviewing notes from the past.

Are there bugs that didn’t get fixed in 9.2 that were reported in 9.1?
Certainly sounds feasible.

Are there new bugs that got created in 9.2 that weren’t there before?
Probably, no one’s perfect.

Are there bugs reported on github that we couldn’t recreate and got closed?
Probably. If it’s not consistently reproducible in stock Concrete, we’re not going to beat our heads against a wall trying to figure out what’s wrong with your setup.

Does it help to wake up sunday to this post?
Not really.

Perhaps you didn’t intend it this way, and it’s certainly difficult to interpret tone online, but for one reason or another I read this post as pretty snarky and dismissive of the efforts of Andrew and the rest of the community who have worked hard on improving Concrete for many years.

I understand your expertise is in user experience and design, and I can appreciate that may leave you in the frustrating position of not being able to help fix a bug in the core. I can certainly relate to that, it’s been more than a decade since I wrote code and I sure couldn’t keep up with any of the volunteers who contribute to Concrete these days. This means that I, much like you, run into things that are wonky in Concrete, seem obvious to me, but I have no ability to resolve myself. What I do in those situations is write up what I was trying to do, what I expected the system to do, what I got instead, and if I have any bright ideas, what might be a good solution to the problem. I try to frame the impact the issue is having in the real world.

I try to honor the code of conduct here at ConcreteCMS.com, particularly the TUK part.
Code of Conduct :: Concrete CMS

Before I hit send, I try to always ask myself “Is what I’m saying True, Useful, and Kind?” I can’t say I hit the mark every time, I’ve certainly said and done plenty of things over the years that don’t fit that bill. Sometimes I just want to vent, but I’ve come to understand I’m not going to get a lot of positive response from people (particularly online) if I’m leading with negative energy.

I know when I slow down, reread what I’ve written and ask myself those three questions before I hit post, I always get better results out of the communication.

To answer your specific questions, if there’s a bug that was closed on github that you feel is still reproducible, try making a loom video of it happening on our SaaS hosting. That makes it easy for someone else to quickly follow and makes it hard to write it off as related to changes that happened on a local install. If there’s something major that was working and now isn’t in 9.2 (as I believe you’re implying with the calendar) I’d expect it to part of a 9.2.1 release if it can be clearly defined and reproduced. There’s a reason we do release candidates, but the reality is sometimes this stuff just doesn’t show up until people use it in the real world.

To answer your last question, yes. Someone from PortlandLabs is always reading everything in our forums. We see these forums as our house party. It’s our job to make sure we know what’s going on at our party, but it’s not our job to make sure every conversation leaves everyone feeling perfect. Sometimes we decide there’s no way we can positively contribute to a discussion, so we let it hang. Today - you got me, writing this. :wink:

All the best to you. Some of the best ideas in Concrete have come from community members. I love your passion for Concrete and am hopeful you’ll find ways to contribute to our volunteer community that inspire others.

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I am in no way trying to depreciate the work of people involved in this project, it is not my intention.

The harshness of tone, if present, may be due to the fact (I’m guessing) that English is not my native language - and the things I’m trying to bring up - you’re right, sometimes causing me to feel helpless and lose faith*.
I’ll take your advice to heart - I’ll try to weigh my words more.

Thanks for the comprehensive answer and sorry if I put you in a bad mood on Sunday
Have a nice day.

ps. *My fault, I didn’t check the calendar issue on GitHub

2 Likes

No worries. My apologies for coming off overly sensitive.
English is sadly my only language, I can barely say “excuse me” and “thank you” when we travel. :wink:
It’s amazing to me anyone can communicate at all in two languages, so kudos and thanks to you for participating!
I’ll make sure it’s kept in mind moving forward.