Incomedia where to now? ![en](https://d33s48lcrmbkow.cloudfront.net/1x1.png)
Autor: Jim C.Hi All,
I would like to start this post by saying that I like X5, it is really good software, making it very easy for website beginners like me and many others to create really good looking and functional websites. I started of buying Version 11 and I have to say that I was initially very wary of using it thinking that it was probably beyond my ability. After getting over my initial fear and getting my hands “dirty”, I found that I could construct reasonably good websites. I went on to purchase Version 12, Version 13 and Version 14 along with quite a few “objects” along the way.
After upgrading to Version 14, I found that I was experiencing many “bugs” that took some time to be resolved (many have still not been resolved), which I did not experience with the previous upgrades. Whilst I am not a software developer I appreciate how difficult it can be to get everything right (even the mighty Microsoft frequently gets it wrong). However, when things worked OK in the previous version and suddenly don’t work as they should in the upgrade it becomes a concern about both the “quality” of the developers work and the “quality” of the beta testing. This gives the impression that the software is being rushed out to meet some marketing need, rather than taking the necessary time to get it right before it is released. Added to this is what I consider arrogance on Incomedia’s part i.e. the enforced use of an email address for users names in the Log In process of my website. A very basic thing to change giving the opportunity to use either an email address or something else, but it appears that Incomedia do not want to listen. There is also the ongoing issue of the parallax flicker, which has been ongoing for a year now.
Due to the “issues” that I experienced with Version 14, I avoided Version 15, upgraded to Version 16 (more “issues”) and now Version 17 (even more “issues”). I have to say if it was not for the excellent support by the moderators on this forum (you know who you are) and the other forum users I would have given up on X5 long ago.
Both Stefano G and Elisa B also provide very good support, however Stefano G whilst verifying that the “issue” that you have reported actually exists then passes it on to the developers with the comment that he will report back to you here as soon as he has any more information. Unfortunately there are few reports of any further update’s, leaving you to suspect that your “issue” has been forgotten at best or at worst confined to the bin.
Incomedia appear to have changed their marketing with the introduction of Upgrade Protection, where they now have your money upfront with the promise of free future upgrades within the period of the Upgrade Protection. This has produced three upgrades in less than a year. Do I want three upgrades in a year? No I don’t, what I want is the “bugs” in the existing versions to be sorted and only a substantial upgrade that adds worthwhile new features, rather than some minor changes and a new version number with new “bugs”.
The move to Upgrade Protection also ties in with Incomedia’s “credits” payment system of buying additional software (objects), where again they have your money up front. Also because of the varying discount pricing of the “credits” you tend to lose track of what the actual cost of the “objects” that you have bought actually is. With the final sting being if you do not use all your credits within the time scale you lose them. Yes, Incomedia do remind you when the your “credits” are due to expire, however if you only have a couple left then you have to buy more to reach the amount that you need to buy something, assuming that there is something that you want at that time, or you let your old “credits” expire.
In conclusion, yes I still like X5 software, however in what looks like moving to a marketing (subscription)strategy, I believe that Incomedia has lost focus both on the quality of their software and the all-important end user, who after all keeps them in both profit and employment, maybe it’s time to rethink your strategy Incomedia.
If you agree with my comments or even just some of them, post a plus one (+1), if not why not post your own views.
I hope that this post won’t be removed.
Thank you for taking the time to read my post.
Jim
Spot on Jim - let's hope INCOMEDIA understand how important it is to have customers that tell what they find wrong. All firms should love such customers.
Another kind of customers, are those that just leave, and you never really find out why.
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Incomedia - I know the truth hurts but deleting the truth doesn't make the lie becomes the truth. I am writing about Axel post and his arguments about giving additional half of year of update protection to all users as recompense for present problems with x5 17...
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Obviously +1
And Incomedia is not fair play !
Strange, Yesterday I posted this message https://helpcenter.websitex5.com/de/post/203020 in all foreign sections.
All have been removed. and just this one is present....
Why Incomedia removed the customer angry ... not good for marketing and money ????
Regards
https://wsx5.afsoftware.fr
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I'm also disapointed... Verry, INCOMEDIA THIS IS NO WAY TO TREAT THE CUSTOMERS THAT IS YOUR LOYAT FREE DEBUGERS AND USERS... SHAME ON... +1
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V17 achetée mais non installée quand je vois tous les dysfonctionnements déclarés par els utilisateurs qui prennent un temps infini à tester et modifier leurs sites... Peut-être que je l'installerai à la mise à jour 365...
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Hello Jim, and hi to everyone,
first of all I would like to thank you all for having expressed your feedback about this aspect. We are really very sorry about the issues you have experienced and I can fully understand your point.
I would like to stress the fact that before the official release of a new version, we always have a beta testing period. This has been done for version 17, but we are very sorry that new issues have arisen after its release, too. Providing you with a solution which could fix all the issues reported has been our most important priority. I inform you that we released a new beta update yesterday, which I invite you to try it in case you are having any issues by subscribing here: http://beta.websitex5.com.
In case you, Jim, or any other user who has kindly replied to this post still had difficulties, please feel free to get back to us by creating your own support request, so we can help you further.
We will surely report your observations about the beta testing period: it has indeed quite short this time, so we will do anything we can to make it last longer next time.
Thanks! Kind regards.
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Elisa, you are totally missing the point. The issue is not speciifically with X5 v.17, it is much deeper than that. Over the past 2 years, Incomedia has been providing poorer products and asking for more money. From this post alone, it’s obvious that your customer base is rapidly losing faith in your company.
If Incomedia doesn’t turn things around quickly, I sincerely believe you will be gone within a year. It is a shame to see how much your company has degraded in recent history, and there are no signs of improvement.
This is not a formula for survival.
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@Jim C.: very good post
@Myron: excellent comment
I've had it up to the eyeballs with Incomedia. Now I'm just looking for a reasonably stable version so I don't have to upgrade any further. I think, as Byron quite rightly pointed out, Incomedia will go the way of the dinosuars.
Sorry, mispell "Myron"
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Modelos e Objtos do Market Place deveriam ser compredos com dinheiro no momento que precisamos de algum deles, e não com pacotes de créditos, que além de muitas vezes não serem suficientes para o que precisamos, obrigando-nos a comprar novos pacotes, ainda nos dá o trabalho de termos que gerenciar esses créditos para não jogar dinheiro fora.
Oh dear! I was seriously considering this product,but having read these comments and seeing the direction the company is going... so, as they say on Dragons' Den, "I won't be investing. I'm out!" (Let's see how long this post stays public!?)
Charles, you should not judge a book by it's cover.
A few people are very upset, especially those who invested time in developing 3rd party code and solutions that no longer work (which unfortunately cannot be tested during a beta test primarily because it is not supported), and yes, there are a few unfortunate bugs which were missed in the beta testing. But in spite of what you see here, the majority of users appear to be quiet. As for this post remaining public I would be very surprised and disappointed if it disappeared.
(oh dear - I do hope I am not going to regret this post)
Autor
Hi All,
Thank you for your comments re my post, I will restate again that I like X5 it is basically a good programme enabling people like myself with no CSS or HTML skills to produce impressive websites. However, Myron Ain his post, dated 21st Nov is correct, the problem in itself is not Version 17, which is an unmitigated disaster (with a new beta release hot on its heels). Version 17 is symptomatic of the overall issues with Incomedia who seem to have lost focus on producing a quality update with a sufficient period for beta testing and effectively forgetting the end user, the customer who pays for the product.
Incomedia seems to be preoccupied with the concept of Update Protection to the extent that they are churning out updates (three in less than a year) to justify and sell Update Protection. Can you think of any other software company (Microsoft excluded), who have produced three updates in a year. These updates add very little to the programme apart from a new version number and more “bugs”. One user on the forum has suggested that Incomedia provide a free six months extension of Update Protection as compensation for the problems caused. Do I want six more months of the same even if it is free? No, I do not.
The problem with Update Protection, which is fundamentally a subscription service by another name, is that Incomedia sees it as a “cash cow”. I believe that with most subscription services the end user ends up with a substandard product.
Why do I think that a subscription service invariably reduces the quality of the product? With a subscription service the company after a very short period of time is able to very accurately predict their income and what the “churn rate” will be, the “churn” is the amount of subscribers who leave and the amount that join.
Most companies have a figure in mind of the profit that they want to take out of the business, the better companies tend to reinvest more of their profits back in the business. Therefore, if Incomedia have a figure in mind of the profit that they want to take out of the business this is subtracted from the income leaving the remainder to fund software development and run the business. This results in a poorer quality product going forward, as for the subscribers Incomedia are not really concerned they have a captive locked in subscriber base for a year who have paid upfront with Incomedia putting the money in their bank account earning interest.
If you compare this to a marketing strategy where the company has to be innovative and produce a leading quality product that is better than their competitors in order to attract new customers and grow their customer base, it is very obvious which company will have the best product with continued improvements and stay in business longer.
I have a great deal of sympathy for Stefano G and Elisa B, who are doing their best to help resolve users issue and stem the flow of complaints, with what I suspect is very little support. The same goes for the forum moderators and the forum users who are supporting X5. Users raise their issue to find resolutions and also to help other users. They also are able to point out and explain various tricks etc. to get the best out of X5, thereby helping to “sell” the product. Whilst Incomedia should be concerned and take on board the genuine issues raised by the forum users, they should be more concerned about the “silent” users who having bought X5 and cannot get to work as expected have quietly sent to the delete bin and told everyone they know not to buy it.
I think that it would be a good idea if instead of repeated emails about introducing a friend to X5, the main men or women of Incomedia emailed the users with an apology and explain what they are doing to sort out the issues with updates and more importantly what they are doing to prevent any reoccurrences of these problems.
Again, I stress that X5 is a good programme, however over the last eighteen months or so the writing is appearing on the wall for the longevity of X5 and Incomedia.
It is still not too late to turn things around, but you have to have the will to do it.
Once again, I hope that this post is not removed.
Thank you for taking the time to read my post, like most users (and moderators), I want X5 to survive and continually improve.
Jim
Thank You Jim. You put my thoughts into words. My feeling is that Incomedia is in a harvesting mode. Getting as much money out of the product without reinvesting. I know such methods from my own professional experience.
Esahc said, “A few people are very upset...”
Are you serious?
You need to get your head out of the sand.
If this thread doesn’t look like a big problem for Incomedia, then think again. On average, one disgruntled customer tells 10 people how they feel, and then those 10 people tell 10 others. Get the idea?
This is a HUGE problem right now for Incomedia, and they need to call all the fire fighters in California to put this one out.
And they need to fix this situation NOW.
Hi Jim,
first of all I would like to thank you for having expressed your thoughts in such a clear and polite way. Surely, these observations will be reported as I personally find them very important. As for now, I would like to clarify why we have decided to introduce the Update Protection.
This serviced is used to keep WebSite X5 up-to-date: thanks to it we can release more full versions during the year, regardless of when the program was purchased the first time. Because of this, the new versions introduced might have less new features if compared to the ones released once a year in the past, but they will be available more frequently. If you consider WebSite X5 14, which was released one year ago, and the new version 17, I am sure you will find a lot of improvements have been introduced.
I take this opportunity to inform everyone that the stable update of WebSite X5 17.0.6 is now out for everybody who wants to update. This version solves most of the issues reported. There are indeed some aspects which still need to be fixed, but please don't worry, we are giving it the highest priority, so we can solve everything. If some of you still had issues, please feel free to individually get in touch on their own posts, so we can help you all.
Thank you guys! Have a nice day.
Elisa, I disagree completely. I would be much happier with far fewer software releases that work well, rather than a lot of useless unstable updates. These poor buggy updates that you are putting out are costing your customers hours and hours of wasted time, and total frustration.
You don’t seem to recognize how damaging this is to your company’s image and credibility. Many customers are losing faith, and many have already given up.
Incomedia really needs to re-think its strategy.
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Autor
Hi Elisa B,
Thank you for your feedback, I agree in principal that the concept of frequent updates during the year is sound, but only if the said updates are substantive or necessary to correct some problems.
Unfortunately, Incomedia are currently unable (or unwilling?) to produce substantive, quality updates that perform as they should, that do not contain numerous “bugs” (I am not talking about 3rd party coding here). This has been the position since at least Version 14, with the latest Version 17 (not the “newest” Version 17), being the worst offender so far.
With each new update, I find myself at best spending a considerable amount of time checking my websites to see that they still perform as they should and as they did with the previous version, (again I am not talking about 3rd party coding). At worst I end up with numerous “bugs” that take a considerable time to resolve, having to wait for the follow up beta to become main stream in order to resolve these “bugs”. In many instances some of the “bugs” are never resolved and seem to be quietly forgotten about by Incomedia.
Fortunately I do not have many websites and produce them “as a favour” for some friends or for charities. I dread to think about the impact these flawed updates have on anyone with many websites or who are using X5 to produce commercial websites for a living and the amount of hours involved in trying to resolve these issues.
Please listen to your customers who like X5, care about X5 and want it to continue.
Surely, it is time to for the directors of Incomedia to sit round the table with the staff involved and have honest and meaningful discussions about where they are and where they should be and review their strategy.
I believe that in every business there are some fundamental questions that should be frequently asked:
1. What do we do well?
2. How can we make it even better?
3. What do we not do well?
4. How can we make it better?
5. If we cannot make it better, do we need to do it in the first place?
Unless Incomedia urgently review their strategy and resolve these update issues, I fear that this year’s Incomedia staff Christmas party may well be the last.
Jim
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Jim - Super
Hello INCOMEDIA wake up - you can become the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It is not often that a post on this forum gets more than 600 views in a matter of a few days. This should be enough to strongly demonstrate how serious the situation is for Incomedia.
@Myron: great post/comment again, you made the point!
@Myron
The 600+ views does not neccesarily mean that these are views from new first time viewers but rather could simply indicate perhaps views by individuals who feel the need to return to the post and comment on the same thing again, and again, and again but who really knows for certain huh.
Oh and by the way, Thanks Incomedia for fixing the iFrame issue quickly as its at least allowed me (In my little part of the world) to get back up and running with X5 Pro 17, so just giving credit when and where it's due and the best part about it is that you'll only have to hear me say this (see it written) once for gooodness sakes hahaha! Anyway, Thanks again Incomedia and whatevers going on just fight through it and keep your head up!
Best Regards
AJ
In this update i still see the bugs (17 and counting), maybe i'ts only my case... I hope for other customers...
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Autor
Hi AJ,
Thank you for your post, which is a fair comment and credit to you. However, the nature of any forum is that if users see a post and if it is of interest to them, they will view it and may never return to it. Other users may identify with the post, have a keen interest in it and return frequently to see if there are any updates. Other users may post a comment either agreeing with the post or disagreeing and as long as the comments are made in a respectful manner that is acceptable. My posts are no different from the many hundreds of posts on this forum as regards users viewing and feedback.
However, I have to ask the question have you returned to this post to check for any updates?
In my posts, I have raised three main points:
Point one, first and foremost, I like X5 it is a very good programme and I will continue to stand by this comment.
Point two, Incomedia seems to be incapable of producing multiple updates (three so far in less than a year, not counting the updates for “bug” fixes), without a considerable amount of “bugs” with Version 17 being the worst. I believe that the concept of multiple updates in a year is fundamentally flawed. With one substantive, large-scale update there is more testing time available and therefore potentially less “bugs”. I accept that the downside of one update per year is that you have to wait longer for the new additions, however I would rather wait and have Incomedia get it right than put up with the current problems that we have.
With multiple small-scale updates in a year there is less testing time available which potentially leads to more “bugs” and instead of potentially one set of “bugs” in a year, you now have multiple sets of “bugs” throughout the year.
Point three, at no point has there been anything that remotely resembles an apology from Incomedia to the users for all the problems that these updates have created. Indeed, it looks like despite the issues raised Incomedia do not intend to review this strategy.
Jim
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I agree with the above posts and sad to say I have gone on to pastures new. I have raised the issue with Incomedia in another post re update protection and their answer did not convince me that they were being totally honest. I still believe that it will eventually go subcription based same as Adobe. I agree with Myron's post above.
" I would be much happier with far fewer software releases that work well, rather than a lot of useless unstable updates."
I have said in the past and it seems a lot agree that just because you make a minor fix or introduce something small and then release it with a different ver no does not make it a new version of the software it's still ver 14/15/16 with a minor fix.
Incomedia should take a serious look at these posts and take onboard what their customers are saying. Remember that not everyone is willing to take the time to post their thoughts on the matter but still read the comments and have opinions.
William
Привет всем!
Программа WebSite X5 уникальна. Именно таких аналогов программ не найти. Все профессиональные программисты понимают, что сделать локальный адаптивный констуктор и компилятор кода с множеством пересекающихся опций и настроек очень и очень не просто. Тем не менее Incomedia сделала такой шаг создала эту программу и продолжает развиваться. И это круто!
Я начинал с WebSite X5 Compact 9 в 2012 году. Тогда функциональные возможности были гораздо проще и скромнее, поэтому программа была проще и стабильнее. Однако Web-технологии не останавливаются на месте и разработчики Incomedia все больше и больше внедряют опций, инструментов, возможностей, оптимизируют код и многое многое другое, что расширяет возможности WebSite X5. Конечно, программные коды такого размера и сложности сделать идеальными сразу - невозможно. Есть баги и фатальные ошибки. Вспомните какой страшной появилась версия программы 13, но какой уже гораздо лучшей она стала в 16 версии.
Я уверен, что сотни тысяч, если не миллионы людей по всему миру используют программу WebSite X5 как в личных, так и в профессиональных целях. Она очень популярна и никто не хочет, чтобы данный проект был закрыт. Наооборот, все ждут с каждым запуском WebSite X5 чего-то новенького: обновления, инструменты, опции. Мы полюбили этот программный продукт.
Что можно сделать, чтобы новые версии не так болезненно входили на рынок?
Тут уже писали, о более тщательном Бета - тестировании. Я предлагаю необычный вариант. А что если разработчики будут использовать реальные, достаточно объемные и сложные проекты пользователей? Я уверен, что найдутся желающие пользователи, чтобы их программу взяли на тестирование разработчики. Это будет дополнительной гарантией, что программа пользователя будет хорошо работать в новой версии, и будет гарантировано качество выпускаемой новой версии программы WebSite X5.
Кроме того, маркетологам Incomedia не надо спешить объявлять продукт "Новой версией", надо говорить о новой "Бета - версии" и назначить период времени ВСЕМ пользователям решить работать в новой версии или работать на старой. Назначить период испытаний не менее одного календарного месяца. Тогда вся ответственность ложится на пользователя, если он использовал бета - версию для своих коммерческих сайтов, не убедившись в качестве кода.
Конечно, не надо забывать об обязательствах Incomedia как можно быстрее исправлять найденные пользователями ошибки и баги, особенно на этапе внедрения нового продукта. Создается впечатления, что после выпуска новой версии разработчики уходят на каникулы или в бар на целую неделю )). Модераторы реагирую достаточно быстро и внимательно, а исправления длятся долго и не спеша. Хотя это может только кажется.
В любом случае, я хочу поддержать всю команду Incomedia и пожелать им удачи, успеха и не останавливаться на достигнутых результатах. Мы любим программу WebSite X5.
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People I am happy with – Esahc, Elisa, Stefano, KolAsim
Posts I support 110% Jim C, Myron (Many others)
I had several issues with version 17 that I reported well over a week ago, and the latest version that Elisa mentions, seems to have corrected most of them, but not all. The biggest problem I have is with the ‘Catalog Viewer’ which has not been corrected in the 17.0-6 release, so version 17 is still useless to me.
However the issues reference the business model which Jim and Myron eloquently comment on hold substance.
Website X5, however much it is denied, is now subscription software, and expensive at that, especially if you have the professional version. For the most part you are paying for what you have already got over and over again, equivalent to about the full price around every two years. That’s not a maintenance fee, it is extortion. Furthermore, before this subscription model, you could remain with a version and have support for that version as long as it was supported. This no longer seems to happen. It’s almost better to buy a new version every 4 or 5 years and not have the so called protection.
As for the Credit Model. I can’t think of a word for it, that won’t get me banned. If you must have a credit model, it should be that once Incomedia have your money it is valid until it is spent (IE No Expiration – After all what is it to Incomedia if you don’t spend it. Expiration, to all intent and purpose, despite the fact that we have no choice but to agree to it is, after it has expired, is no better than theft). But, better still don’t have a credit model, just buy every extension as you need it and pay with your credit/debit card or PayPal (or similar) like most other decent shops on line. Why do I say this? I have most of the extensions that I want or need. (In fact I DO have most of them). Earlier this year I had about two credits left, and I wanted only one extension. I needed about 10 credits more to get it, but I had to buy the full minimum package to make it happen, the remainder of which will probably be unused till they expire. This is no way to do business or impress anyone. It is a model that needs to be revised or eliminated, it is unjust.
Objects
The quality of some of the objects as alluded to in previous posts, leave quite a bit to be desired. For example, I was pleased about the long awaited and overdue ‘accordion text.’ In reality, it is quite abysmal, relying on a set size, and if it is not met, it will but in a scroll bar whether you want it or not. Options are minimal.
Continuity between objects are often not present. For example the Catalog Viewer and Audio Player both have a download icon, but one is a different design to the other. Hover over the download icon in the Catalog Viewer and a Screen tip shows, but hover on the Audio player download icon, there is no Screen Tip, nor is there options on either of them to turn them on and off. The quality of a site relies on its continuity. It seems as though the creation of ‘objects’ is sub let without any specification as to what the end product must be. The Catalog Viewer, seems quite archaic in design with few options to make it look presentable. The impression I get is that the objects give the ‘idea’ of something good, but there is little control.
Why is there no spell checker? – People here have been crying out for it for years.
Conclusion
I spent 4-5 months solid work creating my main site, so yes, I feel quite gutted when I have spent so much time getting something working that was previously fine, that a new improved release of the software does not work as expected, and no longer fit for purpose, as though we, the customers are the testers. Every time a new version comes out, my first thought is, ‘Is it going to work? – and, do I really need to go through my entire site to make sure it works properly?
Yes I love and adore the concept of the software, and I have had many an enjoyable hour creating my sites – it makes site building easy, especially when I had the earlier versions, but now it feels like a nightmare, especially now that the business model makes it very much more expensive and the quality has dropped considerably. If the business model is not reviewed considerably, I will be forced to make decisions on whether I renew in the future.
750 view of this post, does this tell you something Incomedia, try to listen, i'm your loyal user but in past 1 week i'm soo frustrated and disapointed. Please fix urgent our issues and compensate somehow to us (loyay customers)... I know that one client (me) is nothing but if you not fix this issue iwant my refund of power update and i will stop using your software, sorry for being so direct.
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i actually started WSX Profesional V10 and stoped at version V13, after that i noticed that they making these versions too fast only with cosmetics changes. Full with galerry as was asking at version 11 and Incomedia did that finally in 17version.. i had no time so i used 3rd party wowslider.. so for now im using V13 and not traying to update it.
my website is www.upsera.lt proudly created with V13 proffesional.
Hello Jim C.
No haven't returned to this post multiple (many) times, (possibly over 300+ times just to see people get a rise out of the view count, hahaha JK) to see any updates; but rather ony to see the same points being made over and over again. I can only assume that Incomedia has heard your cries and intends to address this. Best regards to everyone and hope that you all will find the answers that your so eagerly looking for in regards to a better website building product.
AJ
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I issue a correction to my previous post. It appears that he Catalog Viewer has been repaired. THANK YOU.
I was in error, probably I was still accessing an old cache, even though I had the last version loaded.
Please accept my apology for that.
Yes! By all means click on this post often and leave another "cry me a river" comment to take the post to the top of this forum. I think I hear a tiny violin playing, or do I need to grab a box of kleenex? This forum has turned into a scream. Thank you so much. I needed a laugh.![laughing](../../script/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif)
![foot-in-mouth](../../script/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-foot-in-mouth.gif)
![tongue-out](../../script/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-tongue-out.gif)
Autor
Hi All,
This post was a genuine attemp to flag up to Incomedia the concerns and frusrations of their very loyal users of X5, who like X5 and want it to continue, not to score points.
I will now close this post.
Jim