Uniforum... *sigh*... again

w1z4rd

w1z4rd

Karmic Sangoma
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Sent through a DNS update over an hour ago... still waiting :(

They seem to get worse and worse by the year. What a cruddy system. I might have to stay late at work today to accept the update tickets. What a terrible system.

You would think after years of users complaining Uniforum would have done something about it.

They seriously affect productivity in a bad way :mad:
 
a friend of mine wrote an automated system for POP3 that checks an email address he uses for updates and registering new websites. If someone registers and pays for via his services via the site an automated mail goes out to uniform with all the details in there.

Same with ticket updates. He tells his little program that his 200 .co.za domains need to move to a different DNS server, bob, emails go out to uniform and tickets get auto-accepted.

Even built in an auto-deny system for people trying to make unauthorized changes without giving him the 30 day notice re: hosting etc
 
I paid for some domains over a month ago and they've somehow lost the payment and suspended the domains. They had better find the payments before just releasing the domains!
 
I agree their system is very 10 years ago and needs to be updated with a proper management interface and an API, much like eNom and the likes.

We have to revert to making our our systems to deal with the emails, like pipe to email systems and all that :/

radicool: Our COZA payments are made using creditcard via a script that we created using CURL and a few variables it captures. The domain gets marked as paid instantly, much better then them manually doing it.
 
davemc said:
LMAO, they're busy processing payment details.
Chill pill people.
Click to expand...

We dont have the time to wait for them to scratch their asses. All I wanted to do was update the freeken DNS. We have work to do, and they are slowing us down and impeding the progress of our work. Hire more staff... build a better system like everyone has being asking for years. They piss me off more and more every year.

Acid... would your friend share that proggie or can the code only be bought?
 
w1z4rd said:
We dont have the time to wait for them to scratch their asses. All I wanted to do was update the freeken DNS. We have work to do, and they are slowing us down and impeding the progress of our work. Hire more staff... build a better system like everyone has being asking for years. They piss me off more and more every year.

Acid... would your friend share that proggie or can the code only be bought?
Click to expand...

I already asked him and he declined. He built a whole system around it / finance / support etc specific to his business. Wasn't willing to share or sell.
 
w1z4rd said:
We dont have the time to wait for them to scratch their asses. All I wanted to do was update the freeken DNS. We have work to do, and they are slowing us down and impeding the progress of our work. Hire more staff... build a better system like everyone has being asking for years. They piss me off more and more every year.

Acid... would your friend share that proggie or can the code only be bought?
Click to expand...
Strangely enough, the 3 updates that I sent through that day were done in 24 hours as promised, though, I do allocate 2 weeks for the change, and switch to a dynamic-dns style DNS before transferring ownership so that the site is on-line 100% of the time.

The other systems that you are talking about are not funded on a minuscule R50 a year per domain plus some subsidising by government, and are not geared towards a developing country's financial considerations.

E-Natis cost a staggering R600m, and now you want to hand this core-critical system over to the same buffoons?

I think that a reality check is in order w1z4rd.
Perhaps if you plan better, then the 24 and sometimes 48 hour update will not affect you so badly.
 
davemc said:
Strangely enough, the 3 updates that I sent through that day were done in 24 hours as promised, though, I do allocate 2 weeks for the change, and switch to a dynamic-dns style DNS before transferring ownership so that the site is on-line 100% of the time.

The other systems that you are talking about are not funded on a minuscule R50 a year per domain plus some subsidising by government, and are not geared towards a developing country's financial considerations.

E-Natis cost a staggering R600m, and now you want to hand this core-critical system over to the same buffoons?

I think that a reality check is in order w1z4rd.
Perhaps if you plan better, then the 24 and sometimes 48 hour update will not affect you so badly.
Click to expand...

I dont think I am the one in need of a reality check.. their service is crap. ffs I sent in a domain application at 2pm today.. NO RESPONSE YET AND DOMAIN NOT REGISTERED.

Now I need this domain for a server that has to be complete by Friday.

I can login enom and change a domains dns server or order and setup a domain in minutes.. including dns propigation!!!

I cant settle for your standards for service. I expect more. So does nearly everyone else in the industry. If they cant handle it, ZA must give it to a NPO that can.

Comparing a DNS system to ENATIS is dumb.
 
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w1z4rd said:
I dont think I am the one in need of a reality check.. their service is crap. ffs I sent in a domain application at 2pm today.. NO RESPONSE YET AND DOMAIN NOT REGISTERED.

Now I need this domain for a server that has to be complete by Friday.

I can login enom and change a domains dns server or order and setup a domain in minutes.. including dns propigation!!!

I cant settle for your standards for service. I expect more. So does nearly everyone else in the industry. If they cant handle it, ZA must give it to a NPO that can.
Click to expand...

Hmm, check the mailbox that it was sent from, and check the mail logs to make sure the mail actually went through. I have not had any issues with COZA registrations today. Over the past month there has been the odd occasion of slow response to register a domain, but nothing over an hour.
 
Why not setup your work PC so you can remote in Wiz... so you can go home, do your own thing and when need be, remote in and sort things out.
 
Okay Wiz, you win.

Lets spend R10-60m or so on the upgrades and the kickbacks and the policy changes and the training to get the damn thing upgraded to web services that you can hook into, and a default web interface (website) that you can use instead of the web services.

When the WEB services or website crash, then you have to keep on trying till the web services/interfaces are back up.
You will no longer have the luxury of an SMTP server doing all the retrying for you.

Then, how do you propose to change the way that Uniforum works?

Currently, all the respondents are given 24 hours to respond with a REJECT or an ACCEPT. Now, during the 24 hours, even if they had originally sent an ACCEPT, they can still resend a REJECT if they change their minds. This is a safety measure.

So, you want to drop the safety measure? Okay. Fine.

That now means that the 24 hour wait is not needed once all the ACCEPT's are in.

In my experience, the DNS providers are asked to ACCEPT as well, and they never ever reply, so you end up waiting for 24 hours anyway.

So, after spending R10-60m, what have you actually achieved?

You've replaced an email system with a web system that still takes 24 hours to complete the updates.

Perhaps you should concentrate on removing the DNS owner ACCEPT from the procedure instead?
 
davemc said:
Okay Wiz, you win.

Lets spend R10-60m or so on the upgrades and the kickbacks and the policy changes and the training to get the damn thing upgraded to web services that you can hook into, and a default web interface (website) that you can use instead of the web services.

When the WEB services or website crash, then you have to keep on trying till the web services/interfaces are back up.
You will no longer have the luxury of an SMTP server doing all the retrying for you.

Then, how do you propose to change the way that Uniforum works?

Currently, all the respondents are given 24 hours to respond with a REJECT or an ACCEPT. Now, during the 24 hours, even if they had originally sent an ACCEPT, they can still resend a REJECT if they change their minds. This is a safety measure.

So, you want to drop the safety measure? Okay. Fine.

That now means that the 24 hour wait is not needed once all the ACCEPT's are in.

In my experience, the DNS providers are asked to ACCEPT as well, and they never ever reply, so you end up waiting for 24 hours anyway.

So, after spending R10-60m, what have you actually achieved?

You've replaced an email system with a web system that still takes 24 hours to complete the updates.

Perhaps you should concentrate on removing the DNS owner ACCEPT from the procedure instead?
Click to expand...

Do you work for Uniform? It sounds like it.

AND, why have so many domain registrars overseaes succeeded, with something much much cheaper than your budget? For that matter, I doubt if many of the wellknown registrar's websites, and ultimately control panels cost them more than say R60K -R200K to build. It's simple, give the the end user something that works, does what he wants and is up to date with modern technology & needs, and it will pay for itself. Oh, and I doubt if those people really think about their expensive beach houses when they build the systems. Yet they make far more money than what Uniform could even dream off. thousands of people will gladly pay $10 for a domain, every year, cause the systems just work.

And have you ever tried to update DNS settings for a domain (like changing the A records, MX records, refresh, etc on say Godaddy or eNom? It takes 5 minutes, and the update is live so the changes is live as well. No need to wait 24 hours, no need to ACCEPT or DENY an email. No need to search for their emails in spam filters, no need to try and figure out some of their pathetic error codes, which often mysteriously fixes itself 8 hours later.
 
gdiza said:
Why not setup your work PC so you can remote in Wiz... so you can go home, do your own thing and when need be, remote in and sort things out.
Click to expand...

Paranoid boss.

Im starting to suspect my smtp server. Sorry uniforum :)
 
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Dave you are going overboard here. Why the need for 3 people to respond? No other registrar has this strange need? Ok so Uniforum are being overly cautious, fine, but for the love of all things holy why did they once have a no delay word whereby updates would be processed almost immediately and then later they did away with that handy option. Its funny how the rest of the world gets by with an API and one person updating but we need this Nanny of a registrar.
 
w1z4rd said:
Paranoid boss.

Im starting to suspect my smtp server. Sorry uniforum :)
Click to expand...

Hmm, didn't someone mention that earlier ;)

SoftDux said:
IMO, the EPP Auth Key's that all international domains use for transfer is a much better solution than how Uniforum handles it.
Click to expand...

Transfer or not, it's the updating of nameservers that is so pathetic with COZA. With eNom and other international registrars that have APIs you can let your clients update their own NS servers for domains via your control panel. With COZA, well you could do the same but that needs a mail piping script to auto accept domains on a list etc :/ Such a mission..
 
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