Plesk 11.5 is very close to release. Last chance for your feedback

[Sergey L]

Hello, after over 6 months of publicly available preview, Plesk 11.5 is only few weeks till release.
That makes it just right time to evaluate if you didn't yet. If you did it long ago - it is just right time for re-evaluation.
That's the last chance to complain _BEFORE_ it is released.

Among multiple other things Plesk 11.5 includes 2 big changes:

1. changed structure of users home. Much less folders now. But that's A CHANGE and we need your review.
2. changed UI. We think managing sites is more convenient now. But that's A CHANGE and we need your review.

We are very much curious for your feedback on these (and other changes). If you have already tried Plesk 11.5 - PLEASE TELL US what you think about its new UI (in this survey)

If you didn't yet, evaluation is more than simple -

1. Download from http://www.parallels.com/download/plesk/11.5 - license key and changelog included
2. Install (requires "--all-versions" option)
3. Evaluate and submit feedback

If your business involves VPSes and you can clone one of your current Plesk server, so that you can try upgrade to Plesk 11.5 - that would be great. If you can try transfer (previously known as migration) from your server to fresh Plesk 11.5 - great as well. Tell us your experience.

If you cannot afford extra server for evaluation, drop me a private message and we can arrange a temporary server for you. Very limited offer - first come, first served.

UPD: If you don't have time to play with a server, explore ONLINE DEMO of Plesk 11.5 (Linux version only)

1. Site owner demo (login: admin, password: plesk115) - fits best to explore experience of web master in their own VPS (shared hosting customer has similar look&feel)
2. Hoster demo (login: admin, password: plesk115) - fits best to explore experience of a hoster or web agency, serviing sites for their customers.

The demoes are automatically reset to default state every few hours.

Please tell us what you think. Tell your friends and get free Plesk license (terms provided on top of the page).

 

[StéphanS]

Hi Sergey,

is it possible to get back to my Private Message?

Since this is a limited offer I'd like to know if I can qualify.


Thank you!


Kind regards,

Stéphan
Stone-IS

 

[Sergey L]

Hello Stephan,
Definitely qualified. I dropped you a message for server preferences. We start giving servers out on Monday

 

[craigh]

Sergey,

Since the expiry date functionality apparently can't be fixed by a micro-update, is it too late to have it included in 11.5?


Craig

 

[Sergey L]

Maybe too late, we are about 2 weeks to release.

 

[derde0]

Hi,

because it is not that easy to submit feedback or similar for the new plesk panel 11.5 i will do it in the forum.

when i tried to change passwords in horde and roundcube i faced two problems:

1. it doesn't matter which level of password strength is set via security policy - these two applications ignore them. (Sample of password - test.test)

2. If i use a password that matches the level of password strength then i get an error of the poppassd-server (error 500) (Sample of password - ple?.05.25.para_)

I think the possiblity changing passwords inside the webmailer should be reworked. (In the first run this should be disabeld.) And the poppassd-script should be reworked in the way that it will accept the more complex passwords.

just my two cents

cio derde

 

[Sergey L]

Thank you derde!

We will definitely re-check #1 and #2. Could you tell more what kind of problems you had with the submitting feedback? I've seen similar problem in the other thread, but I cannot reproduce it...

 

[derde0]

Thank you derde!

We will definitely re-check #1 and #2. Could you tell more what kind of problems you had with the submitting feedback? I've seen similar problem in the other thread, but I cannot reproduce it...

Well, when i click the feedback button, it seems to me, that the address is known but not reachable and the browsers is waiting for fullfilling the request on the server but the server is - maybe under heavy load or a script running as zombie etc.

cio derde

 

[Sergey L]

Thanks Derde, will try to catch it on our side.

 

[Sergey L]

Check out the top post in the thread for an option of ONLINE DEMO (if you cannot install Plesk 11.5, but still want to see it early)

 

[derde0]

Hi,

it's a pitty, that the demo-sites aren't working.
I installed plesk 11.5.26 on a virtual machine and tried to change the state of imported e-mail-addresses (from 11.09#51) so the owner of the address could access the panel - to change settings of spam, autoresponder etc. when i check this button for the already existing address (in case of migration may be this a common task) i have to reenter the passwords - but i do not know the passwords of these users. maybe you can change this behavior to the already known one - that you could change some settings beside the passwords - but you shouldn't reenter the passwords. (or is it possible to change the accessability of the panel via cli - this could be the workaround for this).

cio derde

 

[derde0]

Ok. I could test it on the demo-site - and it's the same behavior. So, because the manual for 11.5 is not published yet i can only guess if there is the possibility to change the status of the user over cli.

cio derde

 

[derde0]

Again Sometimes it's like talking to oneself, bubbleing like a baby in the sandpit ... ;-)

I found the docs for 11.5 ... there is an option to set the state for accessing the cp-panel, but it's not possible to change the state of the e-mail-address whether it can access the panel or not. you have always provide the passoword for it. puh. there are about 250 address on the server ...

maybe you can change this before the release.

cio derde

 

[Sergey L]

Hi derde,

actually there is a checkbox enabling and disabling CP access. Do you mean that password has to be provided even for disabled panel access?

 

[derde0]

Hi sergey,

the case i mean is: i have a e-mail-address with no access to the cp-panel. I want to enable the access - now i have to reenter the password for the already created e-mail-adress. It is not possible to grant access without reentering the password. I have a customer with more than 80 e-mail-addresses. if i as the administrator could set the state over cli without any password - that would be great (like i could do it with all the other settings.)

may i guess - you need the password because the user for accessing the cp-panel reside in a different table with it's own password-field then the e-mail-address?

cio derde

 

[Sergey L]

may i guess - you need the password because the user for accessing the cp-panel reside in a different table with it's own password-field then the e-mail-address?

Hi derde, the guess is correct. Thanks for you problem report. Will see how we can fix it.

 

[hardbrasil]

Hi Sergey,
i have one server with plesk 11.0.9 deidcated on 1and1.
with just 4 websites (most of them are ours) i would like to upgrade but not change the license, is possible?
how can i send feedbacks to you?

regards

 

[KonstantinosS]

Hi Sergey,
i have one server with plesk 11.0.9 deidcated on 1and1.
with just 4 websites (most of them are ours) i would like to upgrade but not change the license, is possible?
how can i send feedbacks to you?

regards

Hi hardbrasil, you can follow the instructions here: http://www.parallels.com/download/plesk/11.5 depending on your server operating system and if it meets the requirements of Plesk 11.5. It's a pretty much straightforward process, where you might have to change a few things (easily done) and wouldn't take more than 5-10 mins of your time. I've been using 11.5.27 on a production server with 17 websites on it and am very much happy with it. It may still need a few improvements on very minor bugs (I've yet to notice any serious bug since 11.5.24), so I'm happy with it.

If your server is not mission critical and you can wait around a bit for any official tech support, then go ahead and do it, otherwise, wait for the official release. I wanted horde 5, as I've got a lot of clients with smartphones, so it was not an option to keep up with 11.0 and horde 3. All in all, the interface is much easier to use (especially for website management) and I like the changes they've done. To tell you the truth, I've jumped from 9, to 9.5, and then straight to 11 for a month and then to 11.5 and am very happy with the changes I see. Perhaps some features may need polishing, or some packages may require certain repositories (ie. php-fpm which requires remi or atomic), but other than that, it's a damn good panel. Having cPanel on a shared plan used as a testing ground for various personal stuff, I find Plesk to be much more easier to operate and control, either as a novice admin, or as an experienced one. I for one prefer the console than the buttons, as I've been using linux for the past 15y or so, but I don't mind when some things are easier done via Panels.

Up to now, 11.5 has given me a very positive feeling, although I would like some extra features that are, or can be, easily implemented to be actually there (ie. ActiveSync on Horde), or the ability to be able to install any php version via the control panel, or even the inclusion of pear applications through the panel, although I do understand that these may delay the release of the panel.

All in all, I'm very happy with the changes I see in Plesk, and hope to see a lot more in the future.

Cheers,
Konstantinos

 

[hardbrasil]

Ow!
you write so well, thank you!
good reason, good args. i am upgrading right now.

i let community know if i found any issue.

by the way, did you know Roundcube?
100% better than horde of caves...

best regards

 

[KonstantinosS]

Ow!
you write so well, thank you!
good reason, good args. i am upgrading right now.

i let community know if i found any issue.

by the way, did you know Roundcube?
100% better than horde of caves...

best regards

I have both roundcube and horde installed. I prefer to use horde due to the fact that version 5 has a mobile version template, so it's much easier for smartphone users (a lot of my clients are), plus it supports ActiveSync, although, that has to be enabled and customized by Parallels in a future update. If you want and know a few things about rewrites, you can try it yourself. The wiki article on horde.org has the necessary information for the default installation of horde, and you can use the Knowledge Base to find the directories of horde in Plesk.

Since my experience with Plesk has been rocky in the past (managed to have a couple of server reinstalls with versions 9 and 9.5 due to MySQL setting changes) I try to avoid tweaking things that might interfere with the operation of a production server. Since I don't have a spare license to test things on a demo server or a virtual machine to try them, I doubt it would be difficult to do it if it's not mission critical to have webmail available for your clients or if you have a demo server to try the changes before passing them on to your production server. However, be warned, that should horde be updated, the necessary changes may have to reapply. I've already asked for Parallels to add the ActiveSync feature of horde as a feature request, as I believe it's going to help both corporate customers and small business owners who may want to save some $$$ from more expensive solutions, such as atmail Pro or any other professional mail server that supports ActiveSync.

Having tested though the horde with exports from MS Outlook and Outlook.com, it's going to be an interesting feature that may help achieve future hosts the ability to enjoy the features available in Gmail and Outlook.com (skydrive, etc.).