Technical issues: Amazon module and others

Could Chef or Simon please look at fixing a few technical things on Wizzley? This place still means a lot to many of us, but it's slowly falling apart in more ways than one.

I'd be happy to write more pages, and I'm sure others would as well (and several Wizzleyans still are), even as they/we may not make much on Wizzley or sites like it anymore, but it would be nice if we could at least make something through Amazon or eBay.

Many thanks!

What specific problem is going on right now? I was actually just checking in to update some pages and potentially add some new ones, but I don't want to waste my time if there are serious issues with important modules and the site isn't being actively maintained at all.

Hi Nicole,

The Amazon and eBay modules are not working at the moment. Frank and BSG have been using Zazzle instead, but I prefer Amazon myself.

Frank tried to contact Chef but the email he had was obsolete. Obviously someone still pays something for this site to stay online. I hope they'll also continue to fix technical issues now and then. I don't believe we're asking for much.

I still find very many things of interest on this site and feel the community here is of great value.

Not working at all, or not working if adding new modules?

I see an Amazon sale attached to my wizzley id from July 22 according to my Associates Account...not much but I am seeing clicks and sales being recorded. That's why I'm confused....Zazzle would certainly not be an option for most of the type of products I have listed on my pages.

I believe, or at least it was when I first encountered the problems, old modules still work.  Adding new ones does not.  In addition to Zazzle I use article lists to older articles on similar topics, and I use Viglink text links, especially for amazon.  The ads still work.  Hope this helps.  Your articles should be fine, but you cannot update the products, or so I have read.

Simon did respond to the forum post on Amazon that started 3/21.  The post on ebay was added by me 27 days ago.  The indication was Amazon had the issue, but both issues are very similar,  I have been patient since any fixing of an issue during the virus can cause delays.  

Right, BSG, there's this virus too. And then we don't know what they may be going through on their side of the tracks because of it. Hopefully we'll all be able to continue this (beautiful) project.

Sorry if I was harsh earlier. After all, Chef and Simon do not really have any obligation to us. It's probably the case that we're all doing the best we can, given the circumstances.

Yes it's definitely been a rough few months. I've actually had to work straight through it - overtime hours no less, since March, since I'm in health care and other people in our office couldn't/still won't come in because they have higher risk factors. Very stressful - especially as I have close family in Northern Italy I'd just visited before this all started up! (Fortunately no one got sick.)

Yes, modules are not working for several months now and it would be nice to get at least some feedback from people who maintain the site. It would be very sad if it goes down like Zujava, InfoBarrel (not to mention Squidoo) and other similar projects. What is going on with Wizzley?

Hi Nicole, Tolovaj,

It's certainly been difficult. I'm tired not only of working a lot without going out much (I just fell into a rut like this; feel too tired to go out at the moment!?), but also of disinfecting and cooking. I used to eat out with friends now and then and also buy snacks in the city. Now all three of us are eating at home all the time, so myself and friends have quite a lot of cooking to do :)

But yes, working overtime in these times and working in health care must be very stressful.

Tolovaj, I don't know what to make of the silence either but hopefully things will get sorted out for the better.

I was just here addressing broken links on several pages and was unable to replace the links as I am unable to add amazon products or any others from sites we have used in the past.  

Anyone know what is going on?  I noted the above comments are dated and still there is a problem.

Please advise if you know anything regarding the inability to utilize amazon, eBay, and other sites on our articles.

Is there a problem with the site and will it continue to support our work?

I appreciate your help,
Katie

I have noticed a new look for the new pages, so I was hopeful the site was revamped.  I tried an Amazon module, but it is as it was, still not working.

Hi,

Sorry to keep you all guessing what is going on with Wizzley. As you all have experienced, times have been rather bleak for sites like us. We all had to go back to day jobs or pursue other type of projects. It didn't make any sense to invest more time and (wo)manpower to further develop or even modernize the site.

However, we wanted to keep the site alive with minimal involvement from us. We haven't been accepting new members for quite a while now. Nobody has the time or energy to police the inordinate amount of garbage that relentlessly assaulted us. However, we wanted to preserve the site for our current authors, for as long as there is still an interest in our platform, and for as long as ol' Wizzley can at least still cover the basic operational costs.

I'm still seeing a minuscule trickle of income from Amazon and Adsense, so this is definitely working. Can't vouch for the others or Viglink; they have been taken over by Sovrn, and it's just been downhill since then. We still get a somewhat decent amount of traffic though, so more than ever high quality content is the only way forward.

Thanks for still sticking around! We'll keep the lights on just for you! 🥰

Thanks Nightowl. It is good to find out what is going on. I am a great friend of Wizzley and want it to persevere. You mention that you get a great amount of rubbish and cannot cope with it. Have you thought of asking members for help. It is always best to take people into your confidence and get support.

I feel better and more motivated now that I have had some communication. 

Thanks Nightowl for the update! Glad to hear there is still some life in Wizzley!

We are still having problems with the Amazon module. Existing links work, but it's impossible to add new one. That means we can't update our existing articles - either to correct links to Amazon products that are no longer available, or to add new ones.

Any hope that this can be fixed?

jptanabe: 09/30/2020 - 07:19 PM

---

Thanks Nightowl for the update! Glad to hear there is still some life in Wizzley!

We are still having problems with the Amazon module. Existing links work, but it's impossible to add new one. That means we can't update our existing articles - either to correct links to Amazon products that are no longer available, or to add new ones.

Any hope that this can be fixed?

Apparently, some time ago Amazon changed the way developers can connect to their databases and request product information (aka the API). The tech wizzards have been trying to modify the code base to accommodate these changes, but currently it's not yet doing what we want it to do.

The best advice I can give for now is to not remove old Amazon modules. The existing links all still work fine. I realize that some products may be outdated or unavailable, but you will at least still get your link to Amazon. It's far from ideal, but under the circumstances the alternative would be to not have any Amz links.

frankbeswick: 09/28/2020 - 11:06 AM

---

Thanks Nightowl. It is good to find out what is going on. I am a great friend of Wizzley and want it to persevere. You mention that you get a great amount of rubbish and cannot cope with it. Have you thought of asking members for help. It is always best to take people into your confidence and get support.

I feel better and more motivated now that I have had some communication.

Hi Frank,

It's good to see you're still on board! I know the German counterpart of Wizzley had community moderators although I am not sure they are still doing it. This type of system doesn't always work for everyone. You'd also have to be pretty devoted (or adequately compensated) to go through the soul-crushing chore of deciding if a page is junk or jewel. Blatant spam is obvious, but then there are the many nuances of content quality that not everyone agrees on. One man's trash etc... Or try dealing with a mortally offended "author" who demands that you lay out exactly why you don't want to consider their masterpiece for publication!

We also had much lower standards in the beginning, so there are some live pages that would not pass muster today. In any case, it would have taken an inordinate amount of time and resources to make the necessary adjustments both to the content and the existing code base. In the end the team could not be motivated to tackle it.

In order to let the platform run with minimal oversight it was decided to close the doors to new members. We were mostly getting requests from marketers wishing to place paid "infomercials" on our site anyway. No, thanks! Many of our more sales-oriented pages are already on Google "Hit List". If you see pages without Adsense it's likely that they just stopped showing ads on them due to some obscure rule they were seemingly violating. Sometimes they will declare "adult content" because some book cover has a painting of a lightly clad maiden on it.

I'm hoping that maybe, through sheer perseverance of our core group of members, we will gain enough momentum to convince the rest of the team to perform some open heart surgery on our old Wizzley. If we were to resuscitate, would you be interested in helping out? Just curious, please don't construe this as an offer for employment! :)

Dear Nightowl

Of course I  would be delighted to help out on a voluntary basis. Happily, I have my pensions, so I don't need paid employment. I am looking for ways in which to be helpful. For orthopedic reasons I need a sedentary role, so working at the computer is fine for me.

I have diplomas in journalism [distinction] and editing. It is  a subeditor's diploma, which in the USA you call copy editing.

I hope to hear from you soon.

Frank

Some of us still interact to the point of having become friends, and that is as important to me as a few sales.  A small core of active writers and some who prefer to read only are appreciative to be able to come here and comment on others' articles.  Looking at the comments on this sequence of posts, along with a few others, we have a strong group.  

In addition to the old modules being still active, you can place related articles with old links into article lists on new articles.  I cannot tell if text links still work on Viglink, since my links are so infrequently clicked, but I place them in case.

You have made a key point, friendship among Wizzley writers is a thing to be treasured. It is worth more than the small amount of money that I have made from Wizzley.