Update question

[Richard Conway]

Hi,

I’ve bought the woocommerce tickets add-on but using it with the free version on the events calendar. I know version 4 of the calendar is now available and that the ticketing options will be merged into one plugin.

However I notice from the event calendar pro forum lots of reported issues following upgrade. Since I’m using it on a live site how long would you advise I wait before considering update? Also do I update the calendar plugin first and then the ticketing plugin or the other way round?

Thanks
Gary

[Bennet]

I have basically the same question. Although unfortunately, I’ve been working a deal for weeks and they agreed to the WooCommerce plugin. The addons from within WP still let me buy the WooCommerce plugin and I did and installed it and added a ticket to an event but the form doesn’t appear to let anyone actually buy the tickets. I see the price on the event but no way to purchase.

I’m wondering if this is a defect with the new version or a clever way to force people into the new plugin?

[Brook]

Howdy Gary,

I am happy you asked. I actually want to clarify one thing, we basically have only seen two bugs since 4.0 went live:

1. PHP errors will occur if you don’t update Community Events and The Events Calendar at the same time. The fix is to manually update the second one. Which sort of answers your question about the order to update in. The advice will always be to update everything simultaneously. Updating interdependant WordPress plugins one at a time is far more likely to cause bugs.
2. Sometimes the_excerpt() shows a longer string than it should.

And that’s basically it. The first one is a pretty big deal and we are sad we did not catch it. Update bugs can be some of the hardest to catch. But the point is that 4.0 is actually quite stable, especially for a large release. Some bugs are unfortunately inevitable in big pieces of software, but we are working hard to patch them and will likely have a patch out in the middle of next week. We have had a lot of forum activity, but as far as bugs go those are basically the only two 4.0 introduced that have been reported thus far.

As far as when to update, the only advice I can really share there is my personal update strategy that applies to every piece of software I use: unless I need the new features now wait a few weeks to see if a hotfix or minor release is out. In our case there will definitely be one, maybe two for 4.0. I just like to err on the side of caution with these things. But, most people update long before then and the extreme majority (+99%) of people already on 4.0 are not seeing any issues that they’ve reported to us.

Does that answer your question?

Cheers!

– Brook

[Brook]

Bennet, it sounds like we still need to update the page you purchased from. If you can still purchase WooCommerce somewhere then that is an accident, not a feature. I can definitely set you up with a refund if you prefer, or I can get you a proper copy of 3.12 for WooCommerce Tickets if that is your preferred version. To be up front though, I would not do that if I were in your shoes. Event Tickets is WooCommerce Tickets with a few new features and a new name. It shares basically all of the code and interfaces of WooCommerce. If your client liked WooCommerce Tickets, I doubt they will dislike the latest version of it which essentially is Event Tickets.

Does that answer your question? Do you mind if we continue this conversation in a new topic so we don’t spam Gary’s inbox with something not relevant to him?

Thanks!

• Brook

[Richard Conway]

Hi Brook,

Thanks for your reply. Since I’ve been very pleased with version 3 of the calendar I’ll certainly wait a week or two before upgrading in the hope of a further update to fix any known bugs.

I’m coming to this plugin from event espresso which I’ve used for years with many headaches. Very often their updates caused major issues with my site and that added to how poor their plugin was in terms of mobile responsiveness led me to look elsewhere.

I’m curious about the update process you refer to when you say manually and simultaneously. You seem to be indicating that to update the core calendar plugin followed by the ticketing plugin could cause issues. So what is best practice? Do I disable current ticketing plugin altogether, then update calendar, then install new ticketing plugin? Or do I update to new ticketing plugin first. Please clarify the steps you recommend since I’m keen to ensure I don’t get problems once I upgrade.

I assume that the fact that the existing ticket sales are stored in woocommerce itself means disabling and deleting existing ticketing plugin will not lead to loss of sales information? Will existing events still show the same amount of unsold tickets when the update is complete?

On a final point can you explain the rsvp feature in the new version 4? I’m not sure I understand how this feature is helpful for those of us using the ticketing add-on. One feature missing from the event calendar I’d like to see is waiting lists. Ice read other forum posts and articles where people say various waiting list plugins for woocommerce don’t work because events are considered tickets and not products. Apparently you can make tickets products to force the waiting list to work but if adds a stage to the check out process. I’m wondering if rsvp can somehow be used in lieu of waiting lists? If an event is sold out are people still able to rsvp in version 4 of the plugin?

Thanks in advance.

Gary

[Brook]

My pleasure! Here I will answer them one by one:

I’m curious about the update process you refer to when you say manually and simultaneously. You seem to be indicating that to update the core calendar plugin followed by the ticketing plugin could cause issues. So what is best practice? Do I disable current ticketing plugin altogether, then update calendar, then install new ticketing plugin? Or do I update to new ticketing plugin first. Please clarify the steps you recommend since I’m keen to ensure I don’t get problems once I upgrade.

Sorry if I was unclear here. The best method for updating is the usual WordPress way. In your WP Admin click Updates (takes you to example.com/wp-admin/update-core.php), select the plugins you want to update, and click update. The best “order” for updating is to do them all at once. Typically people click “select all” to select everyone of their plugins that has an update available, and they hit update. This does them all at once.

I assume that the fact that the existing ticket sales are stored in woocommerce itself means disabling and deleting existing ticketing plugin will not lead to loss of sales information? Will existing events still show the same amount of unsold tickets when the update is complete?

Updating the plugin, disabling, or even deleting the plugin, does not remove your data. Upgrading from WooCommerce to Event Tickets Plus will also save your data.

I’m wondering if rsvp can somehow be used in lieu of waiting lists? If an event is sold out are people still able to rsvp in version 4 of the plugin?

That’s an interesting usecase. You definitely could use RSVPs this way. RSVPs have a separate stock count than tickets, so even if the actual tickets are sold out RSVPs would continue to be available for people to register. You could even rename the RSVP to waitlist if you wanted, using some fairly minor PHP customizations.

Does that answer all your questions?

• Brook

[Richard Conway]

Hi Brook,

Yes I think that answers all my questions. I will upgrade from WooTickets to the new ticketing plugin today and then update the calendar plugin. Interesting to hear that RSVP can be used as a form of waiting list. I think you should be making a bigger deal about this as waiting lists are a feature so many people request and I know for example Event Espresso don’t have the feature. As mentioned there are waiting list options from WooCommerce themselves but it’s a charged addon and is designed to work with products and I know from reading other forum posts that it does not work with your ticketing option without some tweaking.

Thanks
Gary

[Brook]

I really appreciate the feedback, Gary. That is a cool way to use RSVPs. We are a bit hesitant to advertise that as a waitlist feature for now, as it is not completely geared towards waitlists yet. We would like to address the wait list feature request in the future, and make it a little more seamless. But in the interim I agree, using RSVPs as a waitlist is a good immediate solution.

Thank you!

– Brook

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