Update 3: The promised Creative Suite CS6 upgrade announcement and Creative Cloud FAQ update from Adobe have arrived and, while I hoped for more, there is some big news so I've taken the liberty of answering my own Frequently Unanswered Questions (in blue below) based on the new info.

This article is part of an ongoing series focused on the upcoming release of Adobe Creative Cloud and Creative Suite CS6.

Frequently Unanswered Questions

The following is the transcript of an interview with Adobe that didn't occur at a recent Empty Mic Night here at DWcourse.com.

DWcourse: I'd like to begin by thanking you for taking the time to answer these important questions. I'm sure your customers appreciate your continued efforts to maintain your consistently high level of communication and support.

Adobe DWcourse: Information is beginning to drip out but Adobe has a long way to go to regain customer trust.

DWcourse: The most critical questions for current users center around Creative Suite CS6 upgrades and Creative Cloud subscription pricing. It's important that Adobe make this information available before the end of the year so that users of pre-CS5 versions of Adobe programs can make informed buying decisions before the 20% discount on upgrades expires.

Will pricing information for upgrades from CS5 and 5.5 be announced before Dec. 31?

Adobe DWcourse: No, it was not announce and still hasn't been announced.

DWcourse: Will subscription pricing for single Apps or versions of Creative Suite other than the Master Collection be announced before Dec. 31?

Adobe DWcourse: No, it was not announce and still hasn't been announced.

DWcourse: If pricing information is not available by Dec. 31, will the discount period be extended?

Adobe DWcourse: The 20% discount for upgrades to Creative Suite CS5.5 remains in place. 

DWcourse: Will the upgrade to CS5.5 and then upgrade to CS6 path continue to be available after the announcement and/or release of CS6? Or will a full-price purchase of CS6 be the only option available at that point for owners of CS4 and earlier versions?

Adobe DWcourse: Adobe has announced that an upgrade path from CS3 and CS4 will be offered from the date of the CS6 announcement until the end of 2012.

DWcourse: Will current owners of CS5 or CS5.5 be offered incentives to switch to Creative Cloud rather than upgrading to a perpetual license for CS6?

Adobe DWcourse: Apparently. Adobe has stated "… as well as any introductory offers for existing customers to move to Creative Cloud membership, will be announced when CS6 and Creative Cloud are released later this year."

DWcourse: Will there be a mechanism for converting from a CS6 perpetual license to Creative Cloud at a later date?

Adobe DWcourse: Other than the introductory offer mentioned above, Adobe hasn't announced any other conversion path.

DWcourse: Current customers also need additional information about Creative Cloud in order to evaluate if they should transition.

Will purchasers of CS6 perpetual licenses have access to the online file storage, sharing, preview, synching and other features of Creative Cloud? If so, for how long?

Adobe DWcourse: Perhaps. According to Adobe, "Everyone can join the Creative Cloud. Customers will have access to a free membership to explore certain features of Creative Cloud." What those features will be is unknown. 

DWcourse: Will single app or non-Master Suite subscribers have access to the online file storage, sharing, preview, synching and other features of Creative Cloud?

Adobe DWcourse: See the answer to the previous question.

DWcourse: We were told that the Creative Cloud license will allow installation of the CS apps on two machines, including the option to install on one Mac and one P.C. Will this licensing change also apply to perpetual licenses?

Adobe DWcourse: That hasn't been publicly addressed but it appears unlikely. Cross platform licensing  could turn out to be one of the major feature drawing users to Creative Cloud.

DWcourse: The announcement of Creative Cloud also raises questions about future upgrades.

Will the 2-year upgrade cycle announced earlier this year continue? Will we see CS6.5 in 2012 and CS7 in 2013?

Adobe DWcourse: Creative Suite development will continue although the time frame for updates hasn't been offered.

DWcourse: Will the Creative Suite programs continue to be upgraded all at once or will we start to see staggered releases for different apps?

Adobe DWcourse: Although not specifically stated, it appears that all-at-once upgrades to the Creative Suite apps will continue for the time being.

DWcourse: Since Adobe has announced its intention to eventually transition all Creative Suite users to Creative Cloud, at what point will perpetual licensing be dropped?

Adobe DWcourse: Adobe appears to be downplaying  the eventually total transition to subscriptions in light of recent concerns expressed by many of its customers. But financially it still makes sense for Adobe to pursue this as a long-term goal.

DWcourse: And there are a couple of questions from educational users.

Will there be educational discounts for Creative Cloud licenses?

Adobe DWcourse: This was not addressed.

DWcourse: How will Creative Cloud affect educational institutions with multi-seat licenses and maintenance contracts?

Adobe DWcourse: This was not addressed.

DWcourse: Finally, Adobe has taken a major PR hit over its mishandling of the Creative Suite announcement, the death of Flash Player mobile, etc. It seems much of the negative fallout could have been avoided if the company had taken advantage of the human resources available in the Community Professionals and User Groups programs.

Are there any plans to proactively involve these groups prior to future announcements of this magnitude and will Community Professionals and User Groups be provided with answers and resources so that they can effectively communicate to the Adobe user community?

Adobe DWcourse: Adobe has made some limited efforts along these lines. It remains to be seen how extensive and lasting they will be.

DWcourse: Well it looks like we're about out of time. Is there any additional information you'd like to share with your users before we close?

Adobe DWcourse: Apparently not.

DWcourse: And that's all for now folks. If you have any other questions you'd like to have unanswered by Adobe, just leave a comment.

UPDATE: The most unexpected and unpleasant new "feature" being introduced in Adobe Creative Suite CS6 is the fact that you won't qualify for an update pricing discount unless you already own CS5 or CS5.5. Find out more about your Creative Suite upgrade options here…

Dreamweaver CS5.5 is now shipping which, according to Adobe’s timetable, means we can expect Dreamweaver CS6 (along with a new version of the Creative Suite) in about a year. While most folks are concentrating on the new features, griping about the cost of an upgrade or pondering subscription-based pricing, I've decided this is a good time to focus on what we’d like to see improved or added in Dreamweaver CS6.

The DWcourse wish list for Dreamweaver CS6

1. No Bugs: Dot zero versions of Dreamweaver (and some other Adobe products) have been notoriously buggy. CS5.5 has so far proven to be a pretty clean release. Hopefully that’s the start of a new emphasis on quality control. While perfection isn’t possible, users deserve a product that works and works well.
2. Illustrator Smart Objects: Dreamweaver already supports Photoshop Smart Objects that live link images placed in Dreamweaver to the original file in Photoshop. Designers need this functionality extended to Illustrator and perhaps other programs in the Suite (say live linking of text between InDesign and Dreamweaver?).
3. Editable Live View: Design View hasn’t been updated in ages and what you see there more closely resembles what you get in Internet Explorer 6 than anything you’ll see in a modern browser. It’s time for Design View to receive a radical makeover or be replaced altogether.
4. Revamped CSS Rule Creation and Editing: CS5.5 has come a long way by adding code hinting for CSS3 and browser-specific selectors in Code View. Now it’s time to offer that support in the CSS Rule Definition dialog. BTW, the CSS Styles palette has been one of those areas plagued by buggy behavior (although the situation has improved in CS5.5). CSS is too important for users to be required to work around bugs. Adobe needs to concentrate on really nailing CSS in Dreamweaver CS6.
5. Renewed Commitment to Students and Novices: Dreamweaver has a reputation as an “easy” way to create websites. Well, creating websites – even in Dreamweaver – is not easy but it could certainly be easier. Anyone who has ever taught a web design class has seen how frustrating little quirks in the program can be to new users. It’s a shame because, with Split View, code-hinting, an improved Design View and truly helpful Help, Dreamweaver could be a fantastic training tool for aspiring web designers and developers.

That should get the ball rolling. I invite you to submit your own wish list using the comments form below. I’ll make sure they get passed along to Adobe and the Dreamweaver team. I can’t promise results but, if you want to have an impact on CS6, now – before development gets too far along – is the time to be heard.

I’ve been a customer of HostGator for about five years. Over that period I’ve recommended them to clients and students, sold a few hosting contracts through the affiliate ads on my site and even offered a tutorial on how to sign up for hosting with the company.

I’ve been happy to do that because they have been the best hosting provider I have worked with…PERIOD.

I say that because their level of customer and tech support has been exemplary…

Until Last Week

On Firday, a number of my sites were unreachable for five plus hours for visitors in certain locations (including mine). This was apparently the result of a problem with the CloudFlare Content Delivery Network (CDN). CloudFlare is a third party service offered and promoted by HostGator. Upon becoming aware of the problem I contact HostGator and CloudFlare support.

HostGator Support

As usual I was able to get in touch with HostGator support almost immediately. Unfortunately, it was quickly apparent that the techs I dealt with:

• had little or no understanding of CloudFlare.
• had no access to information on the status of the CloudFlare network.
• couldn’t provide support other than offering to pass the issue up the chain where I would get a response within 24 hours.

I asked that CloudFlare be disabled on all my domains and crossed my fingers.

CloudFlare Support (or rather lack thereof)

My response from CloudFlare was even less helpful. The only support offered was through their trouble ticket system. In response to my ticket, I got an email stating, “We usually get back to people very quickly.”

I’m still waiting.

Seven hours later, in response to a question on Twitter, I did get this:

@DWcourse I've been able to confirm a brief service issue in our Chicago datacenter. Fixed now...sorry about that.

March 11, 2011 2:16 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@CloudFlare

CloudFlare

Apparently, to CloudFlare, five plus hours of down time is a brief service issue.

Back to HostGator

The issue was apparently resolved and my sites (sans-CloudFlare) appear to be working fine.

However, because I considered the issue serious and I had no way of knowing if the issue might still be affecting other locations, I continued to ask HostGator support for information.

Here an excerpt from their last response:

“Additional information is necessary in order to troubleshoot this issue. The only information we received from you is the output of a trace test, and the output of some pings. We'll need to know exactly how to replicate the issue.”

So, let me see if I understand.

1. I spent about an hour with you in Chat and on the phone as well as filing a trouble ticket and corresponding with you on Twitter.
2. I gave you ALL the information you requested.
3. I gave you additional information (including that the problem might be CloudFlare related).

But the problem is that I didn’t give you enough information to troubleshoot the issue. Did it occur to you that perhaps you should have asked for the information you needed when I was on the phone with you and the problem was ongoing?

And now you want me to tell you how to duplicate a problem I didn’t create and that was, from all indications, the result of problems with one of your third party providers?

That’s not just bad support; it’s insulting and makes you appear incompetent. I could have at least respected you if you had said, “Since the problem is not ongoing, we can’t diagnose it.”

So I Pulled My Affiliate Ads

In my experience there are two reasons to change hosting providers

1. Ongoing uptime and performance issues.
2. Bad support.

This experience definitely falls into category two. So I started exploring other hosting providers and pulled the HostGator ads from my site. After all, if I’m unhappy with the service, I don’t want to recommend it to others.

But I have another rule:

• Don’t jump ship after one bad experience – especially if a company has a history of excellent service.

So, after cooling down, I’ve decided that, given their previously excellent track record, HostGator deserves a second chance and that I’m still willing to recommend them. So I’m not changing hosting providers and I’m reinstating the ads and offering these caveats:

HostGator Hosting

HostGator service has traditionally been excellent. But they are a young and rapidly growing company and, in my experience, the quality of service from hosting companies can deteriorate rapidly if they grow too quickly or don’t continue to devote adequate resources to support. Given that HostGator’s reputation is built on customer service, I expect them to carefully monitor the quality of their support and take steps to correct problems like the ones I experienced.

CloudFlare: Not Recommended

Neither CloudFlare nor HostGator is currently able to offer adequate customer support for the CloudFlare service and I recommend that users not activate the service on their HostGator domains.

The Future

I’ll continue to monitor and report on HostGator and, if support does deteriorate, I’ll let you know and find another provider to recommend. And, if future support lives up to their past standards, I’ll (very happily) let you know.

About comments

If a representative of HostGator or CloudFlare would like to respond, please include an email address so I can use to verify that you are authorized to speak for the company.

Please do not submit recommendations for hosting services.

I spent a few hours today researching ad agencies (and a couple of design firms) and found myself immensely frustrated by their websites. This led to a series of rants on Twitter. As a firm believer that we can all learn from the mistakes of others, I've republishing my rants below.

• 10px type (or smaller) does not work online for something you actually want people to read!
• Buttons should tell me what they link to BEFORE I hover over them.
• I don't need a special effect EVERY TIME I click on something. Just go to the darn page!
• Do you really want me to read that type? Maybe you shouldn't have put an image behind it.
• Your blog misses you!
• That's a cute flash game on your home page. Now, what did I come here for?
• How about providing a link from your blog to your main website?
• I shouldn't have to go through two pages without content to get to one page with content.
• I shouldn't have to hunt for your links.
• Usability is PART of design. Not something that you sacrifice for design.