my Premium Cometchat disappeared- related to SSL/https changes?

Strumelia
@strumelia
7 years ago
3,603 posts

I have never used the JR module of CC...always had the paid Premium version. It was working fine for several hours after I enabled my SSL/https site version on FOTMD.com but just an hour ago it totally disappeared. Gone on PC, iPad, and in all browsers.
I don't see any http errors listed in the Developers Tools on Chrome.

I opened a ticket with CC, but does the JR Team havbe any clues as to whether this is related to my change of http/https status i put in place today for my site?
Thanks for any guesses.
I have some freaked out members right now, on 'chat withdrawal' ! =8-o

--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015
updated by @strumelia: 11/02/17 05:00:24PM

@michael
7 years ago
7,714 posts

sure it could be related. First thing to do is to use ctrl+u to view the source code of one of your pages where cometchat should be seen and see if the code to get it there is coming out or not.

I cant see anything "cometchat" in your home page.

There will be some javascript somewhere calls it into existence. Need to figure out where that should be and get it back there.

Strumelia
@strumelia
7 years ago
3,603 posts

If I "view page source" to see my home page code, I see this at the very bottom, where the CC icon would show:

 <link type="text/css" href="https://fotmd.com/modules/ccCometChat/contrib/cometchat/css.php" rel="stylesheet" charset="utf-8" /><script type="text/javascript" src="https://fotmd.com/modules/ccCometChat/contrib/cometchat/js.php" charset="utf-8"></script></body>
</html>

--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015

Strumelia
@strumelia
7 years ago
3,603 posts

The CC module I have is active, I have not made any changes other than the https stuff today. But CC continued working for about 5 hours after all that was done. Then it suddenly disappeared. I did integ check, system check, caches, etc.
I have a moderator in Pennsylvnia who first reported the chat missing just a little while ago, on his new windows laptop. He thought it was his laptop, but then I saw it was happening to me too, on my pc, ipad, and in all browsers.

--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015

@michael
7 years ago
7,714 posts

I couldn't see it because logged out users cant see it normally. I logged in and can see the cometchat code.

That all looks right. Does cometchat have a control panel on cometchat.com? does that have an "enable SSL" option perhaps?

Strumelia
@strumelia
7 years ago
3,603 posts

I'm checking... I have a 'mycometchat' account access. Also a panel on JR I think...

There's an "API key for RESTful APIs for User Management on custom coded sites" in the JR CC admin panel... and it has a long key code. is that anything relevant?

--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015
updated by @strumelia: 04/20/17 08:15:48PM

Strumelia
@strumelia
7 years ago
3,603 posts

I read this (from someone on Jamroom) from a year ago on a CC help site:

1. I am converting my site over to SSL. Aside from the config file base url, are there any other changes?
answer: Once you configure SSL on your site CometChat will work with SSL without requiring any changes to be made.

....guess I'll need to wait for the CC support to reply to my ticket. Thanks for your ideas Michael!

--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015
updated by @strumelia: 04/20/17 08:36:27PM

Strumelia
@strumelia
7 years ago
3,603 posts

Grrr... got a support ticket reply from Comechat (which I paid $225 for two years ago for the Premium version which included 1 yr tech support ...which was working fine til I updated my site to https yesterday)
They told me if I wanted help I should renew my license again for $125. They signed their message "Customer Happiness Team". lolol
I call BS! because this is surely a basic internet issue that they's already dealt with a million times- not some complex problem that is unique to my situation. I told them they should provide a simple setting or solution to enable their product to continue functioning for me without requiring me to spend more money for their help. I had figured I'd keep using my Premium CC version as long as it remained glitch-free, my members like it.... but this is just a kinda stupid reason for it to 'die' when it should be easy to fix.
I replied politely that if they don't get my chat https/ssl enabled in the next 48 hours that I will no longer be their customer.

.....knowing that Jamroom has my back with their FREE version of https-enabled chat which I already have had working for months on my other jr site.

p.s. I went through my CC admin settings and panel on mycometchat site and do not see any 'enable SSL' type setting, unfortunately.

--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015
updated by @strumelia: 04/21/17 07:42:22AM

@michael
7 years ago
7,714 posts

send me the details to login to your cometchat control panel and I'll take a look. See if anything obvious jumps out. support at jamroom dot net.

Strumelia
@strumelia
7 years ago
3,603 posts

Michael, you are so kind. Let me first see what Cometchat has to say to me overnight about it, and I'll get back here tomorrow Saturday at some point.

--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
7 years ago
824 posts

are you using cometchat and simple chat at the same time ?

Strumelia
@strumelia
7 years ago
3,603 posts

Not really, that would be too weird.
I have jrChat activated while my CC chat is broken though.
The outcome remains to be seen.

--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015
updated by @strumelia: 04/22/17 09:43:58AM

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
7 years ago
824 posts

I preferred the way cometchat opens up separate messages like how facebook chats work but i am using the simplechat since its simple as it says and already connected by the jamroom guys. those cometchat people are a nightmare hahhahah i have the premium cometchat as well just collecting dust. Maybe jamroom will eventually release a chat skin similar to the cometchat or something ?

Strumelia
@strumelia
7 years ago
3,603 posts

Personally, I find the CC hat appearance to be unattractive and kinda dated.
I'm hoping that after today my members will want me to stay with jrChat instead anyway.

Here's the jrSimple chat window appearance, I've changed up the colors for my site:

--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015

Strumelia
@strumelia
7 years ago
3,603 posts

sorry, gotta go- lots of chores to do today... gotta move some big beehives!

--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
7 years ago
824 posts

ohh yeah i totally agree the way the simplechat looks is amazing its beautiful and fits the site perfect i love mine too i didnt mean the look of it i guess was more talking about the personal messages and how they pop up but im sure we could figure something out to make that easier to get too on simplechat, but we mostly use ours on our site for a group chat anyway. the only issue i have is most of my members if they wanna talk to me in private they end up messaging me on fb messenger lol. and that makes me frustrated since i would rather have all communication in one place, but like i said for the most part i am very satisfied with what jamroom has done with simplechat

@michael
7 years ago
7,714 posts

You have bees? cool. I imagine I'd like bees if I had the space.

Strumelia
@strumelia
7 years ago
3,603 posts

Yes I have five hives. Usually only get stung 2 or 3 times a year...bees are pretty slow to anger. But yesterday this one box did not want to be disrupted, and the result was 22 stings. But the bees got moved despite their complaints. Benedryl is my friend!

Unfortunately, another large hive remains to be moved either today or tomorrow. sighhhh... Shold be great after all is done though. I also raise mason bees. It's all just a hobby though, not my actual work.

--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015

Strumelia
@strumelia
7 years ago
3,603 posts

Update-
I finally heard back again from Cometchat support ticket-- they sent me a 2nd canned response from their "Customer Happiness Team" (not making this up) that said they would only help me if I renew my license which will cost over $130.
So i said ADIOS to Cometchat.

Hello to JR Simple chat on my main site now. (had already on my mostly inactive site).

My members seem divided about it but I'd say most of them like the change- they say it's easier to read the text for one thing.
There are some questions and thoughts about jrChat I will ask in another thread.
This thread is solved. Thank you Jamroom for being there for us!!

--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015

@michael
7 years ago
7,714 posts

"We are glad our informative response has satisfactorily answered your inquiry or question.

Regards

Jamroom Customer Happiness Team"

Strumelia
@strumelia
7 years ago
3,603 posts

That's how I'm going to refer to you guys from now on. lololol

--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015

Strumelia
@strumelia
7 years ago
3,603 posts

hahaha they just consulted amongst themselves and sent me an offer of 20% discount on my license renewal ... so if I pay $99 they will help me out.
bwaaaaaaahhhhhaahahahah!
Buh bye CC.

--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
7 years ago
824 posts

Scam artists for sure man. Thanks to jr for creating the simple chat onward and upward

Strumelia
@strumelia
7 years ago
3,603 posts

Well, I wouldn't say scam. I feel they are a bit too greedy, considering the inconveniences their U.S. customers deal with in getting tech support... due to the language and time zone differences.
Yes, big thanks to JR team for giving us Simple Chat... always supported, updated, ...and free with the JR hosting plan. :D

--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
7 years ago
824 posts

That's one of the things I love about jr its all in house. Anything to keep from using 3rd party plugins I'm good. That's one of the bad things about the other platforms they rely heavy on 3rd party apps making any tech issue a nightmare

@paul
7 years ago
4,326 posts

SteveX (UltraJam) makes a few third party modules, but he's one of the good guys ;-)

--
Paul Asher - JR Developer and System Import Specialist

gary.moncrieff
@garymoncrieff
7 years ago
865 posts

There are a lot of companies out there, that charge an additional fee for an extra year support/updates. the initial purchase normally only includes 12 months and sometimes even 6 months of support/updates. If you're happy with a product this shouldn't really cause any issues.

CometChat
@cometchat
7 years ago
21 posts

Strumelia:
I have never used the JR module of CC...always had the paid Premium version. It was working fine for several hours after I enabled my SSL/https site version on FOTMD.com but just an hour ago it totally disappeared. Gone on PC, iPad, and in all browsers.
I don't see any http errors listed in the Developers Tools on Chrome.

I opened a ticket with CC, but does the JR Team havbe any clues as to whether this is related to my change of http/https status i put in place today for my site?
Thanks for any guesses.
I have some freaked out members right now, on 'chat withdrawal' ! =8-o

Dear @Strumelia,

Please accept my apologize for the delay. We have full support for SSL. The most common issue is not setting the Base URL correctly in the CometChat Admin Panel. The URL must start with https instead of http. Please share the ticket number so that I can get it checked on priority.

Regards,

Mike
CometChat
updated by @cometchat: 05/04/17 10:29:00AM

Strumelia
@strumelia
7 years ago
3,603 posts

Thanks Mike, but... too little, way too late. If you read this thread, you'll see that my CC support ticket was responded to TWICE by the CC support team with the same refusal to help in any way until I bought a new license (see above in this thread).
Now you say it might have been solved quickly and easily by simply resetting the base url to https. If that had been the response initially to my ticket two weeks ago, it might have kept you a customer.
Meanwhile, seeing my distress over suddenly not having a working chat, the Jamroom Team immediately stepped up and offered to try and help investigate my CC issue, despite it not even being their program to support.

I now use the Jamroom Chat program on both my sites. Super fast support, working perfectly, and my members are liking it. Jamroom helps all their platform users (new and old) with SSL/https updating issues immediately, and at no extra cost.

Thanks anyway though, and best wishes to you... bye!

--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015

@derrickhand300
7 years ago
1,353 posts

Strumelia:
Thanks Mike, but... too little, way too late. If you read this thread, you'll see that my CC support ticket was responded to TWICE by the CC support team with the same refusal to help in any way until I bought a new license (see above in this thread).
Now you say it might have been solved quickly and easily by simply resetting the base url to https. If that had been the response initially to my ticket two weeks ago, it might have kept you a customer.
Meanwhile, seeing my distress over suddenly not having a working chat, the Jamroom Team immediately stepped up and offered to try and help investigate my CC issue, despite it not even being their program to support.

I now use the Jamroom Chat program on both my sites. Super fast support, working perfectly, and my members are liking it. Jamroom helps all their platform users (new and old) with SSL/https updating issues immediately, and at no extra cost.

Thanks anyway though, and best wishes to you... bye!

Sorry you had same experience as i did with them..cost me around $250 (I think) to find out how bad their support sucked- then I had to spam all their YT videos for a week with negative comments THEN I got a message from them " we would love to help..." pfft...

CometChat
@cometchat
7 years ago
21 posts

Hello @Strumelia,

I know it is a little too late for an apology from me but for what it is worth, I am sorry that you had that sort of a broken and frustrating experience with us and that I could not get involved earlier to mitigate that.

This issue came to my notice last week and we have renewed the license you had for indiegospel.net, if you wish to ever use it again.

Amit Thacker

Head - Marketing & Sales
CometChat

Strumelia
@strumelia
7 years ago
3,603 posts

Hello Amit,
I'll be sticking with Jamroom's chat program now. Thank you for the response, even though it is too late..
However I do hope this experience will enable Cometchat to improve their customer support system for the future, in ways that will give your customers more responsive service. That would mean more customers deciding to renew with CC instead of going elsewhere. Clearly you need to put into place some improvements.
Thanks and best wishes.

--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015

CometChat
@cometchat
7 years ago
21 posts

Hello derrickhand300,

Sincere apologies to you too, i guess today is a day of apologizing for me out here. But on a serious note, is it too late for us to work together and start anew? Please do send me your user details if you feel so, I will have a look on what went wrong and how we can correct things.

Amit Thacker

Head - Marketing & Sales
CometChat

CometChat
@cometchat
7 years ago
21 posts

Strumelia:
Hello Amit,
I'll be sticking with Jamroom's chat program now. Thank you for the response, even though it is too late..
However I do hope this experience will enable Cometchat to improve their customer support system for the future, in ways that will give your customers more responsive service. That would mean more customers deciding to renew with CC instead of going elsewhere. Clearly you need to put into place some improvements.
Thanks and best wishes.

@strumelia
I understand and thank you for accepting my response. And yes, we will reflect on what went on here and get our support act together. We will get better and you will here about us in the right notes soon. Also, thank you for choosing CometChat, it is a shame that we let you down.

Amit Thacker

Head - Marketing & Sales
CometChat
updated by @cometchat: 05/07/17 06:38:59AM

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
7 years ago
824 posts

you know i looked at coming back to jamroom from social engine for a while i kept playing with the idea for almost 2 years but it was the jr run simple chat that gave me the final push to say hell with it im going back to jamroom. note i had no issues at all running cc on se i installed it myself and it worked perfectly fine no issues but i always felt it did make the site look and feel dated and i could never get it to work on mobile without costing a fortune i ended up using cometchat on the web site and chatwing on mobile and that was just ridiculous running all those chats since one used members and one did not it was hard to make progress on that really. Now on jr's new system with simple chat installed its all in one box and works on my mobile phone close to perfect. for the time being i will also be letting cc sit on the shelf and see where we go from here using simplechat and jr exclusively for our site. the last time i used jamroom with cc i had the same issues with support that strumelia experienced and its just not worth it unless you had no other option really.

@perrie
7 years ago
435 posts

OK now this all makes sense.
I just changed my site from an http to an https and one by one my members are saying that they are losing chat. Now I don't know what to do. Go back to http or leave it as https. Ugh.

@paul
7 years ago
4,326 posts

I'd try contacting CC - You never know, they may have learnt to support their customers of late, and having their software work on SSL sites shouldn't be that difficult for them.

--
Paul Asher - JR Developer and System Import Specialist

Strumelia
@strumelia
7 years ago
3,603 posts

Perry, when you switch to JR Simple chat, suddenly you have NO MORE PROBLEMS. Plus it's not expensive updates like Cometchat. Not to mention the huge diff in support.
Yes your members will bellyache for a day or two while adjusting (always the case, members seem to never like having things change), but my members now love the JR chat and it also automatically uses whatever smileys you might have added to your JR Smileys module.
Here's a screen shot from my site a few minutes ago... you can pop-out the chat window as well if you like:

--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
7 years ago
824 posts

Yes my simple chat stays active almost 24 7 and it works great on mobile. My users by far love it more than any other chat we have used in the past

@perrie
7 years ago
435 posts

Thanks Strumelia and Zack for you feedback and info.

Sadly, I need the private chat, as that is how I manage a lot of the personal disputes that go on, on the site. And while I know I can make private chatrooms, the sad and very ugly nature of our political state, has rendered many of my members uber paranoid. So I will have to deal with cometchat or find a new chat..

@brian
7 years ago
10,148 posts

perrie:
... or find a new chat..

Why would Jamroom's simple chat not work for you? Do your users believe it is not secure or something?

--
Brian Johnson
Founder and Lead Developer - Jamroom
https://www.jamroom.net

gary.moncrieff
@garymoncrieff
7 years ago
865 posts

perrie:
Thanks Strumelia and Zack for you feedback and info.

Sadly, I need the private chat, as that is how I manage a lot of the personal disputes that go on, on the site. And while I know I can make private chatrooms, the sad and very ugly nature of our political state, has rendered many of my members uber paranoid. So I will have to deal with cometchat or find a new chat..

Simple Chat has a private chat feature, although coming from Cometchat it may not seem obvious.

Click on the down arrow beside the room name at the top, then you will see Start a Chat with a User.

Just wondering Brian if there would be a way to make this more obvious? Maybe if you click on profile icon in chat, you get a context menu with options, rather than linking directly to profile?

@perrie
7 years ago
435 posts

Hi Brian,

Because the way it was explained to me, you have to form like private chat room. The moment they would hear that, some of my more paranoid members would think it wasn't secure. I have owned NT for 7 years now, and I have never seen so much nuts from the whole political spectrum as I am dealing with now. Shoosh.. don't tell them I told you all this,

But believe me, I would much rather use simple chat and not have to deal with cometchat, their incompetence and spend more money.

Hi Gary,
That would be a good idea. It sounds more like the way cometchat works and they would feel more secure. But I need to figure this out ASAP, since cometchat is breaking down before my eyes. There is Ajax which is free and open source, but the very untechy me might mess that up.

Strumelia
@strumelia
7 years ago
3,603 posts

gary.moncrieff:
Just wondering Brian if there would be a way to make this more obvious? Maybe if you click on profile icon in chat, you get a context menu with options, rather than linking directly to profile?

I really like this idea Gary! -to get the drop down context menu (with option to start a private chat) right from the chat main room, simply by clicking on somebody's profile pic while you are chatting with them. I think it would be a big improvement for JR chat. :D

Perrie, my two cents: just tell your members that CC is breaking down has no SSL secure connection option right now (and your version isn't SSL anyway without updates)... install JR Chat and tell your members you're installing this new chat which IS secure/SSL and that you need to try it for a month or so while you explore various other possible chat options.

The simple fact is that JRchat is just as secure as Cometchat. In CC the admin can go peruse past private chats as well, from the Admin panel (did you know that? Do your members know that? lol

) Why let members tell you which chat is more secure- they are hardly in a position to know anyway. --> In my experience, after two weeks of using the new JR chat they will want you to KEEP it. And you won't be dependent on some 3rd party outfit with crappy support anymore. If they like CC smileys, you can always add more smileys to you JRchat by simply adding them to your JR Smiley module. I can help you with that if smileys are a chat issue for you.

--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015

@perrie
7 years ago
435 posts

Hi Strumelia,

Becuase I am having a huge influx of members at this time, cometchat (if it worked) would be one less thing for me to explain how to use on the site. But I can see your point. I will have to think about this.

Strumelia
@strumelia
7 years ago
3,603 posts

When i moved from Ning to JR, I had to do plenty of explaining on how to use Cometchat to my members. When I moved from CC to JRchat, I just told them CC was not transitioning well for HTTPS (which it wasn't at the time) and told them it cost too much anyway...I made the switch. A few members complained about not knowing how to do this or that on JRchat, but the other members helped them in live chat time, and after a week they all liked JRchat more than they disliked it. Now they would complain if I switched to some other chat- people just don't like changes period.
It seems to me that if your members are so particular about chat software, then they can damn well take a few moments to learn how to use it themselves. Are they adults? lol

--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
7 years ago
824 posts

gary.moncrieff:

perrie:
Thanks Strumelia and Zack for you feedback and info.

Sadly, I need the private chat, as that is how I manage a lot of the personal disputes that go on, on the site. And while I know I can make private chatrooms, the sad and very ugly nature of our political state, has rendered many of my members uber paranoid. So I will have to deal with cometchat or find a new chat..

Simple Chat has a private chat feature, although coming from Cometchat it may not seem obvious.

Click on the down arrow beside the room name at the top, then you will see Start a Chat with a User.

Just wondering Brian if there would be a way to make this more obvious? Maybe if you click on profile icon in chat, you get a context menu with options, rather than linking directly to profile?

dude that would be sooo awesome if it worked that way with starting private chats similar to the way fb messenger works.
another thing i wish it showed online at the top. you know the green lights that show who is online at the moment are scattered in the list so its hard to find who is online currently

@brian
7 years ago
10,148 posts

gary.moncrieff:
Maybe if you click on profile icon in chat, you get a context menu with options, rather than linking directly to profile?

zachary moonshine:
another thing i wish it showed online at the top.

Both of these are great suggestions. I have a small update that is in testing related to deleted items, so I will see about getting these in place.

Thanks everyone!

--
Brian Johnson
Founder and Lead Developer - Jamroom
https://www.jamroom.net

@perrie
7 years ago
435 posts

Please let us know, Brian. It sounds like it could be a game changer for me.

Zachary Moonshine
@zachary-moonshine
7 years ago
824 posts

this is one of many reasons i came back to jamroom, great team here

in progress my Premium Cometchat disappeared- related to SSL/https changes?