Stephen
05-31-2000, 04:48 PM
It's been a while in the making, but at last I'm able to request beta testers for MAGPIE. If you're familiar with the review pages at Amazon.com you'll have a good idea what this program is all about. Giving your visitors the ability to review and rate items of your choice, where "items" can be anything--products, services, you name it.
I have consciously designed the program with small businesses and individual users in mind. Because of that, no SQL server is required to run the program. Instead, MAGPIE allows you to build a flat database out of perl records [hashes of hashes]. Later I intend to add the SQL backend for sites that want to offer reviews for LOTS of items. Although, currently, the program will allow you to couple to an existing SQL database of any size (provided you write a little code!).
So, is anyone here at FQ game for testing? I can provide a .zip or .tgz version of the tarred distribution. Zipped size is 153K. I'd say the complexity of the program is roughly that of UBB, although I personally think it's a lot better written (although the code IS obscured), and easier to install. If you're installing on FQ it should auto-configure pretty much completely.
If you're interested in trying it out while I re-wire my site for distribution, e-mail me at magpie@randommouse.com. I'll need your FQ domain name and e-mail address so that I can fashion a KEY. The KEY will allow you to run the program for 30 days. If you'd like to continue using MAGPIE after that period, my site will be ready to accomodate you. An annual KEY will probably be $60 and a one-time non-expiring KEY $180.
In case I need to motivate you guys, the first person to install it and demonstrate it in use from this thread gets a free non-expiring key.
Thanks,
Stephen
<EDIT>hmmm. what happened to the bold tags...</EDIT>
[This message has been edited by Stephen (edited 05-31-00@3:52 pm)]
I have consciously designed the program with small businesses and individual users in mind. Because of that, no SQL server is required to run the program. Instead, MAGPIE allows you to build a flat database out of perl records [hashes of hashes]. Later I intend to add the SQL backend for sites that want to offer reviews for LOTS of items. Although, currently, the program will allow you to couple to an existing SQL database of any size (provided you write a little code!).
So, is anyone here at FQ game for testing? I can provide a .zip or .tgz version of the tarred distribution. Zipped size is 153K. I'd say the complexity of the program is roughly that of UBB, although I personally think it's a lot better written (although the code IS obscured), and easier to install. If you're installing on FQ it should auto-configure pretty much completely.
If you're interested in trying it out while I re-wire my site for distribution, e-mail me at magpie@randommouse.com. I'll need your FQ domain name and e-mail address so that I can fashion a KEY. The KEY will allow you to run the program for 30 days. If you'd like to continue using MAGPIE after that period, my site will be ready to accomodate you. An annual KEY will probably be $60 and a one-time non-expiring KEY $180.
In case I need to motivate you guys, the first person to install it and demonstrate it in use from this thread gets a free non-expiring key.
Thanks,
Stephen
<EDIT>hmmm. what happened to the bold tags...</EDIT>
[This message has been edited by Stephen (edited 05-31-00@3:52 pm)]