Quote:
Originally Posted by Tempest
Really.. Well the version I was using, 3.1.1206, used both Smarty and xml, NOT exclusively Smarty. Maybe v3.2 uses Smarty templates exclusively but I didn't pay much attention to what was different in that one since they weren't going to be upgrading.
I'm intimately familiar with that version of the CMS and the bugs I kept finding in it and having you guys fix. I'm also intimately familiar with the DB structure of that version and how poorly it's designed. Saving the exact same data in mutiple tables is very poor design, not to mention storing it as xml AND serialized php. I would hope that things like that would have been revamped in v3.2.
Regardless, ElevatedX and Carma are probably the only real choices out there.
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I should have clarified -
Since adding Smarty templates to version 3.1 last July, by default all new CMS installs were setup with Smarty unless the customer specifically requested the older XSL templates (which almost never happened). When we announced a Smarty template set we offered it for free to anyone who wanted to switch over to it. A lot of users opted to start using Smarty on new sites and continued using XSL on their existing ones. I can't say for sure but this might be why the install you worked on had both. In version 3.2 and moving forward we are no longer offering an XSL template option although we are still supporting customers who are still using XSL with older CMS versions.
XSL while powerful, was overkill and for many it was rough to work with unless you were already an XSLT coder or really wanted to customize the system. It had a few fans but the Smarty version is definitely better and each new version of the CMS is a big improvement over the last in many areas. Customers complained that XSLT code was too hard to work with so we moved away from the XSL templating. Since we changed to Smarty we've had far fewer complaints.
You seem to have some strong, negative opinions of our software. We do take things like this seriously. As much as I hate to read stuff like this (it literally ruins my day) I know it's good because listening to the complaints and taking them to heart help us make things better.
We're big on transparency and it's common industry knowledge that we run an honest business. Since you chose to post your complaints publicly I'll do the same and will post a response to address the technical issues you described.
Before doing that I'd like to know more about your experience with our software. It will be a big help to know which company you own/worked with when you encountered all of the bugs you mention. Anytime someone has negative things to say or has an experience like you've described it's important to me to look up the account and see how the tech support was handled. 3.2 is a LOT better than all previous versions and much of the reason is due to feedback from users. Having the details in front of us helps us improve both the CMS product and our support service as well.
If you can shoot me an email or call me and give me the info on the customer account you're referencing here it will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
AJ