Quick update on the on-going development of this website. For the most part, things are working well. More people are showing up here everyday, the vast majority of whom log in and enjoy without incident.
But I like to be transparent with our Members about the things that still need help.
We initially hired a coding expert on a reputable site for freelancers to create the single sign-on system that integrates this site with our payment system — Recurly. It worked well for most people, but when it developed a few small ticks the code author suddenly vanished. The staff at the site where we hired him can’t find him either.
I’ve engaged in exhaustive troubleshooting for days to ensure I didn’t cause the problem. I’ve enlisted a subject-area expert to seek the sore spot as well. It appears, so far, that I didn’t cause it. If I later discover that I did, I’ll confess.
The issues include the sudden inability of the registration page to accept credit card numbers, a glitch in the notifications update function that produced a blank page, and a failure of new Members who did manage to sign up to appear on the user list of the website. The latter we could, and did, handle manually.
To deal with these issues, I’ve take the following actions:
- Temporarily replaced the registration page with a waiting list sign up so we can follow up as soon as things are working right.
- Temporarily deactivated the feature on the Account page that lets you update your credit card and Membership information.
- Posted a bid request for a contractor to repair the broken code from the previous contractor.
In the meantime, please let me know if you’re experiencing any other problems. You can use the Bug/Idea support ticket system under the FAQ link above.
We want this to be a terrific experience for you, and we truly see our Members as co-producers in this enterprise — thus the detailed briefing.
I’ll keep you posted as events warrant. I appreciate your patience, and the way you have made this site exceed our dreams.
Thank You,
Scott Ott, Web McMaster
8 replies on “Web Admin Update: Troubleshooting”
Without a dedicated legal team to draft enforceable contracts with specific deliverables, this stuff is hit or miss.
Hopefully it will work out OK.
Not that more expense is desirable, but an affordable option to protect your business and ensure remedies are available when people abuse agreements like this, would be to engage pre-paid legal service to ensure your agreements are enforceable and that you know what legal options are available if they are broken.
They should advertise the job here first. The chances some random French programmer is going to care about and stand behind the quality of their work are much lower than that a conservative member would do the same.
Thank you for this update and your hard work down in the trenches, Scott! We appreciate your troubleshooting efforts!
That is the problem with dealing with freelancers. I’ve had bad experiences with them myself. They always end up costing a lot more than they bid.
Good luck, Scott. This is a difficult thing.
So the guy just disappeared? Do you think he sabotaged the site? Does he still have access to it?
I assume that’s why the list of followers and members online is gone, too.
You guys do what you need to in the back of the house.. We’ll hold down the fort in the front.
I may be responsible for the members online being gone: I noticed that there never seemed to be more than 4 or 5 online, and that didn’t seem reasonable for a member population of ~2000. I mentioned it to Scott, and he said he thought the “gizmo” was buggy again and shut it off.
I think I’m just going to sit back and watch patiently for a few months. Obviously Scott has a whole lot more to do than worry about little stuff like polishing the chrome.
I thought those numbers seemed a bit low. Good call, Steve!
And great advice. Polishing chrome will come in time. Let the fellas get this thing up and running first!