Amazon Store Integration

[mikelbeck]

Finally, I've gotten around to putting together a version of the Amazon Store integration mod for vBulletin 3.6.

This mod allows you to add an Amazon store to your vBulletin. You can set it to search for a particular keyword, for different types of items - CDs, DVDs, Clothing, etc. A sample of the store in action is available here: http://www.lidragracing.com/amazon_store.php.

You will need to sign up for Amazon Web Services to get an AWS key in order for this to work. In addition, you need to have PHP 5 installed on your server.

Installation is very simple, upload 3 files, import the xml file and then add a link to the store in your navigation bar. See the attached file "ECS Amazon Store.txt" for the exact installation instructions.

Give it a try, let me know what you think. Make sure you click "Mark as Installed" if you've installed it.

Also, if you intall it and use it, please post the URL you have it installed at so I can see how it's being used.

{edit}

To upgrade to a newer version, re-upload the php files and then import the xml product file. Afterwards go to the admin control panel to check to make sure all of the fields are filled in properly.

[yahoooh]

can u make it with catgories?

[cjshirlaw]

Wow, I will be installing this later and I will let you know how I get on. Nice one!!:up:

[mikelbeck]

can u make it with catgories?

What do you mean?

[yoyoyoyo]

Thanks for sharing - I installed and went to view the store and got this error

Fatal error: Call to undefined function: simplexml_load_file() in /home/mysite/public_html/forum/amazon_store.php on line 55

do we enter the AWS key or the AWS secret key? I tried both and got the same error.

[bigcurt]

Don't really need it but it looks great. Thanks for the submission.

[PoetJA-1975]

Interesting - but Amazon already has what's called an A-Store that can easily be embedded in webpages with IFrame: http://jpicforum.info/view.php?pg=shopjpic

Question: What makes this modification any better?

At anyrate - thanx for the sharing ;)

Jacquii.

[projectego]

* projectego clicks install :)

Thanks!

[mikelbeck]

Thanks for sharing - I installed and went to view the store and got this error



do we enter the AWS key or the AWS secret key? I tried both and got the same error.

You would enter the AWS access key.

As for the error you're getting - are you using PHP 5?

[yoyoyoyo]

Thanks for the info. No - I am not using php 5, my php version is 4.4.7

I installed it on a test forum with no other hacks installed and got the same error.

I sure hope I can get it going - I like it a lot better than the A-store. Do you get affiliate payments from purchases at this store?

Lemmy rules! :)

[mikelbeck]

Thanks for the info. No - I am not using php 5, my php version is 4.4.7

I installed it on a test forum with no other hacks installed and got the same error.


You need to have php 5 or higher, the simplexml_load_file() function isn't available in php 4.


I sure hope I can get it going - I like it a lot better than the A-store. Do you get affiliate payments from purchases at this store?


Yes, that's the whole idea. I've just realized that I didn't put in the AssociateTag, though, so you can't track your site's searches... I'll update it to add that.

Lemmy rules! :)

You got that right!

[yoyoyoyo]

You need to have php 5 or higher, the simplexml_load_file() function isn't available in php 4.aw ding dang it - is there any way to get this going for 4.4.7?

[mikelbeck]

aw ding dang it - is there any way to get this going for 4.4.7?

Not easily... the reason I held off on putting this together for 3.6.8 was because it was such a pain to decode XML with PHP 4. PHP 5 makes it real easy, instead of blocks and blocks of confusing code it's just a single function call.

[toucan42]

looking forward to the associate id addition - will install once that's in place - nice mod!

[mikelbeck]

I'm posting it now...

[Kihon Kata]

Is this Amazon Associates Central?

[mikelbeck]

Is this Amazon Associates Central?

What?

[Kihon Kata]

See Image

What?

[yoyoyoyo]

Not easily... the reason I held off on putting this together for 3.6.8 was because it was such a pain to decode XML with PHP 4. PHP 5 makes it real easy, instead of blocks and blocks of confusing code it's just a single function call.Could your 3.0 version be made to work in 3.6.8?

[mikelbeck]

See Image

Yes.

[mikelbeck]

Could your 3.0 version be made to work in 3.6.8?

Probably not without a bunch of work. If you'd like to take it on, go for it!

[BadgerDog]

Installed.... :up:

Set up store account and got an Amazon AWS key .....

Set up the mod in AdminCP with it....

Now, pardon my ignorance as I've never used this kind of thing before, but how do I start populating my own store with actual products such as books? I can't seem to figure out how to add a book so that it displays in the PHP page of our site? :confused:

Thanks for any help... :)

Regards,
Badger

BTW, we use Commission Junction for eBay referrals. Can this be used in any similar way, or is something that remains just direct with Amazon in order to earn commissions?

[mikelbeck]

Installed.... :up:

Set up store account and got an Amazon AWS key .....

Set up the mod in AdminCP with it....

Now, pardon my ignorance as I've never used this kind of thing before, but how do I start populating my own store with actual products such as books? I can't seem to figure out how to add a book so that it displays in the PHP page of our site? :confused:


If you set all the options in the AdminCP properly, when you go to the amazon_store.php page it will pull the data from Amazon and will display the data for you. There's no need to "populate" the store, it pulls data real-time.

For example, if you want to display books about dogs, set the "keywords" field to "dogs", and the "Search Index" field to "Books". Note that the "Search Index" field is case sensitive, the field has to match the data from this page: http://docs.amazonwebservices.com/AWSECommerceService/2007-06-13/DG/APPNDX_SearchIndexValues.html.

I think in the next version I'll make that a drop-down box so you can only select valid options...

If you get a page with no data when you go to the amazon_store.php page, then one of the fields you've entered in the AdminCP is invalid.


BTW, we use Commission Junction for eBay referrals. Can this be used in any similar way, or is something that remains just direct with Amazon in order to earn commissions?

I'm not sure I understand what you're asking...?

[BadgerDog]

I'm not sure I understand what you're asking...?

I was wondering if Commission Junction supported Amazon, like they do for eBay, whereby one can earn commissions for people who click through and buy. I checked Commission Junction site and I don't think they support Amazon, so the question is probably academic. I think the Amazon AWS system is a similar thing, but an in-house system?

Anyway, I managed to get products displaying by using the keyword thing you mentioned. I can't figure out how to get multiple keywords. If I use commas or spaces between different words, it displays zero results. If I use just one keyword I do get results? :confused:

How do you string multiple search terms as well as multiple categories ie: Books and Videos together to narrow the search?

Thanks

Regards,
Badger

[yoyoyoyo]

I got this working!

I simply added AddHandler application/x-httpd-php5 .php to my .htaccess file.

Now I have another issue :)

I deleted the old product and installed the updated one, and entered my amazon associates ID, but I don't see it listed in the URL when I click on an item.

for instance - let's say my associates ID is: myamazonuser-20

If I get a link from amazon associates it looks like this:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00095V56E?tag=myamazonuser-20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=B00095V56E&adid=1PJB2AHQETSAMWEM7RM4&but if I click on the link through the amazon store on my site it looks like this:

http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B00095V56E/105-5046536-9646804?SubscriptionId=0X5J0DYKEA7V6Y1BH1G3I don't see my associate's ID myamazonuser-20 listed in the link from my site...

[mikelbeck]

I was wondering if Commission Junction supported Amazon, like they do for eBay, whereby one can earn commissions for people who click through and buy. I checked Commission Junction site and I don't think they support Amazon, so the question is probably academic. I think the Amazon AWS system is a similar thing, but an in-house system?


Oh, I see. Yes, the Amazon Associates program is similar to Commission Junction.
[/quote]
Anyway, I managed to get products displaying by using the keyword thing you mentioned. I can't figure out how to get multiple keywords. If I use commas or spaces between different words, it displays zero results. If I use just one keyword I do get results? :confused:

How do you string multiple search terms as well as multiple categories ie: Books and Videos together to narrow the search?
[/QUOTE]

That I'm not sure about... for the moment I don't know how to do it, but I'm working on it. If you put multiple keywords in, it will use those keywords to narrow your search. For example, "dog" may return 100 results, but "guard dog" may return only 10. Make sense?

When I get multiple keywords and/or multiple categorie figured out I'll post about it here. Give me a day or so to work that out.

[mikelbeck]

I got this working!

I simply added AddHandler application/x-httpd-php5 .php to my .htaccess file.


So then you've got php 5 running somewhere on your server.


Now I have another issue :)

I deleted the old product and installed the updated one, and entered my amazon associates ID, but I don't see it listed in the URL when I click on an item.

for instance - let's say my associates ID is: myamazonuser-20

If I get a link from amazon associates it looks like this:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00095V56E?tag=myamazonuser-20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=B00095V56E&adid=1PJB2AHQETSAMWEM7RM4&but if I click on the link through the amazon store on my site it looks like this:

http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B00095V56E/105-5046536-9646804?SubscriptionId=0X5J0DYKEA7V6Y1BH1G3I don't see my associate's ID myamazonuser-20 listed in the link from my site...

Oops!

I'll have this fixed in the next version (later today or tomorrow). But for now if you'd like to fix it yourself, open both amazon_store.php and amazon_store_detail.php and search for "AssociateID". Replace it with "AssociateTag".

[BadgerDog]

When I get multiple keywords and/or multiple categorie figured out I'll post about it here. Give me a day or so to work that out.

Thanks.... :up:

I think it's use will be too narrow unless one can string multiple terms together.....

Also, I don't understand this AWS key thing?

Is that ALL we need to do to get commision payments from Amazon if someone orders a book as a result of being redirected from our site on-line store using your mod?

Getting this AWS key alone seems to be different from the Amazon Associates Program page, which doesn't recognize the email address (account) that I used to get the AWS key? I wonder if they're two different programs and one has to register for both?

Regards,
Badger

[Kihon Kata]

can you tell us where to locate the AWS key on Amazon?

[yoyoyoyo]

yep - my server runs both php 4 and php 5, but the default is php 4

Oops!

I'll have this fixed in the next version (later today or tomorrow). But for now if you'd like to fix it yourself, open both amazon_store.php and amazon_store_detail.php and search for "AssociateID". Replace it with "AssociateTag".I made the changes indicated and don't see any change in the URL displayed. I appreciate all of the support and interest in getting this working.

[mikelbeck]

Thanks.... :up:

I think it's use will be too narrow unless one can string multiple terms together.....

Also, I don't understand this AWS key thing?

Is that ALL we need to do to get commision payments from Amazon if someone orders a book as a result of being redirected from our site on-line store using your mod?

Getting this AWS key alone seems to be different from the Amazon Associates Program page, which doesn't recognize the email address (account) that I used to get the AWS key? I wonder if they're two different programs and one has to register for both?

Regards,
Badger

There are two items you need from Amazon. An AWS Key and an Associates ID.

The AWS key is what allows you to talk to AWS (Amazon Web Services) to get the data. The Associates ID is what tags your links, so you will get credit for them when somebody clicks them from your site and makes a purchase from Amazon.

To sign up for the AWS Key, go to https://aws-portal.amazon.com/gp/aws/developer/registration/index.html.

To sign up for the Associates ID, go to http://associates.amazon.com.

[BadgerDog]

There are two items you need from Amazon. An AWS Key and an Associates ID.

The AWS key is what allows you to talk to AWS (Amazon Web Services) to get the data. The Associates ID is what tags your links, so you will get credit for them when somebody clicks them from your site and makes a purchase from Amazon.

To sign up for the AWS Key, go to https://aws-portal.amazon.com/gp/aws/developer/registration/index.html.

To sign up for the Associates ID, go to http://associates.amazon.com.

Thanks.... :up:

That's helpful and clear....

I've got one, so I'll go apply for the other now.... :)

Regards,
Badger

Edit: Got the Associateds ID, so now is there anything special (any place) with this mod I need to put it like I did with the AWS number, or is just automatic?

[yoyoyoyo]

Edit: Got the Associateds ID, so now is there anything special (any place) with this mod I need to put it like I did with the AWS number, or is just automatic?In the ACP VB options for this mod there is a box to enter your associates ID. If you do not see it, then re-download the zip file and import the product again, since the author updated it to add the associates ID. The mod does not add the associates ID to the URL at this time, and the author has indicated that he will fix this issue, so keep an eye on this thread, and when he fixes the issue you can reupload the files and import the product again at that point. He supplied a fix a couple posts back that was supposed to fix this, but it did not work for me - still waiting for the official fix from him.

[mikelbeck]

Ok, B3 is posted now. This fixes the Associates ID issue with the links.

Re-upload the php files, then import the XML file making sure to check the "allow overwrite" option.

[BadgerDog]

Ok, B3 is posted now. This fixes the Associates ID issue with the links.

Re-upload the php files, then import the XML file making sure to check the "allow overwrite" option.

Updated... :up:

Thanks

Regards,
Badger

[BadgerDog]

In the ACP VB options for this mod there is a box to enter your associates ID. If you do not see it, then re-download the zip file and import the product again, since the author updated it to add the associates ID.

Found it..... :up:

Updated to current B3 version....

Thanks ... :)

Only question I have is that I have two different associate ID's.... one for Amazon.com and one for Amazon.ca...

I entered for the mod the .COM one, so I wonder how that's going to sort itself out if someone orders from .CA? ;)

Regards,
Badger

[RichieBoy67]

Great job...

Mine is here (http://www.talkandmore.net/amazon_store.php) - I added a search at the top and right now I am using the search term Movies. For some reason with Amazon it is difficult to add too many keywords. If you do you end up showing no products at all.

I really would like to incorporate more into this though such as a cache and a search. At the very least a conditional link to take people back to the main page of the store after they are done looking at a product...

It would be great to be able to get some of these products crawled and indexed and I don't think it will happen this way... All the same though, if you have a niche site and are looking to sell a specific category of products this will work well...

Thanks for your work...

[mikelbeck]

Great job...

Mine is here (http://www.talkandmore.net/amazon_store.php) - I added a search at the top and right now I am using the search term Movies. For some reason with Amazon it is difficult to add too many keywords. If you do you end up showing no products at all.


I'm working on that.


I really would like to incorporate more into this though such as a cache and a search. At the very least a conditional link to take people back to the main page of the store after they are done looking at a product...


I'll add that to the next release.


It would be great to be able to get some of these products crawled and indexed and I don't think it will happen this way... All the same though, if you have a niche site and are looking to sell a specific category of products this will work well...


Looking at the pages Google has for my site (the one in the description of this mod), there are a whole bunch from the Amazon store... Also, I've got another site (non-vBulletin) that uses the same technology as this. I haven't completed the site yet, so the only thing that's publically available are links to items in the Amazon store. Google has almost 5000 pages indexes of nothing but Amazon products, displayed on my site. The pages are titled differently, though... the only thing I can tell you is to wait and see what happens when the spiders come crawling your site.

Thanks for your work...

Thank you for using it!

[mikelbeck]

Found it..... :up:

Updated to current B3 version....

Thanks ... :)

Only question I have is that I have two different associate ID's.... one for Amazon.com and one for Amazon.ca...

I entered for the mod the .COM one, so I wonder how that's going to sort itself out if someone orders from .CA? ;)

Regards,
Badger

I would think that your .COM ID would get credit for it, I don't think it matters what Amazon site a person orders from. But I'm not positive about that.

[Khalid-B]

hello,
i installed this hack and i am getting this error ,

Fatal error: Call to undefined function: simplexml_load_file() in /home/xyz/public_html/Forums/amazon_store.php on line 55

Can u please help me
Thanks

[mikelbeck]

hello,
i installed this hack and i am getting this error ,

Fatal error: Call to undefined function: simplexml_load_file() in /home/xyz/public_html/Forums/amazon_store.php on line 55

Can u please help me
Thanks

This mod required PHP 5. Do you have that installed?

[Khalid-B]

yes i am using php 5 .........Thanks

[mikelbeck]

yes i am using php 5 .........Thanks

Looks like it needs libxml 2.6 or higher as well.

[Khalid-B]

libxml 2.6 << what is this and how can i fix it?

Thanks

[yoyoyoyo]

I appreciate all of your hard work and support. It appears that the links are now showing up properly :)

https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/

nominated for MOTM!

[mikelbeck]

I appreciate all of your hard work and support. It appears that the links are now showing up properly :)

http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/4777/335213fl9.jpg

nominated for MOTM!

Excellent, thanks. ;-)

And thanks for the Lemmy!

[mikelbeck]

libxml 2.6 << what is this and how can i fix it?

Thanks

libxml is an XML parsing library. See this page for more information: http://xmlsoft.org/

Depending on your server (os, front end, etc) it's installed differently. If you're using a shared server, ask your host to install it. If it's your own server, you can read through the install instructions on that site to get an idea of what you need to do.

[mikelbeck]

I really would like to incorporate more into this though such as a cache and a search. At the very least a conditional link to take people back to the main page of the store after they are done looking at a product...

I've got a caching version working now... but I can't promise that I'll get it out tonight. There's a few other things I'd like to do with it (mostly the things you've suggested), and I've got to take my kid out trick-or-treating. So tomorrow night looks better for another version.

If anybody has any other suggestions, let's hear them.

[Kihon Kata]

Uhm....this is what I got when I tried to import the product:




Database error in vBulletin 3.6.8:

Invalid SQL:
DELETE FROM phrase WHERE product = 'ecs_amazon_store' AND languageid = -1;

MySQL Error : Got error 127 from storage engine
Error Number : 1030
Date : Wednesday, October 31st 2007 @ 07:17:42 PM
Script : http://www.XXX.com/forums/admincp/plugin.php?do=productimport
Referrer : http://www.XXX.com/forums/admincp/plugin.php?do=productadd
IP Address : XXXXXXXXX
Username : XXXXXXXXXX
Classname : vB_Database

Running Dedicated Dual Processor Linux Server
PHP5
Mysql 4.1.20
btw.

[yoyoyoyo]

since you are aking for suggestions:

I like the idea of having more than one category to choose from, and also multiple search options, So, for example - you could have a navigation menu somewhere that lists all of the types of items, such as Books, DVDs, CDs, etc., and have a separate search term attached to each category. I also like the idea of having more than one search term for each category - for example - you could have 2 or 3 different settings for each category: Books could have "cat grooming" and "cat breeding" and then the results would be compiled in to one overall "Books" category. I know that this would require a lot of coding, but I can see it as being very helpful. As it stands now, if I want to search for the term "Cats" then it will bring back the Cats broadway cast recording, as well as books about cats, and movies with Cat in the title - I would like to narrow down those searches, but if I put "cat grooming" then it will ignore books about "cat breeding," etc.. I hope I made myself clear enough - sorry for the rambling explanation...

[trancetopia]

I'd really like to get this working for amazon.co.uk

Has anyone any tips on how I can do this using this promising mod?

Thanks.

[mikelbeck]

I'd really like to get this working for amazon.co.uk

Has anyone any tips on how I can do this using this promising mod?

Thanks.

The next release will have support for choosing your locale. I'll get it out in another day or two.

In the mean time, I think what you can do is open amazon_store.php and amazon_store_detail.php, search for this:

http://webservices.amazon.com/onca/xml

and replace it with this:

http://ecs.amazonaws.co.uk/onca/xml

I haven't tested that, so I'm not positive it will work. But the docs say it should... Give it a try, let me know if that does it for you.

[mikelbeck]

Uhm....this is what I got when I tried to import the product:




Database error in vBulletin 3.6.8:

Invalid SQL:
DELETE FROM phrase WHERE product = 'ecs_amazon_store' AND languageid = -1;

MySQL Error : Got error 127 from storage engine
Error Number : 1030
Date : Wednesday, October 31st 2007 @ 07:17:42 PM
Script : http://www.XXX.com/forums/admincp/plugin.php?do=productimport
Referrer : http://www.XXX.com/forums/admincp/plugin.php?do=productadd
IP Address : XXXXXXXXX
Username : XXXXXXXXXX
Classname : vB_Database

Running Dedicated Dual Processor Linux Server
PHP5
Mysql 4.1.20
btw.

I really have no idea where that error would come from... this mod does not do anything with the database, that looks to me like something is wrong with your vBulletin itself.

I *think* that error means one of your tables is corrupted or crashed. Try doing a repair and see if that corrects it.

[yoyoyoyo]

since you are aking for suggestions:

I like the idea of having more than one category to choose from, and also multiple search options, So, for example - you could have a navigation menu somewhere that lists all of the types of items, such as Books, DVDs, CDs, etc., and have a separate search term attached to each category. I also like the idea of having more than one search term for each category - for example - you could have 2 or 3 different settings for each category: Books could have "cat grooming" and "cat breeding" and then the results would be compiled in to one overall "Books" category. I know that this would require a lot of coding, but I can see it as being very helpful. As it stands now, if I want to search for the term "Cats" then it will bring back the Cats broadway cast recording, as well as books about cats, and movies with Cat in the title - I would like to narrow down those searches, but if I put "cat grooming" then it will ignore books about "cat breeding," etc.. I hope I made myself clear enough - sorry for the rambling explanation...

Even if you don't have the categories listed - I think the multiple search terms would bve really helpful - so you could enter "cat grooming" "cat breeding" "cat history" etc. and allow all of those search terms compile the results for the store. If I put all of those in at once: "cat grooming breeding history" it narrows down the searches too much, but having the three of them separate and then combined in to one overall search would be really helpful.

[Kihon Kata]

I really have no idea where that error would come from... this mod does not do anything with the database, that looks to me like something is wrong with your vBulletin itself.

I *think* that error means one of your tables is corrupted or crashed. Try doing a repair and see if that corrects it.
Yep, that fixed it. Thanks! Installs.

[scottct1]

I installed it, but its not doing what I want.

I want it to only display HDDVD and BluRay Movies only.

Its there any way to make it search for two keywords?

Also any way to add a Amazon Search Box which is tied to my associate ID?

[Kihon Kata]

Mine's working good, except there is "Page 1 of 5365". How can I split this up better?

[mikelbeck]

@scottct1 - The next version will allow you to do multiple searches, and they'll be a search box so your users can type in anything they want.

@Kihon - what would you prefer? Also, I had a look at your site, check to make sure your Associate Tag is entered correctly, your links don't look quite right.

[mikelbeck]

Where would you like to see the search box? Right now I've got it up on top of the page, I'm not sure if I'm happy with it there.

Also, would you like your users to a) only search the search index you've selected or b) select the search index to search through?

[mikelbeck]

Version B4 is now available.

In this version, I've added results caching, cleaned up the templates, added additional search options and added support for locales.

There are many more options in the ACP, so if you upgrade please immediately go to the ACP and check to make sure that you've got your settings correct.

Also - VERY IMPORTANT - you'll need to create a "cache" directory for the cached results to be stored in. Make sure this directory is chmod'd to 777! Read the included text file for more information.

[scottct1]

Nice upgrade, but it still needs a search box for users to search for what they are looking for. :)

On the top left of the screen would be great! I personally would like them to be able to search all of Amazon from my store, this way if they buy anything I still get credit for the sale. :D

[mikelbeck]

Nice upgrade, but it still needs a search box for users to search for what they are looking for. :)

On the top left of the screen would be great! I personally would like them to be able to search all of Amazon from my store, this way if they buy anything I still get credit for the sale. :D

Right, I'm with ya. ;-)

I asked in this thread what people wanted to see: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost.php?p=1374480&postcount=59 but didn't get any response. I finished up the changes I had in mind for this version (aside from the search box) and wanted to get it out. So there it is.

I'll take your idea into consideration, let's see what everybody else has to say. The next version will have a way for users to search for their own stuff.

I'm also considering adding the functionality to allow the users to add items to a local shopping cart and continue searching, then when they're done cliking a link to go off to Amazon to make the purchase. What does everybody think about that?

FWIW, I've got a similar project in the works... but one that works with eBay instead of Amazon.

[yoyoyoyo]

Right, I'm with ya. ;-)

I asked in this thread what people wanted to see: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showpost.php?p=1374480&postcount=59 but didn't get any response. I finished up the changes I had in mind for this version (aside from the search box) and wanted to get it out. So there it is.

I'll take your idea into consideration, let's see what everybody else has to say. The next version will have a way for users to search for their own stuff.

I'm also considering adding the functionality to allow the users to add items to a local shopping cart and continue searching, then when they're done cliking a link to go off to Amazon to make the purchase. What does everybody think about that?

FWIW, I've got a similar project in the works... but one that works with eBay instead of Amazon.Great update and I look forward to the future updates as well :)

[mikelbeck]

Great update and I look forward to the future updates as well :)

Do you have it installed? If so, got a URL?

[BadgerDog]

Nice upgrade, but it still needs a search box for users to search for what they are looking for. :)

On the top left of the screen would be great! I personally would like them to be able to search all of Amazon from my store, this way if they buy anything I still get credit for the sale. :D

Yes... thank you ... :up:

Regards,
Badger

[yoyoyoyo]

Great update and I look forward to the future updates as well :)

Do you have it installed? If so, got a URL?Yes, it is installed, but on a completely private forum. It is working great! I loe the multiple searches - my only request is to add even more :)

[mikelbeck]

Yes, it is installed, but on a completely private forum. It is working great! I loe the multiple searches - my only request is to add even more :)

Ya, I'm working on that. At this point, it looks like the Amazon API only allows 2 searches to be performed at once. I'm looking for a way around that, though.

[yoyoyoyo]

Cool - thanks much.

One thing though, maybe it is just me, but for some reason, when viewing the amazon store page, the dhtml drop-down links in the navbar do not appear, and the links show up as just links with no drop-down function.

[hddstudio]

Just an idea : optional search in NavBar....is it possible ? so user can search in forum and got input also from amazon at the same time (make it default : checked option)

[mikelbeck]

Cool - thanks much.

One thing though, maybe it is just me, but for some reason, when viewing the amazon store page, the dhtml drop-down links in the navbar do not appear, and the links show up as just links with no drop-down function.

I can't make that happen, not on my demo site or my dev site. Is anybody else seeing this?

@hddstudio - I'm not sure if I could do that... but I'll look into it.

[mikelbeck]

Ok people... you asked for it, now you've got it.

There's a new option in the ACP in version 1.00.00 B5 - "Allow users to perform their own searches". If you enable this option, a new box & dropdown list will be displayed on the main page, your users can put in their own keywords and select the index they'd like to search.

Let me know what you think.

[yoyoyoyo]

thanks much - I will check it out and let you know how it works for me

[yoyoyoyo]

well, the search option works, but it does not insert my Amazon associate ID in the URL. It shows up in the URL in the store, but when I actually click on the item the associate ID is not in the URL.

in the store I see this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html%3FASIN=B0001YNLLK%26tag=myamazonID-20%26lcode=xm2%26cID=2025%26ccmID=165953%26locatio n=/o/ASIN/B0001YNLLK%253FSubscriptionId=0Z5J0DYKEA7V6Y1BH1H2

but when I click on the URL this is the link that displays in the browser:

http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B0001YNLLK/105-5046536-9646804?SubscriptionId=0Z5J0DYKEA7V6Y1BH1H2

[mikelbeck]

well, the search option works, but it does not insert my Amazon associate ID in the URL. It shows up in the URL in the store, but when I actually click on the item the associate ID is not in the URL.

in the store I see this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html%3FASIN=B0001YNLLK%26tag=myamazonID-20%26lcode=xm2%26cID=2025%26ccmID=165953%26locatio n=/o/ASIN/B0001YNLLK%253FSubscriptionId=0Z5J0DYKEA7V6Y1BH1H2

but when I click on the URL this is the link that displays in the browser:

http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B0001YNLLK/105-5046536-9646804?SubscriptionId=0Z5J0DYKEA7V6Y1BH1H2

Right, that's how it works. If you notice, in the first URL there's "redirect.html". Amazon takes the inbound link, pulls out the data needed for your associates tag (plus whatever else it wants, I guess) and then sends the user to an Amazon page.

[yoyoyoyo]

ok thanks for the explanation - in that case I guess it is working just fine :)

[mikelbeck]

ok thanks for the explanation - in that case I guess it is working just fine :)

Ok, good.

You're happy with it? It's exactly what you've always wanted? ;-)

[yoyoyoyo]

Ok, good.

You're happy with it? It's exactly what you've always wanted? ;-)
well... if you can arrange for a dozen or so nubile nympomaniac girlies to stop by my house then I would say yes... lol

seriously - I like it a lot. I can envision a few more additions I would like to see, such as random (or pre-designated) items from the amazon store in cmps sideblocks, or on the "what's going on" area that link to the description of the item in the store, or a shopping cart system as mentioned earlier by you. As far as layout is concerned - I am wondering why the descriptions are all centered on the page instead of a normal layout with the text flush left, etc.. Right now if this mod was a dancer on dancing with the stars, and I were a judge I would give it a 7 or an 8 ;)

[BadgerDog]

Updated with latest feature to permit custom searching ... :)

We've now released this mod "live" to our members....

Working well.... :up:

One recommendation. Since we are a site for "registered" users only, it would be good to be able to restrict usergroups who can access this mod. ie: no guests etc....

Regards,
Badger

[mikelbeck]

well... if you can arrange for a dozen or so nubile nympomaniac girlies to stop by my house then I would say yes... lol

seriously - I like it a lot. I can envision a few more additions I would like to see, such as random (or pre-designated) items from the amazon store in cmps sideblocks, or on the "what's going on" area that link to the description of the item in the store, or a shopping cart system as mentioned earlier by you. As far as layout is concerned - I am wondering why the descriptions are all centered on the page instead of a normal layout with the text flush left, etc.. Right now if this mod was a dancer on dancing with the stars, and I were a judge I would give it a 7 or an 8 ;)

Which descriptions? On the main page or the detail page? I'll see what I can do about the other stuff you've mentioned.

Thanks for the high rating. ;-) Did you nominate it for MOTM yet?

@BadgerDog - I was thinking about doing that, but I'm not all that sure how to do it yet... when I figure it out I'll add it.

FYI... here's what's on the list for the next release:

1. Fix the "powered by amazon.com" and similar texts when the search actually goes to a different locale.
2. Add an option to integrate YPN or Adsense in the results, or maybe on the side. Or somewhere.
3. Sometimes the page numbers don't make sense... I've got to figure out why and fix it properly.
4. When the "blended" index is used, it returns more than 10 results per page, so the page numbers are off. Again, figure out why and fix it properly.
5. Maybe add a local shopping cart so users can add items on your site instead of being sent to Amazon for each purchase. Then when they're done they can click "checkout" and THEN go to Amazon.
6. Random items displayed somewhere else on the site... maybe in CMPS or "what's going on" like yoyoyoyo suggested.
7. Improve the doc that's distributed with the archive... man does that thing look like crap, totally unprofessional.

Any other suggestions?

[yoyoyoyo]

Which descriptions? On the main page or the detail page? I'll see what I can do about the other stuff you've mentioned.
on the detail page.

[mikelbeck]

on the detail page.

That'll be fixed in the next release.

[scottct1]

One of the things my members are upset about is it seems to be showing the suggested retailer price of the items, not the lower price Amazon is actually charging.

Is there anyway to fix that?

Great mod so far, I am going to nominate it for MOTM!

[mikelbeck]

One of the things my members are upset about is it seems to be showing the suggested retailer price of the items, not the lower price Amazon is actually charging.

Is there anyway to fix that?


I'll have to look into the pricing. The data has a whole load of prices in it, I'll have to find which is the right one. I'll add it to the list for the next release.

Great mod so far, I am going to nominate it for MOTM!

Thanks!

[mikelbeck]

I need one or two people who are willing to do some alpha testing for me... I've added a bunch of new features and have tested it myself and it seems to be working. But I'd like somebody else to take a whack at it.

PM me if you're interested.

[BadgerDog]

I need one or two people who are willing to do some alpha testing for me... I've added a bunch of new features and have tested it myself and it seems to be working. But I'd like somebody else to take a whack at it.

PM me if you're interested.

Ok, I'm up for it.... :up:

Send a PM... :)

Regards,
Badger

[mikelbeck]

Ok, I'm up for it.... :up:

Send a PM... :)

Regards,
Badger

PM me your e-mail address.

[Brahm]

Nice! Thanks!

[mikelbeck]

Ladies and Gentlemen.... I present to you:

Version 1.00.00 B6.

Included in this update:

- Corrected a number of incorrect phrases.
- Corrected the display of "powered by" and "Searched" and similiar phrases that referenced Amazon.com. If you're in the UK, you'd rather see Amazon.co.uk, right? Now you will.
- Corrected issue with the display of prices. On the main page, it will display the list price (and refers to it as such). On the detail page it will show the actual price.
- Added an option to display a message at the top of each page.
- Added permissioning.
- Added an open to display the detail page URLs as "descriptive URLs". The title of the item being viewed will be used in the URL. Search engine spiders like this kind of stuff.
- Added an open to turn the store on and off

MAKE SURE YOU READ THE "ECS Amazon Store.TXT" file weather you're upgrading to installing for the first time. There are new options and you'll have to update your .htaccess if you want the descriptive URLs to work properly. Note that you will need mod_rewrite for this to work as well.

A special thanks to the two guys who helped out with Alpha testing. Thanks, and thanks again!

Let me know if you find any issues or have any questions.

[masons]

I keep getting this error

Fatal error: Call to undefined function: stream_get_contents() in /home/stocker/public_html/amazon_store.php on line 166

[masons]

never mind.. works wonderful!
IT was a php5 issue!

GREAT MOD.. thanks!

How can we put a little preview on the mainpage with a list of titles?

[mikelbeck]

never mind.. works wonderful!
IT was a php5 issue!


Ok, good.


GREAT MOD.. thanks!


How can we put a little preview on the mainpage with a list of titles?

Eh... What do you mean?

[yoyoyoyo]

Eh... What do you mean?I think he is asking for something like a vba cmps module

[mikelbeck]

I think he is asking for something like a vba cmps module

Oh... I'll see what I can do.

[puertoblack2003]

upgraded and works wonderful,nice extra features too

[mikelbeck]

upgraded and works wonderful,nice extra features too

Good to hear.

[Kihon Kata]

Im kinda afraid of this:

There are new options and you'll have to update your .htaccess if you want the descriptive URLs to work properly. Note that you will need mod_rewrite for this to work as well.

[mikelbeck]

Im kinda afraid of this:

No need to be. If you don't use the "descriptive URLs" function, then you won't need to make any changes to your .htaccess.

[cdi320]

Hello and THANKS for the Mod :)

(i upgraded my server to php5 only for this future:D )

First
How do i get fixed the problem with german letters? They look for example so : römisch (should be "r?misch")

Second
You have automated the Page-Title and the URL (seo-ed), is it possible to automate also the Meta-Description and the Keywords?

Third
There are many many Links to the Storearticles, is it possible to have the option "no follow"
(or how can i fix it manually?)


Fourth

"Customer Reviews" (only this phrase) is in english

Fifth
There are no "rating stars" only the phrase: "Rating: x out of x"

[vitrag24]

amazing
can admin get some % on each purchase?

[djbaxter]

Only question I have is that I have two different associate ID's.... one for Amazon.com and one for Amazon.ca...

I entered for the mod the .COM one, so I wonder how that's going to sort itself out if someone orders from .CA?

I would think that your .COM ID would get credit for it, I don't think it matters what Amazon site a person orders from. But I'm not positive about that.

No. I also have Associates accounts for both .com and .ca - they are quite separate. If the link specifies the .com version and the .com associates ID, it isn't going to do me any good if someone orders from .ca - it's the same as if they ordered from .uk.co or .de where I don't even have an associates account.

Another example: If you have a balance of $10 from the .com account and $10 from the .ca account, and you need a minimum of $20 for payout, you cannot get those two combined. I tried.

[Markus Kolletzk]

Hi,

First of all: A great product you allocated! :)
Second: I've got a little problem with some permission rights. I'm logged in as "super admin"
but I can't get access to this product in the live system because of missing rights. (./cache/ is on CHMOD 777)

What could it be?

Cheers

[mikelbeck]

Hello and THANKS for the Mod :)

(i upgraded my server to php5 only for this future:D )

First
How do i get fixed the problem with german letters? They look for example so : römisch (should be "r?misch")


Do you have an example URL?


Second
You have automated the Page-Title and the URL (seo-ed), is it possible to automate also the Meta-Description and the Keywords?


Yes, next version.


Third
There are many many Links to the Storearticles, is it possible to have the option "no follow"
(or how can i fix it manually?)



Yes, next version.


Fourth

"Customer Reviews" (only this phrase) is in english



Where? I can't seem to find that, the "customer reviews" I have is phrased.


Fifth
There are no "rating stars" only the phrase: "Rating: x out of x"

Right, that's by design.

[mikelbeck]

Hi,

First of all: A great product you allocated! :)
Second: I've got a little problem with some permission rights. I'm logged in as "super admin"
but I can't get access to this product in the live system because of missing rights. (./cache/ is on CHMOD 777)

What could it be?

Cheers

Are you getting an error message? What does it say?

[Markus Kolletzk]

Hi mikelbeck,

I get the typical vBulletin error message if I don't have enough rights.


[..], you don't have the permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:

1. You may not have sufficient privileges to access this page. Are you trying to edit someone else's post, access administrative features or some other privileged system?
2. If you are trying to post, the administrator may have disabled your account, or it may be awaiting activation.


Cheers and thanks
Markus

[pillarfan1]

Hi mikelbeck,

I get the typical vBulletin error message if I don't have enough rights.



Cheers and thanks
Markus

I had this at first too, then i got the error on line 166. I had to add AddType application/x-httpd-php5 .php to the htaccess file under public_html. After I did that, I went back and tried again and it went to the store.

Great mod!

[Markus Kolletzk]

Thanks for your reply but if I put your suggested code in my .htaccess, my browser wants to download the amazon_store.php. ;)

Cheers

[mikelbeck]

Hey guys... sorry I haven't been here recently. Been busy with work, and then I got involved in building a new server to move all my sites to. I'm planning on finishing up the next version of this product this coming weekend, so hopefully it'll be posted here Sunday or Monday.

[gotfreebies]

Hi,
Great Mod. I installed everything and did not get any errors. I checked my user group permissions and it looks good, but when I click on the Store link in the nav bar, it keeps telling me I do I do not have permission.

admin, you do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:

Your user account may not have sufficient privileges to access this page. Are you trying to edit someone else's post, access administrative features or some other privileged system?
If you are trying to post, the administrator may have disabled your account, or it may be awaiting activation.

I cant find a reason for this. I am running Vbulletin 3.6.8 Patch Level 2.

Calvin

[mikelbeck]

Finally... version 1.00.00 Beta 7 is available. Sorry for the delay. ;-)

In this version, the following issues have been corrected:

- Amazon will never return more than 2500 pages... but it will report more than 2500 pages. So a limit has been put in.
- The "Total Pages" was incorrect.
- When used in non-US locales, many characters were being displayed incorrectly. This has been fixed.

And the following has been added:

- Users can now select the locale they want to search when they perform a "custom" search.

[mikelbeck]

Hi,
Great Mod. I installed everything and did not get any errors. I checked my user group permissions and it looks good, but when I click on the Store link in the nav bar, it keeps telling me I do I do not have permission.

admin, you do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:

Your user account may not have sufficient privileges to access this page. Are you trying to edit someone else's post, access administrative features or some other privileged system?
If you are trying to post, the administrator may have disabled your account, or it may be awaiting activation.

I cant find a reason for this. I am running Vbulletin 3.6.8 Patch Level 2.

Calvin

Go to the "Usergroups", then "Usergroup Manager", then select the "Administrators" usergroup. Near the top is a block called "ECS Amazon Store Permissions". You should set all three items there to "Yes". After that, you should be able to access the store.

Once you've got that straightened out go back and do the same for the other usergroups you want to allow access.

Does that fix it for you?

[gotfreebies]

Thanks Mikelbeck,
But the permissions for the Administrator was set to Yes in those 3 items and it still didnt allow me to enter the store.
Calvin

[MotMann]

Does it work for amazon.de?

[cdi320]

Does it work for amazon.de?

Yes it does!

and it also runs with 3.7 Beta 3 (i know... live sites shoud not drive with betas :o )

Hellas Forum (http://www.olympion.de/dein-griechenland-forum/)

thanks to mikelbeck for the german "Umlaute" :)

[MotMann]

thanks to mikelbeck for the german "Umlaute" :)

Okidoki, i try it. And where i can get the german Umlaute *Lach*

And where i get the "Amazon AWS Key" in German Amazon Store?

[irishblacknight]

First off - it's a lovely addon - well done.

Couple of issues...

If I enable the search options I can't set the associate IDs for the other countries ie. I have associate IDs for US, UK, CA, DE and FR, but I can only set one ID

The mod_rewrite seems to conflict with VBSeo if I turn it on. Has anyone managed to get round that? I'll ask on their forums as well, but I thought I'd ask here as well.

The list of search terms in the second box. How are you meant to input them? With spaces? Commas? Semi-colons?

Thanks for the great work!

[BirdDogBowling]

Thanks Mikelbeck,
But the permissions for the Administrator was set to Yes in those 3 items and it still didnt allow me to enter the store.
Calvin

i am having the same issue...was this resolved?

[MotMann]

You must save it again ;)
--------------------------------------------
I have another problem.

I Use the german Store and have "Enable Descriptive URLs?" on "yes".

But, if i click on an Add, them comes page not found :(

http://www.xbox360gamertag.de/Forum/amazon_store.php

If i deactivate that, then the side will be displayed

What happened?

[99darkgreenGT]

i get a blank page if all the admin settings are on "yes"....if i set "Allow this usergroup access to the ECS Amazon Store?" to no, then i get the page to load, but it says:

vBulletin Message

XXXXXXXX, you do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:

1. Your user account may not have sufficient privileges to access this page. Are you trying to edit someone else's post, access administrative features or some other privileged system?
2. If you are trying to post, the administrator may have disabled your account, or it may be awaiting activation.

Log Out Home

how can i get it to work? btw, same issue for registered or not logged in users.....

[MotMann]

Go to the Usergroup and save again.

[99darkgreenGT]

Go to the Usergroup and save again.

i tried that and still no luck....

reinstalled and still no luck....

not sure what else to do....

[MotMann]

I have the same Problem, but after saving in the usergroup its works. But i must save it more than one time :(

[mikelbeck]

Hey guys... for some reason I didn't get emails saying this thread was updated. But I'm here now. ;-)

@irishblacknight - I hadn't thought of this, I'll have to add it to the next version. As for the VbSEO issue, I don't use it so I don't have an answer for that one. And the keywords should be seperated by a space.

@MotMann - I'll have to look into this issue.

@99darkgreenGT - Another one I'll have to look into.

The guys who are having issues with permissions - are you using vbseo?

Give me a day or so to have a look at these issues and come up with solutions.

[mikelbeck]

You must save it again ;)
--------------------------------------------
I have another problem.

I Use the german Store and have "Enable Descriptive URLs?" on "yes".

But, if i click on an Add, them comes page not found :(

http://www.xbox360gamertag.de/Forum/amazon_store.php

If i deactivate that, then the side will be displayed

What happened?

I can't duplicate this... it's working fine on my test site. I think it may have something to do with vbseo on your site.

[DrussRob]

can u make it with catgories?

I think he means at the top have like:

DVDS - BOOKS - CDS - Etc...

[99darkgreenGT]

Hey guys... for some reason I didn't get emails saying this thread was updated. But I'm here now. ;-)

@irishblacknight - I hadn't thought of this, I'll have to add it to the next version. As for the VbSEO issue, I don't use it so I don't have an answer for that one. And the keywords should be seperated by a space.

@MotMann - I'll have to look into this issue.

@99darkgreenGT - Another one I'll have to look into.

The guys who are having issues with permissions - are you using vbseo?

Give me a day or so to have a look at these issues and come up with solutions.

hi, i do not have vb seo installed on my site. thanks!

[MotMann]

Can i include that one in a board?

[MotMann]

I can't duplicate this... it's working fine on my test site. I think it may have something to do with vbseo on your site.

And vBSEO meens, the Problem is yours :D
If i deactivate vBSEO, the Problem exist...

[xboxliveclans]

Just installed and got same permission error..please help. Yes. I have VBSEO installed..

[xboxliveclans]

Can guest be able to see the store and purchase?

[xboxliveclans]

it is working on my forum (http://www.xboxliveclans.com) now. Thanks.

3 questions:

1. URL rewrite is not working. Maybe because I am using vbseo. I don't care to much about this.

2. How I can setup 2 amazon stores, one for USA and other one for UK? or maybe third one for canada?

3. Current shows the listing price, can I show the on sale price as well? I think it will be attractive to visitors if the item is on sale.. :)

Thanks..

[pecheney]

Is thsi Amazon script for 3.6.8 or just 3.6 even?

I am trying to install it here and it is not quite working on my vb 3.6.8 version :: http://www.charlestonpicturecompany.com/forums/amazon_store.php

I feel like I followed teh directions pretty tight and I am using php 5.25. Thoughts?

I get this error code :: Warning: fopen(./cache/amazon_US_Books_charleston_data.page_1) [function.fopen]: failed to open stream: Permission denied in /amazon_store.php on line 181

Warning: fwrite(): supplied argument is not a valid stream resource in /amazon_store.php on line 182

Warning: fclose(): supplied argument is not a valid stream resource in /amazon_store.php on line 183

Warning: simplexml_load_file() [function.simplexml-load-file]: I/O warning : failed to load external entity "./cache/amazon_US_Books_charleston_data.page_1" in /amazon_store.php on line 185

Warning: Invalid argument supplied for foreach() in /amazon_store.php on line 224

[pecheney]

I got it back up, updated my php to 5.25 and uninstalled and reinstyalled everything. NEW error :: http://www.charlestonpicturecompany.com/forums/amazon_store.php

Any thoughts on what I am doing wrong? Any help is greatly appreciated. I am not getting any products returned for some reason. Feel like I am close, though. I put in charleston and books are search parameters and nothing comes back...

PEC

[pecheney]

I THINK my problem may be with teh location of my cache. My forum is not in a folder called forum, but forums. The diredctions are alsing me to put ./cache/ but that did not work for me. I fixed the rror outputs by adding the path to my cache :: /home/myusername/public_html/forums/cache/

and I CHMOD the cache to 777. I am getting a black page that looks like it is working, just don;t get any results. WHen i look at the cache folder on server it is populated with data from amazone so I know I am close... Any hints?

http://www.charlestonpicturecompany.com/forums/amazon_store.php



Version B4 is now available.

In this version, I've added results caching, cleaned up the templates, added additional search options and added support for locales.

There are many more options in the ACP, so if you upgrade please immediately go to the ACP and check to make sure that you've got your settings correct.

Also - VERY IMPORTANT - you'll need to create a "cache" directory for the cached results to be stored in. Make sure this directory is chmod'd to 777! Read the included text file for more information.

[Stryker412]

Off topic but does anyone know how to integrate an a-store in Who's Online? (PM me if you do, thanks).

[mikelbeck]

I THINK my problem may be with teh location of my cache. My forum is not in a folder called forum, but forums. The diredctions are alsing me to put ./cache/ but that did not work for me. I fixed the rror outputs by adding the path to my cache :: /home/myusername/public_html/forums/cache/

and I CHMOD the cache to 777. I am getting a black page that looks like it is working, just don;t get any results. WHen i look at the cache folder on server it is populated with data from amazone so I know I am close... Any hints?

http://www.charlestonpicturecompany.com/forums/amazon_store.php

The forum directory being called "forum" or "forums" or "whatever" doesn't matter. The "." at the beginning of the cache directory field means "here", so it would expand to whatever your forum directory was called.

Do you get any results if you try different keywords? Also, can you turn on debug and see what data you get from that?

[mikelbeck]

it is working on my forum (http://www.xboxliveclans.com) now. Thanks.

3 questions:

1. URL rewrite is not working. Maybe because I am using vbseo. I don't care to much about this.


What's not working about it?


2. How I can setup 2 amazon stores, one for USA and other one for UK? or maybe third one for canada?


Not at this time.


3. Current shows the listing price, can I show the on sale price as well? I think it will be attractive to visitors if the item is on sale.. :)

Thanks..

Also, not at this time. The list price is shown on the main page, but the current "lowest" price is shown on the detail page. If the item is on sale, the sale price will be shown there.

[kevcj]

This is a wonderful mod, one of the best I have seen. I have tried to find amazon store solutions, and this one fit the bill perfectly - thank you, thank you!

[SpreadingLight]

This is great!

Um, I can't find

"Append the contents of the "htaccess.NEW" file to the .htaccess file in the root of your forum."

.htaccess in the forum folder. Do you mean the public_html folder?

edit: That was it, nice :)


Looking for how to pre-load the pages with specific items now.

[okeanos]

Firstly I will say an excellent mod, got it working no problem, well done.

2 small little things, when asking for decriptive URL's I get page not found. .htaccess is correct, but to be honest I'm not bothered as it looks so good anyway.

One little thing I would like to know is
- Users can now select the locale they want to search when they perform a "custom" search.
This is set by default to the US, I've had a quick look at the code and not being a coder I have no idea what I'm looking for. My searches all come from the UK as set within the ACP, it would just be nice to be able to change the default location to the UK as well.

Thanks

Mark

edit - My first post too :D

[BadgerDog]

How can I permit "Guests" to see this page?

Thanks ... :)

Regards,
Badger

[vwdforum]

will this work with 3.7 ?

[xboxliveclans]

My store was working fine before but now are receiving error: Fatal error: Call to undefined function: stream_get_contents() in /home/content/s/o/l/solarpaneldepo/html/xboxliveclans/amazon_store.php on line 178

Any idea?

Thanks

[xboxliveclans]

Just found out that I am using php4 for the forum. Switch back to php 5 and it is working now. I keep the post since I think maybe other people will have the same issue.

[Varsh]

will this work with 3.7 ?
It works fine on 3.7 as you can see here (http://www.nexusrealms.co.uk/forums/amazon_store.php). The only thing is that when searching for the product it scews with my MK Portal template for some unknown reason, when vieweing the product it's fine as well as everything else... *shrugs*.

I have noticed a single problem with the script though, it doesn't matter what dropdown country you use, it will simply refuse to search that country's products other than the US store, however despite that, when you click the item name it selects (in my case) the UK price and the link to the Amazon UK store. If it searches the UK store initially but can't after then something needs to be changed unless I'm doing something wrong, but only the US store can be searched.

[xLYNZx]

I too get the permissions error...cant see anything on here how to solve it??

[theinvisibleman]

I am getting the blank screen also http://www.molineuxmix.co.uk/vb/amazon_store.php

[GoTTi]

mikel, will you be upgrading this for full compat for vb 3.7.x?

[whitetigergrowl]

Yeah when will this get upgraded with fixes? (Looks like not for awhile possibly. he hasn't been on VB.org for the past few months by the looks of it.)

Also, it is showing the wrong prices. In some cases there has been over a $10 difference. How will this get resolved?

[GoTTi]

is there any way to make this work for ebay's rss feed system with their new affiliate program?

[Chadi]

Unfortunately this is not working for me. Basically, it is not populating the page. I've filled in all fields correctly, enabled full functions for my admin usergroup and did the rest (uploads, cached 777, etc). I'm not sure what else to do here.

[Chadi]

I've tried once again to get this working, to no avail. It basically shows nothing but this attached screenshot.

I've tried both "access key ID" and "secret access key". My AWS account was already approved as well. I tried with vbseo disabled. I *do* use PHP 5x as well.

Followed instructions thoroughly, simple steps but nothing. Tried various search keywords, nothing. I do use VB 3.7 as well.

In the meantime, going by what the current features are, here are some feature requests:

- word filters (to filter out certain products, since my site is Christian based)

[Varsh]

Have you got an associates key? If not that's your problem. You need both an associates and an AWS key in order to use this plugin. It works fine for me on vB 3.7. The only bug I've found is that you have to set a category to search on any other country than the US (needs fixing to allow all), and also that you can only purchase from the store that you set the location to (in my case UK) which means that the other country searches should be hidden and only have UK enabled.

[TradersBASE]

I have it all installed, when I add the htaccess addition my site goes dumb.
No links work and it kicks me to the page not found error.

Any suggestions? What can I provide to help you guys help me?

Thanks,
MC

[Chadi]

Have you got an associates key? If not that's your problem. You need both an associates and an AWS key in order to use this plugin. It works fine for me on vB 3.7. The only bug I've found is that you have to set a category to search on any other country than the US (needs fixing to allow all), and also that you can only purchase from the store that you set the location to (in my case UK) which means that the other country searches should be hidden and only have UK enabled.

I filled every field accordingly, just as I stated in my last post "followed instructions....". It does not work.

[socalrico]

I followed all the directions exactly as it was written and I get the blank white page too. Would this be related to having the forum set to private? My users must login to access the forum.

[C138 Kaysone]

when my users click on it, they dont get no where to amazon but they see like the stuff there, just nothing for amazon

i followed the steps such as getting the keys and all that stuff, nothing works

[puertoblack2003]

datadase error when i'm in usergroup saving settings, i had unistalled the hack but something is still there not allowing me to update usergroup

Database error in vBulletin 3.6.9:

Invalid SQL:
UPDATE usergroup SET

### UPDATE QUERY GENERATED BY fetch_query_sql() ###
`title` = 'Member',
`description` = '',
`usertitle` = 'Registered Member',
`opentag` = '<b><font color=#3366CC>',
`closetag` = '</font></b>',
`passwordexpires` = '0',
`passwordhistory` = '0',
`ecdownloadpermissions` = '8207',
`ecexcludecatlist` = '',
`ecdownloadsmaxuploadtotal` = '-1',
`ecdownloadsmaxdailydl` = '-1',
`ecdownloadsmaxdailyfiles` = '-1',
`ecdownloaddelaygrp` = '-1',
`ecs_amazon_store_permissions` = '0',
`linkexchange` = '1',
`photoplogpermissions` = '4545',
`photoplogmaxfilesize` = '512000',
`photoplogmaxfilelimit` = '100',
`solvedthreadpermissions` = '0',
`forumpermissions` = '782463',
`tutperm` = '1735',
`ptpermissions` = '17',
`vbr_per` = '0',
`vbtube` = '315',
`attachlimit` = '10485760',
`pmquota` = '50',
`pmpermissions` = '3',
`pmsendmax` = '5',
`calendarpermissions` = '63',
`wolpermissions` = '0',
`adminpermissions` = '0',
`genericpermissions` = '472642779',
`genericoptions` = '62',
`profilepicmaxwidth` = '176',
`profilepicmaxheight` = '220',
`profilepicmaxsize` = '2048',
`avatarmaxwidth` = '176',
`avatarmaxheight` = '220',
`avatarmaxsize` = '2000000',
`signaturepermissions` = '235519',
`sigpicmaxwidth` = '500',
`sigpicmaxheight` = '100',
`sigpicmaxsize` = '2000',
`sigmaxrawchars` = '1000',
`sigmaxchars` = '500',
`sigmaxlines` = '0',
`sigmaxsizebbcode` = '7',
`sigmaximages` = '4',
`zh_hacksystemperm` = '5'
WHERE usergroupid=2;

MySQL Error : Unknown column 'ecs_amazon_store_permissions' in 'field list'
Error Number : 1054
Date : Sunday, July 27th 2008 @ 11:42:31 AM
Script : http://www.smartphonejunkie.com/admincp/usergroup.php?do=update
Referrer : http://www.smartphonejunkie.com/admincp/usergroup.php?do=edit&usergroupid=2
IP Address : xxxxxxx
Username : xxxxxxxx
Classname : vB_Database

[puertoblack2003]

datadase error when i'm in usergroup saving settings, i had unistalled the hack but something is still there not allowing me to update usergroup


never mined i found what of the files still uploaded in xml folder.

[NickCat]

Maybe this has been addressed... but I've upgraded from B4 and for some odd reason I'm getting the proper field in usergroups, but I can't see the setting on the usergroup permission screen. All of the templates seems to be in place, so I'm not sure what I'm missing. But as a result I get the general permission error from vb. I've tried just saving the usergroup page, but results in no change.

I'm on vb 3.7.0.

[socalrico]

I had this plugin working for a few months and now all of the sudden it stopped working

http://www.paisans.org/forums/amazon_store.php

Here is the error

Content Encoding Error

The page you are trying to view cannot be shown because it uses an invalid or unsupported form of compression.

* Please contact the website owners to inform them of this problem.

[bigtime]

This work on 3.81?

[GoTTi]

This work on 3.81?


yes this is working for 3.8.1

[bigtime]

Hi,

Here is my .htaccess file. When I add the code for this integration I get a not found error. Can someone please take a look at my .htaccess contents and let me know what exactly I should add to it?

Thanks!


RewriteEngine On

RewriteRule ^((urllist|sitemap).*\.(xml|txt)(\.gz)?)$ vbseo_sitemap/vbseo_getsitemap.php?sitemap=$1 [L]

RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} !vbseourl=
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !(admincp/|modcp/|chat|cron)
RewriteRule ^(.*\.php(/.*)?)$ vbseo.php?vbseourl=$1 [L,QSA]

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !\.(jpg|gif)$
RewriteRule ^(archive/.*)$ vbseo.php?vbseourl=$1 [L,QSA]

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !^(admincp|modcp|clientscript|cpstyles|images)/
RewriteRule ^(.+)$ vbseo.php?vbseourl=$1 [L,QSA]

##code for VBTube https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=173083&page=13
########## Rewrite rules block
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} (\<|%3C).*script.*(\>|%3E) [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} base64_encode.*\(.*\) [OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^(.*)wget%20 [OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^(.*)fetch%20 [OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^(.*)=http://(.*) [OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (\<|%3C).*script.*(\>|%3E) [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} GLOBALS(=|\[|\%[0-9A-Z]{0,2}) [OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} _REQUEST(=|\[|\%[0-9A-Z]{0,2})
RewriteRule ^.*$ http://www.defend.net/deluxeforums/ [R,L]
########## Rewrite rules block

[kairev]

I'm getting a "Page Not Found" error any time I click an item in my store.

http://www.mywrestlingforum.com/amazon_store.php

Running 3.8.2

[scottct1]

I got a notice from Amazon about this application.

We wanted to remind you that all Product Advertising API developers will be required to authenticate all calls to the Product Advertising API by August 15, 2009. We noticed that requests with your AWS Access Key ID are not currently authenticated and wish to reiterate to you that your unsigned requests will not be processed after August 15, 2009.

Any fixes?

[djbaxter]

I got a notice from Amazon about this application.



Any fixes?

I need to find a solution for this too. Amazon is good at telling us we need to add that "signature" but trying to find out from their site how to do it is a little less than clear.

[GoTTi]

it appears that amazon has blocked this application from running properly. guess its time this gets dropped in the trash can ;(

[djbaxter]

:confused?

It's still working for me...

[BucWiLd]

this work on 3.8.4?

[mikelbeck]

Sorry everybody, it's been a long time since I've been able to think about looking at this.

I'll take a look this weekend and will hopefully have an update soon.

[GoTTi]

:confused?

It's still working for me...

really? this isnt working for a lot of people. im running 3.8.x and havent seen it working in a long time. whats your site address?

[mikelbeck]

I've got it working again (on 3.8.4)... I need to make some changes to the ACP to support the request signing. Give me a couple of days and I'll have something.

[djbaxter]

really? this isnt working for a lot of people. im running 3.8.x and havent seen it working in a long time. whats your site address?

Psychlinks Forum in my signature: Psychology Self-Help & Mental Health Support Forum (http://forum.psychlinks.ca)


Link is in top navbar: Psychlinks Store (http://astore.amazon.com/psychlinks05050e-20)

I don't believe I've made any modifications to the add-on.

[djbaxter]

I've got it working again (on 3.8.4)... I need to make some changes to the ACP to support the request signing. Give me a couple of days and I'll have something.

Good stuff... always nice to have an update. :)

[jhale1966]

Was wanting to see if this had been updated for 3.8.4 yet. :)

Thanks! :)

[GoTTi]

Psychlinks Forum in my signature: Psychology Self-Help & Mental Health Support Forum (http://forum.psychlinks.ca)


Link is in top navbar: Psychlinks Store (http://astore.amazon.com/psychlinks05050e-20)

I don't believe I've made any modifications to the add-on.

ur store is using this addon here? doesnt look like it

[mikelbeck]

Sorry for the long delay... but Beta 8 has finally been posted. This hasn't been extensively tested so if you see any issues please let me know!

FWIW, this is working on my 3.8.4 site, I should create a new thread in the 3.8 section I guess.

[GoTTi]

ya post this in the 3.8 section if its working for 3.8 so we can move forward ;) thanks for the update i will check it out now

[GoTTi]

im trying to get the secret key from aws, and i see this msg on the page:

We noticed you previously created an Amazon Web Services account.

there is nothign else there, just a bunch of links. what am i suppose to look for or do from this page?

[mikelbeck]

im trying to get the secret key from aws, and i see this msg on the page:



there is nothign else there, just a bunch of links. what am i suppose to look for or do from this page?

If you've already signed up for AWS, go to aws.amazon.com, then click on "Your Account". A menu will pop up, select "Security Credentials" from that menu. Sign in, if necessary, then you'll get a page that has your Access Key ID and Secret Access Key.

[GoTTi]

ah thats what i did wrong, i overlooked that page. thank you ;) working now

[GoTTi]

would you know how do i change the ID code? i cant find the place where i use to be able to create new ID for stores....they really changed the panel around a lot.

[mikelbeck]

would you know how do i change the ID code? i cant find the place where i use to be able to create new ID for stores....they really changed the panel around a lot.

That's a good question... I can't find it either. I'll poke around some more and see if I can find it.

[pillarfan1]

Are you talking about?

https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/network/your-account/manage-tracking-ids.html

if link doesn't work..

1. click Account Settings in upper right corner

2. Click Manage Tracking IDs in right column

[mikelbeck]

That's it!

[GoTTi]

Are you talking about?

https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/associates/network/your-account/manage-tracking-ids.html

if link doesn't work..

1. click Account Settings in upper right corner

2. Click Manage Tracking IDs in right column

thanks!

[Varsh]

Ah glad you're back on this Mikel, one of my favourite mods, happy that you're back on top of it now. :)

[GTX2]

Hello,
I've installed this hack but then had to remove it.
Seems not be completly removed, since i got an error today when updating usergroup permissions. Can anyone help me deleting this hack?

Here is the error:

MySQL Error : Unknown column 'ecs_amazon_store_permissions' in 'field list'
Error Number : 1054
Date : Monday, November 16th 2009 @ 07:51:35 PM
Script : http://www.g.net/admincp/usergroup.php?do=update
Referrer : http://www.g.net/admincp/usergroup.php?do=edit&usergroupid=3
IP Address :
Username : admin
Classname : vB_Database

[j1mmy]

Where's the link for the 3.8 version of this addon?

[GTX2]

nevermind, was a missing file in includes/xml dir

[BadgerDog]

I've been running this for a few years, including donating to the developer ...

It's worked fine, then a member reported it stopped working..

I updated to the November version and obtained a new secret key and it searches fine, but when I click the link to go to the Amazon site, as an example only, I consistently get:

===========================
Not Found

The requested URL /amazon_item_1_B000F2C8IU___Four-Albums-of-Military-Song-from-Oscar-Brand.html was not found on this server.
==========================

Edit: follow up... just noticed that the link above when shown in my browser page is actually prefixing my own site to the front of it. ie: http://www.mysite.com, which of course explains the ERROR message. However, why is this mod picking up our site URL and tacking it on the front and not putting an AMAZON link on the front?

Any ideas as to what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks for any help ..

Regards,
Badger

[mikelbeck]

I've been running this for a few years, including donating to the developer ...

It's worked fine, then a member reported it stopped working..

I updated to the November version and obtained a new secret key and it searches fine, but when I click the link to go to the Amazon site, as an example only, I consistently get:

===========================
Not Found

The requested URL /amazon_item_1_B000F2C8IU___Four-Albums-of-Military-Song-from-Oscar-Brand.html was not found on this server.
==========================

Edit: follow up... just noticed that the link above when shown in my browser page is actually prefixing my own site to the front of it. ie: http://www.mysite.com, which of course explains the ERROR message. However, why is this mod picking up our site URL and tacking it on the front and not putting an AMAZON link on the front?

Any ideas as to what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks for any help ..

Regards,
Badger

Sorry it's taken so long to get back to this...

Are you still having this problem? What's the URL of your site?

[BadgerDog]

Sorry it's taken so long to get back to this...

Are you still having this problem? What's the URL of your site?

No problem Sir ... :)

Also got your PM... very gracious of you to follow up ... appreciate it ... :up:

The problem turned out to be ours and not that of your mod. With 10,000+ members and growing, we had to upgrade to a new server. When we did that and moved everything over, apparently one of our settings was incorrect. A friend who is a Unix guru fixed it on our server and he said:

The main AllowOverride wasn't set for the overall web server, that was preventing some of the commands in the .htaccess file from executing properly.

I hope you understand what he means, because I sure don't ... :D

Anyway, it's working fine now, but something that would really help us out would be the addition of which Amazon country site the user wants to go to in order to buy the product he finds in the "search" criteria.

Right now, we set it in AdminCP to be Canada, where we're located, however, if the member is from the U.S., he searches the United States site and finds the item. Unfortunately, when he clicks on the found item in the search, the mod takes him to the Canada Amazon site and not the U.S. Amazon site where he wants to buy it from. If he then goes to the bottom of the Amazon page and selects the U.S. site to get him back there, we LOSE the commission credit for the sale as his link back to the U.S. while on Amazon drops our commission code information.

Is there any way to have the mod go to the appropriate Amazon site (retaining the commission information in our link), when the member clicks on an item that he's searched and found in a different country than what is stored in the AdminCP settings for the mod?

Thanks for your support. Great mod and if we could get it to go to the right country selected from searches, I think it would get more members using it. As it is now, we're missing a lot of opportunity to support our "not for profit" site by members who aren't in Canada, which is more than 70%.

Regards,
Badger

[FitgirlWorld]

NOT WORKING for me... and here is the problem..

I copy the contents of the htaccess -new file and paste it in the curent htaccess file in the forum root directory and

BAM

the forums stop working and dont exist.

I remove the code I pasted and they start working again..

what am I doing wrong?

thanks

[FitgirlWorld]

got it!

problem was VBSEO mod rewrite..

had to make some changes

[Greek76]

Has anyone tested this for 3.8?

[Alfa1]

I wonder about this as well. Does this work on 3.8.5 or is there any alternative?

[mikelbeck]

I've got a version of this working on VB 4. Would anybody be interested in it?

[hiker]

I've got a version of this working on VB 4. Would anybody be interested in it?

Yes :cool:

[chick]

I have it working on 3.8.6 BUT the only issue seems to be (I have the 'allow search' turned off) BUT at the very bottom of the store page under the products no matter what I try it still says 'We did not find any matches for your request' even though no one searched and all products show up.

I can't for the life of me find where this is coming from!

Anyone?

[sivaganeshk]

I've got a version of this working on VB 4. Would anybody be interested in it?

Yes.. Please :)

[Varsh]

I've got a version of this working on VB 4. Would anybody be interested in it?

I'd love it if you could post the vb4 version. If you can do that then that would be great thanks.

[scottct1]

I'd love it if you could post the vb4 version. If you can do that then that would be great thanks.

Same here! :D

Thank you!

[mikelbeck]

I dunno if this is gonna happen. Amazon changed their feed, a lot of the data that was being displayed is no longer available. I've got a prototype running on one of my vB4 sites but don't know if I'm really happy with it and don't think I'm going to release it.

If that changes I'll update this thread.

[Alfa1]

It would be interested to get other affiliate bookstores integrated as well. Amazon gives very low commission compared to others.

[mikelbeck]

It would be interested to get other affiliate bookstores integrated as well. Amazon gives very low commission compared to others.

Such as?

[Alfa1]

Clickbank: up to 75% commission
Google affiliate Network: commission varies. GAN fives access to many bookstores and other affiliate stores. Including Abebooks, which is the main bookshop in Australia. Amazon does send there.
Commision junction has a high commission. linkshare seems interesting as well.

I'm researching some more...

[wraggster]

I've got a version of this working on VB 4. Would anybody be interested in it?

i would be mate, just upgraded to VB4 and i used to have dynamic amazon links to rewrite my .com and .co.uk links and it worked ok

would be interesting to see this on VB4

[hiker]

I dunno if this is gonna happen. Amazon changed their feed, a lot of the data that was being displayed is no longer available. I've got a prototype running on one of my vB4 sites but don't know if I'm really happy with it and don't think I'm going to release it.

If that changes I'll update this thread.

Any luck with this in VB4?

[inphoenix]

Need a VB4 version please.

[Alfa1]

I see the amazon store integration for vb4 is active here: http://www.lidragracing.com/amazon_store.php

[mikelbeck]

I see the amazon store integration for vb4 is active here: http://www.lidragracing.com/amazon_store.php

Yes, that's one of my sites.

[djbaxter]

I see the amazon store integration for vb4 is active here: http://www.lidragracing.com/amazon_store.php

Yes, that's one of my sites.

Is this available for download or purchase yet?

[mikelbeck]

Is this available for download or purchase yet?

No. The version I'm using has issues and I haven't had time to work them out.

[commoncents]

I'm clearly have done something wrong. can you assist?

http://www.unlimitedsportsgaming.com/forum/amazon_store.php

[cjwinternet]

No. The version I'm using has issues and I haven't had time to work them out.

Looking forward to seeing this for vb4, just what we need.

[Gamelobby]

Looking forward to seeing this for vb4, just what we need.
Would be nice. :)

[xony]

Hello, I'm testing this mod, but I skip the following error, see if someone can help me thanks.

Fatal error: Call to undefined function construct_forum_jump() in www.domain.org/amazon_store.php on line 71

[jagtpf]

Does anyone have a vB 4 version of this - or similar ?

[nxtgen]

Does anyone have a vB 4 version of this - or similar ?

I agree... Anyone have anything along these lines for Vb4?