NukeCoder

Code Authors · Joined: Dec 09, 2006 Posts: 335

Well I couldn't leave it alone could I - I just had to think of something else......

Seeing as a fair proportion of nuke users do not have their own servers or have a limited amount of web space, creating tons of downloads may mean they quickly run out of space.
Whether a user is developing lots of mods, hacks, themes or even maps for Clan sites, space can quickly become a real concern. Not everyone can afford huge accounts with Gigs of space etc.

Some hosts also restrict the space available below the public root which means they either have to host files within the public root and risk hot-linking (although this can be countered with htaccess directives etc to a large degree) or seriously consider restricting the service they want to offer to their visitors.

So, to my point...
I would like to see an additional download url field which overrides the pre-configured path (if_exists) so that users may opt to use one of the free space providers like box.net to allow a download from a third party providers webspace.

Site Admin Joined: Oct 25, 2004 Posts: 921

Guardian wrote:

Seeing as a fair proportion of nuke users do not have their own servers or have a limited amount of web space, creating tons of downloads may mean they quickly run out of space.
Whether a user is developing lots of mods, hacks, themes or even maps for Clan sites, space can quickly become a real concern. Not everyone can afford huge accounts with Gigs of space etc.

Some hosts also restrict the space available below the public root which means they either have to host files within the public root and risk hot-linking (although this can be countered with htaccess directives etc to a large degree) or seriously consider restricting the service they want to offer to their visitors.

My guess is if they can't afford their own web space, they won't want to buy the digital shop. If space and/or restrictions are that much of an issue it may be time to move on to a better host. There are hosts out there that offer a ton of space for average prices, just look at the front page of this site Wink

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Guardian wrote:

So, to my point...
I would like to see an additional download url field which overrides the pre-configured path (if_exists) so that users may opt to use one of the free space providers like box.net to allow a download from a third party providers webspace.

The shop is designed to allow the user to have the files protected and inaccessible by any url. To store the files on another server would basically bypass all protections(doesn't matter what you do with .htaccess on the remote server, they will still be accessible from a direct link and if they are not, fopen won't be able to get to it either) and would require the main server to turn on allow_fopen_url, which is off by default on alot servers. There is the "Live Preview" field that could be used as an additional url with some quick template edits.

Joined: Mar 25, 2007 Posts: 27

Quote:

Guardian wrote:

Seeing as a fair proportion of nuke users do not have their own servers or have a limited amount of web space, creating tons of downloads may mean they quickly run out of space.
Whether a user is developing lots of mods, hacks, themes or even maps for Clan sites, space can quickly become a real concern. Not everyone can afford huge accounts with Gigs of space etc.

Some hosts also restrict the space available below the public root which means they either have to host files within the public root and risk hot-linking (although this can be countered with htaccess directives etc to a large degree) or seriously consider restricting the service they want to offer to their visitors.

My guess is if they can't afford their own web space, they won't want to buy the digital shop. If space and/or restrictions are that much of an issue it may be time to move on to a better host. There are hosts out there that offer a ton of space for average prices, just look at the front page of this site Wink.

Servers for VPN are very cheap anywhere from 5.00 to 30.00 a mth this includdes lots of space, if users/webmasters etc go with free hosts they only jeopardize the speeds and uptimes, having a shop would always mean invest in the best server/host with the budget you have the shop should at least generate enough monies to pay for the host.

I want to use the shop full time on a site of mine but still missing some essential things. Any timeline on 2.0.6?

Site Admin Joined: Oct 25, 2004 Posts: 921

MASsIVE wrote:

I was suggesting more for on the fly pricing, when user selects USD, CAN EUR etc the prices on the products change as well, simply add the currencies in admin area, place current currencies in admin set the default and the drop down from frontend should dynamically change all product prices and symbol

I'm worried about accuracy... Users would be pretty pissed if something said $1 on your site and $2 when they get to paypal.

Site Admin Joined: Oct 25, 2004 Posts: 921

Massive, it won't be much longer Smile

I've got a couple things to add(I keep finding things) and some testing.
It should be done by Wed. unless I find something major.

Code Authors · Joined: Dec 09, 2006 Posts: 335

gotcha Yes I see your point and I agree with you. However, your script is not really that expensive as a one-off payment which is probably one of the reasons it is popular but hosting can vary enormously in price (as, unfortunately so does the sevice).

On reflection and with hindsight, those that have lots of downloads to offer are surely going to be making enough revenue to offset any extra disc space required so it was rather a stupid thing for me to mention in the first place.
As a hosting provider myself with 6 dedicated servers space isnt an issue for me but I thought it might be for others.

Looking forward to the next version though Smile

Site Admin Joined: Oct 25, 2004 Posts: 921

I'm way off topic but...

Wow 6 dedicated servers, I'm jealous Smile

How many companies have you had dedicated servers with and which ones do you think are the best? Or are you in a co-location type deal?

Code Authors · Joined: Dec 09, 2006 Posts: 335

Over the years I have tried most of them as a customer but never ever really got the service and support I was after. The last straw came when my host had a problem and re-instated my account with a 3 month old back-up, they never gave me an explanation or even bothered to tell me they had done it. I decided to use a UK based host simply because, if I had a need to, I could go knock on their door lol
After 6 months with the new host I was still impressed with the service but out of the blue I recieved an email saying that after 7 years in the hosting business, the owner was taking a break and would be selling the company. I didnt want to lose the great service I was getting so went into partnership with him.

When we were shopping around for new servers, my partner had already tried 6 or 7 different suppliers and we always ended going back to the supplier who gave us best value and that was Dedicated Now and Liquidweb.
So all our servers our now with them. We still try others our periodically for our own sites to see if service has improved but so far we have been more than happy with those two.

We do not have any co-location stuff happening at the moment because it is just to expensive (clients just don't want to pay the extra) but all our servers have RAID back up so if a drive fails, there is no lose of service. Likewise, we do daily, weekly and monthly back ups of all our servers and unlike some hosts, we do not charge for support.

Even now, all my own personal sites are hosted on our shared servers - so it is in my own interests to keep them running sweet and secure.

Site Admin Joined: Oct 25, 2004 Posts: 921

Features that made it into 2.0.6, which will be released later today:

Fixed all reported bugs along with a couple that were not.

Items can now be added as free downloads. Access can be set to allow only registered users or everyone. A captcha system is included and can be turned on/off in the configuration.

Option to require purchases to be approved by an administrator.

Added purchase notifications/receipts which are customizable using templates.

# of Reviews waiting to be approved will show up in admin menu if > 0

Expanded category list on add/edit item to show entire category path.

Added drop down lists for user and item in the Add Client section.

Enhancements to the standalone user system.

Some template fixes and changes

Code Authors · Joined: Dec 09, 2006 Posts: 335

Cool!
Really looking forward to this Smile

Joined: Mar 25, 2007 Posts: 27

This may be a odd Q

Where do we get the updates ? Smile

After digging this was a very odd Q Laughing

Got it I will try tonight Smile

Code Authors · Joined: Dec 09, 2006 Posts: 335

LOL I asked the same thing. Just in case anyone else reads this, go to SHOP, Your Purchases and download the package again. Gotcha updates the stored package so ignore the fact that it says it's version 2.0

Joined: Mar 25, 2007 Posts: 27

How about allowing the Author of the themes to be inserted into the database this way blocks or the templates can extract it.

Everythings seems to be coming along great I havent tested Paypal with it yet but will soon. Wink

Code Authors · Joined: Dec 09, 2006 Posts: 335

MASsIVE wrote:

How about allowing the Author of the themes to be inserted into the database this way blocks or the templates can extract it.

Everythings seems to be coming along great I havent tested Paypal with it yet but will soon. Wink

I assume you mean, if you are selling themes, you would like an extra field so you can display the name of the Author?

Couldn't you do that with a sub category? Use a main category of 'themes' then use a sub-category using the authors name?
Hmm, that might get a bit messy though if you also have different typed of themes as you would then need to go to a third tier.

Nice idea, lets see what Gotcha has to say. This is an amazing product, I'm loving it!!

Site Admin Joined: Oct 25, 2004 Posts: 921

I'll start a new suggestion thread for the next version.
If you made a suggestion that didn't make it into 2.0.6 feel free to copy to the new thread.
Thanks for all the suggestions, keep 'em coming Smile