First off, let me explain something before we get started. this is not meant to be inflamatory, but is meant to be educational both to the developers of this release as well as the unknowing next victim of these issues that i have uncovered.
Yes it was finally released Dolphin-v.7.0.1 as was reported on the blogs. I of course didnt rush over to get my copy, because i have not been impressed with the overall functionality of Dolphin-v.7.0.0
So today, May 1, 2010, thought i would give this install a run, and see just what improvements have been made on the errors that were reported previously. I must say from first glance, I am not sure this was the right time to release this version.
One thing that catches me right off is the actual download link, nobody but me must have looked at that one? The link is pointing to Dolphin-v.7.0
As the image depicts, this path would be incorrect:
now on this, should this path not reflect the version that we are downloading? the reason this is a question is that this was exactly the same path as the original v.7.0.0
Ok so we take this study further, and this is not really even the gist of the intent of this post:
Going to the index page of the boonex.com site we find that we can download from there, based on current stable. As the picture would depict, the current stable is portrayed as 7.0.0
So if we would go to the index page of boonex and think we are downloading the latest current release, we would assume we would download Dolphin 7.0.0 based on the description here? Clicking on this link provides an entirely different story.
Ok great, there is a Dolphin-v.7.0.1 for download. now based on the path shown here on the zip file using the wget method for downloading the new Release one would or could presume (not assume) that http://get.boonex.com/Dolphin-v.7.0.1.zip would provide the files to your server. Since not all use the daunting method of downloading the version to their desktop then uploading it to the server, which is just redundant work IMHO. So we give this new found path a shot, and this is what we find --> wget http://get.boonex.com/Dolphin-v7.0.1.zip gets you nothing, and wget http://get.boonex.com/Dolphin-v.7.0.1 gets you the same nothing as shown in the next shows.
So at the present time, it appears we cannot install on a server using the wget method of the current displayed path of Dolphin-v.7.0.1. Now this takes us back to the above mentioned path that did lead us to use wget http://get.boonex.com/Dolphin-v.7.0 notice there is no extension here, and we would all understand the path to be able to provide a download for Dolphin-v.7.0 as notated on the status bar of the browser. However what we find upon running the install script after downloading the Dolphin-v.7.0 file from wget method is that we have actually downloaded Dolphin-v.7.0.1 according to the intro page of the install script.
So whats the gripe one might ask, well if that question would actually be necessary, then maybe that person should not be installing dolphin at all. Now we get into the purpose of why on this day i was inspired to post what i have found. I think these subtle mistakes as i am sure they will be excused as, should not be taking place for no other reason than not to confuse new patrons who would be wanting to install dolphin and ultimately purchase the Prime License, but this is just not professional IMHO.
Ok so whichever set of files we have, we are going for it, and going to run the installer. all appears to be the same as we step through the installer script chmod ffmpeg 777 (on my servers anyhow) then chmod 555 inc (on my servers) remove the install directory, and we step into the modules installer on the admin panel. same as before. now this is where i am looking for changes. this has been reported as a bug previously, and i surely considered this to be one of the major things that would need to be fixed. Upon scrolling down on the page to find the select all check box on the Uninstalled Modules, we click on the install button.
this is where it starts to unravel for me. Why and think about this one, because this has already been reported as a BUG, why, would you not set precedence on these modules so that we are ( not me specifically) new clients, first time users, why are we getting an output that 9 modules failed because something else was not installed?
This makes no logical sense whatsoever. output as follows:
So what we have are dependencies, and this could have been corrected on the installer. So we take a look at what is being stated the reason these modules have FAILED.
Desktop failed because it needs messenger installed first. kewl, then why was it not installed first. well we take a look and this is what the output is:
Desktop failed because it says messenger was not installed, messenger was installed so why the FAILED Output? :
Events Failed based on the following Dependencies:
Orca Forum, Photos, Videos, Sounds. Examining this, i see no logic in failing an event because of the forum, photos, videos, or sounds. You can post an event without any of the following being needed. However, if they are required why are we not setting precedence. Ok so we look at why the Events Module Failed, and from the pictures below, we can see that in fact these modules have been installed:
Photos were installed:
Video Module is installed:
Sound Module was installed:
Events and Groups should not have an output of FAILED because the dependencies have been satisfied.
Membership Failed because of the payment Module: but this module was also installed:
So we have an output of NOT INSTALLED MODULES: Funny thing here is that whiteboard and wall are not showing as a dependency but they show as not being installed when we used the Select all and clicked on the install button:
Second run at installing the modules that were missed or had dependencies:
So you can see it shows whiteboard and wall as NOT INSTALLED Module, but on the second run, you get FAILED because it was already installed.
Now for those of us who have been dealing with dolphin, and realize and understand there are quirks. A new client who has just spent $998.00 for this application may not be as understanding. Please dont use the ideology that is why there is a professional install sold for $99.00. Fix these issues, these are bugs, performance and professionalism stands here.
Under no circumstance should these ERROR's and FAILED is an ERROR, be presented on this installer. Error TRAP, dependency check, do something to stop this from happening.
Regards,
DosDawg
P.S. i will be back with other testing results.
Just the tip of the iceberg IMHO.
I cannot believe that given there were issues found with the installer - .htaccess file preventing installation + having to install things in a certain order - the fix was not to update the installer - but to update the instructions with a convoluted method and advise people to do this in the release blog. Very, very, very unprofessional in my eyes. Boonex, you simply have to start doing things correctly - update the installer and release the whole see more
Regards,
DosDawg
P.S. see more