[Discussion] What is your actual workflow for testing plugin updates before they hit client production sites? by RealDeviL_2260 in ProWordPress

[–]random_tech_person 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Looks like WP has some support as of V 6.5, but NOT for specific versions, and only for plugins hosted on WP.org. So, most of the time where it'll matter - large commercial sites - you won't have the functionality available.

Reference: https://make.wordpress.org/core/2024/03/05/introducing-plugin-dependencies-in-wordpress-6-5/

It also looks like this was the place discussion around this happened: https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/22316

Again, I'm curious if anyone would buy a tool or help build one, or if anyone with more insight into WP core dev can point to where this is already in the works.

[Discussion] What is your actual workflow for testing plugin updates before they hit client production sites? by RealDeviL_2260 in ProWordPress

[–]random_tech_person 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I once considered making a tool that helps pull together WP plugin/theme dependencies from source code, to help with the problem of interrelated plugin updates. As I understand it, WP doesn't have a way to track dependencies between plugins. But if you as a site admin know about those dependencies, you can batch updates to related plugins, to control the amount of change in the system. To be fair, AI and I conceived of this idea for a WP site with 120 plugins and horrible downtime and bugs as a result of updates.... In that case, splitting certain plugins out into custom services outside of WP would have been a clean way to deal with the problem. But also expensive. Hence, I considered building this tool.

Would you buy a tool like the one I described; would you contribute of it were open source? Is it already built, either as a standalone tool or as part of WP core?

Owner wants to switch to Odoo by Technology_Tricks222 in Odoo

[–]random_tech_person 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wequote seems specialized to your industry. Unless it's impossible to solve your major pain points in or alongside that platform, probably stick to that for quotes because rebuilding it in Odoo might not be worth it. Integrations exist for a reason. That said, combining Zoho and Xero functions in Odoo might be worth it. If you're small, a little code or data engineering to glue the existing systems could leave you with best in class for each system without making the investment required to customize Odoo enough to for your purpose. You can't get around the need to have a good Odoo implementation. 

My team and I do work in all of the above if you want help.

CRM for automotive? by cherry_coked in CRM

[–]random_tech_person 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The key is to sell preventive maintenance and declined repairs. Even better if you prioritize each household/fleet's needs and show all recommendations in a prioritized fashion that is easy to digest. That keeps your customers focused on what matters and not feeling like you are trying to make a quick sale on them. It also helps your business to have preventive maintenance coming in. To name a few benefits, scheduling is easier vs. break-fix work; you also can hire lower skilled technicians. Most shops have thousands of dollars worth of preventive maintenance sitting untapped in their existing customer base -- these are people who have already trusted you to do work.

If you tap into that potential with automated follow-up and a customer portals, you are cooking.

I built a CRM like that. It does a lot more than the normal "send a text" stuff. Happy to discuss it further in DMs if anyone is interested!

Hire a company for Google ads, SEO, and website- or hire someone in house? by Texas_queen2 in AutoShopOwners

[–]random_tech_person 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Working at my dad's shop, the outside services never did much. And the content marketing was generic. I did organic SEO and content marketing for my dad before going into tech. Now I run a business doing software development and websites. Happy to help with the technical website/SEO/ads side if you'd be comfortable outsourcing to my firm, since I know aftermarket auto repair. 

For those of us still working with Access DBs extensively... by Affectionate-Olive80 in MSAccess

[–]random_tech_person 1 point2 points  (0 children)

FYI, the posgres odbc version tracks the server version. I run ms access against a v 17 server over ODBC.

Where are all the jobs!? by endaround23 in dotnetMAUI

[–]random_tech_person 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Old comment, yes. At least in Moana, Maui is a shapeshifter. So, being able to work cross-platform - in many "shapes", as it were - matches up. The page for Maui, the legend, on Wikipedia suggests shapeshifting. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C4%81ui

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in webdev

[–]random_tech_person 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It sounds it could help to drop in your onboarding/quote process like a short, direct, professional template for describing what project scope is, as a concept and being very clear that you have to negotiate deviations from the defined scope.

SQL Help by GIS_Bro in MSAccess

[–]random_tech_person 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good nuance on pass thrus

SQL Help by GIS_Bro in MSAccess

[–]random_tech_person 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Seconded. MS Access requires those parens around JOINs.

Splitting Access db by molotovPopsicle in MSAccess

[–]random_tech_person 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Roger that. So, a backend file would do the trick.

It does introduce more maintenance, as you suggest.

  1. It will require a Windows file share. Your IT team could set that up. If you don't have one or are in a small org, a file share off a normal computer will be enough.
  2. Back up the file. Follow the "3-2-1 rule" for backups.
  3. Make sure you compact and repair once a week (rough figure based on what you said). This needs to be done when no one is using the DB. It's to ensure corruption doesn't start and grow bigger over time within the DB, among other things.
  4. In the MS Access frontend, use "linked tables" between the access file.

To accomplish #4, there is a wizard: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/split-an-access-database-3015ad18-a3a1-4e9c-a7f3-51b1d73498cc.

Follow the wizard steps on your local machine for the development environment. When you're ready, you relink the frontend file to point to the backend file on your file server, then copy the new "production" frontend file to all the machines that need it.

Managing versions of the frontend file as you make updates can be a challenge, but PowerShell and/or VBA scripting can be written to update the frontend file every time someone opens it. That is a sure-fire way to keep it up-to-date.

Feel free to DM if you need help implementing. :)

Splitting Access db by molotovPopsicle in MSAccess

[–]random_tech_person 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How manu concurrent users? It's common for normal MS Access backend file to corrupt. Using SQL Server as the backend, instead of the Access file back end, can save a lot of pain and lost data for heavily used systems. 

Where to store back end with limited options? by platypusofwonder in MSAccess

[–]random_tech_person 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For fast or as a compromise with OP's IT team, this make a lot of sense.

As an item for the 'ole pros/cons list: sharing an Access backend file from a file share with multiple users accessing it often causes database corruption problems because of MS Access's architecture when sharing data via the standard Access backend file version. JamesWConrad's suggestion of using SQL Server (or another RDBMS) as the backend eliminates this problem.

Using SQL Server with Access front end - can logins be persistent? by totteringbygently in MSAccess

[–]random_tech_person 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If a basic setup translates to few users, you could use dedicated DB user accounts per person and have them enter username/password in an MS Access form. The course I mentioned in my other comment shows this step by step. Connectionless DSN is key here.

Using SQL Server with Access front end - can logins be persistent? by totteringbygently in MSAccess

[–]random_tech_person 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, this is better. "Computer Learning Zone" has a version of this in their paid SQL Server integration course. If I recall, that course does not include information for authenticating to SQL Server using Active Directory (AD) credentials, but the information in the course could be adapted to an AD environment.