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Taptalk is great when it works.
Any clue as to why it quit working all of a sudden?
Every so often, they release a "new and improved" plugin that fixes bugs, adds features, etc. Since I first installed Tapatalk, there have been 4 or 5 new updates. The first few went off without a hitch. I received their usual email about the new plugin so I attempted to install it, following their directions. (This involves removing the old version, then installing the new one.) Before installing any modifications, the forum software runs a series of checks to see if the modification is compatible with the code. This time, several of the checks failed and it gave a warning not to install the plugin.
So, I didn't install it. However, I had already UNINSTALLED the previous version. In an attempt to get functionality back (albeit without the new features) I re-installed the old version of tapatalk that had been working just fine. Unfortunately, re-installing it did not bring it back online. From that point forward, we had no tapatalk functionality.
I contacted their tech support about the issue,a dn they told me to go to the installation guide on their website (which I had obviously already used, duh!)
Finally after a few days of back and forth (they are excruciatingly slow to respond) they told me to uninstall all of the modifications to the forum, install their plugin, and then re-install the modifications. Well, that is a long and complicated process, which starts with writing down tons of settings on the forum to make sure I can get everything set correctly again after removing all the modifications. So, not wanting to start the process unless I could finish it in a timely manner, I waited until I had enough free time to attempt the project, which happened to be last night.
I wrote down as many settings as I could remember, and set about uninstalling the modifications. Well, as it turns out, there are some modifications that are not reversible from my end. Removing some of the modifications resulted in failed tests just like the tapatalk plugin did. So, knowing that OLI had the backups, and the FTP backup I did last night, I figured I would go ahead and try the install anyway, following tapatalk's instructions.
No sooner than I clicked install, the screen went white and we were gone.
I immediately sent an email to OLI and it seems as soon as they got to the office this morning they had us back up and running.
Where we stand right now is the forum is pretty much back to normal, but still no tapatalk.
Now the frustrating thing about all this is that tapatalk is incompatible with some of the modifications we have installed. Those modifications were all downloaded from the SMF mod site, and any SMF forum admin could potentially have them installed. Tapatalk claims to work with SMF, but certain modifications (we aren't even sure which) add and/or change bits of code so that the plugin doesn't recognize where to insert itself (for lack of a better explanation of what's going on).
For example, if tapatalk needs to go inbetween bits of code that say "red" and "blue", and we have a mod installed that changed "blue" to "orange" then technically the place where the tapatalk code is supposed to go no longer exists. The trouble with this, is that those mods are a reality that tapatalk didn't account for. Their plugin should account for possible alterations, particularly ones found on SMF's site!
What's more, when I communicated with them, I gave them a full list of the exact modifications I have installed. They had the opportunity to download and examine the code in those mods to bring their plugin into compliance, but instead they just directed me to uninstall all of the modifications. (Which obviously didn't work, as outlined above.)
I like the functionality tapatalk adds to a forum, and I want it to work again. But their tech support is dismal. You are lucky to get the same person twice, and then they tell you to go to the same installation guide and then you have to wait another day or two or three for them to respond to your email telling them for the 3rd or 4th time that you already tried that!
It's pretty arrogant to assume that their instructions and code are perfect and that the only reason it works is because I didn't follow their guide. It's also lazy to just point to the same guide and brush off a potential paying customer like that.
If it weren't for forum administrators that add tapatalk, tapatalk wouldn't even exist. A forum browsing app that had no network of forums to browse would be pretty useless. So they should make a better effort to include as many forums as possible. Maybe they think they are "too big to fail" now. Their plugin works with 99% of forums, so why waste the time and effort on 1%?
