If you’ve used OIO for any length of time, you’ve probably had some frustration with the stats tracking at some time or other. I know I have…
At first I thought the daily archiving process was going haywire and increasing the click count artifically, but that wasn’t the problem at all. Those who suffered from inaccurate stats did so because bots were following the tracker links. Instead of getting 10 clicks a day, you might have seen 100!
I therefore set to work creating a set of filters to get rid of the “fake” (non-human) clicks, and have been very pleased with the results. The default set of filters should do the job, but in case they don’t you can manually blacklist or whitelist (1) user-agents (2) ip addresses (3) referring urls. I also added a live stats page, to help you easily identify suspicious looking click data and filter it out in the future.
NB: as I don’t want to over-load users with feature changes that each require upgrading in quick succession, this has been silently released as part of an update v2.07. Once the other changes are complete, we will move to v2.10
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Installation shouldn’t be a hassle:
Installation shouldn’t be a hassle, but much of the time with web apps it is. Due to the nature of web apps (and server setups), offering a painless installation process for everyone is near impossible.
But that hasn’t stopped me trying…
Meet the web installer (it also upgrades scripts too). No more FTP client, no more uploading files to your server or editing config files. This is an attempt at “click and go” installation:
1.) First you choose whether you want to install or upgrade OIO, and which platfrom you are using (currently the choice is between wordpress and standalone).
2.) Next, you choose what url you’d like the script to be installed at. This lets the installer check to make sure the url and the directory you’ll choose in the next step match (and so avoid future headaches). You’ll also be asked for your MySQL database login info (required to run OIO along with php) if installing the script in standalone mode.
3.) Finally, you input your FTP login details (this is the only way to easily transfer files from one server to another), and then the web directory you want to place the script in.
4.) The installer checks that everything works right, warns you of any errors, then proceeds with the installation (or upgrade). And that’s all there is to it – providing you have mysql and ftp details to hand, the whole process should take no more than a couple of minutes.
More developments to come (as always)…
What’s next on the agenda? Where do we go from here?
Below is a list of some of the things that will be tackled next. As you’ll see, it’s quite a substantial list, so asking for ETAs on anything specific at this point is useless. 
Script Enhancements:
* add a bot detection to the stats tracker (to help with inflated click through stats) [done]
* construct a dedicated default ads module (and allow default ads to be tracked)
Marketplace Changes:
* re-design submission / API processes to allow for multiple sites to be linked to one ad server
* activate marketplace “shopping cart” system, and display purchase / stats data on listing profiles
Misc Changes:
* web installer, to allow ‘click and go’ installation of OIO with just a few clicks to any server [done]
* complete 2.0 documentation section (currently inactive)
At the moment I’m working on the web installer, which is already functional, but lacks a few finishing touches. After that, we’ll see how priorities stack up before deciding what to tackle next.
This originated from a forum post, but I thought it may be useful to others looking to upgrade from v1 of the plugin:
1.) Backup your database (people don’t often take any notice, but with any large upgrade it is essential).
2.) It’s also a good idea to backup the old v1 oiopub folder in case you need to downgrade.
3.) Do a fresh upload of the v2 files (ie. delete or rename the old version folder first) – it’s better than just uploading the new version over the old version.
4.) The upgrade itself just requires you to login to your WordPress admin area once you have uploaded the new files, at which point you will be asked to confirm you would like to upgrade. The process is then completed automatically.
5.) Finally, be aware that the way text links are handled changes in v2. They now work like banner ads, using zones. Any existing text ad purchases will be moved into zone 1 after the upgrade.
An extra note on the text ads. You can still emulate the old style of display, using WordPress conditionals. You could place the is_home() conditional around a zone, for example, to only display it on the blog home page.
Click here to download OIOpublisher v2
Firstly, welcome to the all new OIOpublisher 2.0!
It’s never easy launching a new product, or an enhanced version of an existing one (especially when expectations are high). However much you prepare, not everything will be perfect, and this launch is no exception…
That’s why I’m going to keep a bug list on the blog for OIOpublisher 2.0 users to reference. If you’ve found a bug and see it listed below, you’ll know it’s being dealt with. And if it’s not on the list, report away!
Bugs Found:
Payments of 1,000 or over (any currency) not saving correctly – fixed (30/09/08)
Multiple default ads not showing when using “fill in the gaps” mode – fixed (01/10/08)
Several minor fixes, including the admin purchase editor and auto upgrades – fixed (08/10/08)
Issues with cache deletion and saving html fields – fixed (11/10/08)
Cron job fix (now you can reset all cron jobs manually at any time) – fixed (14/10/08)
Latest version now: 2.07
A new site, a new ad platform, and lots of new features!
Hopefully you’ll find the new version even more useful than the old one. We’ve worked hard to produce it, and will continue to do so in order to improve it.
Over the coming weeks we’ll be polling users regarding new payment options, and implementing new marketplace services. Enjoy!
