Talking Tech

I will use this space to highlight a few things I am learning along my fumble around the digital world. For example, today (2nd of January 2025) I have encountered an issue with a referral programme link within my hosting provider. After several failed attempts at communicating the issue in way that they could work with they ended up revealing a bit of customer service issue. After carefully wording my issue text for the 5th time they wanted me to send an email to another team within their organisation. As a customer this really set the hairs on my millennial neck into a frenzy.

If there is a form to refer a friend (I thought privately) then why is there not a form to internally refer a customer to another part of the organisation?!
Alas, backend functionality is not that simple it seems. An embedded form when moved (perhaps) from one area of a website to another could encounter some bugs. Or, perhaps it is as simple as my account being too new and so not meeting the requirements for a referral programme in the first place. Either way, this needs to be communicated to me in a better way. Especially as a new user in the domain name game. Anyway. Here we go. I sent the following email to the team I was told to contact – Grok helped me refine the content so I could frame the issue as clearly as possible:

I recently signed up for an account to purchase a domain name and utilize your WordPress integration to build a website. While I’m still navigating the initial challenges, I find myself enthusiastic about your services.

I attempted to use the “Refer a Friend” program to introduce a friend to your platform. He is interested in purchasing a domain and creating a website similar to mine. However, we encountered an issue with the referral process.

The problem is that the form intended to generate the referral link doesn’t work as expected. After submitting his details, I receive a confirmation that the email was sent, but when he opens the email and clicks the link, he is directed to an HTML form where he must enter his email address again. Upon submission, he gets a message stating, “You are not eligible to access the offer.”

Here are the steps we’ve already tried to resolve this:

4 Steps To Confusion

1. Cleared his browser’s cache and image data.
2. Attempted to open the link in a different web browser.
3. Interacted with Agent C, Agent D, Agent R and some other people on your popup website helper function. 
4. Now writing this email to you because Agent R explained there is no way for him to email you directly on my behalf. It would be good if he had that functionality, or at least if it was explained earlier in the process.

I suspect there might be:

• An issue with the form trigger.
• Possibly a restriction on my account due to its newness that might be preventing the generation of a valid link.

I have included a screenshot of the form page where the issue occurs, or should I also provide a screen grab of the code from the inspect element function?

Thank you for your assistance in resolving this matter. Not going to lie it is a bit frustrating to still be working on resolving this a few hours into trying to use a short form on your referral programme webpage. Though I guess it is also quite funny because I’m trying to learn about how code works (or doesn’t work) and how to communicate about it in the real world. Perhaps if we can fix this issue I can write about what the resolution was in the end! 

In the meantime, I decided to look into the code using the inspect element function nestled under <>Developer Tools in my Chrome Browser. Here is where its gets interesting. I switched on the AI assistant – inspired by my interactions with Grok – and it came up with this:

launch-f6aca7ad8f77.min.js:21 container.buildInfo.environment is deprecated.Please use `container.environment.stage` instead

Explanation

The error message ” container.buildInfo.environment is deprecated. Please use container.environment.stage instead” originates from a third-party JavaScript library (likely a deployment or build tool) included in your web application. The code snippet you provided is a logging utility, and it’s not the source of the error. The logging code is being used within the larger application where the actual error occurs.

Here’s why and how to fix it:

1. The Error’s Source: The error is being thrown by some other part of your application’s code or a library it depends on. The launch-f6aca7ad8f77.min.js file is the culprit. This is a minified JavaScript file, making debugging difficult directly from the provided code.
2. Minification Obscures the Issue: Minified code has its variable and function names shortened to reduce file size. This makes it hard to pinpoint the exact line of code causing the problem directly within the launch-f6aca7ad8f77.min.js file.
3. How to Debug and Fix:
   • Find the Source Map (Ideal): Modern build processes often generate source maps for minified files. These maps link the minified code back to the original source code. Check if your build process generates a source map file for launch-f6aca7ad8f77.min.js (usually a .map file with the same name). If you have it, your browser’s developer tools should be able to use the source map to show you the original code where the error is.
   • Developer Console (Crucial): Open your browser’s developer console (usually F12). Look for more detailed error information. The full stack trace (the sequence of function calls leading to the error) will often point you to the exact line of code in your application or a library that’s causing the problem.
   • Search for the library: The filename launch-f6aca7ad8f77.min.js suggests a build or deployment tool. Try searching for “launch” or variations thereof in your project’s dependencies. Identify the package or library that generates this file. Then check its documentation or release notes for information about migrating away from container.buildInfo.environment.
   • Update or Replace the Library: The solution is likely to update the library to a version that no longer uses the deprecated property.
   • Package Managers (npm, yarn): If the library is installed via a package manager, update it using the appropriate command (e.g., npm update <package_name> or yarn upgrade <package_name>).
   • Manual Update: If the library was manually included, download the latest version and replace the old one.
4. Example (Illustrative):Let’s imagine you find the problematic code (using a source map or the stack trace):
   
   const stage = container.environment.stage;  // Correct way
   console.log(“Current stage:”, stage);