I'm this close to completing my company's new Drupal site, except when we moved it to the production server we started having issues with the Google Appliance module. I submitted an issue on the module's page, and am now waiting for the developer to help me. That being said -- as the days go by I'm increasingly uncomfortable with the level of dependence here. The site is ready to launch, people are waiting on it, and I have to wait until this developer decides to address my issue because the site is worthless without the search working.
I realize this is the price to pay for free things, there is zero incentive for developers to provide quick responses to the people who use their modules, it's not like we're paying customers. So I'm curious what other people's experience has been like when they hit a roadblock on a module. I feel I've gotten pretty far on the learning curve the past few months, but I've been completely unsuccessful at troubleshooting this particular issue.
Comments
i've had several module
i've had several module issues that are show stoppers. the response from the module developer has either been one of four things:
1. good suggestion, post a patch when you code it. (70%)
2. it's working as designed / i can't reproduce the issue / misc. no (20%)
3. i'll fix that bug or code that feature. (5%)
4. no response (5%)
in other words, the predominate response from module maintainers has been encouraging others from the community to step up and fix a problem.
Yes, this is an issue with
Yes, this is an issue with contrib. However, I think you've made a good issue post, and that's the sort of issue I would respond to as soon as I could. I wish I did have the time to test and re-test some of the issues that crop up on my issue queues, but lately I've been swamped. There are also contrib developers that commit their code, and then never visit their project page ever again.
Support for both freeware and paid software usually isn't free. Either you're paying for a support contract directly with a company, paying a support contract to a third party, or paying for your own expert in whatever software you're using. This is kind of a sad reality. Of course, depending on how well-used a product is the free support may be better.
I'd say most contrib module developers can be broken down into:
FIXED
I haven't met Laura yet, but I will in a few weeks at the Ohio Linux Fest then again at the < a href="http://www.DoItWithDrupal.com">Do It With Drupal event put on by Lullabot. I will be presenting Drupal training sessions at both of those events.
My skills are very broad. In some areas I have deeper knowledge. Despite that knowledge I have run into times when I simply don't have the resources to overcome a hurdle. I have found that hiring some one to get that last 3% of an issue solved is a good investment.
How to hire a Drupal Dev for a "smallish" project or issue:
- hang out in Freenode IRC in the #drupal , #drupal-support , & #drupal-freelance channels. you can often get free help in IRC!
- Use the contact form on drupal.org AND groups.drupal.org to solicit some one's help
- Post an announcement on the JOB board on this site. One-Off requests are common on there.
How did it get fixed?
In this case the problem was solved when I sent Laura a DirectMessage via twitter asking her to SKYPE me. I then connected her with a a friend of mine that I sometimes work with, Dmitry Molotkov. I had online meetings and things going on, but when I returned to the three-way skype chat, the issue was fixed.
Laura received 4hours of trouble shooting from Dmitry and the issue was determined to be the ZEN theme's default search template.
The Drupal community ROCKS! Don't expect 4 hours of free trouble shooting every day BUT it has happened to me, now Laura, and many others.
Otherwise use the THREE bullets above and get the help you need.
Don't forget...
Don't forget to update the issue so we all learn a bit more!
Once again...
...the Drupal community comes through for me, you guys are the BEST!
Thanks for your responses, it's good to have a better idea of what I should be expecting in the future as far as direct support from the module maintainers. I read the Drupal page on how to write a good issue report, so I'm glad you think I was successful in that. Having worked a little in tech support in my previous job, I know how pointless it is to submit vague questions.
Thanks SO much to Doug for his assistance, what a life saver. We have a catalog shipping out in 10 days and the site NEEDS to be launched by then. The search issue was the last thing we had to solve.
I hope I'm able to pay it forward one of these days!
I've updated the issue, thanks for the reminder.
Laura
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