Endless crap from "ShrinktheWeb"

God I am so sick of their crap - it is just endless.  I have never gotten my directory to work because of these guys - NEVER!  Finally someone here helped me with the programming to get there code out of the sites module, so at least I could have a directory without images but I couldn't get updates so I decided to look at it again.

You guessed it, even though at least the account part of my system worked there, even thought I have NEVER had even a single tiny thumbnail delivered by these guys - in spite of hours of work by me and my hosting company, I get a big all caps message:

YOU HAVE BEEN BANNED!

Nice polite way to express it guys.  So apparently I have to go through customer service to beg for my account again   So I do, and I get another letter from Frank Grogan telling me I have been banned.

Just pull the code out of the module for STW and upload your own photo for the website screen shot.

Jay, I still have the code where you helped me do that.  I decided it would be nice to have thumbnails, but not the way they do it.  It is really a pain to make your own and upload it just to make a link.  I will do that, but my users almost certainly won't.  The directory list than is really ugly, with that big area where the image would be.  What I am thinking of doing instead, is just getting rid of the image entirely - would that be hard to do?  This post was mostly venting.  I am very frustrated with this service.

p.s.  Would love to have your involvement with http://VirtualBrainTrust.org - see my post about it. 

what version of dolphin are you using now ?   worst case you can visit the websites people are linking to and take the screen shot for them.  also gives you a chance to see if the site is even valid content....

Jay - I could do that I suppose - I have some free software called "thumbpage" http://thumb-page.sourceforge.net/

That works pretty well.  A bit labor intensive for what I want to do though.  I have a directory I built that I haven't maintained where the thumbnails from Thumbshots have worked flawlessly for years.  Here is an example page: http://caltrade.com/directory/agriculture/wineries/

It's too bad that service isn't an option.  I may look into getting rid of the image part entirely. 

You are not the only one that feels this way. Please read.:

http://www.boonex.com/forums/topic/ShrinkTheWeb-nonsense-.htm

exactly, and there was no reason why the post you started could not have been continued. 

 its like folks on welfare, complaining about getting dried milk, when folks with a job purchase liquid milk from the store. it wasnt free, when something is free, there are always caveats. 

@skyforum - thank you, yes, that is exactly what happened.  Even with that horrible procedure, they could soften it a bit by using language like "temporarily disabled" instead of BANNED.  The people at phplinkdirectory can't stand them, but won't talk about it, and I never understood why until now.

Can someone please explain why we cannot use another service? Are we stuck with STW? Or are there other more reliable services we can use?

@presscon - that is a good question - because there are lots of good services out there.  Thumbshots is great.  I saw they have a "contest" on another thread for developers to try to make their service work.  What I think would be cool would be a simple button on the entry page "create thumbnail" - that would then go out to whatever service had been configured and fetch the thumb.  That way, you would have the best of both worlds.  You could just do nothing - and not have to wait for someone's servers that might be down or slow, or you could wait and create the thumbnail.

@caltrade

We cannot be held responsible if the ShrinkTheWeb integration has been buggy over the years. We did not write it, but we did recently launch a contest in an effort to get Dolphin developers motivated to fix it and help "de-frustrate" Dolphin users.  http://www.boonex.com/n/attention-dolphin-developers-shrinktheweb-integra-2011-11-09

Hopefully we will get some good entries that the Boonex guys can sign off on and integrate for a smoother experience. That would alleviate the headaches and negativity toward our service, which has the best uptime, speed, functionality, and reliability of any of the screenshot providers.

As far as the "BANNED" wording, it is what it is. But what it is not is a "personal attack." It's just a notice and with all the priorities we have on our plates, you'll have to forgive us if we didn't take 2 hours to add a new message just to be a little easier on the ego. You weren't the only one who was upset by the wording when they were blocked for not re-opting in. Others also suggested a softer phrase, but I explained to them also that it was just a time constraint and they understood. Hopefully, you will as well.

Bottom line is that DosDawg is correct that our ToS clearly spells out that a valid and working email is required to use the service. That is being enforced now because of the support headaches caused by more than 32,000 users who had broken, unmonitored, or bogus emails in the system. When they do not receive notices and then complain because they didn't know about changes, I have no sympathy. However, they collectively caused far too many problems for us to continue dealing with it as-is. So we integrated ConstantContact in an effort to track bounces, failed emails, etc. This has greatly improved our support response and will free up resources once we get through this tough transition.

And for the record, phpLinkDirectory "hates" us (as you put it) because they were irritated at our success as a service when they wanted to launch their own software to sell, which they did. Initially, they told everyone not to use us because "ShrinkTheWeb would disappear along with all the rest within a year" and when that didn't happen; their users insisted that they integrate us more fully. After numerous communications with the owner and moderators, we came to a live-and-let-live agreement. They do what they do and we do what we do. No hard feelings and no bad-mouthing. So there you have it.

I'm guess that in the mood to explain things tonight. ;)

Anybody can bullshit people into using something with a bullshit ToS agreement that no one ever reads anyway. You very nicely avoided the whole topic of the spam email service you have aligned with and why the BANNED problem became an issue in the first place. (certain email address listed as 'poor performers' like admin@)

Your service has never worked properly and it never will. Calling an outside website for a thumbnail image is ludicrous when the entire process can easily be performed locally for any site at a much higher rate of speed and success.

Anyone using ShrinkTheWeb (or any other outside web thumb generator for that matter) at the very least, can expect their members email addresses to be farmed and used in 'opt out' advertising campaigns they never asked to join.

 Yes, I like this thought process. Why can we not have a mod written for our users here and we will chip in.

Everybody puts there portion into a pot (escrow of course), when the mod is complete, the developer gets paid.

We already have issues to deal with our own software and websites, now we have handle a 3rd party, who have not always been very co-operative to begin with.

Here's a little info on creating your own screen caps of websites using PHP. This is from 30 minutes of Googling so anyone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

You can use a script to create your own captures IF:

1. Your on a Windows server, not sure why but apparently Linux won't cut it..

2. You are using PHP ver 5.2 or newer, it has built in functions you need for this.

3. You are on a VPS or dedicated.. it requires you to install some libraies you most likely won't have on shared hosting. Also some of the techniques required command line access.

If you meet those three qualifications I don't think it would be that hard, but how many of us are using a Windows server?

I'm on a Linux server and my site already creates thumbnails on the fly for my photo mods... I do not believe Linux is a limiting factor here.

Yeah, thumbnails of pictures is a piece of cake... anyone with Imagemagick can do that. We're talking about thumbnails of other websites, which requires some sort of extension to render the site like a browser would before capturing it... which is what only works in Windows according to everything I read.

@skyforum
At least you give me a good laugh. Thanks for that. You are soo argumentative, but my time is too valuable to get stuck in your loop. You gotta try to break out of it, man, for your own good! Talking to you is like talking to a rock. It accomplishes nothing because you are incapable of listening or perhaps you just argue for the sport of it.

I already refuted your ridiculous SPAM claims on several occasions and I won't humor you yet again. A quick read through my other responses in this forum will highlight the truth and you aren't speaking it. :)

Our service has always worked.

The Dolphin integration, however, that I JUST mentioned yesterday was not something we wrote; was not working well and we cannot be held liable for that. You should take just one minute to fully read people's responses. It seems like you see someone's rebuttal and don't even bother reading, but instead just repeat yourself until the other person starts to wonder what in the world is wrong with you and moves on --like I'm going to do. lol.

In fact, I've already given you the solution you need to do this on your own, even on LINUX, if you would have just taken a minute and a half to read the information on wkhtmltoimage that I posted here: http://www.boonex.com/forums/?action=goto&my_flags=1#topic/shrinktheweb-alternative.htm. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE find someone to do this "super simple" integration "for free" for you since it is "SO easy" to code and support and maintain. Maybe then you can stop whining. Your responses and attacks really are unbecoming and unexpected behavior from an adult.

I am in the hospital and will be there for the next few days, but I will respond to anyone who has something constructive to say, when I return. However, this is my last post answering your repetitive nonsense. I have better things to do with my time, so you may now have the last word.

Go on. Do it. Repeat yourself! It'll be funny. :D

Cheers!

@presscon
We have always been cooperative. Not sure what you are talking about. ;)

I stand corrected, there IS one solution that can be used on Linux. I don't think its a viable solution for any of the people here who are on shared hosting though because of the things you have to install plus it looks like it uses some of the php functions that are disabled on most shared hosting.

For anyone who is on a ded or VPS give it a shot..

http://code.google.com/p/wkhtmltopdf/wiki/IntegrationWithPhp

ConstantContact is your email provider. They are a 100% email marketing company. Why would you even use them unless you plan on marketing all the email addresses that come through your system?

You still haven't answered my question. Why doesn't ConstantContact accept email addresses like 'admin@'??? Like I said before, be very careful, I'm like a good attorney, I only ask questions that I already know the answer too.

PS. If you take the time to read it, ConstantContact.com and Roving.com's own privacy policy tells you directly the 17 different ways they are going to farm any information you present to them by visiting their partners (like you) or their website and that by viewing their website and interacting with it, you will be REQUIRED to provide specific information that will make it possible for them to pepper you and all your users with incessant sales material including the farming and use (for their own use, it says) all email addresses presented to them.

It's called an automatic opt-in system and it's bullshit. You say people aren't receiving emails from you, that may be true but many of the emails that do not appear to be related to you actually came about by the emails your system farms for them. Yes, they are using your customers to sell content from other spammers using their system.

All anyone needs to do is read their Tos to see it for themselves. They prey on the fact that no one ever really does that and then they open them,selves up for more "legalized" spam...

So you don;t have to search. here's their privacy agreement

http://cjaffiliate.constantcontact.com/privacy_guarantee.jsp

Your smoke screen ploy to make yourself look like the good guy by posting a simple way to do this locally outside of ShrinkTheBalls is not going to work here. The plan you have posted only works in a very limited fashion, something you are well aware of.

I lose what?

You STILL haven't answered my question......

OK, I decided to wait a few days before I responded to what puravida said here.  I appreciate that they admitted that this is a buggy program, but some things that have been said don't seem quite accurate.

1,  I remain BANNED by shrinktheweb.  This in spite of the fact that I have jumped through all their hoops.  This is not the first time this has happened either - it has happened at least twice before.  I do not use and "admin" email, which they don't like for some reason, I use my gmail account - and this has never changed - it is the exact same email address I have always used for them.

2,  I have both subscribed to their mail list - I don't think I should have to - it is very spammy, but I have.  I have also opened "a ticket" which is what I am supposed to do to get unbanned.  It has been about a week, and none of this has had any affect.

3.  I don't agree that shrinktheweb "which has the best uptime, speed, functionality, and reliability of any of the screenshot providers".  As I said, the Thumbshots service I use with another directory has worked flawlessly for years without any drama at all.  Of course, for me, the "uptime" of shrinktheweb has been "zero" - I have never managed to get a single thumbnail delivered by this service.

4.  I'm not exactly sure why it would take you two hours to change the word "BANNED" it something like, "temporarily deactivated" but give the way you express yourself, and treat customers and potential customers, I assume you enjoy insulting people, and this is part of your character.

5.  I believe you are saying something that is not true when you say the people at phplinkdirectory want nothing to do with you because they are  "irritated at our success as a service".  I think the reason why they want nothing to do with you is similar to what happened here.  Endless drama and insults in trying to get the service to work, and they just wanted something that worked for their customers.  They support several other thumbnails services there now - in fact, shrinktheweb is probably the only one they don't.

6.  Yes, "a valid and working email" is part of your ToS - as I said I have always used the same one.  Apparently you also have to subscribe to a very spammy email list and are warned that if you unsubscribe you will lose your account.  Even this doesn't work, however, as now I have subscribed to a spam list to a service I don't even get.

I have spent an absurd amount of time on this- so has my hosting company.  This has all been behind the scenes - trying to follow all your procedures and jump through the hoops you periodically send people's way.  When someone finally gets fed up and responds publicly and you call it "whining" may go a long way towards explaining why your company has such a horrible reputation.

Unbelievable.  Now I can't even get rid of it.   Made the mistake of trying it again.  No way to reverse that bad decision.  I have deleted their codes - that didn't work, deleted their link - that didn't work either.  Replaced all the files - still didn't work.  Finally uninstalled and reinstalled - you guessed it - still doesn't work.

At least I had it working without thumbnails before I tried to make it work again.  Now I have lost all my site entries, all the language keys I defined, all my categories, everything - just to make a non-working module.

I don't know what this thing does to the code, but Boonex should really pull it before any more damage is done.  I am going to see if I mod that Jay did for me earlier still works with this version.  Extremely frustrating.

Ok, I am at a loss.  Every single file in that mod has been replaced with the source, the module has been uninstalled and reinstalled, the cache has been cleared, etc.  It still doesn't work - "url not found" - no matter what.  Do I need to hire an exorcist or something?

Just so I know I am not crazy - this works with a fresh install, right?  I mean if you never configure shrinktheweb?  I'm wondering if somehow one of the modified files Jay helped me with to get it to work on an earlier version somehow stayed their, and gave me the illusion of it working without thumbnails when I first tried it.  That or this mod really does something nasty to the software or database when it is configured with Shrinktheweb.  Can anyone tell me how to get back to the time when I was relatively happy, before I made this mistake?

For those that do not want to use shrink the web any longer for the sites modules.  I have included two versions of it.

V1. removed shrink the web so you can include your own thumb and link.

V2. removed shrink the web and thumb option so you have just a text based list of sites.

Woot!  Woot!  Thank you Jay!!!

I am especially excited about the text based version - was going to try that myself anyway. Unless you have the Thumbs, all you have is a really ugly directory.  Winding down early tonight, but will install this tomorrow.  Thanks again Jay - you are a champion!

your welcome.

 Now, ... if we can just get the permit section working (wink)

Looks great jay, thanks

Hey i have been emailing you for days.  not sure if you are getting them ?

@jay - no - I haven't been - in fact it was on my list today to look up your normal email and send you a thank you note.  I will go look now and see if they got caught in the spam filter or something.

update:  or was that intended for Skyforum?  - rereading me, it must have been.  oops.

 Nope, not a one... what address are you using? Make sure it's admin-at-townation.com (unless of course, you are using constantcontact)