In February of this year I wrote a blog post about the sad state the Update and AdRotate Geo API were in, causing problems for many AdRotate users. Have things improved since then?
TLDR; Yes!
Changes have been made
In the weeks following the blog from February I’ve been hard at work rewriting the API to be more efficient, more safe and most importantly – make it so that it actually works. New versions where released in May or so. This has worked fairly well, lots of people were able to update. But subsequent issues popped up and some more changes had to be made. Which were put online in mid June. Since then the Update API has been working smoothly.
AdRotate Geo saw a rewrite as well which mostly made it faster. But also the code on my server got fine-tuned to collect the same kind of information as the update API. And more importantly to give out more consistent responses based on that data. Which, for the most part has worked great.
Reported issues for AdRotate Geo are way down, indicating the service works much more smoothly now. For the Update API this is a bit harder to measure since so many users have a non-updating version installed… But daily downloads are up, and faulty responses are down. Indicating massive improvements have been made on that end.
Now it’s your turn
AdRotate Professional 5.8.2 finally fixed the Update issues. As-in, no breaking bugs were found, people with that and newer versions are able to consistently get updates. And things move along nicely. But… Several thousand users still are stuck with older versions, they’re ‘waiting’ for updates, which will never come because their particular version is broken for updates.
Updates are important, checking my blog or Twitter for updates is useful. And generally to pay more attention to what goes on with the plugins you have installed is a good thing. Not just for AdRotate (Pro) but any plugin. If a plugin didn’t receive an update for months or even years… Stop to wonder what happened to it, maybe the plugin is no longer developed. Find out and make an educated decision to keep using it, or replace that plugin.
This also works for AdRotate Pro, except I’m still making updates. So you’d find that updates ARE available, and guides on how to update are available too.
In short, update your sites regularly to stay current!
Email notifications
Based on your interactions with the Update API I can sort of tell if you are still using AdRotate Pro and which version you have.
If there has been recent activity and your version is outdated you may receive an email especially tailored to your situation with the recommendation to update. If your license has been expired there will be a discount offer for a new license in there as well.
If your license is not expired, but you are using a ‘obsolete’ version a step by step guide to update is provided.
This makes the hurdle to update much less and I hope I can help a lot of people with updating this way. Or at least to help with awareness about updates.
This email system was put in place last month. You may have already received a notification and recommendation.
In the same vein, WordPress recently updated and included an automated update option for plugins. AdRotate and AdRotate Pro are compatible with this – And so is any plugin that has an update server behind it. No special action is required on that end. Just turn it on and magic happens. At least, that’s what the WordPress team told us developers… We’ll see how that works in practice.
Stuck with AdRotate Pro
If you think you are stuck with your AdRotate Pro version, or if you have trouble getting your update, please get in touch!
It is important to me that you have the latest and greatest version of AdRotate Pro. Not just because it makes support easier, but also because you then have all the latest patches and security fixes – And there have been a couple of those over the last 2 years. Not to mention many new or improved features. And it’s just a better experience for everyone involved.
So, if you think there is an update, or you know there is but can’t get it to work, please email me as soon as possible so we can sort this out quickly.
There are discounts available for existing customers who need a new license. Also for those stuck with updates there is a special service to get your installation of AdRotate Pro updated for free.
Get in touch for details.
