Released: Awesom!, or Amazon Web Services for Opensource Mambo

[madd0]

Awesom!, or Amazon Web Services for Opensource Mambo, is a component that lets you create lists of products to feature on your Mambo-driven site.

These lists can be customized or can be automatically generated with information provided by Amazon through Amazon Web Services.

Additionally, if you are an Amazon associate, you can configure Awesom to link to Amazon using your associate ID in order to earn comissions.

You can use this component to obtain information form Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de and Amazon.co.jp

Visit the project's website at Mosforge.net to download a beta version of Awesom! http://mamboforge.net/projects/awesom

All I ask in return for this component is plenty of feedback, in order to release a final version with as little bugs and as much functionality as possible, as soon as possible.

Have fun,

MD

[hannelore]

@madd0

This is a great component!

Error/bug: with amazon.de you can create lists with keywords but not with ASIN/ISBN numbers.

The title will not show when you create the item and it says
Invalid Asin : 3902096888

[Aurum3]

heh maddo,

i am testing it in a local area. so far so good
i will give you a better feedback after using it longer.

[madd0]

Thank you, hannelore, you're right, I'm fixing this right now, and a corrected version should be out in a few days...

I hope you'll still be able to test the other locales in the meanwhile...

And thank you, Aurum3... Write whenever you want, I'll try to reply as soon as possible...

Regards,

MD

[wally]

Hi madd0

You have done (and are doing) a great job with Awesom !
I have a question regarding further an extesion or enhancement.
Is it possible to use part of the returned string from the Amazon query to build links to other shops (i.e. either more local native online stores) or price comparison engines with a affiliate program?
Displayed like the "Search Google" link at the bottom of the Result page in other Mambo search scripts.

Any idea would be highly appreciated.

Best regards - and keep up the good work!

Wally

[madd0]

Hi,

I'm glad you're enjoying the component.

Currently, the component's front-end is partially based on very rudimentary templates. I have decided that, starting with the next release, I will fully base the front-end on somewhat more advanced templates.

By using these templates, you can add links, search boxes, or any other type of HTML (and even PHP) to each page of the Awesom front-end.

I will not, however, work with web services from other sites, or worse: screenscraping other sites, to make their information available through Awesom. I simply don't have time.

I hope this answer helps. I'll be writing more documentation to be included both with the component and at an official Awesom website I hope to create someday (i.e. as soon as I find a free host (I can't afford anything else) that meets the requirements to run Awesom.)

Regards,

MD

[hannelore]

By using these templates, you can add links, search boxes, or any other type of HTML (and even PHP) to each page of the Awesom front-end.

Madd0, does this mean that I can add manually for example a book to a list, that is not listed or offered with amazon? (In Germany are some small or specialized puplishers, who distrubute on their own.)

That would be great!

Thanks,
Hannelore

[wally]

Originally Posted by madd0

By using these templates, you can add links, search boxes, or any other type of HTML (and even PHP) to each page of the Awesom front-end.
MD

Sounds like this will do what I requested, as I (if I understand you correctly) can add f.i. a search string with "containers" for ISBN or book title, which will the be populated by the spesific data fetched from Amazon.

Would something like this work -

link_to_a_local_online_shop/search?title=%#name#%&isbn=%#isbn#%

- if that was a search string for title & ISBN query for that shop?

Anyway -

Looking forward to the further development of Awesom.

Regards

Wally

[madd0]

Originally Posted by hannelore

Madd0, does this mean that I can add manually for example a book to a list, that is not listed or offered with amazon? (In Germany are some small or specialized puplishers, who distrubute on their own.)

Hannelore: I don't think this is what Wally meant, I think this would be rather difficult, because it involves gathering information from other sources, whereas Wally only wants to use available information to create links...

Originally Posted by wally

Sounds like this will do what I requested, as I (if I understand you correctly) can add f.i. a search string with "containers" for ISBN or book title, which will the be populated by the spesific data fetched from Amazon.

Would something like this work -

link_to_a_local_online_shop/search?title=%#name#%&isbn=%#isbn#%

- if that was a search string for title & ISBN query for that shop?

Wally: Exactly, that will work in this release, but I've decided to change that a little.
Currently I'm using an extremely simple template engine I wrote for Awesom, for which you have apparently figured out the syntax and the tags you needed. However, in order to allow maximum customization of the component I have decided to "upgrade", in the next release, to a "real" template engine. This means that the syntax will be a little more complex, but much more powerful.
Without going into much detail, your link would look more like:

link_to_a_local_online_shop/search?title={$product->getProductName()}&isbn={$product->getISBN()}

You may be asking yourself, why change something simple into something apparently much more complex, if nothing apparently changed? Well, with the new template engine you will be able to write for example:

{if $product->getISBN()}
link_to_a_local_online_shop/search?title={$product->getProductName()}&isbn={$product->getISBN()}
{/if}

which will write the link only if the item is a book. This will allow you to use the same template with different kinds of items, without sending people to searching for the new "Shrek" DVD at your local bookstore...

I hope you're both having fun with the component. Don't forget (and this goes to all readers of this forum), that you can also report bugs, ask questions, request features or simply post comments, at the project's homepage at Mamboforge.net (http://mamboforge.net/projects/awesom).

Have fun,

MD

[wally]

I just finished a test setup of my "customized" Awesom template, with links going to a Compare Prices engine, which will also add to the revenue, as each visitor clicking to a shop to see a pricing / availability listing will earn me $0,50.

This can IMHO be a good alternative for those concerned with the normally low "click-to-sales-convertion" rate of Amazon promotion. At the same time this set-up maintain the possibility of earning some sales via the direct Amazon link.

You can find it & try it out at this location:

http://www.dukan.no/portal/avd/optio...som/Itemid,33/

Just select one of the search links to get going. Please click some Price & Shop listing to test out the options ;-) Thanks!
The site is in Norwegian, but the GUI should be intuitive enough.

<b>Again - thank you madd0 for your effort</b>
Awesom is a Really Valuable Revenue Generating script for the Mambo community. I'm sure to visit your site & activat the "Donate" button!
Keep up the good work.

Regards

Wally

[eyezberg]

Wally, that looks good (got a broken image before the compare link)!
Was it easy to integrate the compare thin into awesom?
And are you seriously saying you get $.5 just for someone clicking the link??

[wally]

Hi eyesberg

It was eazy to customize the links, and adding them to the itemList and itemTemplate (in the templates dir).

I know the image link i broken. I have trouble finding the right path - so I used the full http path - but it is still broken. I will investigate it further. Or better still: madd0: How should the path be set? http://www.mysite.com/images/image.gif - or just images/image.gif ?

Re: the money - I get paid $.50 for every visitor going from the generated comparison engine listing (i.e. from the generated list of available individual books/dealers, which you are presented with when you select "Compare price". A direct link to this comparison function is listed underneath each individual book fetched from Amazon (on my site), or in the resulting "Compared Prices" list if you have done a keyword / isbn / author / title search on the comparison site. (Other links under the amazon listing on my site will also go to author / title / version listing.

Just searching (without clicking to a shop / vendor) does not count - a visitor have to click on a link going to a spesific item at one of the 107 online shops or 60000 vendors included in the comparison.

I find this service very usefull, as you can specify both your local currency and shipping destination, and get the price (included postage), with an estimated shipping time for each item.

I have searched, found and bought many books using this service, and have long hoped they would offer an affiliate options. Now they have - but not as sofisticated or streamlined as the majority of affiliate setups though.
But as I find the service usefull for my visitors, the possible income is an added bonus. I hope this answered your questions.

Regards

Wally
http://www.dukan.no/
Please test it for yourself someday ;-)

http://www.dukan.no/portal/avd/optio...som/Itemid,33/

[madd0]

Originally Posted by wally

madd0: How should the path be set? http://www.mysite.com/images/image.gif - or just images/image.gif ?

Good news: to solve this kind of problems, in the next release you will be able to use the variable $mosConfig_live_site, so your image would be something like:
<img src="{$mosConfig_live_site}/images/image.gif" />
Which should help avoiding dead links or missing images.
However, using the absolute path to the image should currently work. I guess the path you are using is not correct.

(Not so) Bad news: Wally insists on how easy it was to add the links to the templates... I insist that the syntax will not be as straightforward in the next release. However, the syntax will not be much more complicated and I promise I'll write better documentation.
I also insist that this is "not-so-bad" news because, you will be able to have, for instance, links that only appear if an item is a book, or text that only appears if an item is from Amazon.de, or pretty much anything you imagine...

I'll probably be releasing the next version (still beta) over the weekend, so keep an eye on the project's files at Mamboforge or, better yet, have Mamboforge e-mail you when new releases are available by Monitoring the Awesom! package...

Have fun,

MD

[eyezberg]

(Not so) Bad news: "over the week-end" is bad because
Good news: I'll be off on a 2 weeks holliday on sunday!

Keep it up, if you manage to stay indoors, now that the sun is back in France finally..

@Wally: thanks for the details, I'll check that service out.

[Andy]

Hi,

I have installed the Awesom component, added a list and an item, published both but nothings appears on my homepage. The item I successfully added using an ASIN. When I select a category other than 'none' when creating my list I can't add items???

Can anyone get me started please.

rgds

[DefenceTalk.com]

I am getting this error message when CREATING an ITEM:

Warning: reset(): Passed variable is not an array or object in /home/defence/public_html/wdb/classes/mambo.php on line 518

Could anyone please help?

THanks

[sinemac]

Originally Posted by Andy

Hi,

I have installed the Awesom component, added a list and an item, published both but nothings appears on my homepage. The item I successfully added using an ASIN. When I select a category other than 'none' when creating my list I can't add items???

Can anyone get me started please.

rgds

You are correct - selecting a category puts you into "keyword" or "search" mode - so you cannot add specific items to that list.

Basically, there are two kinds of lists:

1. An automatically populated list using a keyword search within a "category" -- select a category, like "books", then input a keyword(s). The resulting list will be the same as if you had done a keyword search in the books area of amazon.com (and likewise for whatever other category you might choose - it's basically that area of amazon.com that's being searched for your keyword(s) and the results become your list). If I remember correctly, that list is ordered by "best sellers".

2. A "custom" list -- this is where you create a list, without a "category", and populate it by creating "items" using the ASIN or ISBN numbers. As far as I know, you can have as many items in a list as you like, and you can also mix and match item types (e.g. books, and baby stuff, or software, or whatever they have at amazon)

Also, as far as I know, you can create as many of each type of list as you want.

Once you've got a list created, and published (and if it's a custom list, you have to publish the items too, I think), you will need to create a menu item for it. Just create a component menu item choosing Awesom! as the component when you get to that point. Publish the menu item and you're set. Then in the front (public) end when you click on that menu item, you will get a list of all of your published lists, including any list descriptions you put in.

Hope that helps.

(Also, in case you hadn't seen it, there are detailed descriptions of the fields availble and what needs to be done to get started in the "Help" page of the Awesom! component.)

[DefenceTalk.com]

Originally Posted by DefenceTalk.com

I am getting this error message when CREATING an ITEM:

Warning: reset(): Passed variable is not an array or object in /home/defence/public_html/wdb/classes/mambo.php on line 518

Could anyone please help?

THanks

Someone please help, thanks.

[madd0]

Hi,

Sorry I didn't anwer your questions sooner, but as eyezberg foretold:

Originally Posted by eyezberg

Keep it up, if you manage to stay indoors, now that the sun is back in France finally..

I haven't been working much lately (and I won't be working much in the following weeks) given that the sun is actually back over here, and I have visiting family to attend to... So please be patient...

Secondly, I want to remind everybody that the official forums for this project are:

• Help
• Open Discussion

It's much more likely that you'll get responses from me if you write there, since I am actually notified when someone writes to those forums, than if you write here, since I only come here occasionally.
The same goes for bug reports, which can be posted in the official forums, or better yet, reported using the bug tracker.

Now, for the answers (which is actually only one answer since Scott has so kindly helped me out...):

Originally Posted by DefenceTalk.com

I am getting this error message when CREATING an ITEM:

Warning: reset(): Passed variable is not an array or object in /home/defence/public_html/wdb/classes/mambo.php on line 518

Could anyone please help?

THanks

This issue has been reported already and will be fixed in the next release (due today or tomorrow depending on the weather ). It does not, however, prevent the component from working correctly. It simply means that you are trying to add an item to a locale that does not have custom lists (i.e. lists that are not tied to a category), or simple doesn't have any lists at all. You can avoid the message simply be creating a custom list for the locale.

As for Andy's question, I think Scott answered it pretty clearly. If you have further doubts, don't hesitate to ask your questions, preferably at the official help forum.

Regards,

MD

[orca]

Originally Posted by hannelore

@madd0

This is a great component!

Error/bug: with amazon.de you can create lists with keywords but not with ASIN/ISBN numbers.

The title will not show when you create the item and it says
Invalid Asin : 3902096888

Has this been fixed? I still get that error and I downloaded the latest release.