I’ve updated the links to stores to pass through the store name instead of it’s id. Previously the url would look something like ‘/stores/1′. Now it looks like ‘/stores/amazon’. Implementation was extremely easy although wasted a bit of time not realizing I needed to use find_by_name instead of plain find.
I’ve added an rss feed to the site so it’s easier to track newly added coupons. This feature was surprisingly easy to implement thanks to helpful posts such as this one. I’ve run the feed through feedburner so I can track the number of subs and it allows for an email delivery option as well (found on every page above the footer). If it proves popular I’ll add feeds to segment the coupons in other ways.
As for signing up stores for our cause, I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the number of stores coming on board. I’m guessing the ones that turn us down are concerned with their affiliate stats looking since this is a very new site. No matter though, the site will still host coupons and deals regardless of revenue (since it’s good for you, the end user) and I’ll keep hounding stores to support our cause by becoming affiliates.
Pull up the People officially launches this weekend and although it’s a pretty simple site at the moment, I’m proud that I’ve been able to actually get it looking the way it does. I had launched the site in a different iteration about a month ago, built in Wordpress. While this got it up and running, I felt it came off a bit cheesy.
The current version of the site was quite a learning experience. It’s built with Ruby on Rails, something I’ve been wanting to tinker with for a while (since it was originally introduced actually) but I never got around to it. I’ve actually heard that a lot from other developers I know. Sure Rails gets you up and running quickly, but it has it’s own set of conventions and syntax that takes some ramp up time. Often times it’s just easier to throw something together in Java, PHP, or whatever your more comfortable with, especially with the lack of current documentation since 2.0 was released. But after all is said and done, I’m really liking rails. I don’t think I could have gotten this site together as quickly as I did (a few weeks in my spare time) with any other language.
With the technical details out of the way. I my hope for this site is for it to be a channel to route money to social causes that benefit those less fortunate. As such, all revenues from affiliate links will be donated. In order for this to be effective it requires traffic, and lots of it. Step one is done (although there will be new features and refinements introduced along the way), now the REAL hard work begins,… getting the word out.
No matter how you ended up at this post, thanks your your interest and support.
-Gerlando.