What’s new
Hey everyone, Alex here. Today I am finally ready to launch the first big update of 2022 for the service: Version 2022.1 codenamed “The Aegis”.
One of the biggest changes in this update is the way products (formelly known as tracked items, items or figures) are working. Without getting into much technical details - the products now have support for multiple releases, related products information and JAN/EAN code. This allows us to show re-releases under a single page (and have a single subscription to all of them) and show links to other versions of the same product on the product page. Please note that this all of this is being done manually, so if you see any mistakes (like a re-release having a separate product page or different versions of the same product not being linked together) please let me know.
JAN (known outside of Japan as EAN) codes are unique manufacturer codes for every single product sold on the market. Those codes will be used by future features like allowing us to automatically search the item across all supported websites without user making request for every single website separately.
The product requests process have slightly changed. Instead of creating the product right away and subscribing you to it the request is now saved and you will be subscribed to the product once the request is approved.
User interface has also been changed a bit:
- Home page has been removed and you are now taken directly to the product list.
- New login page has been implemented in preparations for the future support of login methods other than Discord.
- The website is no longer accessible for the logged out users.
- The error pages have been redesigned to share the design with the login page.
- Help has been moved from the discord to the website itself.
- FAQ section has been added into the help.
- Added zoom-in feature for the image on the product page.
I have also fixed the bug which prevented moving past page 1 during search.
Current events and how they affect the service
I probably should have posted this earlier and as a separate post, but the banner on top of the site was all I was able to force myself to do up until now.
February 24, 2022 was the day when the world as we know it has changed. I don’t really want to go into the details of what I think about it. All I’m going to say is I do not support Russia’s actions in Ukraine. Those who talked with me via Discord already know how I feel about all this in full details.
The sanctions imposed on Russia are unprecedented, but at the present moment MyRestockAlerts is mostly not affected by them. Someone from our community helped to pay for the servers while I was unable to do it (thanks again!) and a few days ago I have found the way to continue paying for them myself. Current amount of donated money should be enough to keep the service afloat for 5-6 months. Unfortunately the good news end here since PayPal has also decided to suspend their services in Russia. That means I am no longer able to receive donations, so they are suspended until further notice.
I would also like to get back to the subscription limitations I have talked about in the last post. The abuse mentioned in the previous post continues, so those limitations will be implemented as a part of the next minor update to the service.
The promise of not affecting people who donated money before February 19, 2022 will still be honored. If you have donated less than 2 USD or donated 2 USD or more and don’t have Supporter role on the Discord, please contact me.
And that’s it!
That’s it for now, thank you for your time. If you have any questions you can reach me via our Discord server or Discord’s direct messages (Alexsey#9211).
Until next time!