I also noticed a code change but don't know which file to edit in order to make corrections ....
Applies to ALL USERS and must be completed before July 16th to avoid service interruption.
YOU MAY APPLY THESE CHANGES AT ANY TIME BEFORE JULY 16TH i.e. The system already supports these changes...
It is a simple code change that is the same regardless of which method you use (embed vs advanced) and is as follows:
Change www.shrinktheweb.com/xino.php
TO images.shrinktheweb.com/xino.php
This should be an easy find-and-replace for you. That is all that is REQUIRED but while you are in the code, the following additional changes are SUGGESTED for future portability:
Learned a little trick about STW. Don't know why it works this way but ....
Whenever someone adds a site, our STW account immediately grabs the webshot/thumbnail but for some reason Dolphin never updates. So I discovered quite by accident that if I delete the entry and then re-add it or input the URL but not submit, cancel the site add process, wait 20 sec then re-enter the URL ... the thumbs show up. HMMM
So it turns out that it was a permissions issue which was resolved once I RTFM, changed ALL folder permissions, cleared cache and refreshed the browser.
Too much work. If you do a search here, you'll find more on this topic. The reality is Dolphin doesn't wait for the shrinktheweb site to create the thumbnail. If it has already been created by someone else, it's instantaneous, if not, refreshing your add a site page will eventually produce an image.
Too much work. If you do a search here, you'll find more on this topic. The reality is Dolphin doesn't wait for the shrinktheweb site to create the thumbnail. If it has already been created by someone else, it's instantaneous, if not, refreshing your add a site page will eventually produce an image.
Thanks Sky ... I did search the forum. In fact I've been treasure hunting on this forum for a little over a week now; ever since I started having problems with Orca and other pesky Dolphin issues. Nonetheless I thank you for your response. However, refreshing the add a site page was not successful. The problem that I have is that site members are not going to be so patient. Like you stated the process is just too much work.
But I would also like to point out that after configuring permissions properly, this is no longer an issue.
Learned a little trick about STW. Don't know why it works this way but ....
Whenever someone adds a site, our STW account immediately grabs the webshot/thumbnail but for some reason Dolphin never updates. So I discovered quite by accident that if I delete the entry and then re-add it or input the URL but not submit, cancel the site add process, wait 20 sec then re-enter the URL ... the thumbs show up. HMMM
So it turns out that it was a permissions issue which was resolved once I RTFM, changed ALL folder permissions, cleared cache and refreshed the browser.
Hope this helps someone!
I am wondering, what folder permissions did you change? can you be a bit more specific?
Anyway, on one of my test sites all folders have permission 777 .. and if i add a new site from which the thumbnail is not yet taken, it will not upload the new thumbnail .. i guess i have the same problem as everyone
It still works, it just takes forever. You have to refresh the screen, sometimes a dozen or more times to get it to work. It's a piece of code that was never designed to actually function as represented, much like many other parts of the Dolphin script.
Am I like invisible here? I have posted on this issue since the days of the beta......
This feature was working fine for me (D 7.0.1 - D 7.0.3) until a few monthes... So maybe the problem is Shrinktheweb site side and not Dolphin side ???
Life is a fatal disease, sexually transmissible - Virginity is carcinogenic! Ask here for vaccine.
Not working for me also, works fine with a 7.0.4 I have installed, but not with 7.0.5. setting in admin are exactly the same, this is a great feature, hope some one will find a solution. searching my self, will post if find.
15mn later: works now but not every time, changed nothing, if no thumbnail, I refresh the browser, just after inputting the url, this is not a solution, maybe some tuning is to be done somewhere.
I got mine to work.. You have to have an account with them.. I think it is free.. At least I did not pay anything.. Just register there and put you info in the settings part.. Your API and secret key..
i posted a job for those who are willing to try to modify the dolphin core code. bcs i am a poor guy, job pays max $20. perhaps there are others willing to chip in a buck or 2 for the programmer that is willing :-)
How do I think it can be fixed?
if someone is browsing (viewing) the sites page on your website
1) check if the thumbnail is loaded
2) if not loaded, initiate a refresh, to fetch the thumbnail
Please do not hesitate to inform me if i am wrong about the proposed solution.
I was trying to figure out how this worked and what the problme was. Some say it used to work but not working anymore. Shink the Web has just recently made some big changes that would effect some changes needed to the script. I placed a question about it in there forum but I am not a programer and don not understand half of what they were talking about. You can see the post in the shrink the web forum here.
I'm new to this and just added the module to my site, now i have uploaded graphics for the links i have placed whilst i am designing my site, could me placing graphics be stopping the webthumbs from displaying or should shrinktheweb module over write it?
also where it says, Name of service, what info do i put in there?
I could be wrong - but I think the thumbnail and the site image are two different things, causing endless confusion even to seasoned users just like the profile pictures do. I got some help and got the shrinktheweb part disabled on my site, and surprisingly members who make listings are uploading their own images.
First is to install the following line of code into the header* of your page(s): <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.shrinktheweb.com/scripts/pagepix.js"></script> Then in the body of the page (wherever you want to show a screenshot), you just put: <script type="text/javascript">stw_pagepix('domain.tld', 'stwaccesskey', 'stwsize', 'language', 'stwargs');</script> *The header of your page is between the <head> and </head> tags
Legend:
* domain.tld = the domain you want to show * stwaccesskey = your STW Access Key (found in the HOME/LOBBY area) * stwsize = the output size you want to show (tny, mcr, xsm, sm, lg, xlg) * [OPTIONAL] language = English (EN) is the only language currently supported * [OPTIONAL] stwargs = the pro features in a single string (i.e. &stwfull=1&stwxmax=400) o If &stwxmax is specified, it will override the stwsize value
Go to STW and Lock to Account your IP address and your web URL into the Allowed Referrers Field.
Example:
xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx yoursite.com
End of Lock to Account
In the DolphIn Admin Back End go to Modules Sites And Make sure it looks like the following:
Url: http://images.shrinktheweb.com/xino.php Name of service: Leave Blank Name of action: Leave Blank Access Key: Your STW Access Key Secret Key: Your STW Secret Key
End of Mod Setup
Clear All Cache's
NOTE THIS IS JUST A START THE ADMIN BACK END HAS NOT BEEN DONE YET AND I MAY HAVE MISSED A FEW VIEWS IF ANY THING COMES UP I WILL ADD IT AT A LATER DATE.
Thank you for the code edit. It works but only after I submit the url then the image pops up. I refresh and refresh and no image.
Also as you go down your list of sites, at least on my site, and you click the next arrows at the bottom all I get is a lonely thumbnail at the top right corner of my page. I have to go back to load that sites page again and click view all at the bottom then everything works. Is there a fix for that. or is it just me. the thumbnail it loads is the next thumbnail and nothing else.
We, ShrinkTheWeb, did not write the current SITES module and it has some known issues, specifically that new requests will never be downloaded properly.
We have spent more than $3,000 total (my time and a contest prize) to overhaul the SITES module and get it approved by BoonEx. This update is planned to be included in v7.0.10 after some public BETA testing and bug fixes are completed. It will be several months before BoonEx makes this update available, from what I am told.
You may check the contest thread for details and on-going updates.
Why do people keep messing with this? ShrinkTheWeb does not work and it never will. If you do manage to get an image, it slows your site to a crawl, not to mention the email spam problem that's inherent with their product.
Think about this for a minute.
A member submits a site
That submission request is then sent to an out side resource (SFW)
That resource (SFW) then has to find the site that's being submitted
That outside resource (SFW) has to then copy an image of the submitted site
That outside resource (SFW) then has to resize and compress that image
That outside resource (SFW) then has to store the image on it's servers.
That outside resource (SFW) then has to tell your site the image is ready for use
Your site then needs to notice it's ready, then place the link to the image in your script and display it.
That's just f___ing ridiculous.
Why hasn't someone here developed a mod to create this thumb directly? Why would anyone think using an outside resource to make this happen would work even with the best of conditions?
Then there's still the issue of the email support company for SFW farming your email addresses for spam advertising and 'opt out' email programs.
Why do people keep messing with this? ShrinkTheWeb does not work and it never will. If you do manage to get an image, it slows your site to a crawl, not to mention the email spam problem that's inherent with their product.
Think about this for a minute.
A member submits a site
That submission request is then sent to an out side resource (SFW)
That resource (SFW) then has to find the site that's being submitted
That outside resource (SFW) has to then copy an image of the submitted site
That outside resource (SFW) then has to resize and compress that image
That outside resource (SFW) then has to store the image on it's servers.
That outside resource (SFW) then has to tell your site the image is ready for use
Your site then needs to notice it's ready, then place the link to the image in your script and display it.
That's just f___ing ridiculous.
Why hasn't someone here developed a mod to create this thumb directly? Why would anyone think using an outside resource to make this happen would work even with the best of conditions?
Then there's still the issue of the email support company for SFW farming your email addresses for spam advertising and 'opt out' email programs.
'
ManOfTeal.COM a Proud UNA site, six years running strong!
We rewrote the STW module, which has yet to be released by BoonEx, and it works flawlessly. It stores images locally on your server, so there is no slow-down whatsoever.
It is not as easy to just capture screenshots of websites as "some people" might think.
As we have never nor will ever spam. Skyforum is just an idiot, but most people in here probably know that already --based on the PMs we received from others who said he is full of it. :)
p.s. We did not write the original version of Dolphin's SITES module, so don't blame the service for that plugin not working. The service has always worked flawlessly.
We rewrote the STW module, which has yet to be released by BoonEx, and it works flawlessly. It stores images locally on your server, so there is no slow-down whatsoever.
It is not as easy to just capture screenshots of websites as "some people" might think.
As we have never nor will ever spam. Skyforum is just an idiot, but most people in here probably know that already --based on the PMs we received from others who said he is full of it. :)
p.s. We did not write the original version of Dolphin's SITES module, so don't blame the service for that plugin not working. The service has always worked flawlessly.
I'm an idiot? You want the email back? Do you really want to go here? The company you chose to hoist your email servers is KNOWN as a world class spam magnet! If an email goes into their system, you WILL receive opt-out crap!
BTW, kudos to hosting the images locally. That is a step in the right direction.
I'm an idiot? You want the email back? Do you really want to go here? The company you chose to hoist your email servers is KNOWN as a world class spam magnet! If an email goes into their system, you WILL receive opt-out crap!
Yes, you are. And your accusations about Constant Contact are simply untrue. It's just too bad that you aren't more computer literate or else you might have learned something from the educational information I provided to you. As it is, you are just a lost and wayward figure attempting to thwart other users from using the best option available to them (once BoonEx launches the version of code that we wrote and certified).
Even the efforts to integrate Thumbshots is wasted, because those low-quality images tend to drag down the look-and-feel of a directory. I'm sure it's fine for people who only have "hobby" directories, but serious users will want the prestige of using the best service available.
And those who are computer literate will know that your comment about just having Dolphin capture screenshots is a monumentally tall order that is not likely to ever happen.
I'm an idiot? You want the email back? Do you really want to go here? The company you chose to hoist your email servers is KNOWN as a world class spam magnet! If an email goes into their system, you WILL receive opt-out crap!
Yes, you are. And your accusations about Constant Contact are simply untrue. It's just too bad that you aren't more computer literate or else you might have learned something from the educational information I provided to you. As it is, you are just a lost and wayward figure attempting to thwart other users from using the best option available to them (once BoonEx launches the version of code that we wrote and certified).
Even the efforts to integrate Thumbshots is wasted, because those low-quality images tend to drag down the look-and-feel of a directory. I'm sure it's fine for people who only have "hobby" directories, but serious users will want the prestige of using the best service available.
And those who are computer literate will know that your comment about just having Dolphin capture screenshots is a monumentally tall order that is not likely to ever happen.
This is coming from a alleged professional business owner? WOW
Quality or not, it works perfect and takes all of ten minutes to do this mod to have instant thumbnails appear without the members having to even worry about it now!
When you bash a fellow member of this site, expect to be respected; and then want us to use your service?
Workaround for Boonex Dolphin 7.0.x The following is from Shrink The Web:
First is to install the following line of code into the header* of your page(s): <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.shrinktheweb.com/scripts/pagepix.js"></script> Then in the body of the page (wherever you want to show a screenshot), you just put: <script type="text/javascript">stw_pagepix('domain.tld', 'stwaccesskey', 'stwsize', 'language', 'stwargs');</script> *The header of your page is between the <head> and </head> tags
Legend:
* domain.tld = the domain you want to show * stwaccesskey = your STW Access Key (found in the HOME/LOBBY area) * stwsize = the output size you want to show (tny, mcr, xsm, sm, lg, xlg) * [OPTIONAL] language = English (EN) is the only language currently supported * [OPTIONAL] stwargs = the pro features in a single string (i.e. &stwfull=1&stwxmax=400) o If &stwxmax is specified, it will override the stwsize value
Go to STW and Lock to Account your IP address and your web URL into the Allowed Referrers Field.
Example:
xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx yoursite.com
End of Lock to Account
In the DolphIn Admin Back End go to Modules Sites And Make sure it looks like the following:
Url: http://images.shrinktheweb.com/xino.php Name of service: Leave Blank Name of action: Leave Blank Access Key: Your STW Access Key Secret Key: Your STW Secret Key
End of Mod Setup
Clear All Cache's
NOTE THIS IS JUST A START THE ADMIN BACK END HAS NOT BEEN DONE YET AND I MAY HAVE MISSED A FEW VIEWS IF ANY THING COMES UP I WILL ADD IT AT A LATER DATE.
ManOfTeal.COM a Proud UNA site, six years running strong!
Newton. Yes, I call people out for who they are and I do it professionally. After a certain point, someone like skyforum has to just be called out like he is, an idiot. That's not unprofessional. It's the truth. He cannot be educated, and I'm not the type to sugar-coat the truth.
As far as your solution, it is much more complicated than what we have written.
What you are missing is that the instructions you have cited are for a temporary, manual workaround. The yet-to-be-released SITES module that we re-wrote (AS A FAVOR) for Dolphin users, is so much simpler. All you do is update the SITES module and enter your credentials. Everything else works flawlessly and no changes are required at all. The admin is fully functional and the issues with the original SITES module (that we did not write) were all addressed and fixed by our team.
Newton. Yes, I call people out for who they are and I do it professionally. After a certain point, someone like skyforum has to just be called out like he is, an idiot. That's not unprofessional. It's the truth. He cannot be educated, and I'm not the type to sugar-coat the truth.
As far as your solution, it is much more complicated than what we have written.
What you are missing is that the instructions you have cited are for a temporary, manual workaround. The yet-to-be-released SITES module that we re-wrote (AS A FAVOR) for Dolphin users, is so much simpler. All you do is update the SITES module and enter your credentials. Everything else works flawlessly and no changes are required at all. The admin is fully functional and the issues with the original SITES module (that we did not write) were all addressed and fixed by our team.
My solution requires no account with anyone, just a credit link. No account numbers needed.
The thumbnails are not stored on my end, their services automatically replace the thumbnail as I'm sure yours does as well, with an account and limits I would expect.
Why is my solution hard? We are changing nine files, and adding two simple lines where needed.
Newton... I forgot to mention, also, that there are several new features supported in the SITES version that we re-wrote for BoonEx. So we did not "just" fix the issues, we also added a ton of functionality that no other providers offer. So Dolphin users can really customize the look of the screenshots beyond just a regular 4:3 ratio image, if they have a use that will really make their directory area shine.
By the way, I wasn't bashing your implementation. If it works, that's great. It's always good for people to have alternatives, especially since BoonEx does not have a firm release date yet for the SITES module that we overhauled. I was just pointing out the limitations and quality of using Thumbshots; but really any provider, as they all have the same basic issues.
My solution requires no account with anyone, just a credit link. No account numbers needed.
The thumbnails are not stored on my end, their services automatically replace the thumbnail as I'm sure yours does as well, with an account and limits I would expect.
Why is my solution hard? We are changing nine files, and adding two simple lines where needed.
The more you speak, the more you actually "shrink."
Updating the SITES module and entering credentials is a good bit easier than updating X files and Y lines, but as my most recent post stated, I'm not bashing your implementation... or even your choice on an alternate provider. Kudos on getting something else to work. (not being sarcastic either)
I'm not trying to convince anyone to use our service or twisting their arm. Due to many people complaining about the broken SITES module since early last year and asking for our help, we invested more than $4,000 total into overhauling it and making it ultra simple. This was a favor to the Dolphin community that many will appreciate, so it's a good investment for us. Of course, there will always be a "skyforum" type of user here and there, as it is to be expected.
As for your last comment, it sounds like you are taking something personally, but I can't imagine what that would be. Anyway, my time is too valuable to linger here any longer debating it. So you and skyforum can debate the merits of spam conspiracies and secret agents, if you like. As for me, I have work to do. :)
My solution requires no account with anyone, just a credit link. No account numbers needed.
The thumbnails are not stored on my end, their services automatically replace the thumbnail as I'm sure yours does as well, with an account and limits I would expect.
Why is my solution hard? We are changing nine files, and adding two simple lines where needed.
The more you speak, the more you actually "shrink."
Updating the SITES module and entering credentials is a good bit easier than updating X files and Y lines, but as my most recent post stated, I'm not bashing your implementation... or even your choice on an alternate provider. Kudos on getting something else to work. (not being sarcastic either)
I'm not trying to convince anyone to use our service or twisting their arm. Due to many people complaining about the broken SITES module since early last year and asking for our help, we invested more than $4,000 total into overhauling it and making it ultra simple. This was a favor to the Dolphin community that many will appreciate, so it's a good investment for us. Of course, there will always be a "skyforum" type of user here and there, as it is to be expected.
As for your last comment, it sounds like you are taking something personally, but I can't imagine what that would be. Anyway, my time is too valuable to linger here any longer debating it. So you and skyforum can debate the merits of spam conspiracies and secret agents, if you like. As for me, I have work to do. :)
the last comment was from/to our ultra professional, super moderator...
as for time, I'm already retired and have plenty to waste.
Skyforum and I are not friends and do not talk.
A**Hole
ManOfTeal.COM a Proud UNA site, six years running strong!
Just so that users know: placing an attribution ("credit") link on the pages of the site will affect it's ranking ability with the search engines. It gives away a little bit of voting power to an unrelated website using unrelated keywords.
While it's not the end of the world, it just confirms that it's more for hobbyist types of users. A more serious site that wishes to be ranked well and links to quality resources will shy away from linking to unrelated sites --especially on every page where screenshots are shown-- as it dilutes that search engine credibility.
@ puravida You've never made it clear, as far as I know, what your relationship to shrinktheweb.com is. Would you elaborate on that please?
Hello. Since you asked a direct, legitimate question; I'll pop back in for a quick answer.
I don't know that anyone here has asked before, but a search will reveal that I am the ShrinkTheWeb CEO, Chief Developer (for now), and I wear many other hats as well. Some may know Frank, who handles support and has handled emails between us and BoonEx, but I don't think he's posted in the Dolphin community forums.
I've seen a lot of posts now from you about why we chose to use an email service provider, why we went with Constant Contact, and why they don't accept admin@ and other such role-based email prefixes. I believe puravida has fully explained this ad nauseum but in case not I will gladly reiterate. We chose to move to an ESP because the vast majority of our users weren't getting our emails. This generated a tremendous volume of direct support requests and unhappy customers anytime we had scheduled maintenance, service updates, assorted account issues, etc. So we decided that in order to deliver the best possible service and support, we needed to be able to communicate efficiently and effectively with our users.
We chose Constant Contact because they are #1 in their market space and we were looking for reliability, security, and longevity. As for Constant Contact not accepting role-based email addresses; I know the reason they give, I've read what you believe, and I have few theories of my own, but for all I know you might have the right of it. We weren't even aware of this policy until after we had spent a considerable amount of developer resources and money integrating their service into our system. But ultimately why they do what they do, as it pertains to their core business model, has little relevance to us because we aren't using them as a platform for launching an ad campaign but rather as an effective communication tool. Honestly their role-based email restrictions have been a major headache for us and an inconvenience to our users, and had we known about it early on in the project we would have likely moved in another direction. As it is, from a business continuity perspective, we are not in a position to write off the effort and expense we put into that project. Not to mention the fact that it seems to be working pretty well thus far.
I do not believe that Constant Contact would use or sell any of their customer's email lists as it is paramount to the reputation of Constant Contact to respect their customer's privacy. If suddenly their emails were blacklisted by all the spam filters then they would go out of business. If we, or any of their other customers, were to discover that they were using or selling our email lists we would move swiftly to cut ties with them.
Hopefully this has adequately answered your question / spoken to your concerns. Please feel free to address any additional comments to me and I will gladly reply as time permits.
Best Regards,
Frank Grogan
Co-Founder of ShrinkTheWeb
ManOfTeal.COM a Proud UNA site, six years running strong!
I appreciate the introduction. Additionally I'm a proud father, a pianist, and an avid Dr Who fan. I enjoy SEC football, NBC news, and Lake Lanier Water Park. Oh yeah and one more thing, the Falcons rule and the Saints drool.
I had a longer reply composed, but this fckn site logged me out for no reason, and the entire post disappeared into a black hole.
I applied the "workaround" from STW, and for the first time ever, I actually saw a thumbnail. I was happy... until I clicked the thumbnail and got led to:
Paying members use the advanced method, caching locally, and access to PRO features. As I said, our service is geared more towards non-hobbyist directories. If you want something free that does not require a preview page, then use Newton's method and put a link on your site. Otherwise, if your site is not a hobby site for you, then consider upgrading for premium service.
Either way, I would not recommend using the SITES module until BoonEx releases the version that we certified. The existing SITES module has a lot of issues and we cannot support it. That is why we re-wrote the screenshot integration portion from the ground, up. :)
Calling someone an "idiot" in a public forum is NOT professional. If you believe it is you might want to consider hiring someone else to handle public relations for your company.
Newton. Yes, I call people out for who they are and I do it professionally. After a certain point, someone like skyforum has to just be called out like he is, an idiot. That's not unprofessional. It's the truth. He cannot be educated, and I'm not the type to sugar-coat the truth.
BoonEx Certified Host: Zarconia.net - Fully Supported Shared and Dedicated for Dolphin
Mr. Puravida, you really should endeavor to use more tactful language in your replies here. Just because someone doesn't like the behavior of your "free" version, doesn't mean they are creating a hobbyist directory. It just means they don't care about having the "World's largest thumbnail" ...... which quite frankly, carries about as much prestige as the title of "World's tallest midget".
I am so glad to hear that the use of your "free" service, entitles me to the privilege of having all dolphin site members redirected to a useless page on shrinktheweb.com. I certainly hope this will not be the behavior of your $1000 prize winning sites module, else it will be as useful as a lead balloon.
I just may take your advice about using Newton's method. So far, Newton's method is the one that makes the most sense.... people look at a thumbshots attribution for a short while, then you have a thumbnail. Nice try on that "workaround", but I'd have to call it a failure, because no one wants to click a link, and end up where they did not expect to.
My opinions expressed on this site, in no way represent those of Boonex or Boonex employees.
Calling someone an "idiot" in a public forum is NOT professional. If you believe it is you might want to consider hiring someone else to hand public relations for your company.
Newton. Yes, I call people out for who they are and I do it professionally. After a certain point, someone like skyforum has to just be called out like he is, an idiot. That's not unprofessional. It's the truth. He cannot be educated, and I'm not the type to sugar-coat the truth.
Right! I know I have attitude sometimes but I have never called someone an idiot here, I did use an explicit gesture earlier but I,
"call 'em as I see 'em too"
ManOfTeal.COM a Proud UNA site, six years running strong!
Calling someone an "idiot" in a public forum is NOT professional. If you believe it is you might want to consider hiring someone else to hand public relations for your company.
Newton. Yes, I call people out for who they are and I do it professionally. After a certain point, someone like skyforum has to just be called out like he is, an idiot. That's not unprofessional. It's the truth. He cannot be educated, and I'm not the type to sugar-coat the truth.
Nope. I said I do it professional and did so many times in skyforum's case. After a certain point, I just call it like it is --professional or not. :)
Well..... good luck winning over Dolphin users to your paid service, which we all know is the primary reason you offer up a new sites module to Boonex .....that supports all your paid services.
My opinions expressed on this site, in no way represent those of Boonex or Boonex employees.
Well..... good luck winning over Dolphin users to your paid service, which we all know is the primary reason you offer up a new sites module to Boonex .....that supports all your paid services.
You act like something is trying to be hidden here. I'm baffled at the attitudes.
1. We were ASKED to provide a better, working SITES module and integration of our service. We did that and WE paid for it... to the tune of $4,000 total.
2. We were ASKED by yet others to integrate the free service (as not everyone is opposed to it like you say ---bet you didn't read even read the reason we were FORCED to switch to a preview page before you began complaining).
3. Of course we are not going to just rewrite an entire module if there isn't some sort of benefit. If I did that for free, gave away the service for free, did not impose a preview page on the free service, and rewrote everyone's integrations for them; then I would be the idiot and not in business for very long. :)
Not trying to slip anything by anybody. It's there and people can use it. The free service will work for some. The paid service will be perfect for others. The rest can and should use Newton's (based on rdonovan's) option. As I said, it is a good option for those. I just know that we gave the users, who ASKED, what they wanted.
As for me, I don't need the lectures, so I'm back to the grind now. Got a business to run. :)
I had never realized that providing a temporary solution would cause so much controversy.
The first work around was for shrinktheweb it worked for a while then they changed it at their end.
I was recently working on another web property and the software I was employing used thumbshots as a source for its thumbnails. I saw how simple the call for the thumbshot was and I had utilized it in the Sites code as I had done before with the shrinktheweb call. It is very simple.
I have been involved with Boonex before it was Boonex. At the end of 2002 I was using A&E Dating software which is the foundation of Dolphin.
I mention this because of Puravia, he is a new kid on the block and the only reason that he has joined is because the people of the Boonex Community where posting on his site questions as to how to fix things after the original Sites Mod stopped working. He had no real interest in Dolphin in and of itself. It appears that he is offended that I had come up with a work around for the Boonex Community.
What I have done is for the Community, I did not have to share this I could of kept it to myself and let everyone else wait for whenever it was released. It works I have proved it and newton27 embellished it. (by the way great job).
Thumbshots started six years before shrinktheweb, you can do a whois and see the dates. Thumbshots was first. They also do a great job for the hobbyist. Some of the hobbyist that use their services are as follows:
AOL
BBC
CNET
INFOSPACE
SEOBOOK
NETWORK SOLUTIONS
GOOGLE
FIREFOX
That is a good enough list for me.
One of the other things that I noticed is that shrinktheweb is not registered in his name, which is not really important. However what is important to me is this they are in Georgia, located in the US. This Community is a International Community and I would like to let everyone know that all Americans do not act like this. I apologize on his behalf.
What I would of done if I was in Puravia's position is when I joined and saw how many people were relying on his service I would have set up a subdomain for Boonex and run the old working Boonex compatible system on that domain for the Boonex Community while coming up with a solution for their new system instead of letting them hang for a year or more. (I do not want to hear that I do not know what I am talking about because I am a "hobbyist" it could of been done in just a few hours) There would not have been a loss of continuity and the developers would have worked hard to accommodate his good will. By doing that it would of cost a lot less then what he is boasting or complaining about.
Afar as the exchange about the email spamming it is a moot point, neither party can substantially prove their side and it is totally out of the context of this thread.
@Puravia due to you arrogance, your insults, total disrespect, and professionalism. I am willing to see that a new Sites Mod is developed to utilize the thumbshots or some other thumbnail service. You will not have a lock on this. If need be I will fire up a spare sever on the rack and start my own thumbnail service. It might be a good hobby for me, one that might turn into a great profession and income source.
As to your partners response to the back links hurting SE ranking this is not true and if you pay for the service you do not need the back link.
Please end this now I have more important things to do.
To everyone, use the workaround until someone provides another working solution and allow your Dolphin powered site to offer as much as it can.
Consider using bitpixels.com You can get a 200 x 150 thumb from them, and all they want in return is an attribution link on the pages that use the service.
Actual Thumb from bitpixels:
My opinions expressed on this site, in no way represent those of Boonex or Boonex employees.
It appears that he is offended that I had come up with a work around for the Boonex Community.
Eh? Why in the world would you think I was offended? I am not being sarcastic in any of my kudos or stating that some users should use the mod you and Newton worked on. I was being sincere. How do those of you in this thread seem to take offense to things like that? It baffles me. Since no one here listens, I won't waste anymore time here. This will be my last post unless someone makes a constructive point or question.
Good grief, people. Really? Try to be productive instead of detrimental. It makes life more fun and interesting!
Some of the hobbyist that use their services are as follows:
AOL
BBC
CNET
INFOSPACE
SEOBOOK
NETWORK SOLUTIONS
GOOGLE
FIREFOX
That is a good enough list for me.
Sure. If only that list were true. We have done our due diligence to research all competitors and none of the bigger sites actually use Thumbshots. It's not to start another debate but don't automatically take a site's word for it. Do some research. AOL stopped using them years ago and the BBC said that they never used them. CNET does not use them and Network Solutions stopped years ago also. Google, really? Google has their own capture technology, which does not capture flash but is still decent in its own right. Firefox, really? I don't know what to say if you believe that.
@Puravia due to you arrogance and your insults and total disrespect. I am willing to see that a new Sites Mod is developed to utilize the thumbshots thumbnail service. You will not have a lock on this.
See that you direct those comments where they belong. I was attacked by lies, repeatedly. I also said my peace, so no reason to rehash or defend it.
Nobody ever said we were trying to get a "lock" on this. lol. Seems like there are a few in your community, including you, who do not thoroughly READ what people take the time to write. We are glad that those who asked for our help will appreciate what we have done. The rest of you can find your own way. It does not matter to us. We did not expect to get rich (or even recoup our cost) off of Dolphin users, but we try to help our users whenever we can. Too bad that a few of you in this thread would bash us for this favor. Very strange attitude that you have.
It is bad business to bash a company that is willing to invest in a community. Not wise at all. You will only be hurting those who sought out our help. Sorry to say. So to those users, I apologize for you and those like you who would seek to run off a great company in exchange for low budget options.
Anyway, since all of these words seem to be written to the blind, there is no point in continuing the conversation. Please continue to bad mouth and lie and make up whatever you like. No point in typing anything further, when the words just meander into oblivion. :)
I am glad that you had admitted that a majority of the list at one time used thumbshots. As far as the ones that you say did not I would not even accept as an assumption let alone as fact without supporting evidence.
You do have a lock on it. I have not seen the new mod but if it is designed for only your service then you do have a lock on it until some one comes out with one for another service. Why did you quote and reply to that? Do you not realize that? If the mod does provide for another service then I am wrong but until then I present this as supporting evidence to my comment.
Buy the way, how are you going to hurt the people who asked for help? Are you going to punish them because of what I said that is not community like?
By the way, why did you respond if this is falling on blind eyes?
We rewrote the STW module, which has yet to be released by BoonEx, and it works flawlessly. It stores images locally on your server, so there is no slow-down whatsoever.
It is not as easy to just capture screenshots of websites as "some people" might think.
As we have never nor will ever spam. Skyforum is just an idiot, but most people in here probably know that already --based on the PMs we received from others who said he is full of it. :)
p.s. We did not write the original version of Dolphin's SITES module, so don't blame the service for that plugin not working. The service has always worked flawlessly.
I'm an idiot? You want the email back? Do you really want to go here? The company you chose to hoist your email servers is KNOWN as a world class spam magnet! If an email goes into their system, you WILL receive opt-out crap!
Yes, you are. And your accusations about Constant Contact are simply untrue. It's just too bad that you aren't more computer literate or else you might have learned something from the educational information I provided to you. As it is, you are just a lost and wayward figure attempting to thwart other users from using the best option available to them (once BoonEx launches the version of code that we wrote and certified).
Even the efforts to integrate Thumbshots is wasted, because those low-quality images tend to drag down the look-and-feel of a directory. I'm sure it's fine for people who only have "hobby" directories, but serious users will want the prestige of using the best service available.
And those who are computer literate will know that your comment about just having Dolphin capture screenshots is a monumentally tall order that is not likely to ever happen.
"Eh? Why in the world would you think I was offended? I am not being sarcastic in any of my kudos or stating that some users should use the mod you and Newton worked on. I was being sincere. How do those of you in this thread seem to take offense to things like that? It baffles me. Since no one here listens, I won't waste anymore time here. This will be my last post unless someone makes a constructive point or question."
You just backpedaled.
Here is my supporting supporting evidence:
"Even the efforts to integrate Thumbshots is wasted, because those low-quality images tend to drag down the look-and-feel of a directory. I'm sure it's fine for people who only have "hobby" directories, but serious users will want the prestige of using the best service available.
And those who are computer literate will know that your comment about just having Dolphin capture screenshots is a monumentally tall order that is not likely to ever happen."
"Either way, I would not recommend using the SITES module until BoonEx releases the version that we certified. The existing SITES module has a lot of issues and we cannot support it. That is why we re-wrote the screenshot integration portion from the ground, up. :)"
Look I do not wish to have a mach of verbal judo at which I am very good at and you show that you same have the same skills but I did it for a living and have more experience at it.
It seems that you have missed the point of the post. You should not be condescending nor should you be calling people names It hurts both you and your company and the and adds fuel to the fire. When that happens my email box get full of notifications which are meaningless.
Based on how you respond to people and how Frank responds to the same people and their issues. It is apparent as to who should be responding and representing your company to the people of this community.
As one CEO to another you should designate the the above mentioned responsibly to Frank he is good at handling people and their complaints he is diplomatic and his skills are much better then yours. Give him that hat it fits him well and looks good on him.
Also from what I had observed is the the pro and hobbyist classifications use here in this forum bothers some people myself included. Its like class separation. You do not use those terms on your web site. If you do not use them on you web site do not use them here. Follow the flow, a "pro" will use the "hobbyist" or free version because the image suites their needs and it is free, where as the "hobbyist" may use the "pro" version because they want the additional features. Free and paid for would be better. Get my drift? Of course you do I have seen your site.
The last thing that I would like to add is this it is a very good thing that you do not operate in New York. For if you did you and I would be facing each other in court. Here is why, when the first work around broke due to you changing your system the front page of my site showed in place of the thumbnail a shrinktheweb place holder image It showed shrinktheweb along with the words PROBLEM WITH ACCOUNT. That looks bad. It can be construed by my viewers that I have not paid. The reality of the situation is that there is no problem with my account. Tell me do I owe you money? Did I abuse your service? Is there really a problem with my account, NO. the problem it a program incompatibly, a technical issue not a account issue. It should have stated that there was a technical issue and if you did not want anyone to think that it was your issue you should of just inserted a image stating that it was a technical issue without the "shrinktheweb" text on it. I suggest to you that you change that image before some one reads this for they might sue you.
Be nice, the customer is always right, unless you do not want them as a customer, but still be nice otherwise people will bad mouth and lie and make up whatever they would like to about you.
I would have to agree that Mr puravida simply cannot maintain his composure..... and he really didn't take a lot of heat. I've bashed a few vendors here, especially Arvixe. One thing I can say for Arvixe, is they have never come completely unglued. You simply can't throw insults around, if you have a company image to protect, because everyone will know about it.... not just the people here on boonex.com. This very thread, is currently the number 11 hit on google for 'shrinktheweb'.
I'm just glad I don't have a company image to protect here. I don't think I could stand having to be nice to you folks around here.
My opinions expressed on this site, in no way represent those of Boonex or Boonex employees.
With all due respect shrinktheweb and its service has come a long way. By their commitment to the Dolphin Sites Module shows that their service is in order and well in place.
I for one am looking forward to the new Sites Module. I will will most likely use it and even their paid for service.
I do have one suggestion and that is dropping the preview page Dolphin users are not the only people who do not like it the people who use Drupal do not like it either.
There was nothing he had to protect all he had to do was be still, it was a done deal once he had his service well in place and the mod finished and when it was released it would speak for him.
I have been following this debate with some concern, in light of Shrinktheweb's attitude toward legitimate concerns, right or wrong, I would suggest Boonex drop them like a hot potatoe.
I have never liked my website looking to outside sites for core functionality, functionality that should be built into D7.
This forum shows just how (possibly) unreliable such dependencies can be.
Stuart
There are none so blind as those that will not see.
I have a demo site setup actually using the module this month, all settings correct according to the module. Pulling info from shrinktheweb.
It's not working, no thumbnails pulled, for any site, i.e. boonex.com, only the default one.
Today I get this mail from them..
Dear Michael,
Your account has been inactive for quite some time. We have finally gotten around to cleaning up our database and are deactivating your account.
Since we do not allow multiple accounts, your email, domains, and IPs will remain "on file" so that we can block them in the future. However, you will not receive any further emails or announcements from us. Part of this move is done to clean up our contact list by removing unnecessary emails.
If you wish to reopen your account, please contact us by replying to this email OR through the contact form on our website.
Cheers!
How can my account be inactive if the module is communicating correctly with them?
Why or how in the world did they let boonex talk them into incorporating such a poor thumbnail service?
So we are back to editing our site to use another service for thumbnails.
ManOfTeal.COM a Proud UNA site, six years running strong!
@newton
Exactly what part of "inactive" is unclear?? That email began seeing out early this morning and your account was inactive (had no requests or fetches in awhile) at that time. Simple enough for users to reply and keep their account active.
Can't help it if you are having issues and did not open a ticket. No reason to argue to the few who absolutely want to use another provider, no matter what. Please do so. Thumbshots and others still have a little traffic left and may be around for another year or two. Please offer an update to integrate those services, for the few who want it.
For those who know and love STW, I wanted to mention that we did not get confirmation if our latest revision made into the BETA. There were some incompatibilities introduced by v7.1, but they were addressed by our team earlier in the week. It is flawless again, but v7.1 SITES may not be working well if the changes didn't make it in yet.
Since you seem to be monitoring this thread, I have question. Did I read, and understand correctly, that the stw preview page redirect incorporated into the sites module, has been removed?
My opinions expressed on this site, in no way represent those of Boonex or Boonex employees.
Since you seem to be monitoring this thread, I have question. Did I read, and understand correctly, that the stw preview page redirect incorporated into the sites module, has been removed?
@HoustonLively,
Yes. You did read that correctly. However, if the recent changes did not make into the released BETA, then it is possible that PVP support is still in there.
I just emailed Alex, asking if any of the recent rounds of changes made it in. We made one change to remove PVP and THEN we found some issues with the latest v7.1 code that forced us to update our code again. The code with PVP removed but BEFORE the fixes may also still not work properly.
I'm hoping that newton27's experience was isolated (no other reports or tickets open yet) and that Alex released the latest code we submitted. If not, they are most likely working on doing so.
I'll post this one the main "contest thread" too, but we also requested for BoonEx to add a way to easily clear the screenshot cache in the settings/cache area. They may or may not have time to do that, but I'm hopeful that they will. I have been informed that it is a simple change but it requires CORE changes, so it's best left up to the BoonEx team. :)
@newton Exactly what part of "inactive" is unclear?? That email began seeing out early this morning and your account was inactive (had no requests or fetches in awhile) at that time. Simple enough for users to reply and keep their account active. Can't help it if you are having issues and did not open a ticket. No reason to argue to the few who absolutely want to use another provider, no matter what. Please do so. Thumbshots and others still have a little traffic left and may be around for another year or two. Please offer an update to integrate those services, for the few who want it. For those who know and love STW, I wanted to mention that we did not get confirmation if our latest revision made into the BETA. There were some incompatibilities introduced by v7.1, but they were addressed by our team earlier in the week. It is flawless again, but v7.1 SITES may not be working well if the changes didn't make it in yet.
As I stated, if you would have read the above. . the service has just been used last week on my demo 7.1 site with your new module, making requests, my account has been active as I was just on and using "your" site last week, logged in and getting info.
What you have to say from now on is considered wasted time on your part.
The wording you used in your mailing is a big turn off, I bet you wrote it..
Last comment I'll make here; I'll be sure to NEVER use your services again or recommend them to ANY client now or in the future.
ManOfTeal.COM a Proud UNA site, six years running strong!
As I stated, if you would have read the above. . the service has just been used last week on my demo 7.1 site with your new module, making requests, my account has been active as I was just on and using "your" site last week, logged in and getting info.
What you have to say from now on is considered wasted time on your part.
The wording you used in your mailing is a big turn off, I bet you wrote it..
Last comment I'll make here; I'll be sure to NEVER use your services again or recommend them to ANY client now or in the future.
"My problem was that all the offered modules just use paid services or similar. So I researched the web for my own solution and I found this CutyCapt. It is incredible easy to use and I think this should really be an option for this module to offer the people a free self owned THUMBSHOTS type module without any restrictions or pay service. If you are interested in this, just look at http://cutycapt.sourceforge.net/. It's amazing and it worked for me out of the box in ten minutes."
All of the source code packages can be gotten for all flavors of Linux. Setting this up on a server is just as easy as installing RED5 for all of Dolphins chat and video features.
If you look at the way this is working now you are storing and serving all of the THUMBSHOTS images on your server the only thing that you are using the stw service for is the fetching and resizing of the snapshot . All else is in your cache.
Think about it as puravida knows(?) that " THUMBSHOTS and others still have a little traffic left and may be around for another year or two." . He may be right stw almost fell apart a couple of years back so he speaks from experience.
That being said any of the THUMBSHOTS type of service including stw may become at risk due to the fact that many people found the way that they do it. I would venture to say that eight out of ten THUMBSHOTS type of service do so the remaining may have some proprietary code that does this.
Then why should anybody rely on a THUMBSHOTS type of service that may not be around, people should go to the source. From my research I have found that a majority of the open source communities are implementing CutyCapt and Webkit for THUMBSHOTS type views.
This whole THUMBSHOTS type of service thing has left a bad taste in many peoples mouth's and as far as myself I had to spend time coming up with workarounds to get things to work.
I think that Boonex should seriously consider building the sites module around CutyCapt and Webkit for THUMBSHOTS type views.
stw almost fell apart a couple of years back so he speaks from experience.
Come again? Since when did STW ever "almost fall apart??"
ShrinkTheWeb has experienced staggering growth since its initial launch, and its only difficulty has been keeping up with demand, which we have -impressively- met with little to no downtime over the years.
Resorting to misinformation is unnecessary. People can choose alternative methods, if they like. We encourage it. I suppose that you are hoping to sway BoonEx's decision by making a point that relies on untruths. That is truly sad.
There are a very few, who are active posters in this forum, who "think" they know a better way. The truth is that it is nowhere near as easy as those few of you think. Sorry to break it to you. However, IF the majority did not want STW, then we would not have invested in the Dolphin community. Believe me. I would have saved a lot of headache and feeling like we have to defend our service from absurd claims and misinformation. As it is, there were far more who politely asked us to improve the SITES module, and we obliged.
However, it is strange to me, because other communities are very thankful but the few "loud voices" here make it seem like we are pushing drugs on children, when we were asked, by others in your community, to invest in the SITES module. You few make it seem like the Dolphin community is not grateful. Thankfully, it certainly seems like you three or four are the minority.
At this point, I will refrain from entertaining any further debate, that just falls on deaf ears, and let those few of you say all that you like. Say or twist anything. It's ok. We will let the majority decide for themselves.
Once our latest SITES module is released into the BETA, I think most users will be very pleased. :)
I would like to personally apologize to Brandon, and STW for coming down so harsh in the beginning of this post,
there were several misunderstandings on my part, those issues have been resolved.
I urge you; if you got your letter from STW about closing your account, reply to the mail and keep your account open.
The functions in the new module for 7.1 are working better than expected; even a choice on the size of your thumbnail. "the coming soon thumbnail" was replaced within two minutes of submitting a new site without a thumbnail already.. kudos!!
I would like to personally apologize to Brandon, and STW for coming down so harsh in the beginning of this post,
there were several misunderstandings on my part, those issues have been resolved.
I urge you; if you got your letter from STW about closing your account, reply to the mail and keep your account open.
The functions in the new module for 7.1 are working better than expected; even a choice on the size of your thumbnail. "the coming soon thumbnail" was replaced within two minutes of submitting a new site without a thumbnail already.. kudos!!
No problem at all, and thank you. I wish we had not started off on the wrong foot, but there are a lot of misconceptions about our service, due to the original SITES implementation not involving us in development and then not fully working.
I am glad to hear of the first, outside, successful v7.1 SITES test run! Andreas has also submitted a newer revision (being reviewed by BoonEx) that also adds a note to avoid the "Allowed Referrers" issue that you originally had with the v7.1 SITES module. It also adds a new feature to allow site owners to clear the "Screenshot Cache," which is useful, or even necessary, in some cases.
Sorry all for my negative tone. I have a weak spot when people make claims of spam, because it's a point of pride (eek!) for me that I've never had to resort to sending any. I tend to take that personally. That sparked a flood of comments that confused and misled others in the Dolphin community. Now, I'm hoping that we can all work together to continue improving the already powerful Dolphin product.
