[ShopDB] Updates / Changelog

Thanks! Appreciate it!

I've looked extensively into adding a stock counter, but it is just infeasible. Even if I were to have full access to the server-side code, it appears to me as the trade shop plugin does not actually keep track of which chests are in/out of stock, this data is fetched real-time when the sign is clicked. Overall this is technically possible to achieve, but would require overhauling multiple plugins and running custom code on the server... Might as well just create an entirely new tradeshop plugin at that point - just not realistic / I do not have the time to do that. .

That being said, I am currently working on the inactive player list,
which will add the functionality of effectively 'hiding' items from players
which have been inactive for 20 or more days.

This is a significant undertaking as it requires rewriting the vast majority of queries that are used.
It also requires writing a bot which runs everyday and iterates through the players to determine if they are active or inactive (this part is nearly done already )

I've determined that this is worth it, as a brief analysis revealed that a significant percentage of the player-base is inactive.
Numerous lookups return a 'player not found', which I believe indicates they have been banned and/or inactive for an extended period of time.

I hope this will help to greatly reduce the number of shops/players which have items out of stock.

 

Just an update on this,

71 (38.7%) players on ShopDB are inactive,
which account for ~1,900 (17.7%) chest shops.

112 (61.3%) players are active,
which account for ~8,900 (82.3%) chest shops.

 

Sure, I'll do that in the next update which is likely coming tomorrow.
I definitely recommend using bot teleport command (copy/paste) as well - especially for those without /tpc
I've just fixed various bugs on that today and should be functioning well now.

 

Done!
Also added 'tips and tricks' at
https://shopdb.ecocitycraft.com/app/search

I'll update these as more features are added.

 

Hey, yeah I had to start it up again. Having an issue where the crawler runs out of memory, I'll look into it.
For now I have to start up the crawler manually. I've just started it now, so all shops should be updated in the next couple of hours.

You can view the time shops were updated by going here and clicking on 'Shop Updates' tab.
https://shopdb.ecocitycraft.com/app/statistics

You can also view the last time a shop was updated by viewing it on the shops page.
https://shopdb.ecocitycraft.com/app/shops/main/icb

If a couple days go by and shops haven't been updated, contact me and I'll start it up again
Hopefully will get this so I don't have to start it manually.

 

Ah yeah, it checks based on the server.
I need work on analytics a little bit, I think the pricing is a bit too strict on what is considered a 'poor' price.

I'll add a column for the server it is on, as well.

 

Sure! Crawling it now.

 

So after refactoring all my bot's crawler code and endlessly debugging to identify the memory leak, I found it was because of a package I was using and all I had to do was update the package to fix the issue.

But anyways, the memory leak is now resolved. I'm looking into deploying the crawler on a server and then this will be automatic. I also fixed some bugs along the way (regarding the count of items in shops).

 

Hey, I read the post.

The shops shouldn’t be outdated, they have been crawled and all items are up to date within the last hour.

New shop owners must make a request to have shops added, so if some shops are missing it’s because nobody requested they be added. To get a shop added, fill out the form on the webpage.

Also, I am making changes to automatically hide items from players who have been inactive for more than 20 days. If these players become active again, their items will be shown again. I think this is the change you’re looking for.

Thanks for the suggestion, please let me know if there’s anything else I can help with.

 

Unfortunately this is not a server plugin and does not interface with server code at all, so there’s currently no way to identify if a shop is in/out of stock.

Players can request shops be removed from the site if they’re consistently out of stock. If you encounter one, then submit a request.

I think hiding inactive players will have a big impact in reducing the number of shops that are out of stock. But bear in mind, just like in the real world, if someone is selling something underpriced it’s likely to be bought out.

The site is a tool used to identify which players are buying and selling which items. Showing a current stock counter is one of the most requested features, but unfortunately would require creating a custom server-side plugin and basically an entire rewrite to the existing tradeshop plugin.

I think if you use the bot teleport functionality, or TPC if you have it, finding shops is still 100x more efficient than the alternative of running around and searching.

The changes to hide inactive players should be going live next week. If you have any other suggestions, I’m happy to consider them. But unfortunately the “hide out of stock shops” is not currently a possibility. If it were, I would definitely do it.

Also I’ll add your shop as soon as I get back on tonight

 

I definitely get your point and agree. I think since shops have been on there so long a spring cleaning is needed. As soon as I get some time I’ll reevaluate the shops and remove those inactive ones.

Hopefully when inactive players have items hidden this will make a big difference as well