Hi @danniee,
I just noticed about 1-star review where you've mentioned me. I think it's not fair. This was our last supported topic: https://wpforo.com/community/postid/73767/
I've always helped you as much as I could. And I have never thought about showing my superiority or making you cold. Could you please point the reply or topic which made you think about me like that?
As Martin mentioned in the review thread, we've helped you in about 50 topics opened by you. More than two hundred replies during the last three year. I don't think the support deserves this kind of review after all we've done for you.
Hi Robert,
It's never fun having to leave a negative review and this is one of few times I felt it was called for during all my years running Wordpress and having dealt with countless plugin authors. As I've mentioned in the review, once you commit to a forum software, you could be stuck with it as your community grows, and support is essential to make it work long term. I depend on support for the forum to function properly, and it hasn't.
Actually, this feeling of being met with arrogance here is nothing new. I've been a member here for probably two years, if not more, and I've always felt this way. Only now it has been worse since I've felt the need to ask for more support than usual. You made a big overhaul with the forum software, so that results in many questions and issues, naturally.
I often feel that I, as a customer, get met with a cold hand instead of trying to work together to find the issue. Support threads turn into a debate and competition who is wrong or right (many of which are set to private), what is the point of that? I've never experienced anything like that to be honest. I just want help and solve the issue, not hang around here and debate.
I dunno why you have to continuously throw it in my face that I use three cache solutions. As if it's unheard of to use site cache, database cache and Cloudflare. Are you not interested in focusing on making things work instead of complaining about my setup? I told you countless times, I have excluded wpforo in WP Rocket and Cloudflare, so what is the problem? Is it not in your best interest to make wpforo work with all setups, because all setups are unique, rather than complaining about it and turning it into a debate?
So what you are telling me is that, if you have WP rocket or use Cloudflare, wpforo is not for you? Be more upfront about that maybe before people commit to your software and buy countless plugins.
And regarding all the other support threads, I ask for various help like making 2.0 work, or theme issues, or customisation help, so what? Is that not your job to help with that?
I receive incredible support from most plugin authors, especially those where I am a paying customer (as I am here, having bought countless addons and customisation work). I don't know why you are so hostile towards me here. It really sucks.
So what you are telling me is that, if you have WP rocket or use Cloudflare, wpforo is not for you? Be more upfront about that maybe before people commit to your software and buy countless plugins.
I've seen this in gVectors Support forum said by Tom. And he mentioned three, not two, cache solutions: 1. WP rocket or 2. Cloudflare and 3. Redis Object Cache. And yes, this is not good.
Also, you were using the old outdated theme which may have lots of problems, plus three cache plugins make lots of problems to you. So, we just wanted to stop all problems you have and try to make your website more predictable.
@robert none of you put it that way. You just repeatedly complained about my cache solution and either offered me a refund (which I didn't want, because I don't mind supporting your work) or just gave up trying to help after that. It's exactly what I meant, you just seem to blame the website owner if the website is not built exactly to your demands. All websites are unique, why not try to make your plugins work with all setups and find solutions?
And I still don't get what is so special about my setup, honestly I don't. WP Rocket is for page caching, Cloudflare is for server side caching, Redis is for database caching. They all do different things. Millions of people use this type of caching. Besides, I told you time after time, I have excluded wpforo from Wp Rocket AND Cloudflare, so what is the problem? And if wpforo is not compatible at all with WP Rocket and Cloudflare, why not be more upfront about that before people commit to this forum software? I use many plugins and they all work great, even wpdiscuz works great after a few tweaks.
I'm not here to argue really. I just want to make things work on my site. It's frustrating having to both argue with you guys AND trying to solve my problems with the forum. It feels like you work against me instead of with me.
Maybe I'm just an idiot, I don't know. I'm a passionate guy and I am passionate about my website. I have high demands, yes, but only because I care and want the best.
@danniee Ok, i understand your point of view, maybe give them a 4 star.
ONE STAR (1) is not what they deserve. Also you repeately say you are a paid customer. But the one star is for a free forum plugin, not a paid one.
I had also issues with the plugin at times, most of the issues were resolved, some not. Why not? Because they are specific to my site(s), with the plugins i use, with my caching, with my firewall plugin and with my Imunify360 we use server-wide. You can't please everyone.
And to be honest, since i work in the hosting support in my country, Caching/optimizers are responsible for 90% of the issues i encounter daily. We are so sick, we had to ban some of them (W3TC is one of them).
All in all, they do not deserve 1 star review. Especially with the superb wpForo version 2 they released. One star review doesn't help them developing more and more ... and that is hurting the WP community.
@dimalifragis great, thanks for your input. The forum is free, and that is what I reviewed.
I've never had a problem solving issues with other plugins though, even when the issues have been specific to my site. I'm still confused how WP Rocket and CF can be an issue when wpforo is excluded there. Maybe you can tell me mate, because I am not getting any answers?
@danniee Well, i had MAJOR issues resolving bugs with OTHER WP plugins. I have been told to be crazy, imagining things, you name it.
Recent one: https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wpforo-2-compatibility/
We can't be sure the issues you have come from WP Rocket, Cloudflare or Redis.
But risk is high.
I think you can work with the support guys here, to help you out.
But since the Topic is about the 1 star review, surely they do NOT deserve it. No Way.
@dimalifragis d**n, that was a cold support thread mate, thanks for sharing your experiences. I never really had any issues with other support. For example, I had loads of problems with the Smash Balloon Youtube plugin after they made a major overhaul. Took days to fix, but they were always professional and did all they could to make it work. Never blamed me or my website. That's how it usual is. To quote them, this is how they replied to me:
"Not to worry that is for us to figure out!"I feel something like this would never happen here. Here it's more like, "be thankful we speak to you". Just my experience anyways.
I totally respect that you don't agree with my review, and that's fine. Actually, I'm happy for wpforo if everyone loves their support. I am just sharing my honest opinion and my experience has been far from great. Not just recently, but over the years. Many discussions have been in private, too. I almost feel like I am just an annoyance to these people and they approach me as if I am a complete idiot when I did nothing other than trying to get their plugins to work.
Isn't it in their best interest to learn from their customers? To make their plugins work optimally on every site? Maybe I have too high expectations and maybe that makes me an idiot. Idk mate.
@danniee gVectors are trying the best they can to have (and keep) everyone happy. And be as much compatible they can. I actively participated to the beta team of wpForo 2 and i KNOW how much they worked for it. Also they have released 9 updates in 2 months.
Are they 100% compatible with everything?
NOPE. because they can't use SEO plugin, CACHING plugins for Wordpress. Why? Because they use their "own" db and not custom posts. So they have their own seo, their own caching.
Just checked the public availabe topics of yours (in some i participated also) and i don't see any negative attitude towards you from the support.
Please work with them to fix your issues. I don't know if they tried to help you by logging to your site or not.
I'm sure they will do their best to help you out. You know it is a BIG reward to TURN a 1 star review customer to a 5 star review customer.
all the best with your project.
@dimalifragis thanks mate for your input and feedback. Appreciate it. And best of luck to you and your projects.
You just repeatedly complained about my cache solution and either offered me a refund (which I didn't want, because I don't mind supporting your work) or just gave up trying to help after that.
You have many addons and all are supported by GV team. The only issue was with Ads manager, and it was suggested to refund because there was no possible to find solution under the three cache layers.
It's exactly what I meant, you just seem to blame the website owner if the website is not built exactly to your demands.
There are some good tips to have a healthy website, and we ask you to keep that rules, nothing more, you're not forced to make your site in one exact way.
For example:
- Use as few plugins as you can
- Use one layer of cache to make your website predictable and avoid conflicts
- Use latest versions of plugins and themes to avoid unsupported bugs
- etc...
1. Of course, and I do that. I probably have less than the average despite running a fairly large site. I dunno what you guys expect though, for people to have 5 plugins for your forum to work? It's impossible to guess your requirements. Even if there is a conflict, most authors will work together trying to find a solution. I've done it many times over the years. Most authors will go to great lengths trying to offer support. I just don't feel that here. You have made up your mind about my site and that's that. I can expect nothing more from you here it seems.
2. Of course I wish I didn't need any cache at all, but I have visitors from all over the world so Cloudflare is essential, as it is for millions of other website owners. Nothing strange about using Cloudflare. Surely we can agree on that? And WP Rocket/page cache + Cloudflare is not an unusual combo either, right? Either way, I have excluded wpforo from both of these, so I try to get an answer from you, what is the problem then? Exclusion isn't enough? People have to get rid of WP Rocket and Cloudflare?
3. I do. I tried your new theme but I still have issues and I obviously didn't get help to solve it. Actually some of the theme fixes came from your community members and not from you.
We're just going to go around in circles here, so I don't really see the point. Am I to expect that I will not receive support from now on because my website does not live up to your demands? That's an honest question.
@danniee Hi there,
I hear you and I feel your frustration, because tomorrow it could be me with an issue I can't find a solution for, so I sympathize, but like someone else has said, a 1-star review is just not fair.
They do try to help here as much as they can, even though this is a free plugin.
I myself use both CloudFlare and WP Rocket on a very busy site, and I have no issues with WPForo. So this points to a very specific issue with your site and configuration.
I'm not sure what your specific issues were, but have you tried to isolate the problem? Have you tried creating a staging site and start activating them plugins one by one till the issue comes back?
If the problem arises after installing WP Rocket, maybe they need to look into the issue for you as well? Not only that, but WP Rocket has countless options and features that can easily break a site, try disabling the most risky ones. How exactly are excluding the forum page from WP Rocket? The most effective way for me has been something like the following:
/community/(.*) /participant/(.*) /wp-login.php/(.*)
Do you use their CDN? There are two areas on WP Rocket where you need to add the forum exclusions.
Do you use any other kind of site optimization such as "Asset Cleanup" for example? Those are not cache related, but can break sites as well.
CloudFlare can be tricky too. Make sure you clear ALL caches in CloudFlare, not just specific URLS. Also, have you tried their "Developer Mode" or disabling CloudFlare all together for a few hours to see if the issues go away?
I hope you can find a solution soon, and I encourage you to re-think your review. Do you really believe they deserve a lone star? They might have come across to you as a little sharp sometime, maybe, but we are all humans, when working with customers and having a tough day at work, sometimes things you say might not come out in the most elegant way, but that doesn't mean they don't care.
@realact hi mate, thanks for your input. I really appreciate it. I know the 1-star review may come across as harsh, but for me this frustration has been building up for a long time. It's not just something I wrote in a spontaneous rage. I find it super frustrating to get help here. They even now try to discredit me as if I'm spamming them when all I do is try to get things to work optimally. It's not like I WANT to hang around here. I just wish things would work out of the box, but I am experiencing so many issues, and I find the software to be complicated to use and navigate. I am not new to running forums. Been running both PhpBB and Invision board forums for years, but never experienced issues like this.
Anyways, in WP Rocket I have excluded the forum like this:
/forum/(.*)
/forums/(.*)
/community/(.*)
/participant/(.*)
/sign-up/(.*)
/sign-in/(.*)
/change-password/(.*)
In Cloudflare I use page rules to exclude the same as above. So I'm not sure why they keep using the caching thing against me. Maybe it's not necessarily me or my site that is the problem. Maybe wpforo needs to be optimised. It could very well be the case that wpforo is mostly used by smaller blog sites whilst bigger sites opt for stand alone forums like Invision board, but I wish I had knew that before I committed to this software. Now it's kind of hard to make the change.
Anyways, the support here keeps painting this picture that my cache approach is something completely alien, but I would argue it is not. Page caching + Cloudflare is a VERY common setup. And Redis does a completely different thing as it's caching the database. So it's not cache on cache. They all serve their purpose and are setup to do their own unique thing. It works well for me and has done for many years. I even mailed the guys at WP Rocket to ask them if my setup is weird, and their response was...
"Romain from WP Rocket here. Thanks for contacting the support. It is a common configuration bu it has to be well-configured 😉
For Redis, WP Rocket hasn't any interaction with this layer and this is the most popular plugin to manage that cache: https://wordpress.org/plugins/redis-cache/
Let me know if you need any further assistance. I'm happy to help 🙂"
That is the kind of service I expect really when I ask for help or clarification. It's not what I'm getting here. I feel like I'm just in the way and that I should just give up asking questions. They don't really work to help solve the problem. They just argue against me.
Maybe I'm the only one who feels this way around here, but that is my experience and that's what I base my review on.
Cheers and thanks again mate.
It's not what I'm getting here. I feel like I'm just in the way and that I should just give up asking questions.
I see you still think that way and repeating with every post the same things. I can say you're totally wrong. Please stop thinking this way. I'm closing this topic because I see that you're not going to change your mind.
I wish you good luck with your community and keep thinking that we were not helping you, and we didn't want to help you. It seems you really don't deserve the support you're getting here.
