FAQ - Requests and Reports

Here are some questions dealing with the various requests and reports that get made on the Support forum. (Through the Jcink Support Forum feedback section, the Bug Report section and the Feature Request section.)

We have one! There is a complete forum directory within which you can submit your own forum located here on the Resource Forum.

If you want a feature, please make use of the Feature request forum. But before you do there are a few things that are necessary to know, one of which being that there are some features which will never get added. These features are:

1. Templates (Incompatible with the Mods system.)
2. Referral system (too hard to prevent abuse.)
3. Blogs (Blogs are a bit alternative to forums. Would be very time consuming/difficult to implement.)

If your request isn't one of those already refused ones, then before making a feature request please try searching to see if someone else has made the same request, then reply there instead of making your own topic.

If you haven't found an existing topic with your request then you can go ahead and make your own. When making a request be sure to be as clear as possible. (Also try to be as breif as possible… reading a thousand word post that has sections only tangentially related to the request is more harmful to your request and may cause confusion as to what is being requested.) If possible/relevant, try to include an image to show exactly what you want if you can (it can be helpful to Jcink to show exactly what it is you're after).

After your request has been posted, others are free to comment on it. Sometimes showing support for it other times they may explain why a feature is not possible/likely. Just for a heads up, there may be people who are against a feature without a given reason, don't worry about them. Eventually Jcink will see the thread and reply with his own comment/concern/question/thoughts on the feature.

If your suggested feature gets rejected, there is a reason for it. One that Jcink will usually explain at the time of rejection, so please do not resubmit rejected features. They were rejected for a reason and will not be considered for future additions no matter how many times you submit them. (Constantly resubmitting them could result in disciplinary action.)

Also, you need to understand that Jcink is extremely busy and has a large number of features that have been requested. So any new feature requests that have been accepted do take a while to get made.

Jcink never sets a release date on features. This is because of several reasons…

1. The length of time that it takes to develop a feature is impossible to tell beforehand. (There are many issues that could, and often do, arise during development. For example an unforeseen consequence of modifying a piece of code. )
2. Jcink tests each feature thorough first to remove as many bugs or issues as possible. (Since each feature is different, the amount of time it takes to debug differs greatly.)
3. Jcink has a life outside of being a forum provider (and things do happen in real life).
4. Placing a set release date often creates unreal expectations and causes extra stress/issues for Jcink if the date isn't met.

You should file a bug report if:

1. You get a MySQL error (this is a white page with a text box that has a code like: “mySQL query error: SELECT”)
2. You get a php error (EX- “error on line 500”)

Do not file a bug report for:

1. Spelling errors. (Just send a PM to Jcink instead.)
2. Skin/codes issues. (We can usually help with skinning or coding issues, but they belong in the General help section.)
3. Help setting up features. (That is a general support question. Or check the wiki.)
4. Feature requests. (There is a separate section for those.)

Everything that you can think of that would be of use. Things like:

1. The exact error message if you can (screenshots of it too if possible). Those are extremely useful to helping to figure out where the issue is.
2. What event(s) lead up to the bug occurring. (EX- Were you clicking on a link? Or trying to change a profile field's info? )
3. If you can recreate the bug. (And if you can, how exactly you can do it. )
4. The time and date of the bug occurring. (This can be important because a “bug” may actually just be the result of Jcink modifying a piece of code and the “bug” is that 30 second period where he's changed the code.)