Help and Support

We take great pride in our work here. If you experience a bug or a problem with our software, we really are sorry, and we really do want to fix it. We are also very interested to hear your thoughts and ideas. But there's a small problem...

We can't provide free support!

Many of you turn to us for support when you encounter a problem involving our software. Unfortunately, some of those support requests are rather inappropriate. We get emails from people who:

  • Haven't read the relevant user guide properly.
  • Want to modify or enhance an extension but don't know how.
  • Have problems related to their template or Joomla environment.
  • Have not attempted to resolve the issue by themselves.
  • Don't describe the problem properly.
  • Need help with layout or styling issues.
  • Need general help that is available elsewhere.
  • Want advice about a bespoke application.

This is all very frustrating. If you have a problem on your site, it's your job to investigate it, not ours. It doesn't become our problem until you determine with some certainty that you really have found a bug or a problem in our software.

Actually, we do like to help. But so many times we spent hours (even days) helping people, and at the end, when their problem was resolved and we asked them to submit a review (which takes five minutes), they disappeared without trace and we never heard from them again. Other times, we would spend time responding to a request for help, and then we never even got a reply. We find that deeply hurtful, so we hope you can understand why we are more reluctant to help than we used to be. Of course, you can completely reverse the situation by showing your appreciation before you ask for help.

Help Us to Help You

You can help us to help you by taking the time to explain the problem clearly. We can only test our extensions on our own systems, so if you are seeing an error, we probably need some information about your system. Why might this error be happening for you and not for us? We don't expect a literary masterpiece, and if your English isn't good, that's ok (you can also talk to us in French, by the way). But if it's obvious that you are unwilling to commit some time to the problem, we won't either. The magic word is "contact", but please remember, Open Source Software is supposed to be a co-operative, two-way process, not a free software shop!

We Need Your Help and Support Us Too!

If you find our extensions useful, you can help and encourage us in several different ways:

  • Write a nice review over at the Joomla Extensions Directory.
  • Send us a nice email with some constructive ideas.
  • Send us a language file.
  • Report problems and help us to test fixes.
  • Make a donation.

Please don't write bad reviews on the JED or use a JED review to report a problem. If you encounter a problem please contact us and we will try to help.

Our sincere thanks to the many, many people who have supported us or provided encouragement, as well as to all the other people making free software, including Joomla itself, whom we, in turn, depend on. And to the thousands of "silent users" who are not able to contribute or get involved at this time, please consider it for the future. Free Open Source Software has made the world a better place, and despite all the frustrations and problems, it's important to do something worthwhile that isn't just about money.

Good luck!
Chris
Our extensions are now working well in thousands of sites, so if something doesn't work for you, it is most likely to be a local problem.
 

Donations are optional but extremely welcome!