Adobe Developer Center issue (help desk sent me here)

[David Stiller]

I'm a long-time Adobe fan and developer/user.  It's been several years since I've needed to contact support, but today I discovered an issue with a particular devnet article and wanted to bring it to Adobe's attention.  (Of course, I also wanted to enjoy full use of the article!)  I went straight to support.adobe.com and was immediately frustrated by the labyrinthine tree structure that connects someone like me with an Adobe rep.  Look, I get it: most inquiries are about software, but in this case, none of the choices was relevant.  I saw no catch-all avenue, but poked around anyway.  By trial and error, I found that if I pretended to have an issue with my Flash CS6 serial number, the system would connect with me a live chat window.

From there, I began explaining my issue to the help desk rep.  In short, I was reading this article here ...

Getting started with the Flash Professional Toolkit for CreateJS

... which contains a faulty hyperlink under the "Sample files" header.  Specifically, the referenced platypusgame.zip isn't there; clicking the link leads to a 404 error.  I was hoping the rep would be able to provide me this file, and if not, to open a ticket with someone who maintains devnet articles, so the link would be flagged for correction.  The rep kept asking for my serial number.  I understand why, but explained it wasn't necessary in this case, because this wasn't a product issue.  Somehow, this seemed very confusing to the rep.  Our chat went on for quite some time, somewhat repetitively.  In the end, the rep was unable to help me, and apparently had his hands tied in regard to putting me in touch with someone on the devnet side.  I told the rep I'd try contacting the article's author myself and would follow up if the author still had the file.

Turns out, the author is none other than the awesome Grant Skinner, who immediately provided me a URL to the ZIP in question, which he said he'll leave on his server for a few weeks.  So part of my issue was resolved:  I had the sample files I wanted!  The other part of my issue remained open, however:  I wanted to help Adobe fix its broken article, for the benefit of anyone else who may show in interest in the same tutorial.

Thus, I ventured into chat session #2, which was equally confusing, perhaps as much for the rep (a different person this time) as for myself.  Both reps kept pointing me to the forums—even though I didn't see it likely anyone would have the file I needed, much less be able to update the article's link.  For what it's worth, here I am!    I have the missing ZIP archive, from Grant Skinner himself, and am happy to forward the URL he shared with me.  I also have transcripts of both chat sessions, which might be helpful in improving support UX.

[Nancy OShea · Accepted solution]

Flash Pro is no more.  It was enveloped into Animate CC (formerly Flash Pro).

Customer Care doesn't have anything to do with Help Articles or Tutorials.   Documents are handed by another team.  Grant Skinner should reach out directly to his Adobe contact person to fix any errors in that tutorial.

[Moderator moved from Forum comments to Adobe Animate CC - General.]

[David Stiller]

Nancy, thanks for the reply.  I appreciate your moving this question from the previous forum to this one.  Certainly, it didn't feel right to add it there, but then ... I didn't know where else to put it.  (To be honest, it doesn't really seem to fit in this forum either, as it pertains to a devnet article.)  Where does one bring up issues with articles, nowadays?

So that you know where I'm coming from, I've written Developer Center content myself and am an Apress and O'Reilly author for Adobe products.  I realize Flash CS6 isn't the latest version of Animate—not by a long shot—but plenty of people still use it!  I certainly do.  It's the only choice for those who aren't interested in the subscription approach, other than open source alternatives such as OpenFlash.  Given the existence of Toolkit for CreateJS, as referenced in Grant's article and still available for download, the article in question still has value.

Part of my reason for bringing this to the forums is because both chat reps asked me to, and to help improve Adobe's support UX.  To that end, I'm still in the dark.  In summary:

* I discovered an issue on Adobe's website, in a tutorial article that may still be of use to people (albeit a fringe niche)

* I wanted to bring this to Adobe's attention

* My only choice, as far as I could see, was to wade through Customer Care

* Two reps pointed me to the forums, but weren't able to tell me which particular forum to use

* I found a solution and would like to share it with an appropriate contact

Your point is well taken in regard to Grant getting in touch with his own Adobe contact, but shouldn't it be easier for someone like me—just anyone, really; any diligent customer—to bring not only an issue, but also a solution, to Adobe's attention via whatever contact is relevant?

[Colin Holgate]

Curiously, the way back machine page works for the broken images in the devnet current version:

http://web.archive.org/web/20120601042037/https://www.adobe.com/devnet/createjs/articles/getting-sta...

but the zip download still doesn't work.

I think this Animate forum isn't the right place to report broken pages, even if the topic may be of interest here. You would think someone somewhere is responsible for all Adobe pages, not just Animate ones. But in the absence of knowing where it should be, here is as good as anywhere.

One reason the page may not get urgent attention is that the Toolkit for CreateJS is obsolete now. You could use some of his sample content in order to follow along, but CreateJS itself has been improved since that article, and Animate is doing many new things in terms of how it publishes the content.

Anyway, nice that you're still around. I hear from Rich Shupe occasionally too.

[David Stiller]

Colin, good to hear from you!  Gosh, we're told-timers.  Good call on the visit to Archive.org; I hadn't considered that.  You're right, the images are still there ... but the file isn't.  Ah, well.  Interestingly, the current version of the article points to a ZIP followed by a space and then "(6)", whereas the archived version points merely to the ZIP.  No doubt, your surmisal is correct in regard to lack of urgent attention.  For all I know, Grant may have already tried to have the link updated.

In any case, I've been following CreateJS and am thankful it continues to get support.  There are other frameworks too, like PixiJS, that seem promising—but clearly, nothing is as close-to-the-source as CreateJS is.

Glad you hear from Rich from time to time.  I often miss the old gang, but am pleased that most seem to have diversified and continue to keep the creative juices flowing, even if along different paths.

[Colin Holgate]

I had also noticed the Space 6 in the current article link. It is quite possible that the file got revised, but it's hard to believe that Grant would use spaces in a file URL!

The conclusion, I think, is that it's up to Grant. I'm going to mark Nancy's reply as being correct, for anyone else who chances across the topic. But I don't know if Grant has any hope of getting it fixed!

[Nancy OShea]

David, I can't disagree with anything you say.  Flash Pro CS6 is still being used by people.  However that forum is gone.  It was combined with Animate CC (formerly Flash Pro).  So I moved your post to Animate hoping the Animate CC Forum Leader could invoke his authority to get this noticed by the right people. 

IMO, the Adobe forums & website are a UI/UX disaster.  I've said so many times but Adobe do what they do.

[David Stiller]

Nancy, thanks again for helping out!  I appreciate your effort ... and hey, with any luck, maybe the forum leader will indeed weigh in.

[David Stiller]

Thanks for your attention, Nancy and Colin!  I don't feel like my issue has been resolved in any genuine sense, but I understand that marking a question as answered helps move things along.  I still feel that my chat transcripts might be helpful to someone involved in the area of Adobe support, so to any staffers ... please feel free to get in touch!