Stay Away From Socialstrap! Support Is Terrible!

Back in October, I purchased a script from interactive32.com named Socialstrap, a social networking script that looks really good and is for sale at a budget price. Now I realize why the script is so cheap, the support that, apparently, comes with it is beyond terrible!

At the moment, I have problems with the script that I can not fix. Popular users box will show 10 profiles even when I change it to any other number, it looks messy. Profile photos are tiny, you simply can not see the photos without using your browser zoom to around 150%. Ok, these 2 problems are only cosmetic, but when I build a website, I want it to be as good as possible for my end users and if I see the demo of the script working perfectly and my installation not, I expect there to be a simple problem, one that the script seller can guide me on to fix. I use a top of the range server for all my sites and meets all script requirements, so it is not a problem my end.

It is not only the cosmetic problems, there is a major SEO problem that needs fixing. The only way to add custom pages is by uploading your pages as PHTML files to the /info/page/name/ folder. This all looks great, same top menu bar and footer, however, every page uploaded in that folder has the same meta title and description as the homepage. Webmaster tools have already found this, so I have 9 duplicate pages! Try adding meta tags directly to the pages and the script will ignore them, so will Google!

Another problem is resource usage (Pagespeed) on both the default and splash homepage. Javascript is loaded up that is not required, making pagespeed very low, also bad for SEO.
Check the results for mobile and desktop here https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/?url=https://live.socialstrap.net/&tab=mobile Desktop has 67/100 and mobile 48/100 at the time of writing this. Please see the screenshots below..

Desktop

Mobile


I uploaded these images just to show you how the script, as is and as in the demo, fairs with Google Pagespeed. It might be that the developers work out how to get their script over the 90% mark for both desktop and mobile, as I have done with my installation, however, I am not going to give them the info needed to do this because they will not give me the support I require to fix other bugs. Maybe it is because they can not fix the other bugs or maybe it is just plain ignorance.

The other problems I had was with third party scripts that are listed as third party plugins on the Socialstrap website. Cometchat installation was terrible, the problem being friends and followers not connecting or guests being able to chat with anyone and sometimes no chatter was detected, although online, testing with 2 friends accounts. Arrowchat just turned the entire theme into a horrible red with black writing, quite disgusting to view, writing impossible to read!

The reason I am writing this is not because of the errors, the errors I have written about is so that you know what to expect should you purchase Socialstrap. I am writing this to warn you about the lack of support and the arrogant ignorant terms and conditions.

Never in my life have I read terms that include this sentence here..

"Your license can be suspended if you demand additional support, threaten with bad reviews or breach the terms in any way."

So if you have a problem and your support request is ignored, Socialstrap have the rights to suspend your license that you paid for should you ask for support again or query why your support tickets remain unanswered! I can translate this in a more understanding way, it should actually read..

"We do not offer any support at all, if you should contact us with any support questions, we will remove your license and forbid you from downloading any updates that you have paid for."

I purchased the script back in October and the support then was terrible. I even have an email apologizing about the delay in support, although my 30 days of support was never extended and I missed out on around 3 weeks of it! I have the emails to prove this, should I need them later on when the developers begin to reply to this post and start creating fake accounts to make comments about Socialstrap being any good! I have a lot of things I can use and will use them as my Ace cards should I need to later on.

Anyway, below is a screenshot of their terms, please read the last line. I am including this screenshot as proof that their terms actually stated the ridiculous license suspension should we ask for support line...



How any company can get away with this is beyond me! I urge you to not fall into the same trap as I did, go for something more expensive, such as PHPFox or SocialEngine, both companies will give you a payment plan, PHPFox offered me their complete script at $20 a month until paid, so if I didnt like it, I only lost $20. I will be moving to PHPFox on my new project and I will leave Socialstrap as my old project. The reason I want to leave Socialstrap on my old project is to make a post in the next couple of months about how it will not rank because of so many SEO errors and how it is likely to crash or get hacked eventually, when enough members join up!

Thank you for reading and I hope I have prevented a lot of people from falling into the same trap as me! Socialstrap will take away your license if you request any support and prevent you from downloading any updates.

 

hello and smile after reading ur post

best addon writer is that segal guy what an a***hole

if u need help with that thing i can help u with SS
one question from me can u help me out with the comet chat integration.php i don't have it

greetings jimmy

 

Hi,
I have contacted the payment processor company and they are trying to contact SS without any luck so far. Total ignorance, a complete disgrace of a company and I glad you can see exactly why. If you contact Cometchat, they will install it for you because the intergration I have was done by Cometchat as I found it impossible, it still doesnt work though. I would suggest ditching SS and go for PHPFox, ask them for a payment plan and tell them Simon from LOC sent you.

 

good morning

without knowledge SS is hard to handle but a nice script i like it

hrhr nice turn phpfox is very nice

i only need that integration.php or a paste copy without ur database details

 

I would do this for you but you are asking me to break the law, so I hope you understand that I can not do this. If you have a valid Cometchat license, they will do it for you. I am not risking anything, not in my current situation, sorry.

 

cometchat is full of malware the creators infected em don't use it

 

Cometchat is laggy, I found this out last night trying to have a conversation with a friend.

 

^_^ i need 3 code lines of arrowchat

 

Arrowchat didnt work for me, sorry, turned my these into a red mess!

 

morning canaryspace

i readed that i contact u later on ur network have to buy some things in the store with junior

btw i can fix it

 

Nothing from SocialStrap support, they ignored my first requests for help and cancelled my license that I paid for so I can not download updates. What a complete bunch of assholes. They added "Your license can be suspended if you demand additional support, threaten with bad reviews or breach the terms in any way." after ignoring my first requests for support with their bugs. I guess they didnt like the fact that I found bugs and couldnt fix them, so they cancelled my license and added that to their terms.

I warn everyone, stay away from these scammers, if you are already using SocialStrap and are happy with it, trust me, as soon as your site gets busy, it will fall to pieces like mine has. I am now going to write on review sites about their scam, they caused my business trouble so I will make sure they are made to pay. Gonna go back to SocialEngine, I already have a license with them, so they will do a good deal

 

oh man i can give u the update but i saw ur site is down no chance to contact u how about ur addons any chance to get them ?

 

My site is up here, no downtime either?