Will someone at Adobe please fix the search function on the Forums? It's been several weeks they've

[jcbluesman]

For weeks now in the Fireworks forum, when I search for anything, I get:

Variable FTVAR_RESULTTYPE is undefined.
Resources:
* Enable Robust Exception Information to provide greater detail about the source of errors. In the Administrator, click Debugging & Logging > Debug Output Settings, and select the Robust Exception Information option.
* Check the ColdFusion documentation to verify that you are using the correct syntax.
* Search the Knowledge Base to find a solution to your problem.
Browser Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9.0.3) Gecko/2008092417 Firefox/3.0.3
Remote Address 10.172.32.24
Referrer http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/webforums/forum/categories.cfm
?forumid=14&catid=193&STARTPAGE=3&FTVAR_FORUMVIEWTMP=Linear
Date/Time 07-Jan-09 05:23 PM

Other people are reporting the same problem and it's been this way for weeks now.

I must say that as a paying customer, I expect better from a company like Adobe.

[Ramón G Castañeda]

Jim,

Unfortunately, the Fireworks forum is over on the other side, the former Macromedia forums now at adobe.com, not here at adobeforums.com, the old Adobe forums.

The former Macromedia forums now at adobe.com have their own forum discussions and feedback forum. The folks here can't do much about those other forums on the other side.

Additionally, these are user to user forums, not a channel to address Adobe. Use the Contact button at the top of this page if you want to address Adobe directly.

[jcbluesman]

Thanks for the explanation Ramone. I wasn't sure how to let them know about the problem so it's just been frustrating. I used a Contact button on the other forum to get to here so I figured this was the place to let them know. I'll try the one above.

Jim

[_Murray_Summers_]

Jim:

Just use the Google search - it's a better one anyhow -

http://groups.google.com/advanced_search?q=+group:macromedia.fireworks

--
Murray

[Ramón G Castañeda]

>Thanks for the explanation Ramone.

You're welcome, Jime. ;)

[jcbluesman]

Ramone,

I've continued to look for the proper place to let Adobe know about the problem and it leads me back to here. I clicked Contact from within the Fireworks forum and it took me to http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/contact.html. If you click the Feedback tab you'll see a link that says Adobe.com Forums. I clicked that and it led me right here. And I just noticed that right at the top of the list of threads it says:

'This forum is for posting feedback about the forum site or to ask questions about how the forums work. It is not for program-related questions. For example, don't post Photoshop or Acrobat questions here.'

So I'm trying to give feedback about the searching problem so Adobe can look into the problem. Why is this not the place for that? I just want to let somebody know so if you could help me find the proper place, I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks,
Jim

[Jacob Bugge]

Jime,

>Why is this not the place for that?

Because this is on the other side seen from the other side.

But please do not tell anyone about us.

[D__McCahill]

Jacob speaks tongue in cheek, I think.

The "other side" is the forums that were Macromedia software, before the merger with Adobe. This side is the part that was always Adobe. The "other side" is built with a tool that Macromedia owned (ColdFusion) which is now an Adobe program. Naturally, the product managers of that tool feel that all the forums should be using the in-house tool, rather than the platform that "this side" resides on.

The problem is that most of us who use this forum hate the other side application and presentation. Several attempts have been made to merge the two (always to the other format). The first time complaints in advance aborted the plan, a second time there was an actual changeover that failed miserably and resulted in a reversion back to the status quo.

However, it sounds like they are going to go through the process again, which will be a pity. I know the last time they changed, I left the forums, and I suspect that many other experienced users did as well, depriving the forum of its greatest asset.

But hey, a crappy set of forums running on our own software is better than a good and useful set of forums running on purchased software, isn't it. So what if support costs triple because volunteer users have fled the forums.

[John T Smith]

To report problems or ask for new features directly at Adobe, click
http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform

Be sure to report FULL details, including links and the steps you took that produced an error

[jcbluesman]

Thanks for the explanation, Don. I wasn't quite sure what Jacob was saying. Of course, as just a guy who wants to get help and have a decent system to facilitate that, I don't care what they use as long as they improve it. But I appreciate the background.

And thank you, John, for the link. I will contact them with full details.

I just can't quite believe that things like this are so complicated.

[john_cornicello__retired_]

I have reported the issue to the web team. I'll rattle the chains again.

Some clarification, the FuseTalk forums run on the ColdFusion platform, but are not an Adobe product. It is like Photoshop. It runs on a Macintosh, but it isn't an Apple product. It runs on Windows, but isn't a Microsoft product.

Most folks here know that I'm pretty neutral about comparing the two forums. But I recently had to run some reports on them and activity is about the same on both, with the Macromedia Forums being a little more busy than the Adobe ones. Most people are comfortable with the system they know. At the time of the Adobe/Macromedia merger there were a number of performance issues with the Macromedia Forums. Most of them have been addressed.

There was only one attempt to move from WebCrossing to FuseTalk, and that never saw the light of day. It was back in August 2006 and the project got killed before anything happened. I don't know where the comment about ColdFusion product managers wanting to use that platform for all forums comes from, I've never heard that internally.

In October 2007 we imported all of the data from the Macromedia forums into Web Crossing and did release it for two weeks and that didn't work out well (a big understatement). It was so bad that most people who went through it have suffered some sort of amnesia. They seem to recall that we were moving the other direction (WebX to Fusetalk). But that is not the case. All forums were running on Web Crossing during that experience.

John

[Guest]

What made the difference in perception, I think, was that the look of the forum trial was more similar to the Fusetalk forums that what this side looks like. Based on only that knowledge, a lot of people assumed that it was on the Fusetalk platform. If you looked at it closely tho, clues were there that it was WebX. The difference needed to be clarified a number of times evenso.

[Jacob Bugge]

>the look of the forum trial was more similar to the Fusetalk forums that what this side looks like. Based on only that knowledge, a lot of people assumed that it was on the Fusetalk platform.

I, for one, have been convinced of that until now.

I was one of the few able to access the forums at all, and determined enough to struggle keeping the forums running, commenting and giving answers to users in need. It was a nightmare, but it showed a great strength and unity among users/hosts. I should hate to see it all be lost.

I, as is Don, am afraid that the forums will lose many good people if the appearance of these forums is shattered. I found the very appearance very difficult, tiring, and detrrent.

[jcbluesman]

"I have reported the issue to the web team. I'll rattle the chains again. "

Thank you very much, John.



Take it from me, a paying customer, these forums need to be replaced with something better. Even after everyone here taking the time to explain about all the differences and the story behind the whole mess, I'm still confused out of my mind. And all I want is some help with issues I'm having trying to learn the software. The documentation is weak, at best, books haven't been published yet, and I can't do a simple thing like search a forum. Heck, I'm not exactly sure I know which forum I should actually use. I spent $1600 on CS4 and I'm spending more time trying to figure out how to get help than actually using the software. I'm extremely disappointed in Adobe.



But thanks again to all of you here.

[donmarcydede]

I don't know why the forums should work. The latest and greatest from Reader and Acrobat are dedicated to damaging all pdf files beyond repair and causing as many computer malfunctions as possible. I mean, all software upgrades have the potential for bugs but the Adobe family has really outdone itself of late. I do know that many many individuals are having similar problems with both downloads and function. I would send the last response I got from my favorite technical pro, but since it came as a pdf file, Adobe immediately damaged it beyond repair. The most common thing I am hearing is that Adobe is "in denial" and insisting that the new Acrobat and Reader have no problems. I'm not so sure denial is the right term. Could Adobe be part of a terrorist plot?

[D__McCahill]

donmarcydede wrote:

Could Adobe be part of a terrorist plot?

Probably. But you want to go to the Reader and Acrobat forums to complain about those programs. This is where we complain comment about the forums themselves.

[Ramón G Castañeda]

Jime,

You missed my point. 😕 My name is Ramón or Ramon, not Ramone . You add an e to my name, I'll add one to yours, Jime . B)

>Take it from me, a paying customer

We are all paying customers, Jime.

[Guest]

> We are all paying customers

If only that was true, Ramón. Absolutely anyone can participate in these forums.

[Jacob Bugge]

So, Oz, you are saying that

Some of us are paying customers,
others are just playing customers?

[Claudio González]

Jacob, as I understand the situation,

some of us are paying participants,
others are pirate participants.

The forums have no filter for the later...

[Jacob Bugge]

In that case the only meaningful information about the poster would be the appropriate logo, either the Adobe A or the Jolly Roger.

That being impossible, let us keep the appearance of the forums as it is.

[D__McCahill]

> I don't know where the comment about ColdFusion product managers wanting to use that platform for all forums comes from, I've never heard that internally.

That was a guess on my part, John, based on normal corporate mindthink, and I apologize if it is in error in Adobe's case.

I too am surprised that the aborted conversion was actually to this software. The UI changes made me think it was actually the other way around.

[_Phos_four_dots_]

IIRC, what they tried to do was a custom configuration of the WebX software so that it looked and behaved like the FuseTalk-based forums.

IMNSHO, there are at least 3 things wrong with that proposal, right from the start, before it even goes live.

[PJonesCET]

Before adobe was supposed to have purchased Macromedia, websites rendered very Fast. After the take over (I'm now unsure whom to over whom) which which moved over to ColdFusion designed pages, have gotten slower and slower.

I don't know if they plan to or not, But my hope, is that they do not.

[Neil_Keller]

pj,

???

Neil