After working with open source software for several years at small startup like companies, I dipped my toe back into the corporate world for a very different opportunity that is not central to web programming but can certainly be enhanced by the ability manipulate data and knowledge of current trends in web technology. In typical corporate fashion the IT department purchased an off the shelf, proprietary system for building the website. I am guessing here that the IT department was taken by the slick Ektron sales pitch I have read about on the internets and expected that it would be easy to install and turn over to those who are not versed in the strange world of GUI programming that seems to be .net and associated technologies. I try not to hate. It’s just not good for the soul. Being forced to work with this horrible web software has brings me to weekly levels of frustration that I never experienced when working on custom rolled php or wordpress applications. I need an outlet and the ektron company does not provide a resource for filing bugs. I will just post my rants here. They do provide ‘support’ and my experience with that has been as follows:
- Email them an issue
- 23 hours later I get a canned email saying to expect a call soon
- The call backs seem to come in in the afternoon, usually 10-15 minutes before the end of my day: “Is this a good time to look at your issue?”
- Spend an hour while the support rep walks through a pre-canned script that is the same as the admin manula i got at their ‘admin training’ class
- The support rep says “huh, thats weird” or “Hmmm, I haven’t seen that before”
- Then the support rep says, “Can you send me a current copy of your database?”
- Then weeks go by, now months and I haven’t heard back from them.
Today’s little rant was sparked by what I consider an UI issue. Really, you have already ripped off the jQuery library and re branded it as ektron.js. Couldn’t you also rip off someones plugin so you can highlight the markup (Which you butcher going into and out of your database) that did not pass validation. Why tell me what line and character number if you don’t provide that information? At work I have been focused on an issue that surrounds the problem domain in e-commerce when you have complicated, technical products that can be organized in several ways and adding to that complexity none of your users will think the same way when searching or navigation the catalog. Spending my time trying to overcome ektrons deficiencies is becoming more and more frustrating. Previously, I suspected, now I am certain that “out-of-the-box” software is a pipe dream. If you need a complex web application it is better to organically build it up with one of the modern web frameworks and your domain knowledge rather than locking yourself into someone else’s outdated understanding of how to build a modern web app.
