How are marketplace products and claims tested on C5?
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Is anyone else fed up with add-ons and templates that either don't live up to their claims, have ambiguous descriptions that you're not sure of until you buy the product (and developers don't always reply to pre-sale queries), or you end up having to spend days helping to debug stuff that frankly (if it's being paid for) should of been tested properly by the developer and C5 before it came to market?
Don't get me wrong I love Concrete5, I think it's a fantastic product, they (and marketplace developers) do more than any other business I know to resolve customer issues and on the whole it 99.9% FABULOUS! But I have had instances of all of the above and frankly I'm tired of looking like a twit in front of my clients when something doesn't live up to expectations. It damages my brand and it doesn't do any favours for Concrete5's brand, or their community of developers either. ...After all it only takes one bad apple!
I would love to know what C5 do to test marketplace items and product descriptions/claims please, before they go to market?
I also think a button for "purchasers" to report these type of issues directly to Concrete5 would be useful and save people ranting in public forums, ...so C5 can investigate, force developers to make changes to their products and/or description (or not if they don't agree), or withdraw it from the marketplace if the necessary changes aren't made.
Something like this can only help everyone - developers and customers alike, surely?
Love to know what others think - especially the peeps at Concrete5?
Don't get me wrong I love Concrete5, I think it's a fantastic product, they (and marketplace developers) do more than any other business I know to resolve customer issues and on the whole it 99.9% FABULOUS! But I have had instances of all of the above and frankly I'm tired of looking like a twit in front of my clients when something doesn't live up to expectations. It damages my brand and it doesn't do any favours for Concrete5's brand, or their community of developers either. ...After all it only takes one bad apple!
I would love to know what C5 do to test marketplace items and product descriptions/claims please, before they go to market?
I also think a button for "purchasers" to report these type of issues directly to Concrete5 would be useful and save people ranting in public forums, ...so C5 can investigate, force developers to make changes to their products and/or description (or not if they don't agree), or withdraw it from the marketplace if the necessary changes aren't made.
Something like this can only help everyone - developers and customers alike, surely?
Love to know what others think - especially the peeps at Concrete5?
Further to what Ollie has noted, you may find this page of interest:
http://www.concrete5.org/developers/marketplace-submission-rules/...
Now wearing my consumer's hat, if I am considering an addon from a developer I have not purchased from before, I usually ask a pre-sales question simply to see how responsive they are.
http://www.concrete5.org/developers/marketplace-submission-rules/...
Now wearing my consumer's hat, if I am considering an addon from a developer I have not purchased from before, I usually ask a pre-sales question simply to see how responsive they are.
Could you give us some precises examples of the problem you faced ?
I personally fully test my addons, and answer to any pre-sales questions, for instance. As I am a member of the PRB (as well as Ollie, John and may more), I can ensure you that we already do quite a lot of testing on *any* addon that would be to reach the marketplace.
I don't say we can't miss any bug/issue, but at least 99% get caught.
I personally fully test my addons, and answer to any pre-sales questions, for instance. As I am a member of the PRB (as well as Ollie, John and may more), I can ensure you that we already do quite a lot of testing on *any* addon that would be to reach the marketplace.
I don't say we can't miss any bug/issue, but at least 99% get caught.
Hi Guys,
Thank you for your replies and please don't take my comments as a bitch and moan session - I'm genuinely interested to know what is done. But also coming at it from a non-techie point of view I was hoping to add some constructive ideas, because as you've said, it is possible that some things can slip through the net for whatever reason.
Gournet, if you don't mind I will private message you later this evening.
Thank you for your replies and please don't take my comments as a bitch and moan session - I'm genuinely interested to know what is done. But also coming at it from a non-techie point of view I was hoping to add some constructive ideas, because as you've said, it is possible that some things can slip through the net for whatever reason.
Gournet, if you don't mind I will private message you later this evening.
First anything uploaded has to pass some basic automated tests, then the Peer Review Board, a group of developers, and usually very experienced members of the concrete5 community, test and vote on the add-on or theme in question. Only when there are plenty of positive votes and comments does someone from the core team have a look/test. Then if they're happy the add-on is approved into the marketplace.
So the process is now very solid in my opinion. It can take quite a while to get through the PRB and in many cases a theme or add-on package will go through several iterations to iron out issues. This is all before it hits the marketplace.
Of course there may be some older add-ons in the marketplace that didn't go through the same level of critique, and some that may not have kept up with more recent versions of concrete5, but that's a different matter.
Also, if you can't get support from the Developer who built your theme/add-on concrete5 will usually ensure you get your money back, providing you are within the terms of the support agreement.
Hope that sheds some light on the PRB and the submission/approval process.
Best
Ollie