New engine and website

The prototype engine has been live since yesterday and is running now.

Yesterday the prototype got something of a trial by fire: the Smashwords site was down due to an issue at their host. At one point it was returning random packets rather than a true error message, the DNS was broken and eventually the IP address changed. The random packet issue is why I put the test engine up, just in case of security issues, since any website using the widgets could be slowed considerably as the system tried to assemble the data.

Instead of switching back when Smashwords came back up, I knew Smashwords was back up when all the widgets started working again - before the IP change had rolled over to my own location and I could see their website.

We haven't had any reports of problems, so the new engine is staying live. If Smashwords goes down, or the feeds break, you should now get a message saying "Under Maintenance."

Regarding the website, there is a beta version of the new website. We're breaking the current content down to one widget per page where possible. The widgets themselves will also be migrating, although we won't be turning the old ones off yet. URL redirection should make this seamless for people with the older widgets, and users can simply switch when they update theirs.

Beta Website: http://www.smashingreads.com/index.php