Changes at cafeToolbox
As most of you are aware, it's been a rough summer for cafeToolbox. There have been performance problems, stuck feeds, and database crashes. I've received numerous support requests from these issues and have spent many hours working to fix the problems. Last night, August 26, 2008, the site experienced major problems again, and again it was due to limitations on the shared hosting account. This isn't something that can be fixed by simply moving hosts, because eventually, the site will grow to the point where it has the same issues at the new host.
Needless to say, I was as frustrated about last nights problems as you probably were. After calming down, I've spent many hours today thinking about how to move forward. What do I mean? Well, I've spent a lot of my free time on cafeToolbox during the past few months and it seems like the more I work on it, the more time it needs for support and enhancements. Several times I've thought that all I need to do is fix one more thing and it would be running smoothly. That hasn't happened and cafeToolbox has taken over a lot of my free time. In the past, chosen to spend time fixing cafeToolbox that could have been spent with my family, working on my shops, or just doing something I enjoy.
I hope that most of you understand when I tell you that I can't continue to spend that much time on cafeToolbox. I do have a tecnhical and computer background, but I've never been much of a programmer, which means everything takes a little longer for me to work on and fix when compared to someone who does web programming on a daily basis. Personally, I'm proud of the tools I've built here, but am also smart enough to realize that the knowledge, learning, and time required to scale up to support the number of shops and products that are trying to use cafeToolbox is beyond what I have to give.
What does that mean?
It means that I need to spend less time working on and supporting cafeToolbox so I can spend more time on other things in my life. I don't want cafeToolbox to be the equivalent of a part time job. I also don't want to shut down cafeToolbox, and don't want to turn cafeToolbox into a pay site of any kind. My best idea so far is to eliminate the parts of the feed generator that cause the biggest problems but still allow you to generate a feed.
Changes are coming...
The cafeToolbox that you knew in the past is going to change -- cpExtract and cpFile are gone and won't come back. I have released cpFeeder. It will retrieve the products from Cafepress and immediately generate a Google Base compatible file for download. This will bypass the storage in the database which should resolve most of the problems.
There will not be any formatting options for the file, but it will be suitable for immediate upload to Google Base. I've tested it with shops as large as 82,000 items, but that's not a guarantee that it will work for your shop. I do believe it will work with just about any shop with less than 50,000 items. I'll be monitoring errors for the next few days and will fix any bugs that pop up.
What about the donation drive?
Since the server upgrade won't be happening, It's not right to accept the donations many of you made with the expectation of a new server and better site. Your support and donations were and still are very much appreciated. I believe that I started the donation drive on July 1, 2008, so any donations made through PayPal on or after that date will be refunded during the next few days. If you have any questions about this or bought something at the cafeToolbox Cafepress store and would like a refund of your donated amount, please e-mail me at support@cafetoolbox.com.
Likewise, if you still want to donate, the link is still available and working.
Final Thoughts
I know this announcement will hit some of you a little hard. Again, I hope you all can understand my desire to spend more time with my family and less time working on cafeToolbox. I'm not ruling out the possibility of future improvements to cafeToolbox (big or small), but right now I definitely need a break from the site. I'll be around occasionally (I use cafeToolbox for my own shops too), but won't be as active as I have been in the past.
If you want to comment on these changes, I've created a forum topic to do so. You can find it here.
Needless to say, I was as frustrated about last nights problems as you probably were. After calming down, I've spent many hours today thinking about how to move forward. What do I mean? Well, I've spent a lot of my free time on cafeToolbox during the past few months and it seems like the more I work on it, the more time it needs for support and enhancements. Several times I've thought that all I need to do is fix one more thing and it would be running smoothly. That hasn't happened and cafeToolbox has taken over a lot of my free time. In the past, chosen to spend time fixing cafeToolbox that could have been spent with my family, working on my shops, or just doing something I enjoy.
I hope that most of you understand when I tell you that I can't continue to spend that much time on cafeToolbox. I do have a tecnhical and computer background, but I've never been much of a programmer, which means everything takes a little longer for me to work on and fix when compared to someone who does web programming on a daily basis. Personally, I'm proud of the tools I've built here, but am also smart enough to realize that the knowledge, learning, and time required to scale up to support the number of shops and products that are trying to use cafeToolbox is beyond what I have to give.
What does that mean?
It means that I need to spend less time working on and supporting cafeToolbox so I can spend more time on other things in my life. I don't want cafeToolbox to be the equivalent of a part time job. I also don't want to shut down cafeToolbox, and don't want to turn cafeToolbox into a pay site of any kind. My best idea so far is to eliminate the parts of the feed generator that cause the biggest problems but still allow you to generate a feed.
Changes are coming...
The cafeToolbox that you knew in the past is going to change -- cpExtract and cpFile are gone and won't come back. I have released cpFeeder. It will retrieve the products from Cafepress and immediately generate a Google Base compatible file for download. This will bypass the storage in the database which should resolve most of the problems.
There will not be any formatting options for the file, but it will be suitable for immediate upload to Google Base. I've tested it with shops as large as 82,000 items, but that's not a guarantee that it will work for your shop. I do believe it will work with just about any shop with less than 50,000 items. I'll be monitoring errors for the next few days and will fix any bugs that pop up.
What about the donation drive?
Since the server upgrade won't be happening, It's not right to accept the donations many of you made with the expectation of a new server and better site. Your support and donations were and still are very much appreciated. I believe that I started the donation drive on July 1, 2008, so any donations made through PayPal on or after that date will be refunded during the next few days. If you have any questions about this or bought something at the cafeToolbox Cafepress store and would like a refund of your donated amount, please e-mail me at support@cafetoolbox.com.
Likewise, if you still want to donate, the link is still available and working.
Final Thoughts
I know this announcement will hit some of you a little hard. Again, I hope you all can understand my desire to spend more time with my family and less time working on cafeToolbox. I'm not ruling out the possibility of future improvements to cafeToolbox (big or small), but right now I definitely need a break from the site. I'll be around occasionally (I use cafeToolbox for my own shops too), but won't be as active as I have been in the past.
If you want to comment on these changes, I've created a forum topic to do so. You can find it here.