Hi everyone :)
Theres a new link for the doutlet:
New features:
Thanks man :-) I'm probably going to add a feature where you can compare two devices against each other next…
Just so you know, I've updated the website now. It's more responsive and it has searching as well!
It's moved to http://doutlet.azurewebsites.net/ for now. I did a total rewrite on my holidays. It's not much just yet and still has a bit of boilerplate code but I will clean it up as the week goes on.
I'm just getting "Nothing to display."
EDIT: Only works for a few categories.
This means there isn't any specials on the Dell outlet for those devices
In that case, your explanation here should be on the page! :)
Yeah you're right! I need to add that :-)
Hey, this isn't in yet, but there are now category counts next to the categories. The new link is http://doutlet.xyz/.
I always want to know the screen details on the laptops, so it'd be nice if that was in the information section, but it's no real bother to have to expand the details.
Yeah I can do that, I'll comment back when implemented
I had a crack at this but it makes for too many columns on a narrow display (like a phone)… can you think of a way that this data should be visualized?
Perhaps just add it to the description?
regarding categories - could you do an "all"?
I could, but that would include servers and storage and everything?
Yeah "all" would be a good option. Then maybe categories for laptops and desktops
It's great what you have done. Way easier to comprehend than the dell website.
Hey man, for some reason I can't edit my original post, but I've updated the page. It now lives at http://doutlet.xyz/
I like it, good work!
Thanks man! I can't edit the original post for some reason, anyway theres a new link now for the page - http://doutlet.xyz/
I like it, although it would be cool if you experimented a little more with Bootstrap. I also ran into this bug here: http://prntscr.com/86n8em But good work! :)
Yeah that's a data issue,I have to patch it out. This is an early release, mainly to gauge interest :-)
Do you mind if I ask what language you're using for the backend?
Not at all.
Its C#, hosted on Azure (although the website address kind of gives that away ;) ). Initially it was an in memory datatable that was passed around like cheap booze in a party, but now its in the process of growing up (SQL Databases, Azure webjobs to refresh the database, etc etc).
If you have any interest in this sort of thing, I strongly encourage you to get Visual Studio 2015 Community and have a play. I've been coding for yonks but I still consider myself as a bit of a noob, and have only recently had enough nouse to get together a semi-usable frontend and working backend. I enjoy the challenge though :)
@misterpotatomato: Oh I like this, this looks awesome! It's so much better than their current site and new update is so smooth :) You've done a really awesome job.
Thanks man :) Word to the wise, in my experience anyway, Azure is hella expensive. I'm now using a VPS from Cheap Windows VPS to host it. It also has the added benefit for being able to develop directly on the server and then publish on loopback, so no matter where I go I can remote control into the server and work on it.
The "Precision" category seems to be coming up with a runtime error for me.
Description: An application error occurred on the server. The current custom error settings for this application prevent the details of the application error from being viewed remotely (for security reasons). It could, however, be viewed by browsers running on the local server machine.
Details: To enable the details of this specific error message to be viewable on remote machines, please create a <customErrors> tag within a "web.config" configuration file located in the root directory of the current web application. This <customErrors> tag should then have its "mode" attribute set to "Off".
Other sections seems to be working though.
That's a data issue I have to patch out :-)
feature request: Compare the price in outlet to their real retail price, and show percentage saved.
is a big task but it will make it much more useful.
Yeah I was thinking about doing this. It's a pretty big ask though…. Simply because of the number of permutations that exist in different computer configurations.
Yeah this isn't an easy thing to add hey. I can add a google search by item name though?
really great, thanks heaps for doing this.
i'm tempted to say it'd be cool if you had a 'sort by' feature (for price and condition at least) but the number of records in each category is so small that it's not really a bother.
oh, and a link back to the relevant Dell outlet page (e.g.: latitude, alienware, etc.) would nice too, at least for the lazy haha ;)
i like the 'expand on request' feature rather than having all details displayed automatically.
super work!
Sort by is coming :-) hopefully this weekend
It looks really great :D
One thing I've noticed was, even though Dell Outlet shows a deal on Monitor, your site doesn't show the deal.
Sort Columns (A-Z, by Price)
Always show Bundle # on the left hand side for easier copy pasting
A search box is also useful, without having to dive into the relevant menus, I could probably just type in "Venue Pro" and the results come up. Good if you already know what you are looking for!
You also need a quick shortcut button to copy the relevant bundle # so you don't have to expand it everytime.
e.g document.execCommand('copy')
Okay, I'll make the sorting a possibility
looks good.
Does this display the exact lists as in dell outlet website?
what's with the refresh time? is it GMT+0 ?
Refreshed at 8/20/2015 12:52:44 AM
maybe put a direct link to dell outlet on the shown price, so that we don't need to open the dell outlet page as well?
At the moment its not supported by a backend database, so the results are "live" as at the moment that page is loaded. So they're hot off the press!
Are you planning to store the results in a DB in case the very next user asks for the same data?
As of right now there is some scheduled code on the backend to refresh the data, so, yes :) That will make for a much more responsive site.
I haven't checked that good but, the option that says OS included or not seems to be missing. as in if you get a physical copy of windows or not.
You could also remove Vostro desktops and laptops since they are no longer made deals never come up in those categories anyway.
Thanks, I'll take that into consideration
I suggest leaving the Vostro categories, even though they haven't been used in years. They're most likely still there as placeholders (Dell may eventually rename & reuse these).
hmm, where is the Seo for it?
You are using the 1 page all the time, nothing actually changes in your URL. This means that if I want to give somebody a link to your page I have no way in hell of doing this. The same problem with implementing something like "likes" for your page (not that you need it but most customers will ask you for this).
"Refreshed at 8/20/2015 1:05:42 AM" is a wrong time. Also are you scraping the DELL website on every request? as that will certainly trigger some sort of automatic ban from them. It would be better to use some sort of caching and have a timeout on the caching. The results would not be "live" but they can be close to it too.
You have included jquery 2 times on your page. JS files should be at the bottom you have them included in a div at 1 point.
I will stop testing now, sorry if you have an alpha state website and you want us to test why would you have ads on the website? That is just disrespectful.
This is more of an all round test for myself, to learn about web dev and analytics and adsense. The ads aren't there to make me money as much as they are to give me an idea about how adsense works and stuff like that.
I wouldn't say its disrespectful…
Until you do not provide a service, you should not be making money, it is as easy as that. Right now, not only you do not provide a service (as still your website does nothing extra to the Dell website) but you are also asking for a service (for us to test).
Now testing a website usually costs money, sites get away with people testing by giving them something (like a free service) during the beta phase. Your website provides nothing while trying to make money off us while we provide a service.
@mihai.petrescu: I think that misterpotatomato is providing a service. The view of the Dell site that his software gives is vastly easier to use than the Dell site itself.
misterpotatomato admits that he is using his site as a learning exercise, not only for web scraping, but also for adsense. If you don't like that the site has adverts, you are entirely within your rights not to use it. But don't just complain and spoil it for those who are happy with the advantages that he is offering.
@pjetson: Him saying "Any issues or suggestions let me know" threw me off… I thought we were suppose to complain about stuff. But you are right, next time I will tell the testers to test my website but not to report any defects…, a simple "I like it. Thanks." will be more than enough feedback.
Also I am glad to see people consider anything a service. I thought having to click more times to get to the same information would be a disadvantage but obviously I was wrong. I guess the negative space negates that (or does it not negates the negative… I always get confused)… At least he has a responsive menu…
But again I see the error in my ways, comparing things at a glance like the Dell website does is again obviously a mistake. I could always just open 2 windows, put them side by side, perform the same search again (as I cannot copy paste the link… can I?) and expand 2 different items to see what is what.
If you really like the guy (and you do from what I can see) you would tell him that probably his website is illegal but again probably you are memorized by the incredible amount of negative space or the time walk that you are taken to by the clock.
At least it makes shopping easier by allowing you to quickly buy something….wait…
I know, I know with my attitude I should get hired at Amazon…
I understand where you're coming from. Thank you for the feedback all the same, it's all still very good to have. :-)
Do you do web development for work?
Its not the wrong time, technically, its the time of the server where the server is hosted. The caching idea is a good one, I'll take that on board.
Get rid of the ads until you have something of value, aka a fully functioning site.
The ad was the first thing that loaded and was basically the only thing on the front-page. Put a sour taste in my mouth immediately and I left.
The thing I find with stuff like this is that, often times, its damned if you do, damned if you don't. What I mean by this, is that if I had put a web site up with no ads at all, and then got it working with a bit more functionality and tightened it up, and then added ads into it, people would have still complained.
I stressed about the decision to put ads in. I don't want to use the general public as guinea pigs, and I'm honored by the fact that you have looked at the doutlet. Essentially, its a test for me, to understand about adsense and analytics and I don't have anywhere else to test those things, except on the things that I make.
The other thing is that hosting things on Azure is a bit pricey. I don't know if that's because I am a total Azure noob or if its just straight up expensive, but it puts a "drag" on funds on the month to month. At the moment, thats just dead money (I host the doutlet at a loss, both on my time and my expenses). But being able to say "Hey, my site made 17 cents yesterday!" gives me hope that I won't always be making a loss on the website.
I've tried, conciously tried, to make them unobtrusive. I've always been impressed with AdSense and general Google advertising due to the fact that they are unobtrusive and keep the page being responsive. I've had worse experience with even the ozBargain ads (I keep getting an ad about a free trampoline with any purchase? The ad implements a really graphics intensive blur effect and lags my phone browser).
The only reason why they exist on the page is because I would like to know that what I am developing has the chance to at least pay for itself in the long run, so I don't have to run my dollars into the ground to keep it online. That's all.
And besides, if all of the above totally cheeses you off and you have no interest in using the website, I totally understand. I won't force you to use the site :)
Thank you for your feedback.
If the site makes my life better and I can see the admin is putting effort into making the site even better I don't mind ads. E.g. I used to allow ads on reddit before the whole Pao thing went down. If OzB started showing ads to members I would have no prob with that.
I sometimes even click an ad on sites that I really think are great to try and give the developer motivation to keep on working. Use whatever business model you want though, just trying to give some honest feedback.
I don't have any problem with ads , in the interests of learning.
I am glad you explain your motives well.
Some people you just can never please.
Well, I like what you can do. And I would like to learn from you how.
Can you please tell me the knowledge and programming skills you need to know to get you to this point today?
Where do I begin?
Videos? Books? Tutorials?
Anything you can recommend?
If you want , I can click on the ads and make you more money .
Ha! Never thought I'd have someone say that to me.
First thing, I'm not pro at coding, or databasing, or anything for that matter. I know enough to get myself into trouble :) and throw together a basic website like I've done here.
I don't really code by tutorials or books or videos. I wish I did. It would be easier that way. I learn the things that I learn by knowing what I'm attempting to create, or do. The main thing that I remember, as a budding coder, is that no programmer ever begins what he does without trying to solve a problem. If you're creating something that doesn't solve a problem, then theres no point making it. In doing this, the programmer actually creates his own unemployment, as once he has solved that problem, it doesn't need to be solved anymore.
The second thing is that there are approximately a bazillion different takes on the same problems out there. This shouldn't discourage you from making something though. If you want your first app to be a to-do list, then awesome. Theres a lot of great information you can glean from that, like application development, database development, and so on and so forth. And you know, if you make the best to do list in the world, people will use it. That's the best compliment that I think I can have for the stuff that I make, that it could be good enough that people would want to use it out of their own free will.
My advice, get Visual Studio 2015 Community and start playing. When you hit bugs, Google your heart out. When you still hit bugs, ask a question on StackOverflow. If what you're doing is particularly difficult, wonder if maybe someone has already done it and open sourced it (and maybe put it on NuGet, Visual Studio's package management system). Things like bootstrap make it really easy to create visually attractive webpages.
That's the long and short of it. Any more questions, ask :)
Thank you very much for your advice.
My goal is to be where you are before the end of this year. :)
Visual Studio 2015 Community .
Hmm. That was a bit of a surprise for me :)
I'll probably work on requested features from top to bottom as they appear on this thread this weekend…
Thank you everyone for using the site :-)
A few suggestions:
Useful, thanks.
Wishlist: Would be nice if you could also display the current retail price.
That would be difficult. I was thinking of adding something that would make the "model" clickable which would google it. You'd get reviews in that, as well as prices, etc.
I was thinking of adding something that would make the "model" clickable which would google it. You'd get reviews in that, as well as prices, etc
Good idea!
I'll add this is for sure.
(I rewrote it over the holidays, its faster now, and lives here: http://doutlet.azurewebsites.net/).
It's accessible via the menu in the top right corner (on mobile)
I'll be making it more obvious today on how it all works. Just rewriting the underlying tech was the hardest bit lol.
So it used to run on something called web forms and I wrote it when I didn't really understand databases. Under the surface it was fairly hacky and not very extensible.
Now because it's been updated it and hosted on azure it lends itself to significantly more functionality. It has user account stuff built in (although not taken advantage of yet) which will pave the way for better functionality.
Things like:
Etc etc. It will make it more useful in the long run
This has been implemented (not on the main page, but on the category pages you can now click on any item that contains the model text).
So, for Vostro, every property that contains the word "Vostro" will be clickable and will take you to a google search.
Thank you all for testing :) Time got away on me on the weekend, but I've realised that I need to do a bit of a rework with the way the data is handled.
It will be much better after this! Thank you to everyone for using it. Your suggestions really help, and your criticism too! I'll have to add a credits page to the site to thank everyone who helped.
Runtime error :-(
Seriously? :-(
Yeah it really is. I'll have a look. Thanks for reporting it.
I'll take a look tonight. Taken offline for now. Sorry dude.
Woop woop got a lot of work done today! The site still looks the same though… will take another look on the weekend and make it more user friendly.
Thank you all again so much for using the site :)
Error 403 - This web app is stopped.
D: Is it broken?
http://www.dell.com/learn/nz/en/nzdhs1/campaigns/dell-outlet…
Could possibly scrape the NZ one too but it's nowhere near as active in terms of available items(ie far more XPS ones pop up on the AU outlet than ours).
If I did, would you use it?
Just thinking how I'd split them, so one doutlet for Australia, the other for NZ…
Hi, misterpotatomato (that's so tough to type, lol). I haven't used your doutlet site since the last time I needed to buy a laptop, but I tried it today and it doesn't seem to list any items on any of my browsers.
Are you still maintaining it?
Haha I thought nobody was using it… I'll take a look at it and try to see what's making it display nothing.
Glad to hear you're finding it useful
Thanks, misterpotatomato!
Although it did come good again, and I purchased another notebook.
I just made a minor update to show total devices on the database, and how much net worth there was.
Have any feature requests?
It's gone into that "display nothing" mode for me again, misterpotatomato :-(
For example, if I go to http://doutlet.xyz/Categories/CategoryInspector.aspx?Categor… all I see is the blue header section and the "Sort by Price" button.
It also says "Cache last updated -8 minutes ago".
Yeah cool. I know how to Fix that for sure.
The original code base is over a year old now (not that code ages over time or anything haha) but there is some work that should be done to Fix it up.
The negative values, I believe, should be flipped. So the cache was last updated Eight minutes ago.
Edit: I'll try to patch it out tomorrow. Thanks for using the site :)
It's displaying items again now, but there's an error when I press the "Sort by Price" button.
Yeah that bit needs an update. I'll aim to put it in tonight some time.
I've gotten better at coding since I put doutlet online haha
Fixed the database update since time.
Fixed the list to accurately count how many devices are in each category.
Sort by price is still broken.
I like it. Thanks.