The state of paid modules for Prestashop 1.7

[TC!!]

I'd like to find out if other people are having issues with modules for Prestashop 1.7?

 

I won't list the modules but want to share my experience.

I bought one module which said it was compatible with 1.7.0. I installed it onto my 1.7.2 installation and it didn't work, front end was replaced with a blank page, errors when I turned on debugging. I spent a day debugging the issues and it become clear quite quickly that it had not been written to work with Prestashop 1.7. To make sure it wasn't an issue caused by 1.7.2 I installed a fresh 1.7.0 and had exactly the same problem. The files inside the zip file were dated October 2016, I understand that 1.7 was released in November 2016. That module cost me £90.

 

I bought another module which does the same thing, this one cost me £270. It is listed as being compatible with 1.7.3. I downloaded it and installed it, this one didn't break the front end which was a good start. I configured it and checked the product it was attached to, but the module wasn't visible. I tried installing it on my fresh 1.7.0 installation and it worked.

I did some more digging and found the module was attaching itself to the displayProductButtons hook. After searching on the internet I find out this hook was replaced in Prestashop 1.7.1 with the hook displayProductAdditionalInfo.

 

So I have to ask how a module costing £270 can advertise itself as being compatible with 1.7.3 when it's attaching to a hook that was removed in 1.7.1.

 

I've moved over to using Prestashop for ecommerce sites but this experience is making me think twice. Is this just dishonest developers or the state of 1.7 modules in general?

 

 

[phpist]

Hello @TC!!

This issue has nothing to do with Prestashop platform, it's rather a module issue, you need normally to contact them to have a look and see what's the issue exactly, you have the support of the module so you have all rights to ask for a support.

Cheers and Good luck

[TC!!]

@phpist 

This is not an issue with the Prestashop platform? If I had bought a module direct from a developer's website then I would agree with you, but I bought it from the Prestashop Addons marketplace. Isn't that part of the prestashop platform? These modules are listed in the admin of the prestashop installation.

If you buy an App for the iOS platform you know it will work as Apple test it before they allow people to sell it, even if it is a free app. How can a module be allowed on the Prestashop platform costing £270 which obviously has not been tested with the version they say they're compatible with?

@ndiaga

I really hope you're joking. I'm paying £270 for a module so I can do the testing for the developer? If they haven't tested it works with Prestashop 1.7.3 then they should say it's compatible with that version.

 

Edited April 20, 2018 by TC!! (see edit history)

[TC!!]

Just to be clear on this, a module stating it's compatible with 1.7.3 is using this displayProductButtons hook:

 

Quote

Updated Hooks

A couple of hooks were modified between 1.7.0.x and 1.7.1.x.

• actionDeleteProductInCartAfter has been divided into two hooks:
  • actionObjectProductInCartDeleteBefore.
  • actionObjectProductInCartDeleteAfter.
• displayProductButtons has been renamed into displayProductAdditionalInfo.
  • Don’t worry, we kept an alias

 

I'm not sure what the alias does but it's not visible in my admin in version 1.7.2.

[selectshop.at]

Please take into consideration that Prestashop 1.7. is still in development. Addons for PS 1.7.0 not necessarily should and will be work with PS 1.7.2 or 1.7.3.

Perhaps you missed this fact. It is a version not ready and if you will read in the forum not really suitable for the use in production with extra addons. Also not the native core and modules are yet stable.

I will say: Ask for developer to debug your problem. A min. of 3 months support should be included. If developer refuses to debug, so ask you money back. On addons site on your order you will find a contact possibility. Use that button.

If you bought outside from Prestashop addons site, so we cannot do nothing for you, because this is beyond of Prestashop control.

[Dh42]

@selectshop.at We have to admit the fact that is it considered by PrestaShop to be a stable release version and it is the LTS version at the moment. We are 5 months until 1.6 is no longer supported. 1.7 is PrestaShops version they want people to use in production. 

[TC!!]

@selectshop.at

I have contacted both developers via the feedback system and had no response from either of them.

I have to ask something important, if 1.7 is not ready to be used in production then why not make that clear on the Prestashop download page?

https://www.prestashop.com/en/download

That makes it very clear they expect people to download 1.7.

[selectshop.at]

@TC!!- This question I cannot answer you. I'm neither a developer nor part of Prestashop Team. Fact is that they released PS 1.7. as stable version too early. You will find several same topics and the claim of what PS 1.7. isn't since months in the forum.

For your problem: Use the same contact option on addons site and report a dispute to have your money back.

@Dh42- PS 1.6 not supported, and is there any problem on that ? You can use it without any bigger bugs, Furthermore you can download other versions which are working stable in this version line. I have two customers using PS 1.5.4 without any incidents. So what? It is really necessary to have the latest version, I mean PS 1.7  in production ? My answer is NO.

[TC!!]

I'll leave an update on my progress with getting this to work. What they are saying about the hook displayProductAdditionalInfo being an alias for displayProductButtons is correct. The problem I had was because the site I was working on didn't need the social buttons which use the displayProductAdditionalInfo, I had removed it so the installation of the module wasn't able to use the alias and the installation failed without giving me any error. I guess this is because of the way the alias works? I'll post a bug report on this in case it can help in the future.

 

So that's one very big problem out of the way. My next problem is because I didn't use the classic theme as the starting point for my theme, I used the start theme. This means I do not have AJAX buttons on my product pages, when someone adds to basket I go directly to the basket, The module I'm using only works when the "Add to Basket" button uses the AJAX system of the classic theme.