Need help to diagnostic a door mechanism..

[Gilles]

About a year ago I removed the driver side door panel to reengage the spring on the latch as it was not returning to the full closed position.
When the same spring failed the second time, I decided to replace the hinge mechanism, but Luke at Sunset advised that the new (re-designed) component required that the latch itself be replaced as well because the design of the new hinge was not compatible with the old pulling cable design.
All went more or less well as the door operated properly (with some minor collateral damage of a couple of broken plastic parts that had to be replaced) but the door handle works great now.
However, yesterday I needed to move my car and could not locate the car keys, so I got the spare key and found out that the battery for the remote was dead and when I tried to open the door manually I was not able to unlock the door (..!), then after finding the keys I was able to move the car.

But… the key cannot unlock the door manually, it seems that when I replaced the door latch somehow managed to disconnect the outer mechanism with the actual door latch? I know that I need to remove the door panel, but wanted to know if someone that has done this job (properly..) could please share some light, thank you.