File Overwrite

xyzulu

I get the drama and excitement.. but really, for any important files updates etc this has always been a concern with .zip files using filemanagers on linux. This is why there are switches for unzip available to delete first and overwrite ie -o.
I'm not surprised to see this reported and the usual people adding wood to the fire, but honestly I feel like we were aware of the behaviour before even using Enhance. Extracting and overwriting .zip files via GUI file managers (even cPanel once) was always risky/unknown. ie do you want a merge or a removal of files that no longer exist, or are you just patching.. there are quite a few scenarios.

What we do: We prefer extracting a folder in an alternative location (staging) and then using rsync to do a merge overwriting files.. or in some cases, a --delete. It's dead simple. Of course there are other ways to do things.

Better documentation/logging would be useful, but there is still so much drama about relatively small things. This 'you should be able to do everything via the panel' is not where Enhance is yet developmentally.

twest

xyzulu much to the chagrin of the developmentally challenged 😆

slimx

xyzulu

I completely disagree.

It is a hosting platform intended for end users too, not just experienced users.

Omar

xyzulu I completely understand and respect your technical perspective.

Yes, ZIP extraction logic has historically been messy across platforms (merge vs. overwrite ambiguities).
Yes, CLI offers granular control (unzip -o, --delete flags, etc.).
Yes, your rsync workflow is smart—for you. But the average user won’t—and shouldn’t need to—know these workarounds.

Experienced admins have solutions like rsync or staging folders. In an ideal world where all users were expert sysadmins, your argument would be perfectly valid. But I believe we’re analyzing this issue through different lenses.

Let me explain why this behavior isn’t just a "technical imperfection" (and why I used the term "critical" not for "drama" or "emotionality") but a key issue for Enhance’s commercial adoption:

Why Is This Issue More Serious Than It Seems?

We’re talking about a product explicitly marketed as:

"Enhance for web hosts - The modern all-in-one alternative to cPanel and Plesk"
"Enhance includes all the website management tools novice and advanced users need including applications, file and database management, ...(sic)... and more."
"Designed with beginners in mind, the interface is intuitive, allowing customers to quickly and easily carry out common website tasks without the steep learning curve of legacy control panels."
"Commercially minded"
Features > Website management > File manager: "Our inline file manager is fully-featured and the interface easily..."

This ☝️ isn’t a minor detail—it’s the product’s core promise.

The Disconnect Between Marketing and Functional Reality

When you advertise a "fully-featured file manager" and "intuitive interface for beginners," you establish a contract with the user.
The current file manager behavior with ZIPs silently breaks this contract.
It’s not just a failure—it’s deceptive to display "1 file decompressed" when the reality is more complex.
This creates justified distrust. It’s not a "technical flaw"—it’s a breach of the implicit contract the panel itself establishes.

The Expectation of Users Migrating from Other Control Panels (and Why It Matters)

Basic features like ZIP extraction were solved years ago by other panels. Many clients—especially those migrating from cPanel/Plesk—will assume (and take for granted) that core functionality like ZIP extraction works the same way. (This thread’s existence is proof.)

Why do they assume predictable ZIP extraction in a UI?

cPanel solved this years ago with predictable behavior:
- Overwrites everything by default.
- Documents the process clearly.
In Enhance, the message "File decompressed" suggests a complete action.
Documentation and warnings don’t clarify these limitations.

When Enhance silently skips overwrites:

Misleading: The UI claims an action that isn’t fully executed.
Violates the principle of least surprise: cPanel set a standard users expect.
Generates hidden costs: Support tickets for broken sites land on our teams.

If we’re going to criticize cPanel for being obsolete, we must surpass it in the basics—not just advanced features.

The Reality of End Users

I have unmigrated cPanel clients who literally use the file manager as an IDE 😤🙄 (yes, I know it’s bad practice—but it’s reality).
The average user doesn’t know or care about rsync or staging folders.
When a user loses hours of work because the panel didn’t warn them their edited files wouldn’t be overwritten: surprise and frustration!.
When a site breaks because they assumed "File decompressed" meant a full refresh: surprise and frustration!.

The Hidden Cost of These "Minor Flaws"

Technical support falls on us, the hosting providers. How many hours/week will my team, your team, or anyone here who’s migrated to Enhance spend on tickets like: "Why weren’t my file changes applied if the panel said ‘success’?"
Clients will assume it’s our hosting error, not the panel’s.

The Myth of "It’s Always Been This Way"

That other panels also struggle with ZIPs isn’t an excuse—it’s an opportunity.
Precisely because Enhance is the "modern alternative," it should solve these known issues.
As I stated earlier: cPanel—flaws and all—has handled ZIP extraction predictably for years.

The False CLI vs. GUI Dichotomy

If you include a GUI feature, it should do what it says and do it well.
If it can’t do it well, warn clearly.
A functional file manager isn’t a "geek extra"—it’s a critical tool for non-technical users.
If you include any GUI feature, it must behave intuitively or at least transparently.
Again: End users shouldn’t need to understand rsync to extract a ZIP predictably.

If Enhance markets itself as a modern cPanel/Plesk alternative with:

"Intuitive interface for beginners"
"Fully-featured file manager"
"Designed with users in mind"

...but then shifts the argument to:

"This has always been problematic"
"Advanced users use CLI"
"It’s an edge case"

We can’t sell GUI simplicity and relegate basic functions to CLI territory. Let’s advocate for improvement without falling into false CLI vs. GUI dilemmas.

This is getting lengthy, so let’s wrap up:

Pragmatic Solutions (Not Perfectionism)

I propose a phased approach:

Short-term (1 week):

Add this warning when extracting ZIPs:
⚠️ "Extraction will not overwrite existing files. For full control: Use CLI (unzip -o) or Extract to an empty folder first."

Medium-term (1-2 months):
Implement selectable modes:

Overwrite (cPanel-style): Replaces everything (standar)
Merge (current): Keeps edited files (optional) (I’ll be ambitious here)
Patch: Adds only new files (optional) (I’ll be ambitious here)
Post-extraction change log (standar)

Long-term (roadmap) (I’ll be ambitious here):

File versioning system
Sync with external repositories

This isn’t about "drama"—it’s a gap in user experience that will cost real money.

This isn’t about "doing everything in the GUI" or making Enhance a "Swiss Army knife"—it’s about not deceiving users with half-truths. Accessibility isn’t a favor—it’s a critical technical feature for a commercial product.

If Enhance aims to be "commercial" and "beginner-friendly," basic features like ZIP extraction must behave predictably or fail transparently.

Silent failures erode trust more than declared limitations.

To stand out as a "modern alternative," Enhance must:

Meet basic established standards (e.g., predictable ZIPs like cPanel)
Be transparent when it can’t (clear warnings)
Innovate where it matters (e.g., native Git integration)

P.S. To those who dismiss GUIs: Would we criticize a car for having airbags or seatbelts because "good drivers don’t crash"? Safety (or here, usability) exists precisely for when things go wrong.

Let’s build a panel that anticipates these cases—not hides them.

gmakhs

twest you can't expect clients who might not be developers , and been using other panels and unzip works, to understand the issues or what is happening .

Nevertheless this is a critical bug, now it's been almost 4 months since the release of V12 and it haven't been fixed, along with other critical bugs .. let's see how long it's gonna take

Omar

twest Don’t take my response as an attack—I’m unsure if your sarcastic remark was directly aimed at @xyzulu (who leans more CLI than GUI, which is entirely respectable).

If I’m misinterpreting your comment, feel free to ignore me entirely. 🤓 If not, here’s my reply:

Using "developmental challenged" jabs to mock "less technical" users isn’t just elitist—it’s commercially shortsighted. Most shared hosting clients aren’t sysadmins.

And, honestly, I'm surprised by your comment - why?
I noticed you liked @cPFence post on “In cPFence UI is here: security management, now with a mouse!” where they announced: “We're excited to announce that the Alpha version of the cPFence Central Dashboard is finished!”.

This, tells me that you are mentally capable of recognizing that “GUI accessibility is a technical feature, not a favor”. And especially, when this tool is not aimed at the common user (our, or your, customers), it is aimed precisely - or mainly - for system administrators.

If it wasn't, why would cPfence bother to create it, not once (UI inside SSH) even, twice (WEB UI)? 🤯

Kosta

Omar 1+

xyzulu

slimx I completely disagree.

You’re allowed to, but can you explain more about why?

For example, do you think the default behaviour when extracting an archive should be to overwrite folders, or to merge them? (Someone will start the same thread about what happens in cases like this when you drag and drop/copy a folder in Enhance soon I bet) Once you start to think about things on this issue you’ll see if not as simple or clear what should happen for end users. What do they expect?

In our case, we are yet to see a customer even use this feature of the file manager (that we are aware of). I think it should stay, but perhaps it should be clearer as to the complexities when extracting an archive in a folder with existing content. We prefer just extracting in a new folder and then dealing with the extracted files after that.

gmakhs

xyzulu I guess most of your clients are using wordpress and aren't pushing patches in zips?

The expected behaviour for the end consumer is a modal to ask if you want to overwrite or not, and continue after approval like on other panels.

xyzulu

gmakhs a modal to ask if you want to overwrite or not

Does answering yes merge folders or replace them? Think this through.. it’s not that simple.

gmakhs

xyzulu overwrite means replacing files existing with the ones in the zip file-file not on a folder level, this is how it works on other panels, and it is what most expect

What i wonder is how it was pre v12? if i remember well it was working as i am explaining

xyzulu

Omar for the record Omar, you are not the one I am referring to when I mention adding drama. You actually understand the technical issues here (with some help from ai, which is not a criticism) and have given thought to much of this. The users who constantly add drama and ruin (in my opinion) real productive discussions are easy to spot around here.

On the issue.. I do think your suggestions are reasonable, but I do not think Enhance are in a position to implement them yet. At the best it would be good to get some confirmation from them that this issue is has been noted/logged and will end up on the roadmap at some point (of course we all hope sooner rather than later). I will say again, across our cluster we do not see many users at all (and we work with a number of developers rather than end users) using this file manager functionality.. hence the surprise (well not really, we know how these few users behave) at the attention this issue appears to get here.

I suggest a workable step sooner rather than later is to remove the uncompress option from the file manager (leave compress) for now. Still, just my personal opinion.

Omar

xyzulu Thank you for clarifying the "drama" point. I appreciate you acknowledging the technical effort behind my observations (and yes, I use AI to polish my ideas, summarize them, and help with English translations—as a Spanish-speaking adult who understands written English but doesn’t write it fluently, which is extremely common in LATAM—and with ADHD, I’m excessively distracted and sometimes write more than I end up posting (no joke 😅).

That’s why I rarely participate in the forum, and when I do, it’s to share something useful. Otherwise, I’d procrastinate and be even less productive than I already can be. But as you rightly say, it’s not a criticism—it’s just another tool, like using a code linter 😉).

I agree with you on two key points:

Enhance’s Priority: If the team confirms this is on the roadmap, it’d be a good first step.
Yesterday, I received a response from @Adam, which I’ll share:

"Thank you for the detailed report. I can't give you an ETA, but the issue has been logged, and we will improve it in an upcoming release.
Kind regards,
Adam."

gmakhs You wanted to be informed, I share what I received

Immediate Action: We need transparency—if the panel can’t reliably handle ZIPs, it’s better to clearly warn users rather than hide the issue.

But I disagree on the following, and I myself suggested this in my initial response when I wrote:

"Urgent recommendation: Disable automatic decompression until the following are implemented..."

(My mistake—I admit it was a heat-of-the-moment response.)

On reflection: Removing functionality regresses the UX. Why not instead add a warning like I mentioned in the "Short term (1 week)" section?

If Enhance can’t fix this soon, have the decompression option show a modal explaining its limitations.

P.S. Regarding your observation that "few users use this" —it might be a matter of segments. In my focus area, the file manager is vital. If you work with technical enterprises, I understand the difference. Your client base is different from mine—I’ll trade you 😉.

twest

Omar I like cpfence release of features as a support for their commercial achievements developing on enhance, not to show approval for them stooping to the lowest common denominator.

And it's not elitist to disparage users that have no business selling hosting professionally when they don't even understand the extreme basics of the system they're using - or even extreme basics of Linux usage, and don't even make an effort to self learn.

I'm also tired of seeing the usual idiots posting their negative opinions on every subject because they're butthurt this software doesn't do exactly what they want - zero useful contribution to the community, just non stop complaining with nothing of value added ever. It's no wonder the forum has lost a lot of experienced and useful voices, and will likely continue to do so as long as the usual idiots are left unchecked.

xyzulu

Omar Always happy to "talk" here: https://community.enhance.com/d/2744-discord-again-this-time-i-started-a-new-server

Don't worry about the language barrier.. Spanish is close enough to English 😛

Omar

twest
It's perfectly valid to criticize those who sell hosting professionally without understanding the basics.

I agree that hosts should understand their systems, but we can't expect end clients to be Linux experts. That's precisely why control panels (dashboard, GUI, bla bla bla) exist - to abstract complexity for common tasks.

From what I've observed in the forum: Not all users are providers. Some are small business owners, freelance designers, or junior developers using the panel for specific tasks.

Enhance explicitly markets itself as "intuitive interface for beginners." That's why it attracts not just sysadmins, but also novices [some time ago, me and others in this forum were newbies in this industry. Years, successes and mistakes are what build experience - but apparently that's not your case. You were born already knowledgeable! Congratulations! (read this last part with sarcasm, satire or irony - your choice)]

I agree the forum has users who only complain without offering solutions. But this thread isn't one of those cases. Here I presented: Detailed report with real scenarios and Scalable technical proposals

Dismissing all criticism as "whining" ignores valid concerns. The ZIP extraction issue, for example, isn't about demanding special treatment - it's about aligning functionality with:

The product's own marketing claims
Industry-standard behaviors (like cPanel's predictable extraction)

If the forum is losing experienced voices, it's our collective responsibility to elevate the discussion level, not blame others.

If cPFence launched a GUI, it's because their clients requested (and pay for) it (my team recently enabled it - I mostly use CLI, but appreciate having the UI for quicker tasks across all servers).

GUI implementation isn't "stooping" to anything - it's recognizing that different users have different needs. It's market adaptation. Airbags in cars don't exist because drivers are bad, but because accidents happen.

Attacking others doesn't improve software. Building alternatives does.

My core point:
Enhance has the opportunity to:

Maintain and keep improving the control panel
While improving intuitive behaviors for basic functions
Without compromising either

The fact that @Adam acknowledged the ZIP issue suggests the Enhance team understands this balance. I'm optimistic we'll see thoughtful solutions in future releases.

PS: I've been using Enhance and the forum since February, so I know v12.0.0+. I'm starting to identify idiots, trolls, experts, and newbies. If letting idiots go unchecked is the problem, then you should propose stricter moderation policies. I'd definitely support it. Until then, the forum belongs to all of us, not just the experts.

☮️✌️

twest

Omar ah, the digital landscape is a wondrous place where “dashboards” and “GUIs” swoop in like caped crusaders to rescue us from the perils of command-line complexity. It’s almost poetic that we’ve transitioned from shell prompts to point-and-click, all while sprinkling in just enough buzzwords to make it feel like the future has finally arrived.

In today’s ever-evolving digital ecosystem, striking the right balance between user experience and system robustness is crucial—because what’s more forward-thinking than adopting industry-standard behaviors and calling them “intuitive improvements”? It’s the kind of market adaptation that feels like swapping out cPanel’s ZIP extraction logic for a fresh coat of Enhance branding.

Your reminder that “end clients aren’t Linux experts” is spot on. After all, if novice users can breeze through a control panel without a single sudo command, they’ll never know what they’re missing. And who can blame them? When the product explicitly markets itself as “intuitive for beginners,” empty platitudes about abstraction suddenly sound like consumer empowerment.

Speaking of empty platitudes, it’s fascinating to see how phrases like “scalable technical proposals” and “thoughtful solutions” get tossed around like confetti. They add just enough fluff to cover up any functional quirks—such as unpredictable ZIP extractions—while keeping the conversation humming along in perfect corporate cadence.

At the end of the day, repainting familiar behaviors in Enhance’s color palette isn’t about reinventing the wheel. It’s about ensuring that every click reinforces the brand promise, even if the underlying mechanics remain unchanged. After all, evolution in software is measured not just by features, but by how many times you can rewrite the same feature and still call it “new.”

So here’s hoping that v12.0.1 brings both genuine fixes and a fresh supply of empty platitudes to keep us all entertained. Until then, may your GUIs remain intuitive, your dashboards ever-scalable, and your buzzword bingo cards forever full.

JohnB

Very well said. Speaking of scalable promises I love those. Even my worst code is very scalable: just use a better processor and more memory. Scalability!

cPFence

Stewart85 However, if you upload a .zip file and uncompress the .zip file, it will not ask if you want to overwrite the files, and it looks as if it unpacked the .zip file, but nothing gets unzipped or overwritten

Yes, the unzip function in the Enhance File Manager uses unzip -n (never overwrite) by design, so existing files are skipped and only new ones are added. It’s not a bug — it was built that way. Might be worth submitting a feature request for them to optionally use unzip -o (overwrite without prompt) instead, which we think is a better choice to avoid confusing users.

We think Enhance File Manager is awesome, once the RTL issues are fixed, it’ll be nearly perfect.

slimx

I think @Omar is on the right track.
It is just common sense.

Which end-user is going to delete and then unzip? It makes no sense. Especially when applying a patch or a WORDPRESS plugin update? lol.

If end-user is patching something, they should be able to just unzip.
I think it is a no brainer to have it OVERWRITE by default.
However: if you are afraid of this - then just put a prompt.

Skipping is dumb.
It doesn't even tell you it skipped.
I had no idea it even skipped until this thread.

I am so sure that many of the support tickets I dealt with were caused by this. Particularly when someone says, "Hello sir I am trying to install x but it's not working, here is my zip file". I go in and extract it (through cli of course) and it works without any headache - I was assuming it was just a bug or connection issue at the time, now it makes more sense.

Also how do you "notify" people that "By the way anything you unzip won't overwrite" when 90% of CMS systems' patches,bug preventions etc. are designed with that in-mind.

I make plugins too, and if someone orders something "custom" we just send a patch file, and expect them to unzip it lol. Now i have to pre-ask - Are you on enhance? (The only cp with a file manager that skips without even telling you when extracing an archive)?

I cannot see what leg you are standing on here. @xyzulu

And man what drama, we are disagreeing with one another which is literally a conversation. Noone is getting hostile here. Stop whining ladies.

xyzulu

slimx there are times when you (as a plugin developer) might want to replace folders (not merge). This ensures that files no longer needed are removed. And there might be times you want to do a merge.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, not sure what the reference to ladies whining is about (the gender of users here isn’t relevant I don’t think) ... but I don’t think we are in as much disagreement as you make out. The current behaviour is obviously confusing to some/many users. Hoping Enhance can clear some of this up with some warnings/options/explanation.