Chris Warticki's Blog - Oracle Support

Hi Chris,
I notice the new "search" functionality, where you can now search in forums with the new interface.

However, once you have found a thread, you cannot answer to it

Why did they choose Adobe Flash for the new Metalink?? The Oracle Support doesn't believe in Oracle technologies (ADF, APEX)?

I made comments at http://blogs.oracle.com/supportportal/2008/09/introducing_my_oracle_support.html
I assume you subscribe to rss for that blog, right? =)

I am going to pester you guys about the feedback program. In a good way.

The SupportPortal blog is not updating very quickly; else my comments are being denied. You guys are not swamped with problem reports, or too busy changing "Metalink" to "My Support", are you? =)

Had a couple issues with downloading and configuring OCM. First, my username/password was not accepted - I had to use an old, Metalink2 combination. Second, I cannot associate a connected configuration with an existing CSI. I am following the directions in the Quick Start Guide, but not getting anywhere.

Also, the OCM FAQ has a circular reference for #25.

Bulk Reply to comments:

- Laurent. Good Catch. I've validated that this capability does exist in Classic but not in the new My Oracle Support. Forums are a setting/privilege in both versions, but the ability to reply to the forum selected from within a search is not able to be done in new My Oracle Support. I will follow up with the Program Office for My Oracle Support.

-Rumbarak. I couldn't agree more with your comments. You should have heard the outburst at ODTUG when I delivered this demo. Oracle Support does believe in ADF and APEX. I'll pass this feedback to Support's leadership on this continued response from the customer community.

-Charles. Keep the feedback coming. We need more customers like yourself. Bang away at the SupportPortal blog you identified above. Also, use the user experience links on the Registration Page, the feedback link in the upper right hand corner within My Oracle Support and/or Log a Service Request. Our technical team is available to assist and troubleshoot any issues with install, setup and usage.

I have to say, while I appreciate Oracle Support's efforts at transparency through blogs and more community interaction, the new Metalink is just appallingly bad.

I don't know if the question of Flex over Apex can be asked enough times. Flash is such a bad technology for a support portal for enterprise customers. When I have a critical system fail and the clock starts, I can't afford to worry about what browser I can use or whether Flash renders properly. Critical - enterprise - support. None of those things lend themselves to glitzy bleeding-edge tools that look pretty but sometimes work.

For now,
- going to metalink.oracle.com and clicking Login does nothing (FF 3.0.3, Mac OS X 10.5).
- Searches for my own closed SRs return zip. I can only find open service requests.
- I get fewer communication error popups, but they still rear their head occasionally.
- Search has never been a forte of MetaLink, but it seems to have gone worse.
- My scroll wheel doesn't work for crying out loud. I seem to recall this is an issue of Flash and two of the big three browsers, which obviously isn't your fault, but certainly speaks to the lunacy of using Flash for the entire presentation layer.
- There seems to be no easy way to get hyperlinks directly to notes and SRs anymore. Links generated in SRs from the week prior to the new launch no longer work.

I'm sure there is some workaround to some of those complaints, but I don't think I can say it enough: Enterprise support should be fast, easy, and intuitive. I do appreciate the work you and your team are putting into this, but for now I just hope that classic MetaLink will be around for a while.

Hi,

I just checked with oracle metalink new version. I searched for something and i found 313 results. But only i was able to scroll down upt 20 to 30 results..and it reached end of the page...I was not able to see other results found..no next page..previous page..
Disappointed., No settings are there for this.

Hi, Mr. Warticki

Some questions I would really like to read reply for:

- Have you ever used "old" (classic) Metalink at all? If you actually did, you would understand how bad new flash UI is.
- Do you actually use flash based Metalink at all? I mean, use it to actually perform some work? I don't think so, because you would understand how bad new flash UI is.
- Do you understand that flash is actually slow? And that we don't need animated menus/windows... to do real work.
- Did anybody from the field (real DBAs, developers) perform usability test?
- Did you actually listen to people who had performed usability tests?
- What is wrong with technology used by Google (ajax), for example? Why flash?
This is shame. I am Metalink user since 1999. - and this is the worst Metalink ever.

It is weird.
Flash is a great optimizer when you have images and bulky flashy video. Oracle Support/Metalink is all text based (boring colorless stuff like Applications earlier character based versions!!!). IMO Flash and My Oracle Supprot is a bad marriage. Not sure what Flash is bringing in for its visitors.

-Jayesh

The new metalink is just appalling. Can't believe they moved to this - from the earlier one. Change is good - when it is for the better. Doesn't Oracle listen to the customer feedback ? How else can they come up with this sort of interface with flash for a support website.