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

Website in Progress

Since the tools appear to be becoming standardised, I'm putting together a new website that should make it easier to find the type of widget you are looking for.

We have a domain name that will be free shortly, and the tools will migrate there. The existing ones will be available for at least a month on the old servers, but moving them should improve performance slightly, and giving them their own domain name will make them easier to find.

Seperating the tools from other content on the box is necessary since our current host does not support the tools we need for animation, probably the most widely requested feature.

Keep an eye out for the new site. The old one will redirect to it once it is up.