AEUC still not compatible. On mobile devices smarty nocache errors

[Pedalman]

Nine dayz before Xmas I become aware that mobile users were not able to use our shop :( :( :(

I always tested mobile UX via browser dev tools. Had I used a real smartphone/mobile earlier I would have made thousands more income (Ganalytic told me that 60% are mobile users but that there was an issue with conversions) since I might! have become aware of the smarty error thrown at my customers.

The problem is that product pages are 'destroyed' by listing enmasse of smarty errors.

I assume due to experience that this is linked to the AEUC module. I noticed that when you do a search on the shop (running Warehouse theme and TB1.3), results have these "smarty caching" errors. Also if you browse products via the modules "other customers bought also" and "other a. from manufacturer". Perhaps there are other ways to render this error. I was happy that the homepage worked with TB's smarty caching active and the AEUC module. Especially since I knew there were more or less unsolved problemd for at least since 2015 I guess :( with Prestashop 1.6.x and the AEUC module (for me the best prove how much Presta devs cared for shop runners. I had the strong impression they cared more for there so called GOLD and Silver agencies and for the same reason for Presta V1.7 - the golden agencies doing the migration and adaption of modules already paid by Presta 1.6 users).

Back to topic: I had never the idea that other parts of the shop system might be effected by this smarty caching flaw.

The only solution for now is (at least for me) to deactive smarty caching in TB if AEUC is used.

Therefore I urgently suggest to clone techniques form Presta 1.7 concering the interplay with this module (I am told that PS 1.7 works with AEUC finally due to some other integration of it), or to enhance the module so it is compatible with modules/search and other unknown parts than the homepage or to really warn European users of this glitch since we are shop runners who depend on a mobile conversions.

PS: I was also told many time though I could not understand it that the "smarty caching" would only work on the homepage. Anyhow I learned today that this seems not to be the case.

[zimmer-media]

Jokingly asked: Turn the whole thing around. Why are the EU requirements not incorporated as standard in the systems? In return, possibly build functions, who does not need these options, it should be able to disable it. On the one hand, the overrides of the AEUC module would be eliminated. Would it not be easier if there were updates to the shop system, which would omit any updates of the module. And so on ....

In a post a few days ago I read that most shop owners come from the EU.

Are these arguments worth considering?

[lesley]

@zimmer-media To answer your joke, this is what developers have to consider. The EU is the 4th or 5th largest e-commerce market in the world. The top 3 markets do not have these restrictive issues. The top 1 market is 8 times the size of the EU. Of global e-commerce the EU represents about 8% of the world market. It does not make sense to focus a core of a software around such a small market segment. Especially when a lot of the requirements in that market segment are against best practices in the other top e-commerce markets. There are known conversion killers that the EU puts into place.

With that being said, I don't want to come off anti-EU. America is the 2nd largest e-commerce market. We do not and will not support about 50% of American tax systems, because they are too complicated to upkeep.

To come back to the EU, I have asked many times for people to create something we can go by. All I get is linked documents. I cannot read in french, german, or other languages. But If someone can provide me a bulleted list of what is needed, we can add those features. The whole EU law is a mess. Look at our forums, look at other forums. Users are arguing all over the place of what the requirements are. No one really understands them, I know I for one don't and I have seen our EU members argue over them as well.

To sum it up, give us a list. We can try to add as many as possible. When we can cherry pick features out of posts, we add them as well. We have added things to the dev path of 1.1.x from the posts on this forum to help with compliance, but if someone could get us a whole list together that would be the best.

[zimmer-media]

@lesley Laugh. Thank you for your answer. I know it's not easy. Especially here from Germany. I've heard that some countries outside the EU also need or use some features of the AEUC module. Not only here in the TB forum, also in the PS forum. Whereby it concerns in the individual needs, unfortunately I have not in the head.

[lesley]

Me neither. I am an expert in the US requirements, which are complying with the can-spam act. That is literally our only requirement.... It would be really helpful though to have a list of what we need to change to comply. Then we can look over everything, give a timeline and make sure everyone is compliant before the needed date.

[zimmer-media]

The differences in requirements have been more and more different for some time now. Personally, I think there will be more changes to laws / regulations that will bring it closer together again.

What made me a little thoughtful a few days ago is one of our politicians. In my mind I am not only private in some things, but also in business. He wishes the United States of Europe !!!

I am not the best source of information about lists, requirements, and timelines for legislative changes. From my consideration of the TB and PS Forum, it might make sense to create separate menu items in the forum, which is about the legislation, for example. Gggf by continent or so subdivided. So theoretically the requests could not end up in the general thread, but specifically. It is then up to the community to do this properly. The requirements for the online trade will continue to rise either way. Whether through technical innovations, laws or customer requests to a cool shop.

[lesley]

I moved your post, I think you commented on the wrong post.

I have tried that in the past, there are a few threads about it. The turn into threads where merchants argue about what they actually need. One group thinks one thing another thinks other things.

[zimmer-media]

@lesley hmmm, yes we both seemingly started talking about a topic that is not directly related to the query of the problem of the original thread.

[lesley]

Oh, I meant that your last post was on a topic about Google Analytics not working on a site, not in this thread.

[zimmer-media]

sorry, I have nothing to do with this topic - just read a short while ago ;) laugh - its weekend

[MockoB]

Why don't you just add all features from the AEUC which could work without causing all those issues?

[lesley]

What issues?

[MockoB]

Once compatible with the default theme and not with custom ones. Second it wasn't causing caching issues until recently from that I read in other topic and now happens that ppl are loosing profit because it actually is causing same issues but on mobile theme...

[lesley]

I am not sure which ones are causing issues, this is the first report I have seen. As for adding them into the core, I think maybe limited features will be, but it needs to be separate.

[MockoB]

I think it is better to choose limited features to turn on/off than no features at all. One personal question. The developers of the theme I bought told me they could make the aeuc module work with their template if I pay for the implementation, but should I give my money for such implementation or just pay someone to hardcode those features in the template files if possible?

[Pedalman]

The whole day I could not reproduce this error. I did not dare to post since I was sure I did correct testing yesterday. Now, ca. 20 hours later the error appears on my desktop! I am using latest Firefox. I could see it on a subcategory. Funny thing is I just went to the mobile device and noticed that there all was ok?!

I am giving up here since this is far beyond my understanding.

FYI in order to reproduce the error I had today of course Smarty Caching ON (with no recompilation) and APC caching with Page Rendering.

Only setting Smarty Cache OFF and clearing the cache in TB/performance made the price fields (AEUC) look normal again.

Bottom line. I am sure it is linked to AEUC. Why it could appear on my PC and not on the mobile smartphone this time is a mystery to me. I also know how to bipass this error by using {no smarty cache} tag in AUEC file. Also notable is that it did never appear on homepage.

[DRMasterChief]

Hello Pedalman, this is not really a surprise, there are a lot of people in PS-Forum and also here at TB which are writing about this problem and are looking for a solution.

We also have a discussion here in German forum: https://forum.thirtybees.com/topic/1115/diese-macke-im-aeuc-modul/5

And you can find really a lot of answers in PS-Forum about this in combination with AEUC and SmartyCache on/off. This error is not new, but it is still weired and come and go whenever it wants... depends on your Theme, the SmartyCache and also if you have compilated during the changes. Sometimes it needs a few hours to get the error and there can be also a difference if you are logged in as admin or customer ! It is much better with TB (than in PS) but it seems that it is not 100% eliminated in TB (depends on the things above....)

[DRMasterChief]

oh now i have seen your picture, this looks like the known error with AEUC, but it shows Smarty Variables in your shop. Sorry have not seen this before, but looks like the reason is the same as in the known error i have written about. Do you have changed any translations or files?!

[Pedalman]

I have both changed files and translations. What I knew about the error before was that when it occured it occured on all occasions where AUEC hooked into price display.

In this case it was not so. I would have noticed it earlier. That is the reason why I pointed it out, especially since I noticed it the first time when using a mobile device. I thought that there was not only the chance that I had missed conversions for weeks but also other shop runners.

But there comes something more to my mind since I have another thread open about APC not working. There I switched for testing purpose from APC to "File System" and suddenly the APC module showed me that it is working?! And yes I doubled checked everything. Then I went back and reactivated APC again! And the APC dashboard shows hits/misses until today. Something it did not for the time I am running TB (8 weeks?). This I could not explain. Anyhow, I was and am happy since I had the cunsumption that myy Host hadn't activated APC on shared hosting despite showing the PHP configuration in their 'console'.

So, I could now think that switching APC in TB on/OFF or via switching to "FileSystem" cache and back somehow APC was triggered and started working. A lot of somehows's, thinking, assumptions... and that is something I do not like to post on a forum since it is very hard or impossible for others to retest.

But it may be that due to APC working now SmartyCache stopped working?! But perhaps there is abolutely no interaction cor correlation. Fact is I could reproduce the error now (via waiting, as you wrote correctly, since it sometimes appeared and sometimes not - twice I could reproduce it via doing a search on the shop's frontend on a mobile device - which is propably irrelevant) and it seems to be all ok now with APC ON & Smarty OFF.

PS: And shame on me I did not know there is a German subforum here. Though I thought this might relate to all.

[Traumflug]

Fact is I could reproduce the error now

That's good! Please open a Github issue with the list of steps to reproduce the issue.

Maybe it sounds a bit snobbish to some merchants, but the way to go is still to identify issues one by one and to create a list of steps to reproduce the issue for each. Reports like "I've seen this a while ago" or "there's something wrong" don't help. The only way to get an issue solved is to help developers to reproduce it on their development installation. "Click here", "Type that", "look at this page". Like teaching it to a child. Like magicians, developers might be in an entirely distinct environment, so they have to to configure their development shop to match yours. Other than magicians, developers can only fix what they see.

Which means: if you see an issue, make a screenshot. This way developers can see what's going on on your site. If you've found a way to make it going away, please report this in words as clearly as possible. If you know a way to reproduce it with a fresh installation step by step, you're golden :-) And all this into a Github issue, please, one Github issue per issue found.

[alwayspaws]

@Traumflug I agree that this is the best way to help the community with any issue that may come up.

@Pedalman I believe everything relates to everyone, one way or another, in various degrees.

[Baarssen]

When a module gives that much trouble why dont simply turn it off :)

[DRMasterChief]

because it is needed for all shops which sells in and into the EU ;)

[30knees]

@lesley said in AEUC still not compatible. On mobile devices smarty nocache errors:

To sum it up, give us a list. We can try to add as many as possible. When we can cherry pick features out of posts, we add them as well. We have added things to the dev path of 1.1.x from the posts on this forum to help with compliance, but if someone could get us a whole list together that would be the best.

I am happy to do that. We talked about this in another thread and I already provided a list. How can we take this further?