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It is a very good tutorial. Will help many people 
I agree with you, if there is just a simple way to download the PDF quickly using one-click then great. I can't see why you would only want 1 page of a bill to be honest. If the bill is there, you want it all.
I have only been with Vodafone 2 years so I have only ever been online.
Not 100% sure about the emailing the bills though because of email security, and I doubt VF would do it unfortunately
Tom
I agree with you, if there is just a simple way to download the PDF quickly using one-click then great. I can't see why you would only want 1 page of a bill to be honest. If the bill is there, you want it all.
I have only been with Vodafone 2 years so I have only ever been online.
Not 100% sure about the emailing the bills though because of email security, and I doubt VF would do it unfortunately
Tom
Guys struggled with this for OVER 11 hours yesterday day on my XPpro/Firefox 3.0.5 laptop and thought I'd better check on another system (nothing like banging one's head against the wall for several hours to get a clear head ... eventually 
) I decided (last evening) maybe I'd better try the same on some of the Linux machines & a Win2K system I have here:
eeePC - using native browser (Mozilla/Webkit) works! Arrrgh! What is going on?
Siemens Laptop/Debian Linux (Firefox under guise of IceWeasel) - works!
Windows 2000/Firefox 2.x now 3.0.8 (used as a storage workstation/server with SCSI disks) - works!
Windows XP/Firefox 3.0.5 (now 3.0.8) - NOT working! ######! Back to drawing board - too much for one day. Will try to analyse further today. Strongly suspect interference with/from download manager but will post back my findings here. Have to exit Firefox to fully disable DL manager though.
I still say DocumentDirect sucks big time. It's adding a whole new complication layer that adds precisely ZERO value.
Vodafone: PLEASE consider junking it for something more sane & simple.
You know KISS - Keep It Sweet & Simple
(Rather than Keep It Simple Stupid - never did like that form)
Best regards, Bob Lewis.
) I decided (last evening) maybe I'd better try the same on some of the Linux machines & a Win2K system I have here:eeePC - using native browser (Mozilla/Webkit) works! Arrrgh! What is going on?
Siemens Laptop/Debian Linux (Firefox under guise of IceWeasel) - works!
Windows 2000/Firefox 2.x now 3.0.8 (used as a storage workstation/server with SCSI disks) - works!
Windows XP/Firefox 3.0.5 (now 3.0.8) - NOT working! ######!
Back to drawing board - too much for one day. Will try to analyse further today. Strongly suspect interference with/from download manager but will post back my findings here. Have to exit Firefox to fully disable DL manager though.I still say DocumentDirect sucks big time. It's adding a whole new complication layer that adds precisely ZERO value.
Vodafone: PLEASE consider junking it for something more sane & simple.
You know KISS - Keep It Sweet & Simple
(Rather than Keep It Simple Stupid - never did like that form)
Best regards, Bob Lewis.
Tom, guys,
I just couldn't face another day of messing about with this yesterday so I left it until today to sort out. As promised a final update on what I've done:
Having closed down Firefox and restarted (now on 3.0.8 vs 3.0.5 previously) and disabled the download manager plug-in, reset my pdf plug-in to display automatically rather than ask me via a pop-up and restarted Firefox again. I do actually get the process flow (more or less) the way it should be.
My external download manager still picks up on it, and steps in, as it is set to download stuff in batch overnight normally to avoid my 40GB monthly daytime bandwidth cap. Consequently there are a few extra steps for me to take mainly because of not using the Adobe plug-in (Adobe is such a massive resource hog consuming large amounts of memory and cpu to do nothing better or differently to Foxit). Compared to getting a .pdf from OTHER sites however it is STILL way too clunky and cumbersome (as has already been said many times).
Have since reinstated the Download Manager Plug-in -still OK
Have reinstated the pop-up check on my .pdf plug-in (basically checks to see if I want to just read or download a .pdf) - OK
Have put everything back the way I had it originally and still OK ??? Qué? Whassup Mr Fawlty?
So what was wrong?
I have absolutely NO idea. The ONLY real change? Now using FF 3.0.8 which I believe you said you were using Tom, rather than 3.0.5 previously. I haven't even rebooted for a few days. Have looked and can't see WHY the FFox change should have made any difference really.
At least I can now get to a full invoice .pdf albeit by jumping through a bunch of unnecessary and irrelevant hoops. Thank goodness I can leave it until once a quarter or every four months.
To recap then:
1. Vodafone: PLEASE scrap DocumentDirect ... PLEASE! Use a simpler, cleaner, more direct access either to the full .pdf or as previously to the "print bill" so that we can individually print to a .pdf document at our end.
2. There simply is NO need nor justification to have such a complication as in 1. JUST to be able to print particular pages of a .pdf. Duh!
Who came up with the idea? Muddled, muddled thinking - Firing Squad on the roundabout outside HQ at dawn so we can all watch eh? Adobe Acrobat Reader and the independent readers like Foxit (I use) provide this capability native for any .pdf. file. Foxit (maybe also Abobe Acrobat Reader and others) even provides a free means of annotating the bill should it be necessary and then saving the document with said annotations.
3. If NOTHING else is changed, the link that goes to the selection boxes for the download from the DocumentDirect toolbar definitely DOES need to be changed to NOT resize the window. This anachronistic behaviour in a tabbed browser environment such as Firefox is ridiculous, since all it does is to shrink my main browser window to a tiny window that is not even sized correctly to show all the (small amount of) content!
4. Why does the download file format default to zip? The button on the "Bills" page says PDF invoice (note: "invoice" NOT "page 1"!!) and shows the Adobe .pdf logo, so why default to a .zip? Bad UI practice! It should be consistent.
5. Before making major changes to the UI in future, please have the sense to run them past a good, technically savvy (as well as computer naive) users to check them out first. If you DID do that on this occasion anyway, then it would appear that you need some new blood in your review panel.
Take a few lessons out of Sun Microsystems' book and use the Open Source type approach - it will pay dividends.
Vodafone have two of the most effective modern communication vehicles available directly to them in SMS messages and our email addresses. We are sent enough useless advertising cr*p,
why not something useful? Why not use them more effectively to request interested parties to participate in xxx via ... whatever link you choose.
6. Finally, it's not been mentioned previously, but I might as well get the whole rant out of the way. What's happening with the site? Pages are taking upwards of 20 seconds to load and frequently I get "Sorry! Page cannot be displayed. Unfortunately your request cannot be processed".
It appears to be linked to the session timeout (which is WAY too short a period and needs to double) where the session times out but the page is not cleared down for a new one that says that the session has expired (like all the banking sites I've used do - in fact they are much more sensible because they warn you that your session is about to expire!)
BTW, my general daytime bandwidth rarely drops much below 200kByte/s and is often upwards of 800kByte/s. What is taking so long? I get faster response from my own servers located in Washington State than from Vodafone (servers located where? Newbury - 16 miles from where I am? Telehouse? My ISP is a co-lo peer in Telehouse!). In the past I've also had problems often connecting well outside normal hours when response should be lightning fast (00:00 to 02:00).
Thanks again guys for all the suggestions. Shame it wasn't possible to identify the cause of the problem. I just hope it doesn't return.
Best regards, Bob.
I just couldn't face another day of messing about with this yesterday so I left it until today to sort out. As promised a final update on what I've done:
Having closed down Firefox and restarted (now on 3.0.8 vs 3.0.5 previously) and disabled the download manager plug-in, reset my pdf plug-in to display automatically rather than ask me via a pop-up and restarted Firefox again. I do actually get the process flow (more or less) the way it should be.
My external download manager still picks up on it, and steps in, as it is set to download stuff in batch overnight normally to avoid my 40GB monthly daytime bandwidth cap. Consequently there are a few extra steps for me to take mainly because of not using the Adobe plug-in (Adobe is such a massive resource hog consuming large amounts of memory and cpu to do nothing better or differently to Foxit). Compared to getting a .pdf from OTHER sites however it is STILL way too clunky and cumbersome (as has already been said many times).
Have since reinstated the Download Manager Plug-in -still OK
Have reinstated the pop-up check on my .pdf plug-in (basically checks to see if I want to just read or download a .pdf) - OK
Have put everything back the way I had it originally and still OK
??? Qué? Whassup Mr Fawlty?So what was wrong?
I have absolutely NO idea. The ONLY real change? Now using FF 3.0.8 which I believe you said you were using Tom, rather than 3.0.5 previously. I haven't even rebooted for a few days. Have looked and can't see WHY the FFox change should have made any difference really. At least I can now get to a full invoice .pdf albeit by jumping through a bunch of unnecessary and irrelevant hoops. Thank goodness I can leave it until once a quarter or every four months.
To recap then:
1. Vodafone: PLEASE scrap DocumentDirect ... PLEASE! Use a simpler, cleaner, more direct access either to the full .pdf or as previously to the "print bill" so that we can individually print to a .pdf document at our end.
2. There simply is NO need nor justification to have such a complication as in 1. JUST to be able to print particular pages of a .pdf. Duh!
Who came up with the idea? Muddled, muddled thinking - Firing Squad on the roundabout outside HQ at dawn so we can all watch eh? Adobe Acrobat Reader and the independent readers like Foxit (I use) provide this capability native for any .pdf. file. Foxit (maybe also Abobe Acrobat Reader and others) even provides a free means of annotating the bill should it be necessary and then saving the document with said annotations.
3. If NOTHING else is changed, the link that goes to the selection boxes for the download from the DocumentDirect toolbar definitely DOES need to be changed to NOT resize the window. This anachronistic behaviour in a tabbed browser environment such as Firefox is ridiculous, since all it does is to shrink my main browser window to a tiny window that is not even sized correctly to show all the (small amount of) content!
4. Why does the download file format default to zip? The button on the "Bills" page says PDF invoice (note: "invoice" NOT "page 1"!!) and shows the Adobe .pdf logo, so why default to a .zip? Bad UI practice! It should be consistent.
5. Before making major changes to the UI in future, please have the sense to run them past a good, technically savvy (as well as computer naive) users to check them out first. If you DID do that on this occasion anyway, then it would appear that you need some new blood in your review panel.
Take a few lessons out of Sun Microsystems' book and use the Open Source type approach - it will pay dividends. Vodafone have two of the most effective modern communication vehicles available directly to them in SMS messages and our email addresses. We are sent enough useless advertising cr*p,
why not something useful? Why not use them more effectively to request interested parties to participate in xxx via ... whatever link you choose.6. Finally, it's not been mentioned previously, but I might as well get the whole rant out of the way. What's happening with the site? Pages are taking upwards of 20 seconds to load and frequently I get "Sorry! Page cannot be displayed. Unfortunately your request cannot be processed".
It appears to be linked to the session timeout (which is WAY too short a period and needs to double) where the session times out but the page is not cleared down for a new one that says that the session has expired (like all the banking sites I've used do - in fact they are much more sensible because they warn you that your session is about to expire!)
BTW, my general daytime bandwidth rarely drops much below 200kByte/s and is often upwards of 800kByte/s. What is taking so long? I get faster response from my own servers located in Washington State than from Vodafone (servers located where? Newbury - 16 miles from where I am? Telehouse? My ISP is a co-lo peer in Telehouse!). In the past I've also had problems often connecting well outside normal hours when response should be lightning fast (00:00 to 02:00).
Thanks again guys for all the suggestions. Shame it wasn't possible to identify the cause of the problem. I just hope it doesn't return.
Best regards, Bob.
Hi Bob
Glad it is sorted, and as you say it is ashame you have to go through those steps to get it to work.
Upgrading from version 3.0.5 to 3.0.8 shouldn't make any difference. I have been using the online facility on here through Firefox for months and months (pre 3.0.5) and never had a problem using the online account facility.
One thing I will say and I don't know if it is relevant to this situation, but every so often, if I forget to clear out the "Private Data" out of Firefox, I get loads of error messages on the Vodafone Help Centre especially. When this happens I have no other problem on other websites, so it makes me think there is a compatibility issue between this site and Firefox in some way (Mods - might be worth taking note).
At least you have your PDF bills back.
All the best
Tom
Glad it is sorted, and as you say it is ashame you have to go through those steps to get it to work.
Upgrading from version 3.0.5 to 3.0.8 shouldn't make any difference. I have been using the online facility on here through Firefox for months and months (pre 3.0.5) and never had a problem using the online account facility.
One thing I will say and I don't know if it is relevant to this situation, but every so often, if I forget to clear out the "Private Data" out of Firefox, I get loads of error messages on the Vodafone Help Centre especially. When this happens I have no other problem on other websites, so it makes me think there is a compatibility issue between this site and Firefox in some way (Mods - might be worth taking note).
At least you have your PDF bills back.
All the best
Tom
Hi Guys,
Good feedback there, this is how we can find out what people think of the systems so I'll make sure that gets passed on, especially yours, webmaestro - that must have taken a while to write. Glad to hear you're up and running now, though!
One thing to remember is, as you said, there are both "tech savvy" and "computer naive" perople, and these tend to have different ideas of how something should work, the practical logical approach versus a wish to keep the same end product they had before everything went electronic. As a result, some people want a single PDF and some want separate pages because that''s what they know. The long-term answer is obviously to find a way to allow for both without impacting performance.
I am aware that we have experienced a period of downtime recently which might bexplain the difficulties you've had accessing the website recently. The system is now running without issues again, so if you check now you should fiund the pages load without further delay.
DaveN
eForum Team
Good feedback there, this is how we can find out what people think of the systems so I'll make sure that gets passed on, especially yours, webmaestro - that must have taken a while to write. Glad to hear you're up and running now, though!
One thing to remember is, as you said, there are both "tech savvy" and "computer naive" perople, and these tend to have different ideas of how something should work, the practical logical approach versus a wish to keep the same end product they had before everything went electronic. As a result, some people want a single PDF and some want separate pages because that''s what they know. The long-term answer is obviously to find a way to allow for both without impacting performance.
I am aware that we have experienced a period of downtime recently which might bexplain the difficulties you've had accessing the website recently. The system is now running without issues again, so if you check now you should fiund the pages load without further delay.
DaveN
eForum Team
Aaargggh! It's back with a vengeance! 
I now cannot access a full invoice .pdf from any of the following:
Attached are two screen grabs:
#1 is of the screen shown in ALL the above after clicking on the Print Invoice PDF icon on the mobile bills page.
#2 is what happens when the "Goto" (target) icon is clicked. Please note that EVERY time this page is entered or refreshed the window size is shrunk to EXACTLY as shown - this is patently wrong at any level. This behaviour has existed since my first report of this problem over three months ago.
PLEASE can someone resolve this issue ASAP? It has wasted more than enough of my time time now (I reckon at least 20 hours in total if not more - another five of those (on and off) today - I started trying to get this working at 14:00 today - it's now 22:05! It's still not working!)
Best regards,Bob Lewis.
I now cannot access a full invoice .pdf from any of the following:- Firefox 3.0.8 on WinXP (SP2) (machine #1)
- Firefox 3.0.8 on Win2k (machine #2)
- Firefox 3.0.8 on Debian Linux (Machine #3)
- Firefox 3.0.8 (SAFE mode!!) on WinXP (SP2) (machine#1)
- IETab on FF 3.0.8 on Win XP (SP2)(machine#1)
- IE 6.0 on WinXP (SP2)(machine#1)
Attached are two screen grabs:
#1 is of the screen shown in ALL the above after clicking on the Print Invoice PDF icon on the mobile bills page.
#2 is what happens when the "Goto" (target) icon is clicked. Please note that EVERY time this page is entered or refreshed the window size is shrunk to EXACTLY as shown - this is patently wrong at any level. This behaviour has existed since my first report of this problem over three months ago.
PLEASE can someone resolve this issue ASAP? It has wasted more than enough of my time time now (I reckon at least 20 hours in total if not more - another five of those (on and off) today - I started trying to get this working at 14:00 today - it's now 22:05! It's still not working!)
Best regards,Bob Lewis.
Hi Bob
It returns to haunt!!
The problem is I think it has (partially) caught my account now. I try to view my PDF copy and I get the grey screen you show in your screenshot and it hangs for a bit, and then a single page appears in the Adobe software in a separate screen.
I have to close that, but even then I am unable to view my bill in full on the normal screen (again like your screenshot). I am however, able to download the PDF bill in full.
Something must have changed in the last few days (literally the last few because I was able to download my bill fine a couple of days ago).
This is the first problem I have had with my account RE PDF copies.
Tom
It returns to haunt!!
The problem is I think it has (partially) caught my account now. I try to view my PDF copy and I get the grey screen you show in your screenshot and it hangs for a bit, and then a single page appears in the Adobe software in a separate screen.
I have to close that, but even then I am unable to view my bill in full on the normal screen (again like your screenshot). I am however, able to download the PDF bill in full.
Something must have changed in the last few days (literally the last few because I was able to download my bill fine a couple of days ago).
This is the first problem I have had with my account RE PDF copies.
Tom
Hi Bob
It returns to haunt!!
The problem is I think it has (partially) caught my account now. I try to view my PDF copy and I get the grey screen you show in your screenshot and it hangs for a bit, and then a single page appears in the Adobe software in a separate screen.
I have to close that, but even then I am unable to view my bill in full on the normal screen (again like your screenshot). I am however, able to download the PDF bill in full.
Something must have changed in the last few days (literally the last few because I was able to download my bill fine a couple of days ago).
This is the first problem I have had with my account RE PDF copies.
Tom
Hi Tom,
Yes HAUNT is right.
I was going to do a video grab of what happened but realised it would be painful to obfuscate all the private information so I used still image grabs. I DO get the popup (in my case it asks me if I want to view or download) either way I can do both of those things i.e. I can view it or download it BUT it is the default pdf of the SINGLE first page only. No option available as previously to grab the whole invoice. If I cancel (or save) that first PDF download it matters not. There is no option to do anything except download a single selected page (any of the 1 through 6) which is not what any of us want. It is SO frustrating.
Best regards, Bob.
