[quote name='halcyon1234']My ideas:
- Second that the printout should be based on date. At the very least, some sort of filter "only include items less than X days old"
- A submission form is tricky since how do you trust the data coming in? (And please please please make sure you parameterize the inputs to prevent a SQL injection attack). Are there trusted users who can input prices without review? This would be a major feature that would require its own development.
- Search by UPC. The reason? Someone on the "mobile" site might have a barcode-scanner utility for their phone/pda. It's be nice to pick up a game, scan it, and get the tiv right away. Plus the UPC gives you a good primary key for your database. =)
As for the public input, you'd probably want it on some sort of "reliability" system:
0 = Don't trust this price at all
10 = Take it to the bank, Tony!
Every time a price is reported, that price gets +1, even from an anonymous source. However, you limit the highest level a "reliability" score can reach from anonymous or new users. Say, 6 = "worth a try". If a 7th anonymous user tries to submit, it stays at 6. That should help the system from being flooded with bad prices.
A trusted user (someone you know or who has been registered for a long time or has contributed enough trusted prices) can push a price beyond the threshold, say up to 9 = "we're 99% sure".
A super user (you, or any other admin, or an user who has earned their way up the ladder and has been endorsed by another super user) can push it up to 10.
You can also have users submit a "this price is wrong" report by submitting the actual price. Again, let the thresholds matter. An anonymous user can only submit a price correction to any price that is at the "untrusted" stage (5 or less). When it hits 6-9, only "trusted" users can modify it. When it hits 10, only a super-user can modify it.
Add a second, time-sensitive value can shift around the thresholds. If a game hasn't had a "confirmation" to the existing price submitted to it within x days (7?), it becomes "stale". At that point, the highest score it can have is, say 9. At that point 0-5 is "trusted" and 6-9 is "super".
After 14 days it becomes "moldy". The max score is 5, and only trusted or super users can modify it.
After 21 days, it becomes "outdated" and is kept for historical purposes only. Users should not trust the price. It stays at 0.
If a user who can submit a price confirms or updates the price, the moldy counter resets.
If this is all set up right, then it becomes fairly self-sustaining. Anonymous users can only contribute so much, and the amount of damage they can do is minimized. Some intelligent checks will keep a single IP from radically changing a price, or submitting too many prices at once. Registered, confirmed users who consistently contribute correct prices (as corroborated by other registered users or super users) will automatically be promoted to "trusted".
Any super user who fully trusts a trusted user, they can be promoted to super. In the end, you won't need to do anything except site back, relax, and score chicks. =)
(If you need help working out the database / logic, let me know. This is what I do for a living =) )[/quote]
UPC eh...I don't have the energy to search these all down
I do have the FS internal SKU on most of the games that I tracked down before they locked the system, which I planned on using - I had even written an automated price-grabbing script to update them at will - but then they blocked all external IPs...didn't help they changed the page, either.
If I had time to test/create a new script, I could simply get people to run it from an FS computer, but I don't have the access to an FS comp to create the script.
The idea is to have all users be allowed to submit price changes.
Let's say you want to report that The Last Remnant just went down to $7. This would not reflect until a moderator/admin approved the status update. I was thinking before of simply doing what you said - have it self moderating, so prices would only update once x users said it was so, but that could take forever to updates to actually appear. Also, anytime a game crosses the threshold for promos, such as $8 for EB or $10 for FS, it would get flagged so it gets first priority. In doing this flagging, once it was confirmed/approved, registered users could receive daily text messages/emails on new games that do and/or no longer qualify.
There will be a points system involved. This project is taking up alot of time and bandwidth, and the points will stand-in for people willing to contribute. If you don't feel like phoning EB and submitting prices - you'll have to pay to get the good features. It won't be expensive - I'm thinking maybe $.25 a week - but keep in mind you don't have to
purchase points, if you update the site you're helping and will accumulate them that way. Also, different features will cost different amounts of points - so if all you ever do is print out stuff, that's the only thing you'd want, meaning you'd have to contribute less. I understand it's all people trying to save money and hunt for deals using this site, and that is where the points system came in. I don't feel it's fair for me to have to pay for this which is why I'm making it pretty cheap. The ads aren't really working too well
I've just finished the feature for users to add games to their list of owned games, with options on whether they're keepers or willing to get rid of them, and a page which automatically calculates totals of trade in values at the three places, which places you should trade them, and which deals would work best with your collection/games you're willing to part with.
For what it's worth, I think the online version of tivs.ca only displays titles that have been updated in the past two months. Also, I added another feature to the "print" page earlier today before I posted that request for input, as I'd received a few requests to sort the printing page differently.
I'll add another
date option to the printout page due to high demand - but you'll only get to choose it from one of the locations.
- Midnight Club: LA - $30
