amuck-landowner

[Beta Testers Needed] Open Offers System

Novacha

Novacha

Content Contributer
Just a while back, I posted a thread about an open source alternative to low end box. I started development shortly after and today the system has now been put in beta!

With the help of @Pmadd (Jenkins unit testing server) and @MannDude (providing the beta server and the domain name), I have been able to set up the offer listing site. It is over at http://vpsoffersite.com/.

What I need now is beta testers. If you could head over, register and try out the system that would be great! If there are people who would like to act as providers and have a play around with provider interface (submitting offers, management, profiles etc.) can you either post your username below and the provider name you would like to be or send me a PM?

Bugs & Errors

If at any stage while using the site you hit a 500 error, don’t worry! I have set up a sentry instance to monitor all errors.  I will have a full stack trace and will be able to apply a patch ASAP.

If you see a 502 error, it means that either an update is being pushed or the server behind nginx has crashed (please PM me if this error stays for more than a minute or two).

For any other suggestions or general bugs that are not the two above send me a PM, post a reply below, or submit it on the github page for this project (recommended option).

Site: http://vpsoffersite.com/

Github: http://github.com/OfferTeam/OfferListing

I would again like to give a massive thanks for the generosity of @MannDude and @Pmadd for helping this open source project!

P.S. This is still a work in progress! There are a lot of features still to come that are being developed on various branches and many more that are planned.
 
rsk

rsk

Active Member
Verified Provider
It is time someone developed an alternative to LEB. However, if this will be distributed (from what I guess), you will see lots of sites running a clone of each other and it will go all haywire.

An alternative is to keep it to yourself, and run a great a website and post good deals - just like the good old days of LEB.

Just a thought.
 
bauhaus

bauhaus

Member
Acting as a USER the only problem I found was the inability to change or add an image to my profile. Everything else ran smoothly, good work!
 
Novacha

Novacha

Content Contributer
rsk said:
It is time someone developed an alternative to LEB. However, if this will be distributed (from what I guess), you will see lots of sites running a clone of each other and it will go all haywire.

An alternative is to keep it to yourself, and run a great a website and post good deals - just like the good old days of LEB.

Just a thought.
Click to expand...
That is my intent, but I want to keep everything as open and transparent as possible. There will always be the site and the clones, and I guess people will know which one to go to.

bauhaus said:
Acting as a USER the only problem I found was the inability to change or add an image to my profile. Everything else ran smoothly, good work!
Click to expand...
The profile image is set through your email gravatar. That is my fault for not documenting it well enough on the profile page.
 
matt[scrdspd]

matt[scrdspd]

SecuredSpeed
Verified Provider
It seems to be working quite well. Good job on it.

Suggestion: Add a field to allow providers to set a "Plan name". 
 
Last edited by a moderator:
MannDude

MannDude

Just a dude
vpsBoard Founder
Moderator
Only suggestion I have for the time being would be to add fields to include information in the plan view and on the providers page view to showcase the following information:

  • Data center location(s)
  • Datacenter Names
  • Test IP(s)
  • Link to company AUP/TOS (force required)
  •  

Just other general ideas:

  • Member profiles, simple ones. Date registered, avatar, and total of comments with link to all comments.
  • Ability to flag a response for review as a member. This way moderation is easier in the event someone responds inappropriately.
  • Threaded comments? Or the ability to 'respond to' a response? Good for a provider to touch base on the comments of his/her offer.
  • Perhaps some sort of 'provider symbol' next to the names of posters? That way it may curb on providers being assholes to other providers in comments.

If I think of anything else, I'll let you know :)
 
Novacha

Novacha

Content Contributer
MannDude said:
Only suggestion I have for the time being would be to add fields to include information in the plan view and on the providers page view to showcase the following information:

  • Data center location(s)
  • Datacenter Names
  • Test IP(s)
  • Link to company AUP/TOS (force required)
  •  

Just other general ideas:

  • Member profiles, simple ones. Date registered, avatar, and total of comments with link to all comments.
  • Ability to flag a response for review as a member. This way moderation is easier in the event someone responds inappropriately.
  • Threaded comments? Or the ability to 'respond to' a response? Good for a provider to touch base on the comments of his/her offer.
  • Perhaps some sort of 'provider symbol' next to the names of posters? That way it may curb on providers being assholes to other providers in comments.

If I think of anything else, I'll let you know :)
Click to expand...
I implemented profiles yesterday. Just click on a user's icon to go to their profile. ;)

The review flagging shouldn't be too hard and I will work into a later release.

Threaded comments should also be possible, but the algorithm behind that will be a bit hard. I don't want to use a recursive function, so I will probably use the modified preorder tree traversal system for database trees.

A provider symbol is a must, so I will put that in in a near release.

I had initially planned for locations, but I completely forgot to implement them! What I will probably end up doing is allowing users to add their locations, with test IPs, download links and then attach those locations to plans (so if they change location in the future, they don't have to update all their offers).
 
MannDude

MannDude

Just a dude
vpsBoard Founder
Moderator
Novacha said:
I implemented profiles yesterday. Just click on a user's icon to go to their profile. ;)

The review flagging shouldn't be too hard and I will work into a later release.

Threaded comments should also be possible, but the algorithm behind that will be a bit hard. I don't want to use a recursive function, so I will probably use the modified preorder tree traversal system for database trees.

A provider symbol is a must, so I will put that in in a near release.

I had initially planned for locations, but I completely forgot to implement them! What I will probably end up doing is allowing users to add their locations, with test IPs, download links and then attach those locations to plans (so if they change location in the future, they don't have to update all their offers).
Click to expand...
Heck yeah, that's awesome!
 
Novacha

Novacha

Content Contributer
Provider comments are now marked with a symbol next to them. You can hover on that symbol to see which provider they are a part of.
 
Novacha

Novacha

Content Contributer
Providers now must have a link to their terms of service which are displayed at the bottom of offers and on their profiles.
 
libro22

libro22

Member
Suggestion, not sure if this is implemented already: comment voting & sorting.

* Ability for users to vote up on comments. Hopefully, it will be used to vote up reviews so it can be seen easily.

* Comment sorting, by date or by best votes.
 
Novacha

Novacha

Content Contributer
Pmadd said:
Just a suggestion, but a dedicated reviews section would be neat to see.
Click to expand...
Do you mean reviews on providers or on offers? I would probably be in favour of reviews on providers with ratings and thumbs up / downs.
 
MannDude

MannDude

Just a dude
vpsBoard Founder
Moderator
Hmm, only other thing I can think of that would be a nice feature right now would be the ability to narrow down offers based on particular criteria.

Possibility to sort offers by provider name, location, price range, virtualization, or any combination thereof. :)
 
Novacha

Novacha

Content Contributer
MannDude said:
Hmm, only other thing I can think of that would be a nice feature right now would be the ability to narrow down offers based on particular criteria.

Possibility to sort offers by provider name, location, price range, virtualization, or any combination thereof. :)
Click to expand...
Yep, that feature is already being developed on a separate branch. It is quite complex so it will take a little while to complete.
 
BlueVM

BlueVM

New Member
Verified Provider
Nice work... kinda wondering why it isn't in PHP, but I do like it. Feel free to make my account a provider if you like :)
 
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