Seriously, something needs to be done

[Dennis]

I normally don't go on rants like this unless something is really bugging me.

We've used TCAdmin since 2012. The only reason we started using it was because it was the most popular control panel. As I got more used to TCAdmin, I started to like how advanced it was. Seen from my perspective, TCAdmin was almost perfect because we could customize it how we'd like using custom scripts.

 

 

But... Design hasn't changed much since version 1, and the design for v2 hasn't changed at all (at least not that I know of). During the years, I learned to live with the very old design. The panel has never been loading fast (takes more than 2 seconds to load a page), but I've always been used to this. The past months, we've received a few complaints from customers. TCAdmin's features are no longer attractive. Clients cancel their service with us because the panel is too difficult to navigate. We've actually had clients tell us that they'd rather drop some of the more advanced scripts we've made for a better user experience in the control panel.

 

 

TCAdmins design has been the number 1 thing that has received the most complaints during the time I've been here, and nothing has been done. There's hardly any response from developers on feature requests, so TCAdmin customers have no idea what they can expect from future releases.

 

 

Two days ago, we were advised by a customer to switch to another control panel (free and open source). I got curious and installed it, just for comparing and testing. While it doesn't offer everything that TCAdmin does, it felt natural to navigate, and it didn't even take a second to load pages.

 

 

I'm sad that TCAdmin doesn't seem to advance - because occasionally new great features are added, but that doesn't help much when the software feels old and slow for the end user.

I'm sure I'm not the only one feeling this way, and it only seems to be going downhill for TCAdmin. Back in 2015, TCAdmin hosted ~65000 servers, then ~58000 in 2016, and now ~42000 in 2018.

 

 

 

It feels like most of our customers no longer want TCAdmin, and I feel forced to look for an alternative... but I really don't want to. I've spent thousands of hours in TCAdmin. Sad thing is, we really need to find an alternative if nothing happens about some if the things that have received the most complaints from end users for years.

[Bubka3]

Interesting 1000th post. The design of TCAdmin definitely needs a rework. Besides being visually out of date, there's so much clicking required. Stuff I would expect to be in a pop modal in 2018 is stuck in click click click hell.

 

As for the TCAdmin hosting X amount of servers decline, I would attribute that to the general decline of the GSP industry. More and more games are matchmaking or p2p based and dedicated game servers simply aren't needed.

[Dennis]

That would definately be a factor, but I'm pretty sure that alternatives to TCAdmin also has something to say (especially the free open source ones).

The one that I was trying out had more than 1200 users online on their Discord, and generally seemed to be much more alive than TCAdmin, and it's only a couple of years old.

[Mods]

I must for the most part, agree. I've heard the same from a few other GSPs. Much of it still feels dated, and customers don't seem to like looking at console windows for simple custom scripts we have in place. It has its own set of quirks (for our installation anyway - scripts don't automatically execute on triggers half of the time, etc). Then again, it's generally a very reliable package of software that we can depend on, which is key.

 

We had a team approach us recently asking for our thoughts on a direct TCAdmin alternative, and whether or not we'd consider a switch if they offered a means to migrate the database side of things. I've also tried out the alternative which I believe you're mentioning. Our live TCAdmin installation is nearly as fast - speed has never been an issue since our most recent infrastructure upgrade.

[Dennis]

We had a team approach us recently asking for our thoughts on a direct TCAdmin alternative

Care to contact me about which?

 

 

Our live TCAdmin installation is nearly as fast - speed has never been an issue since our most recent infrastructure upgrade.

I've never seen TCAdmin load fast, but that might be lack of optimization on my end.

[ECF]

There will be a major update to the layout, theme and coding of our software coming out around the first of the year. I do not have any dates, so please don't ask.

 

I cannot provide any screenshots, but I can say that you will be able to create your own themes which will allow a lot more customization that what you can currently do.

 

Currently the asp.net code TCAdmin relies on is a bit heavy. This will also be changed to a lighter code type to allow faster loading times for most of the screens.

 

I can say that I understand your concerns regarding the current layout. I am confused as to why customers care since we have many unique features. But we have listened to you (even if we don't publically respond) and your complaints.

 

I guess the younger crowd is more into what the software looks like, vs. what it can do?...

 

If you feel like there is a better alternative that you can move to, then as a business person I would say go with what you think is your best option.

[Dennis]

There will be a major update to the layout, theme and coding of our software coming out around the first of the year.

That is great to hear! I know that promising new things in public is a difficult thing. We've done that plenty of times with other projects, and had to ditch some ideas that were promised which didn't really give the best impression of us.

 

 

But we have listened to you (even if we don't publically respond) and your complaints.

This is something that I would like to see. Just some kind of response to feature requests that tells us that it's being considered, already under development or not going to happen at all.

I am confused as to why customers care since we have many unique features... I guess the younger crowd is more into what the software looks like, vs. what it can do?...

I don't think it's all about how the design looks, but more so about how the design feels. It feels outdated and not very user friendly. Younger people would definately need something that's user friendly.

If you feel like there is a better alternative that you can move to, then as a business person I would say go with what you think is your best option.

That's the "problem" Nothing I've found can do the same as TCAdmin. I've grown used to being able to create scripts that can backup/restore files, scripts that can launch another .exe while the server runs. The whole point with this thread was to hopefully lure some information out (mostly about whether or not there will be a new design) which would give me an excuse to not continue my search. I'm far too familiar with TCAdmin to want to switch.

[ECF]

Well here is your public answer. Luis is working on on a new layout, and making the pages load faster.

Edited November 6, 2018 by ECF

[Bubka3]

I can say that I understand your concerns regarding the current layout. I am confused as to why customers care since we have many unique features. But we have listened to you (even if we don't publically respond) and your complaints.

 

I guess the younger crowd is more into what the software looks like, vs. what it can do?...

Customers as in the hoster? I doubt hosters care personally, but end users expect the panel to keep up with how the web looks in general. You can add in as many unique features that you can dream up, but what's it matter if the end user doesn't understand how to use them because the UI is nothing like expected of a website in 2018. I don't think any alternative can compete with the feature set of TCAdmin which is great for hosters. But most hosters have end users to serve, and some consideration to them should be given as well.

 

 

In any event, here's to a new year and a overhaul

[ECF]

I spoke to Luis about the new layout being coded. Once he has some more of it done we will be bringing in some of our clients to check it out and offer advice on how things may be easier to navigate etc...

 

We will be starting a hidden forum for this purpose.

 

This will be invite only, so please do not ask who we are choosing for this testing.

We will keep you updated in the forums on progress.

[Alexr03]

After reading through this thread a few times, I do agree with Dennis, we have been using TCAdmin for community purpose around 2013, then started using it for hosting around 2015 and I have been loving it since then.

 

I love how much you can customise TCA with the custom scripts. I've made a discord bot that links WHMCS & TCA together and allows clients to control their service with the bot, it works absolutely amazingly.

 

But yeah the black console window does not look appealing for end-users, but the page loading times are quite long, but it's great to hear that Luis is working on making them faster! I would personally love to jump on this train to test out the new updates surrounding this issue, i'll be regularly checking back for updates.

[Bubka3]

But yeah the black console window does not look appealing for end-users

 

I think this specific problem could be easily fixed by a simple dumb UI for users with maybe progress bars and a spoiler type link for the console output for power users.

 

@ECF: In any case, that's great to hear that the team will bringing on testers to work on this. Best of luck!

[mouseymars]

Have to say a new design and performance improvements would be extremely appreciated.

[ECF]

Have to say a new design and performance improvements would be extremely appreciated.

 

In the works

[Eased]

Forget the TCAdmin software for a moment...

 

The TCAdmin website is seriously outdated to the point where I would bet that sales are being impacted. Does TCAdmin staff not care? Because that's what it looks like. I also worry for the security of their WHMCS and even these forums. These need to be updated regularly, just like the TCAdmin software. I shouldn't need to preach this to software developers. At this point it would be so much work to update that it's pretty much a nuke and pave / migrate to new. The website has literally not changed style since 2005. If that's not neglect then I don't know what is.

 

I feel like TCAdmin pretty much has a monopoly on game control panel software but they are very close to squandering it all away. I say this as a supporter that cares about their future. However I can't seem to wrap my head around what the management team is thinking. It looks more like a one man operation, and even worse one that that has lost interest in their passion for TCAdmin. Is it lack of funding? Is it lack of time? Is it lack of interest?

 

I guess the younger crowd is more into what the software looks like, vs. what it can do?...

Hrmm. Worrying statement. While not completely false, still not completely true. There needs to be a

balance

. People very much "judge the book by the cover" and will simply pass off software that looks like its from the 90's

even if

it could print them money and they didn't know because they didn't look past the cover. Presence and first impressions mean a lot and this statement from a business perspective is scary. TCAdmin is customer facing. Unless the new intention is to be for tech and administration only in which case I dont care. Think about it from a game development perspective. You can't have a game that can do everything, but is literally text based graphics. And you cant have the opposite either where it looks great but there's no content and features.

 

I don't intent to be mean here, but maybe some hard hitting truths is what you guys need to hear. I say this as a fan who wants to see TCAdmin improve.

Edited December 20, 2018 by Eased

[Dennis]

I also worry for the security of their WHMCS and even these forums

The backend can be updated (which it has). It looks to be running WHMCS 7.x (not sure of the exact version). No need to worry. If you're tired of the design, just use https://clients.tcadmin.com/index.php?systpl=six

 

 

I feel like TCAdmin pretty much has a monopoly on game control panel software

They don't - there's lots of software. One open source alternative has more than 800 online users on a Discord channel most of the time.

 

 

It looks more like a one man operation

It kind of is

[Eased]

I'm sorry Dennis, but did you just switch sides in your own rant thread? *thinking emoji*

 

If it is a one man operation then that's fine. I too run a one man business. But hire or outsource the resources you need to do the jobs that are not your specialty. You can't expect one man to do literally everything and not eventually burn out.

 

In my opinion opportunity is being wasted and a good product will eventually have fatal consequences if action isn't taken. If you guys can't all see that by now then the fate is already sealed.

[Dennis]

I'm not on any side, I'm just sharing my side. I don't care that TCAdmins WHMCS design is outdated - our clients are not going to see that, and the backend is patched, so any TCAdmin customer's information is as safe as in any other WHMCS installation.

 

 

In my opinion opportunity is being wasted and a good product will eventually have fatal consequences if action isn't taken.

It's been explained that action is being taken

[Eased]

I don't care that TCAdmins WHMCS design is outdated

 

You cherry picked one sentence and are misconstruing what I was trying to explain. Look at the big picture. Regardless my words were not meant for you.

[gijs007]

Glad to hear the front end is being updated/modernized

 

I can recommend the book: "Don't make me think" to Luis.

It explains best practices and examples of user interfaces for websites.

 

For example a lot of websites these days have a login/logout and profile button at the top right corner of the screen.

Following such web standards and best practices makes it easier and more convenient for users to locate what they are looking for.

 

 

-----------------

 

IMO: A more streamlined experience for those of us who use WHMCS for the billing and support system would be great.

Perhaps the WHMCS six template is a good reference for the new TCAdmin design?

 

IMO 2: A template which is responsive and renders well on mobile devices would be excellent. This would be a nice to have feature

 

-----------------

Advice 1:

The current frontend is decently fast when using IIS as webserver.

 

The only thing I've noticed is that there are a lot of HTTP requests for separate static resources. (Almost 40 .axd and .js files)

It would be better if the new template combines such files, to reduce the amount of HTTP requests.

 

Advice 2:

After running a private beta test, also do a public demo.

Make use of a usability feedback tool, so that we can report feedback right in the demo interface.

 

Advice 3:

It would be best if we can use a CDN (e.g. Cloudflare) to cache static content, closest to the end users. As this greatly improves performance and offloads the web servers.

We can do this with the current templates. It's a must to ensure that this is still possible with the new template.

 

Feature request: It would be great if we can split large file manager uploads into 100MB chunks, as Cloudflare has a limitation of 100MB on the free and pro plan.

Edited December 29, 2018 by gijs007

[ECF]

https://clientforums.tcadmin.com/showthread.php?t=12953

[Dennis]

WOOOOOOOOOO!

 

 

Any way to become an early tester?

[ECF]

No early testers needed. This will be released as a "beta" (non-stable) update at first.

[Mods]

No early testers needed. This will be released as a "beta" (non-stable) update at first.

Is there any possibility of a screenshot (or two)?

[Alexr03]

Can't wait to see the new layout!!

 

 

Is there any possibility of a screenshot (or two)?

 

+1 Would be great to see how it looks.