S*E released!

[Nikolai]

As of today, Sunday April 24 2005, two months before the initial target date, Star*Explorer (http://www.starexplorer.com) is officially in the release mode and is available for purchase!

All existing sponsors have a very special deal (I told you, I'm good for it:-)

All existing non-registered users may continue to enjoy original extended trial period until July 12 2005. All new users will have industry-standard 30 day trial.

Here are some product highlights:

Upload unlimited number of photos
Automatically convert your images to Smugmug-compatible formats
Take it everywhere with you - it "weighs" less than a one 3mp picture
Find you albums, sales and stats fast
Drag-and-drop and/or send your files and folders from your Windows Explorer
Notify yourself, your friends and your family of the new uploads
with the built-in email client
Use it from as many machines as you want
Create and re-use your own custom gallery settings
Stay organized with the extensive but easy-to-use options
Friendly and responsive customer service (not that you'd need it much:-)
S*E has been in the extensive beta-testing since early January 2004. With 14,000+ hits and counting there were only a few support issues, most of them were resolved within a few hours upon notification.

I would like to thank Smugmug team, my existing sponsors, customers and users and, of course, my fellow 3d-party developers and all dgrinners for their support. I would not be able to make S*E on my own!

S*E http://www.starexplorer.com/images/SE_ban25.jpg thanks you!! :lust

[DavidTO]

Nikolai,

I'll never use your software, as long as you lack Mac support, but I want to congratulate you. You obviously have put your heart and soul into this endeavor, and I can tell you've done a great job, from the comments. Congratulations!

Now get started on the Mac version, will ya?

;)

(please don't respond to the Mac comment I WAS just kidding!, great job!)

[Nikolai]

Nikolai,

I'll never use your software, as long as you lack Mac support, but I want to congratulate you. You obviously have put your heart and soul into this endeavor, and I can tell you've done a great job, from the comments. Congratulations!
Thanks, man, I do appreciate your kind words!


Now get started on the Mac version, will ya?
;)

As soon as a finish my "phase two":-)


(please don't respond to the Mac comment I WAS just kidding!, great job!)This thought didn't even cross my mind, "timeo Danaos et dona ferentes" is not in my vocabulary:-)

Thank you again.. Funny we didn't met yet, but I'm sure I'll see you in Yosemite!

Cheers!:1drink

[rainforest1155]

Congratulations Nik! :thumb
Sorry for not being very responsive about your recent developements lately. I did not have much to upload and I am still a little busy.

Stats feature of the new version sounds great, but I had some problems while with getting it to run.

- First of all it would be nice if you could add this to the context menu, because naturally I use the right mouse button to access album relevant stuff.
- Secondly I always get this message box:
http://rainforest1155.smugmug.com/photos/20489625-L.gif
I even reimported my license file (thanks again, Nik! Seems like I can put it to use now. :thumb ), but the message didn't go away.
- Thirdly I can enter every amount of go-back-months and still get only the current one. I can even enter negative and more than 12 months even though this data isn't stored within SM.

I'll keep you posted on additional wishes.

Thanks for the update,
Sebastian

[Nikolai]

Congratulations Nik! :thumb
Sorry for not being very responsive about your recent developements lately. I did not have much to upload and I am still a little busy.
Thanks, man!


Stats feature of the new version sounds great, but I had some problems while with getting it to run.

oops, sounds like a trouble..:-)


- First of all it would be nice if you could add this to the context menu, because naturally I use the right mouse button to access album relevant stuff.
I was thinking of this.. It's not a problem at all, but I was contemplating the fact that this is a fairly once-per-month deal and as such I didn't want to clutter the context menu more than it already is..
I'll give it another thought though..



- Secondly I always get this message box:
http://rainforest1155.smugmug.com/photos/20489625-L.gif
I even reimported my license file (thanks again, Nik! Seems like I can put it to use now. :thumb ), but the message didn't go away.
Darn.. :uhoh Sorry.. :rolleyes Will fix tonite as soon as I get home..


- Thirdly I can enter every amount of go-back-months and still get only the current one. I can even enter negative and more than 12 months even though this data isn't stored within SM.
The data *is* stored for the "unblocked" version, otherwise it's always current month only and it ignores your input. Once the issue above is fixed you'll get this one working too..


I'll keep you posted on additional wishes.
Thanks for the update,
Sebastian
Please do!

Cheers!:1drink

[rainforest1155]

I was thinking of this.. It's not a problem at all, but I was contemplating the fact that this is a fairly once-per-month deal and as such I didn't want to clutter the context menu more than it already is..
I'll give it another thought though..Maybe you're right. Especially when the batch download of all albums or at least per category is working there'll be no need to put it in the context menu.
Is the batch download already in and if yes how do I access it?

The data *is* stored for the "unblocked" version, otherwise it's always current month only and it ignores your input. Once the issue above is fixed you'll get this one working too..I don't doubt that, but what I meant was that I am allowed to enter any number into the months-field. For example "-200" months or "300" months (results in Apr 1980).
There is no restriction and SM only stores data for 12 months. So the field should be limited from 0 to 12. The rest isn't working anyways.

Sebastian

[Nikolai]

Maybe you're right. Especially when the batch download of all albums or at least per category is working there'll be no need to put it in the context menu.
Is the batch download already in and if yes how do I access it?

It is there. It's context sensitive. The only problem now is that this license-protection is wrong (I apologize again) and as such you can't do more than one gallery. Otherwise I would always do ALL for the previous month (which should not change anymore:-)


I don't doubt that, but what I meant was that I am allowed to enter any number into the months-field. For example "-200" months or "300" months (results in Apr 1980).
You mean strictly UI-wise you don't like negative numbers? :-)
This particular component treats MinValue=0 as no limit, and I need 0..
I'll look into it.. At least negatives are treated as 0, so there is no harm done..


There is no restriction and SM only stores data for 12 months. So the field should be limited from 0 to 12. The rest isn't working anyways.
Sebastian
SM may change their mind (like they did with 8Mb limit).. Again, under normal circumstances you'd do the initial sweep for whatever time, and then you'll be normally doing last month only.
I didn't want to superimpose my own limits..
But you're right, some of those seem ridiculous. I'll see what I can do..

Cheers!:1drink

[luke_church]

Hi Nikolai,

Just wanting to say well done for taking the big jump and on the app. Hope it all continues to work out for you [And all the other developers who are working with Smugmug's API].

Congrats. Way to go.

All the best,

Luke

PS. What do you think you're doing releasing projects before their published ship dates??? That's no way to behave... You're putting the rest of the developer community into disrepute. I would like you to take down the download until it's at least a month late and delete some 10% of the published features, com'on we don't want to give users the impression that they actually have the right to expect us to keep our promises... ;)

[Nikolai]

Hi Nikolai,

Just wanting to say well done for taking the big jump and on the app. Hope it all continues to work out for you [And all the other developers who are working with Smugmug's API].

Congrats. Way to go.

All the best,

Luke

Thank you very much, Luke! I am always glad to hear your feedback!:thumb

PS. What do you think you're doing releasing projects before their published ship dates??? That's no way to behave... You're putting the rest of the developer community into disrepute. I would like you to take down the download until it's at least a month late and delete some 10% of the published features, com'on we don't want to give users the impression that they actually have the right to expect us to keep our promises... ;):rofl
LOL:-)
Well, "be on time and on budget" - that's the motto of us Delphi guys:-)
I do hope .NET will be as good for me as Delphi is/was..

Cheers!:1drink

[Nikolai]

Sebastian, the S*E version is OK, I guess I sent you wrong license previously.
I sent you a new one.
Sorry about the issue.
Cheers!:1drink

[Andy]

:clap congrats, nik :D

[Nikolai]

:clap congrats, nik :DYou may wanna try it on your laptop sometimes!:):
Cheers!:1drink

[rainforest1155]

Sebastian, the S*E version is OK, I guess I sent you wrong license previously.
I sent you a new one.
Sorry about the issue.
Cheers!:1drinkNik, thanks the new license works great. Now I just need a good database program to handle all the data.
Does somebody know a good alternative to M$ Acce$$? I have OpenOffice, but I don't know if it's able to handle mdb files.
I would prefer freeware/opensource tools.

Thanks,
Sebastian

[Nikolai]

Nik, thanks the new license works great. Now I just need a good database program to handle all the data.
Does somebody know a good alternative to M$ Acce$$? I have OpenOffice, but I don't know if it's able to handle mdb files.
I would prefer freeware/opensource tools.

Thanks,
Sebastian
All you need as any DB tool which can handle ADO/JET. However MS Office makes it all a bit easier/prettier..

[rainforest1155]

All you need as any DB tool which can handle ADO/JET. However MS Office makes it all a bit easier/prettier..Thanks, I got the newest beta of OpenOffice and it seems to do the job. However I need some more time to get used to all that new stuff.

Having downloaded all relevant stats I would like to have an option to exclude certain categories/galleries from being downloaded without having to download all the others manually. For example I have a "Backup"-category with all my originals in it and these aren't public and therefore I don't need stats for them.

Any news on the image-level-support in S*E? I know you said some time ago it's in alpha testing. With the nice function to download my stats I also would like to have the possebility to assign my original filenames to all the pictures-stats happended before S*E had DB-support. :wink

Awesome work so far, keep it up!
Sebastian :beer Nik

[Nikolai]

Thanks, I got the newest beta of OpenOffice and it seems to do the job. However I need some more time to get used to all that new stuff.Well, you're all set then:-):thumb


Having downloaded all relevant stats I would like to have an option to exclude certain categories/galleries from being downloaded without having to download all the others manually. For example I have a "Backup"-category with all my originals in it and these aren't public and therefore I don't need stats for them.
Hmm.. Interesting... I have similar structure with a few private folders storing all the originals, but the thought never crossed my mind.. Besides, some of them do have direct links;-)
I'll see what I can do..


Any news on the image-level-support in S*E? I know you said some time ago it's in alpha testing. With the nice function to download my stats I also would like to have the possebility to assign my original filenames to all the pictures-stats happended before S*E had DB-support. :wink
I got it working, but I didn't officially put it anywhere. I will add it some time later.

Now I'm simply taking some time off coding/design to think about the whole Phase Two thing, prepare for and enjoy upcoming Smugmug Yosemite trip, etc.
S*E is my pet project and I would like it to be fun, not just another job:-).
At least I don't have any HR to ask for vacation..:-)


Awesome work so far, keep it up!
Sebastian :beer NikThank you kindly! :beer

[rainforest1155]

Hmm.. Interesting... I have similar structure with a few private folders storing all the originals, but the thought never crossed my mind.. Besides, some of them do have direct links;-)Nevermind, the download of my 4000 originals stats didn't take that much time, but it would be still nice to have that feature.

(concerning support on image level)
I got it working, but I didn't officially put it anywhere. I will add it some time later. Great, I'll wait for this. :)

Now I'm simply taking some time off coding/design to think about the whole Phase Two thing, prepare for and enjoy upcoming Smugmug Yosemite trip, etc.
S*E is my pet project and I would like it to be fun, not just another job:-).
At least I don't have any HR to ask for vacation..:-) Hey, I didn't mean it like that. I just jotted down my ideas. You definately earned yourself the time off. As I always said I can wait, especially after the solid program you delivered ahead of your schedule.
Enjoy the time! :1drink

Just one more thing I discovered: When selecting a user-created category (Backup) with 2 subcategories (2004,2005) and then trying to download the stats for the whole Backup-category from the last 12 months I always got:

27.04.2005 21:29:39: Started Downloading statistics
27.04.2005 21:29:39: Started Getting list of category/subcategory specific albums
27.04.2005 21:29:39: Finished Getting list of category/subcategory specific albums (0:00:00)
27.04.2005 21:29:39: No local data found
27.04.2005 21:29:39: Finished Downloading statistics (0:00:00)

Downloading the subcategories seperately worked perfectly.
I didn't have the problem with SM-standard categories.

Tell me if you need some further infos about that. It isn't urgent, so take your time.

Sebastian

[Nikolai]

Just one more thing I discovered: When selecting a user-created category (Backup) with 2 subcategories (2004,2005) and then trying to download the stats for the whole Backup-category from the last 12 months I always got:

27.04.2005 21:29:39: Started Downloading statistics
27.04.2005 21:29:39: Started Getting list of category/subcategory specific albums
27.04.2005 21:29:39: Finished Getting list of category/subcategory specific albums (0:00:00)
27.04.2005 21:29:39: No local data found
27.04.2005 21:29:39: Finished Downloading statistics (0:00:00)

Downloading the subcategories seperately worked perfectly.
I didn't have the problem with SM-standard categories.

Tell me if you need some further infos about that. It isn't urgent, so take your time.

Sebastian
I think your local cache is out of whack. Try Get Albums (Ctrl+Shift+A) and Categories (Ctrl+Shfit+G) manually (like in good old days:-), it should fix this issue. Please let me know if it does not..

Cheers!:1drink

[rainforest1155]

I think your local cache is out of whack. Try Get Albums (Ctrl+Shift+A) and Categories (Ctrl+Shfit+G) manually (like in good old days:-), it should fix this issue. Please let me know if it does not..Nope, no change. I just tried it on another custom-made category with 2 subcats...the same. Activating all logging checkboxes does not result in a detailed log, so I can't give you additional infos.

The global option to get stats for all categories/albums works though.

Thanks,
Sebastian

[Nikolai]

Nope, no change. I just tried it on another custom-made category with 2 subcats...the same. Activating all logging checkboxes does not result in a detailed log, so I can't give you additional infos.

The global option to get stats for all categories/albums works though.

Thanks,
SebastianI'll check it tonite!