javascript error when using Events Calendar widget on mobile

[vladtheinhaler]

I created a ticket about this issue several weeks ago but the Tribe tech was quick to blame it on a “Theme conflict” and say “Not our problem.” This is despite the fact that the theme I’m using appears on your list of recommended themes that are known to be free of conflicts (Total). Pretty disappointing.

Anyway, I’ve recently corresponded with the theme developer, who sent me this diagnostic info that may be helpful for you, so I’m opening a new ticket and hoping for better results: https://cl.ly/6cabccd7328c

This shows a javascript error in the plugin, which he says is outside the scope of the theme and suggest that you guys should provide the fix. FWIW, here’s a screencast of the issue as it appears on my iPhone 8: https://www.dropbox.com/s/sg8g2ps36uxqb2s/2018-10-03%2009.40.37.mp4?dl=0
The problem is that the mobile menu fails to load in mobile Chrome when I’m using the Events Calendar widget. In the video, you can see the mobile menu bar flicker three times, which corresponds to my three taps on the screen.

The error does not appear when I use the Events List widget, only the Calendar version, strongly suggesting the problem lies with something in the code for that particular widget. Note that this issue doesn’t show up on emulators like the Chrome dev console. . . it’s just when using the phone browser itself.

To answer some basics: WordPress, the Total theme, and all plugins are current.

[Jennifer]

Hello,

I’m sorry to hear that you’ve had so much trouble with the widget! There was a known issue with this widget in mobile view (which appears to have not yet been identified or recreated on our end at the time of your last thread), but we just put out a maintenance release yesterday which should have addressed this. Can you try updating to the current versions of The Events Calendar (4.6.24) and Events Calendar Pro (4.4.33), clear out any caching that you might be doing on your server or via a plugin, and try again?

I apologize for the inconvenience that this was causing and the delay in identifying the source of the issue! Please let me know if this gets things working for you!

Thanks,

Jennifer

[vladtheinhaler]

Thanks so much for this speedy fix, which I greatly appreciate. I have one other unresolved issue that also got buried as a “theme conflict” and never properly investigated. Maybe it was just a bad support staffer, since both tickets were handled by the same person. In any case, since this widget fix was clearly a routine fix for Tribe, and once the problem was identified, it got quickly sent to the dev team and handled with impressive competence, I’m wondering if you have any advice on how to get my other issue handled the same way. In other words, what can I do to persuade Support that there’s a real problem on your end?

My other issue is on the same website, so it uses the same Tribe-approved theme, and every indication I can see points to a problem with Tribe code. The previous tech gave me the usual “try disabling all plugins” script and was completely uninterested in looking at the actual problem. The breakthrough in this case seems to have been to contact the theme developer and get him to send a screenshot of a javascript error. . . must I always have the burden of proving there’s a problem? I’m not a programmer, which is why I buy plugins like The Events Calendar Pro, but I’m guessing the .js error would be obvious at a glance if an experienced tech from Tribe were to look at the issue, and the problem was that nobody bothered. I very much appreciate the speed and competence with which you handled this issue, and I’d be grateful for any insights you may have about getting my next ticket dealt with when I resubmit the other issue.

[Jennifer]

I’m glad to hear that the latest release solved the initial problem for you! Regarding the second issue, I took a look through your previous threads – are you referring to exported ics file that you posted about here? If so, I did some digging on this topic, and I am not seeing any bug reports currently open for this particular issue. I did a quick test importing the calendar export from my local environment to my Google calendar as well, and the export was working locally for me…Regarding the “Headers already sent” message that yo mentioned before – this is usually due to extra space at the end of a file. In this case, it looks like it’s coming from the Category Colors extension. You can read more about this warning here, but it is unlikely that this is related to the export issue.

I definitely understand your frustration here, and I apologize that we weren’t able to get to the bottom of things the last time you reached out! It is possible that there is a bug on our end, but we do need to be able to recreate the issue in order to confirm this. I know Jaime had asked you to set up a fresh install of WordPress with only The Events Calendar, Events Calendar Pro, and Community Events installed. Did you try this out, and if so, were you still not able to import the export?

I looked at the ics file that I downloaded from your events page, and it looks like the events in the file are all pretty far into the future (2020). However, they did import into my Google calendar (see screenshot). When you click the “Export events” button, the events exported should be only the ones that are currently displayed on the screen. It looks like there was a similar known issue (where the events farthest into the future were exported in month view) in the past, but this was resolved and the export functionality has been fully reworked since then. If you are running the current versions of The Events Calendar (4.6.24.1) and Events Calendar Pro (4.4.33), this would not be the source of this issue.

With this information, it is definitely possible that The Events Calendar isn’t getting along well with something else on your site – that doesn’t mean that you would need to necessarily change either your theme or our plugin, but identifying where the issue is coming from is an important first step in working on a solution. It’s also possible that there is a setting somewhere, even within The Events Calendar plugin, that is causing this issue. That’s where the idea of setting up a completely fresh environment and from there, configuring it to match your live site, can be a good one to help narrow down the source of the problem.

I really do wish that I could give you a more straightforward answer on this, but since none of us have been able to recreate it and aren’t currently seeing any reports of the same thing from other users, it is likely related to something specific to your environment. Still, I’ll be happy to do what I can to help you get this figured out!

[vladtheinhaler]

Hi Jennifer, and thanks for getting back to me with this thoughtful note. I’m really encouraged that you took the time to find my old ticket, and the insight that the calendar wasn’t actually blank but just not starting until 2020 is a useful clue. . . already a big improvement over the first round!

FYI, I submitted a new ticket around the same time I replied to you, and it looks like “Andras” is on the job. I don’t want you to have to double up your efforts, so would you mind keeping this ticket open for now, and if I find a resolution in the other convo, I’ll close this one to let you know you’re off the hook. I’m optimistic about that exchange too (Andras also noticed the 2020 events) but because my first attempt went nowhere, and you seem skilled and dedicated, I’d really appreciate it if I could keep this line of commmunication open as a Plan C, just in case. Cool?

[Jennifer]

Hello,

No problem, I’m happy to leave this ticket open. It will close automatically after three weeks of inactivity, but if that does happen and you still need further assistance, you can always open up a new ticket 🙂

[vladtheinhaler]

That sounds like the perfect plan. . . hopefully I’ll have a resolution via
the other tech within three weeks. If not, I’ll let you know. Thanks again
for your responsiveness!

bt

logo-tuman-design-website-consulting-callout

[Jennifer]

I’m sure Andras will be able to help you get everything sorted out! 🙂 If there is anything else I can help you with, please let me know.

[vladtheinhaler]

FYI this seems to be on its way to a resolution: the support guys I was working with in the other convo identified a bug and passed it along to the dev team. Not sure how quickly there’ll be a fix, but it sounds like it’s out of my hands and just needs to chug through the process. Just in case, I’d still love it if we could keep this thread open until it’s 100% solved. . . but I’m optimistic there’ll be a favorable resolution with no further action from either of us! Thanks for being willing to help, and I’ll post again in the unlikely event that the other convo turns into a dead end.

[vladtheinhaler]

Hi Jennifer, I have (at last!) a workaround for the iCal export issue in the other ticket I referenced, and it works well enough while waiting for a permanent fix from the dev team. This means you’re off the hook, and I’ll close this redundant ticket. Thanks again for being willing to pitch in if necessary, and glad the rest of the crew was able to save us both the trouble. Take care and have a great weekend. . .

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