Roku Direct Publisher

[mkammes]

Unpublished DP channel has a validated feed and the preview looks correct. However, when the channel is loaded on multiple Roku devices, the Splash Screen is correct, but the main channel page only has the "Search" and "Info" buttons.

I've manually refreshed the feed multiple times and waited 24 hours. This is *exactly* like an issue I've commented on in the past: https://community.roku.com/t5/Roku-Direct-Publisher/Channels-will-not-update/td-p/577953

Here is another recent post on the same issue: https://community.roku.com/t5/Roku-Direct-Publisher/Why-My-Channel-can-t-update-in-my-roku-device/m-...

I've sent a support email to Roku.  Has this problem ever been resolved or is it still common?

Thanks!

[mkammes]

Thanks @AaronMSpelling .

Is there a better contact method than https://developer.roku.com/contact ?

[gamer]

Was there even a clear answer to this?  We have a ton of DP channels that has the same behavior as OP and Roku simply responded as a "known bug" with no assistance.

[Pola]

I opened 3 tickets 2 months ago about this issue, and no serious response except some canned replies...

Still not fixed.

I might end up asking my viewers to move to FireTV 

[mkammes]

I received this response from a ticket I submitted to Roku.  Yes, it's a known bug.

"Unfotuatnely [sic], there is a bug with Direct Publisher that affects channels to only show the Search and Info icon if the channel is not in "published" status. The workaround would be to publish the channel if it looks correct in the Preview and the content could take up to 5 business [sic] days to propgate [sic]. "

Thus, I see this as us having 2 options:

1. Publish the channel and wait ~ 5 days. The problem with this is your channel is then searchable(?), and you may not have your channel finished. However, you could then build upon the channel and see how the changes look as it would be "live." I'd be concerned Roku may not publish the channel as there may not a ton of content on it as it's being built.

2. Alternatively, you can keep developing and use the "preview" function on the Developer portal (the web page), and while the functionality is *extremely* limited, at least you can work "in the ballpark" of what a "top-level" finished channel would look like when eventually published. This may allow you to build out the channel and have a more presentable version to submit to Roku for publishing.

Of course, I'm of the mindset that this known bug should have been squashed quite a while ago, but I'm willing to bet more emphasis is being placed on the SDK development for larger brands over smaller DP creators.  My 2 cents.

[sattun]

If you are looking for a better solution than Roku Direct Publisher, check out our lease a custom Roku SDK offer.

You can have a custom Roku SDK or Fire TV channel for a fraction of the price.

[mkammes]

Respectfully @sattun , unsolicited messages to my inbox and spam bombing posts in a forum is exactly the thing that WON'T get you recommendations.

[mike_rb]

I did schedule our channel to be published and I am able to test it now. You can cancel the publishing if you need more work. Seems like a silly bug they can fix, but this method seems to work. 

[Conspyre]

I never got this to work. I never got a reply from Roku support. I went ahead and published our channels, thinking I could develop on them in public. Now I find that it takes two days to publish changes, and you have to reach out to Roku to ask them to unpublish you (they won't they only will delete you).

I'm finding that Roku direct publisher says it ingested 81 pieces of media, no errors.

I'm seeing that in the Roku direct publisher preview it says 20 pieces of media, but it's just a non-interactive screenshot.

And that channel when it published this morning has 0 media in it. Only info and search.

The support for Direct Publisher seems ... non-existent, and the functionality seems not to work very well or at all. How does anyone else deal with this?