Shop Lurker

[somethingmustbreaknow]

tkp the real mvp

[BluffsideTank]

This is sick. Would love to try it out.

[kelbywest]

Sheeesh count me in.

[tkp]

sent our more creds to those who requested.

been making some progress on this re-engineered build (aka version three), which will hopefully be the version that can actually be released to the public.

compared to the current version (the one people have been trying out), it's using a fraction of the code, with the capability to search every single item in the shops (instead of just the first page of results). i'm hoping total search time for 20-25 shops is only a few seconds, instead of the current 30 to 45 seconds.

during this rebuild, i noticed how massive ccs was. the amount of products they sell online compared to other shops is pretty obvious when collecting the product list:

https://i.imgur.com/sjq7SvW.mp4

on a side note, if anyone works for a shop that happens to run their own custom e-commerce solution, or something that hasn't been updated in a while, i've come across some "interesting" things. if you're looking for something that appears to be decently secure and stable, i'll go out on a limb and say you should use shopify.

[tkp]

hello, an update on version 3. still have a few more things to tweak out, but it's kinda like the site went from clay wheels to urethane. well, not that rad, but you get the idea.

the biggest change is filters, with size likely being the most useful.

there's around 48,XXX products between 27 shops. running the site locally on my computer, it takes about 0.3 to 1.5 seconds to search all of those products. i'm assuming (hopefully not incorrectly), that search time won't increase too much when it's running on a remote server and accessible to all.

searching for a deck : https://i.imgur.com/0HTniNI.mp4

search for a shoe: https://i.imgur.com/yfwwMcn.mp4

[Robert Baratheon]

I’ll take a login if thats still available

[ProfessorJSS]

Could I also get a login please?

[Lou Strux]

Just checked it out again today.
Maybe not the fastest (yet) but the search results were pretty savvy.
I’m for sure looking forward to this being the platform those in the know use to get they goods on.
Definitely appreciate being able to search the inventories of shops I enjoy supporting.
Respect for the work you’re putting in to refine this.

[tkp]

sent out more logins to version 2.

Just checked it out again today.
Maybe not the fastest (yet) but the search results were pretty savvy.
I’m for sure looking forward to this being the platform those in the know use to get they goods on.
Definitely appreciate being able to search the inventories of shops I enjoy supporting.
Respect for the work you’re putting in to refine this.

yea, the site is too slow. right now the way it's built is like walking into each skate shop and asking "do you have this?" and waiting for a response. the new format is walking into one shop that already knows what every one else has.

as for the work being put in, thanks. i got laid off a few months ago, well the corporate message was "we are having a reduction in force". instead of doing the responsible thing and touching up my resume, building shop lurker into something that people might actually use seems like the better move.

if not, oh well. it's been a fun journey and there are probably other data sets the concept can be applied to.

another v3 update: now you can just choose a deck size, no need to enter in search term. this will carry over to searching for shoes as well.

https://i.imgur.com/KfiGvlI.mp4

[tkp]

4 months to the day, the site is getting closer to be able to be released to the public.

yesterday i set the new version up on the smallest and least powerful internet facing amazon web services server.

the first thing i searched was all 8.5" decks available from 27 skate shops. it returned 320 decks and took 0.2 seconds.





once i do some more testing and make sure the site is updating itself properly, i'll grant everyone access again who already has a username and password.

i still have no idea if this is a thing that will actually get much use, but i've definitely enjoyed using it to get exposed to lots of different deck art.

edit: turns out there's way more than 320 8.5" decks across those shops.

this is more like it:



still short a few shops who tag their decks in a different way as compared to what i'm observing is "normal", but nearly 1000 more results discovered with only half a second increase in time.

[opesorry]

Seems amazing, I don’t buy skate gear online often these days but would definitely use this!

[tkp]

Seems amazing, I don’t buy skate gear online often these days but would definitely use this!

i still prefer walking into a shop, catching up with whoever is working, and spending some time checking out the board wall, shoe rack, and any new books or zines.

if anyone is still paying attention to this, i just enabled version 3 for those who have a username and password. feel free to check it out and let me know what you think.

it's a quite different from the previous version and there's thousands of more results.

it's not completely finished, but it should work for now.

[Lou Strux]

Wow, it’s a big diff; watching this evolve so far has been rad.
I think you are filling a need in the community by bridging the physical gap between actual retailers & buyers.
Looking forward to using this again next time I’m in need. 
‘Course, by then it may have evolved even further.
I’m stoked to have this tool at my disposal.
Thanks for the effort/thought you’ve employed to build it.
Turns out losing that job may have sucked for you, but gave skating-at-large an effective retail search tool. 
Serendipity.

Edited for spelling.

[Kook Me Amadeus]

I’d like to try it!

[RichardBarkley]

Can I have a login

[tkp]

sent out more logins

turns out now you can actually login with your (edit: previously sent) usernames and passwords, so if you tried and failed in the past 24 hours, my bad. forgot to change a file to allow everyone in.

edit: thanks pugmaster for catching my wording slip up

[davy]

this looks awesome, cant wait for public release!

[tzhangdox]

Would love a login please

[Kook Me Amadeus]

Whoa, this rules… it works so well.  Insanely useful!

[pugmaster]

sent out more logins

turns out now you can actually login with your usernames and passwords, so if you tried and failed in the past 24 hours, my bad. forgot to change a file to allow everyone in.

I attempted to log in with my SLAP username and password but was unsuccessful. I did not ask you previously for a log in.  If I can get one, it would be very appreciated!

Thanks man +1

[tkp]

Expand Quote

sent out more logins

turns out now you can actually login with your usernames and passwords, so if you tried and failed in the past 24 hours, my bad. forgot to change a file to allow everyone in.

[close]

I attempted to log in with my SLAP username and password but was unsuccessful. I did not ask you previously for a log in.  If I can get one, it would be very appreciated!

Thanks man +1

oh damn, i screwed up my wording. should have said:

"if you were previously sent a username and password, now you can actually login with those usernames and passwords."

just sent over you and tzhangdox some logins that should work.

[notinternetfamous]

i'd love a login please

[halfcab4cutie]

may i gain access to this beautiful creation please?

thanks

[gub]

tkp, could I please have a login also

[tkp]

a few days ago i sent out logins to those who requested them.

just added the capability to save items:

https://i.imgur.com/p70vbTn.mp4

each item is saved with the sizes returned in the search results. if one of those sizes, or products were to sell out, that will be reflected during the updates which happen throughout the day:



note: those items in the image above aren't actually currently sold out in the real world, i just adjusted the shop lurker product database for testing.

price changes are also included in the updates.

[tkp]

hello, it's been a while so i figured i'd provide an update on this project.

getting closer to releasing the site to all. been doing a good amount of fine tuning to ensure things run the way they are supposed to.

currently up to 40 shops, well 41 if going by name and not shared ownership.

if you haven't tried the site out in a while, the search has been improved so it may be of more use.

[JM]

Hell yeah @tkp . You the real deal.

This is great shit. I hope you can leverage it into a good gig, or build it into a good business somehow for yourself.

If it doesn’t work for skating, maybe there’s another business that has more market share that could use this kind of web-crawling. (Whoah. Flashbacks. “Web-crawling”)

[Eastcoast skater dude]

wonder how many ppls information you got gg dweebs yal got key logged

[Lou Strux]

wonder how many ppls information you got gg dweebs yal got key logged

Naw, dog: you got it wrong.
TKP been on the level since dropping in from the top of the extension.
They good.


EDIT: nice to see the platform continues to evolve.
Sounds like checking out your latest refinements is a perfect excuse to spend a little of the skate budget.

[tkp]

hey everyone, the site is now open to the world.

hopefully everything works as intended, but there may still be issues here and there. feedback is welcome.

shout out to my partner michele for spending a copious amount of time on this with me. her ideas and code helped make the site what it is.