The Totally Unofficial "FQ Package Planner"

[DogAndPony]

Ladies and gents...

With the changes in pricing and reseller policies, lots of folks need to figure out which option is best for them. I know the changes made my brain hurt until I crunched the numbers in a spreadsheet (and I'm not really a spreadsheet guy).

So, I started thinking about an online form/script to help with the task. Here's the first version:

http://www.thoughtnozzle.com/packageplanner.html

I make absolutely no guarantees about accuracy; I wrote this way too fast, and my scripting is pretty awful.

But if it helps, I'm happy.

This first version only provides "all-annual" or "all-monthly" options. I may also add one or two more columns to the output, like both yearly and monthly totals per package.

Please do let me know if you find math or logical errors, or errors in my interpretation of FQ pricing, etc. As it says on the site, this script isn't supported by FQ, so send bug reports, gripes, questions and suggestions to me. There's a link on each page leading to my contact form.

Have fun!

...Bob

Bob West

[Deb]

I selected "Monthly" + "Buy RID License"

In the Packages I gave myself 9 Pioneer, 7 Prospector, and 1 Odyssey.

Then I clicked the big red button (well the lil calculate button anyway)

I'm seeing some oddities in the Visionary row... -2.04 in my package cost for a package I do not have :P

Also not sure what's up with the RID Fee? Are you trying to spread that out in the package costs themselves?

I'll def check it out more after some rest. Looking like an excellent beginning though!

THANKS!!!

[DogAndPony]

I selected "Monthly" + "Buy RID License"

In the Packages I gave myself 9 Pioneer, 7 Prospector, and 1 Odyssey.

Then I clicked the big red button (well the lil calculate button anyway)

I'm seeing some oddities in the Visionary row... -2.04 in my package cost for a package I do not have :PD'OH! I took care of the "discounting zero" thing with the other packages, and forgot that the Visionaries get a dollar, not percentage discount, which is handled in a different part of the code. Thanks for that... It should be fixed now!

Also not sure what's up with the RID Fee? Are you trying to spread that out in the package costs themselves?Yep. For me, it's the most logical way to look at costing out the RID Fee... But I also know that folks are going to want to see the extended totals without the fee, so I'm going to add a column.

I'll def check it out more after some rest. Looking like an excellent beginning though!

THANKS!!!My pleasure! You're the one(s) who're doing all the heavy lifting! :bow:

Speaking of which-- Did you get some sleep last night? :confuz:

...Bob

Bob West

[DogAndPony]

A new version is up... Fixed another little bug, and added a display of Reseller Points and Discount Percentage at the top.

One interesting thing is that I've seen one price difference so far -- maybe a rounding difference? FQ's "Changes" page lists a Pioneer discounted at the 10-19pt level as 12.57, while my script calculates it at 12.56... I'm using Perl's sprintf() for rounding... Dunno how or even whether to change that result, although a penny difference over a lot of packages would make some differece. [Thus the "only for estimation" disclaimer, eh?]

If anyone spots other differences, let me know...

...Bob

Bob West

[Deb]

I posted about that in the very long Reseller Announcement thread here...
http://aota.net/forums/showthread.php?postid=123195#post123195


----
yes the chart is a penny off because we are rounding in your favor not ours in actuality. Example of how we do it:
Package Price: $17.95
Discount = $8.975 (we round up to $8.98)
$17.95 - $8.98 = $8.97 Total Cost.
-----

I guess I could go to the page and fix that now :P

[Deb]

all done :confuz:

[Deb]

Feature Request: Can you add a column for FutureQuest's Listed Price tabulate that and toss in the difference?

Pioneer Package: Cost $17.95 - Discount $8.98 - RID Cost $8.97 - Savings: $8.98

Doesn't have to be in that order... it'd just be nice to see "Total Listed Price" Minus "Total RID Price" = Total Savings :bow:

Deb
- Checking the payroll list....

[DogAndPony]

all done :confuz:And I was so sure I was doing something wrong... :safegrin:

Thanks, Deb!

...Bob

Bob West

[DogAndPony]

Feature Request: Can you add a column for FutureQuest's Listed Price tabulate that and toss in the difference?

Pioneer Package: Cost $17.95 - Discount $8.98 - RID Cost $8.97 - Savings: $8.98

Doesn't have to be in that order... it'd just be nice to see "Total Listed Price" Minus "Total RID Price" = Total Savings :bow: Absolutely! That's already at the top of my To Do list. (Does adding a mention of "savings" to the output mean I'm becoming an Evil Minion?) :EG:
- Checking the payroll list....Note that while there's a certain "Bob" on your payroll... He ain't me. You can look under "Other Other Other Bob", but I don't think I'm there. (Not good enough to hack your payroll system...) Heheheheh... :kewl:

...Bob

Bob West

[ddunlap]

WooHoo! Finally, it is making sense!

I am using this tool you created to help get a handle on what I need to do with my account, and I am a big fan. Thanks for putting the time, effort and skills into this.

[Matt]

Nice! Hope you got some compensation for your effort. This would be a great tool for FutureQuest to adopt as its own. -Matt

[DogAndPony]

WooHoo! Finally, it is making sense!

I am using this tool you created to help get a handle on what I need to do with my account, and I am a big fan. Thanks for putting the time, effort and skills into this.You're most welcome!

And the feedback is appreciated...

The current version is still a beta, so please let me know if you find any problems.

Enjoy!

...Bob

Bob West

[DogAndPony]

Nice! Hope you got some compensation for your effort. This would be a great tool for FutureQuest to adopt as its own. -MattThanks, Matt!

I think it should be around for a while...

Glad you like it!

...Bob

Bob West

[Deb]

WooHoo! Finally, it is making sense! :clapper: :clapper: :clapper: I am using this tool you created to help get a handle on what I need to do with my account, and I am a big fan. Thanks for putting the time, effort and skills into this.:yeah: agreed! :yeah: he really put forth the effort when the team was buried by so many other issues we could barely see the light of day. I was quite impressed and pleased with his ability to step up :bow: Nice! Hope you got some compensation for your effort. This would be a great tool for FutureQuest to adopt as its own. -Matt FutureQuest was all over it and certainly has offered to obtain it for implementation on the main site... at least large chunks of it. No worries there...we've not stolen anything yet and don't intend to start now :kewl:

Deb
- It all happened while no one was looking....

[Squirrel]

Good Job Thanks :)