Raptor Services

The "Support Service" is a free service designed to meet basic user needs, to ensure you're able to get your software installed and working on your site.  Support is provided via the helpdesk ticketing system, and when seeking support - please ensure that your request falls within the scope of support.  Other things to keep in mind when requesting support include providing sufficient information and appropriate access where required, as this enables support staff to respond to your needs in a timely manner so that your issue can be resolved quickly and efficiently.

Support via the ticketing system involves the following types of situations:-

1. Assisting clients to access the products purchased from our site, and to access updates as they become available.
2. Installation advice not covered in the documentation and instructional videos.
3. Assistance where the component does not appear to work after installation.
4. Assistance with trouble-shooting error messages generated by our components.
5. Trouble-shooting problems associated with supported integration where the issue is related to the EZ* component side of things.
6. Correct use of the products standard configuration options if this has not been covered elsewhere in available instructions and documentation.
7. Responding to bugs reported via the bug reporting system.
8. Answering specific questions regarding existing product features and configuration options that are NOT covered in the documentation.
9. Answering "How do I?" questions that are directly related to standard component operation and existing features - and NOT covered in the documentation.
10. Telling you if something is not a feature or function of our components.

The "Support Service" does NOT include the following types of requests:-

1. How to change any aspect of the standard component/module function - ie. changing how the EZ* product was designed to work.
2. How to write new functions - eg. adding new functionality to the standard EZ* product.
3. How to modify layout and display - eg. how to remove something you don't like or want visible.
4. How to get the EZ* components to work with another software programme - eg. combining it with a commenting system.
5. How to use Mambo/Joomla - these skills are considered essential before even purchasing one of our products.
6. Solving conflicts with other add-ons such as components, modules, templates and mambots.  We will advise if unusual product behaviour is the result of a conflict - but we do not fix conflicts immediately - as this can often cause new conflicts elsewhere.  Conflicts will go on the todo list for review.
7. Identifying and fixing up problems that are the result of custom modifications performed by you or another person - or troubleshooting installations that have had custom modifications made to them.  It is up to the person making the custom modification to debug any problematic behaviour.
8. How to use other components such as JoomFish, SEF Advance, sh404sef etc.
9. Installing Zend or IonCube encryption support on your server.  This support should be established prior to purchasing our products as per the operating requirements specifications.
10. Lazy demands - ie. you can find out the answer to your question by reading the documentation, watching the video tutorials provided, changing a specific configuration setting yourself to see the effect.
11. Review of customer web development specifications to advise you of how best to set-up or modify the EZ* products to meet your client needs/demands.  This specific type of request falls within consultation work.
12. Solving problems of any sort on modified versions of our products if those modifications have been performed by you or someone else.  You must first restore an unmodified version to your server.

Management of inappropriate support requests:-

1. Inappropriate requests submitted via the ticketing system will be referred to the free peer-to-peer user forum, or will have a quote for consultancy work provided.

Before submitting a support request, ensure you've done the following:-

1. make sure you're using the most current version available, as bug-fixes are regularly released and your problem may be resolved simply by upgrading your component.
2. make sure you've defined ALL of the configuration variables - many support requests are due to missing/incorrect configuration settings
3. read the documentation, help guide, tutorials, top 10 support issues, troubleshooting articles and peer-to-peer forum etc - as most questions have already been answered in one of these places
4. make sure your support request falls within the scope of support - please don't request support for custom stuff - this must be made as a commercial development request and I'll provide you with a quote for the cost of the work and a time-estimate.
5. make sure you do not have user permissions on links leading to the EZ* component - as this will block things such as PayPal IPN postbacks and google mapping.
6. make sure you've tested your site as a live site - not with it configured to offline or behind a .htaccess protected directory. Mambo/Joomla site's configured to be offline break AJAX chained selector box functions.
7. make sure you have emptied your trash - many problems with modules and links are due to trash bins full of old links.
8. make sure you have made ALL of the required changes to files as per the installation/upgrade instructions.  Many support requests concerning mapping and the slideshow system are due to these changes not being made.
9. temporarily remove any custom modified files and replace them with clean, unchanged copies for testing and problem-solving purposes.
10. make sure you have created a main menu link to the EZ* component.
11. make sure your directory and file permissions are correct. Directories should normally be CHMOD 755 and files should normally be CHMOD 644.  Files that require write permissions such as configuration files require 666 or 766 permissions, and directories that require write permissions occasionally require 777 permissions.

When submitting a support request:-

1. your time-frames and pressures are your own.
2. 99% of ticket requests are NOT urgent or critical. If you have a question - it's a standard old non urgent issue. Do not mark it as anything else. Installation problems are NOT urgent or critical - so DO NOT mark them as such.
3. provide a URL to your site - don't just say it doesn't look right
4. provide error messages - don't just say you get an error message
5. when asked to provide temporary site/FTP access - please provide it
6. provide a full description of the problem, include the software version and Mambo/Joomla version that you're using
7. be specific with your descriptions of problems - what have you done, what page were you on, what data did you enter etc.
8. if something was working then stopped working - what has changed about your site - describe and list it. When things suddenly break - it's almost always due to an add-on you've installed, some data you've entered or a change in your server settings
9. if the problem happens in a restricted area - provide access details with your support request.

When participating in the support process:-

1. be an active participant - if you're asked for information - please provide it in full.
2. carry out any instructions given to you as part of the problem-solving process - your participation is essential for successful support outcomes.
3. don't automatically assume because you can't enter data into the EZ* component that's where the  problem lies - 99% of the time it's another cause - eg. incorrect file permissions, or a corrupted Mambo/Joomla installation.

It is rare - but there are situations where support will be suspended or terminated:-

1. constant non-compliance with the problem-solving process - ie. customers who continually fail to carry out instructions to resolve the problem, or continually refuse to provide site/server access if this has been asked for in order to fix a problem.
2. abusive behaviour will not be tolerated under any circumstances.
3. constant attention-getting behaviour often evidenced by frequent minor questions that can simply be resolved by reading the documentation or using the software.
4. discovery of warez software on your site - because installation of these are illegal and can compromise the security and functionality of your site.  No support will be provided in this situation.