UPDATE: Back Live! Thank You! Site Maintenance Scheduled For Tuesday 1/20 7pm

Discussion in 'Official Announcements' started by SavIsSavvy, Jan 16, 2015.

  1. SavIsSavvy
    SavIsSavvy Member
    We'll be performing scheduled maintenance starting Tuesday, January 20 at 7:00pm EST and expect to be back up and running by Wednesday, January 21 at 1:00am EST. We'll let you know in this original post if these times change.

    During the maintenance period, we are upgrading Shapeways to a new platform that will allow us to work with greater velocity and serve as the foundation for us to build a better Shapeways throughout 2015 and beyond.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 6, 2015
  2. numarul7
    numarul7 Well-Known Member
    Oh!!! An upgrade!!!

    Preparing popcorns!
     
  3. UtorCase
    UtorCase Well-Known Member
    Can you tell us more about the details? Curious here :)

    Eg are you changing hosting providers? Or, are you switching to an open source platform?
     
  4. 7943_deleted
    7943_deleted Member
    Hey guys,

    Nothing quite that exciting, so don't go crazy ;-)

    We will detail it all once we're on the other side, as it depends what we are able to do vs. what we want to do....and we hate to promise things as you know!

    Cheers,
    Natalia
     
  5. SavIsSavvy
    SavIsSavvy Member
    Just a friendly reminder, we're scheduled to go offline here in just over 2 hours at 7pm PST.

    There won't be many features that come along with this, but rather a foundation to build with more agility in the future :D. Will update once we're back online!
     
  6. SavIsSavvy
    SavIsSavvy Member
    Thanks for bearing with us during the scheduled downtime! We know that took a little longer than expected, but this is one of the biggest back-end improvements we've made in the last few years.

    **Note: While we are back live, there are a few small issues we will be addressing over the course of the day. If you notice anything strange please to let us know, and trust that all will be back to 100% in no time***

    We are excited to share that we've upgraded Shapeways to a new platform that will pave the way for better, safer, and more agile Shapeways.

    With this update, we've made a few changes:
    - Introducing the Shapeways Product Identification Number (SPIN)! In the same way that products at the store have SKUs, all Shapeways products now have SPINs. The format will be 9 character, alpha-numeric, such as: 5GGRU5DKE. This does not replace model ID, but it does open up a new layer of product identification in the future. Also now your products, and our site, are more secure. SPINs will now appear in URLs, CSV downloads, invoices, sales, etc.
    - Product URLS have changed from this format: www.shapeways.com/model/2260620 to www.shapeways.com/product/5GGRU5DKE. URLs will also no longer end in the material ids. For example, your URL used to end with the material id ex: materialId=61. Now, it ends with optionId=42614453. This and the SPIN make your product information even more protected. Rest assured, all old URLs will redirect to the new URLs -- we've triple checked to make sure that the old links work. All search engine optimization will also carry over to the new URLS.
    - Pricing CSV no longer has a product volume column. You can still see the volume of your products on the product page.
    - Your Markup Invoice & Sales Overview Spreadsheet no longer contain Production Order Numbers. This should have no negative effect on your selling experience.
    - Filters to manage your models in My Models have moved to the Shop Inventory page, which lives in the SELL tab. My Models will direct you there now, or you can use this link.
    - The SELL tab will now take you directly to your Shop Inventory page, to make for easier selling on Shapeways (it previously defaulted to your Shop Settings page). We know many of you have been asking for easier inventory management, and this is the first step towards that.
    - The "downloadable" and "not downloadable" filters previously available on My Models are no longer available. You can still offer products for download -- you just can't sort your models that way.
    - Not for Sale products have been removed from public search, galleries, and shops, but they remain on your Designer Profile (and in your models of course). This is based on feedback from both you, our shop owners, and shoppers that not for sale models are confusing in the shopping-focused areas of our site. Rest assured that Not for Sale items remain visible on your profile in order to show your skills and work as a 3D modeler and product designer. You can still, and will always be able to, direct link to your products from anywhere.
    - When you're viewing one of your products, your view will now mirror the shopper view of that same product. This is awesome for those keeping a close eye on markup and dealing with exchange rates - something you've been asking for!

    This is a lot of change for what may not appear to immediately impact you today. We ask you to trust us when we say, this platform upgrade is necessary for a series of improvements we plan to bring you soon, and will serve as the foundation for a better, more agile Shapeways for the years to come. There are a lot of exciting things in the pipeline. You'll learn about them very soon- we promise!
     
    Last edited: Jan 21, 2015
  7. UtorCase
    UtorCase Well-Known Member
    Fantastic updates. :)

    Just had an idea that maybe for future updates, you could save visitor facing pages as simple html and serve them as static content while backend content systems can be taken offline and upgraded. This way, visitors will still get some content, and Google will be happy as well as the downtime was quite long.
     
    Last edited: Jan 21, 2015
  8. First glitch I could find. All the comments in my products are from "15 hours ago". Even the ones posted years ago.
     
  9. erckgillis
    erckgillis Member
    change the URL's to Products in the Middle of selling really really sux!

     
  10. Also, when I sort my Shop Inventory or my Shop by "Newest" the sorting is all wrong, it has nothing to do with the actual dates of the models.

    And also, for some reason the Default sort is by "Newest" instead of by "Popular", and as I said, "Newest" is all wrong.
     
  11. Moore, glitches. Now I cant make my Renders the default images. Doesnt matter that I sort them as default images, the priority is always the Shapeways default render (not even the material render) or pictures.

    I can understand why you wouldnt want people posting renders and prefer pictures, but why give the option to make them default if it wont work?
     
  12. Youknowwho4eva
    Youknowwho4eva Well-Known Member
    I'm told this is being resolved as some final touches are finishing up.
     
  13. numarul7
    numarul7 Well-Known Member
    Found the same behaviour like the ones commented already. I add that some product photos got messed up , for me only one got a render instead of the photo as default. When I click the short url of the product (g string ring) I get the photo , on the shop i get the render.

    I`ll not try to fix it until the update is "cleaned" looks like a bumpy ride right now.

    Product short urls work for now.
     
  14. Youknowwho4eva
    Youknowwho4eva Well-Known Member
    The old URL's should automatically redirect.
     
  15. Youknowwho4eva
    Youknowwho4eva Well-Known Member
    For the comments and images, I'll let the dust settle from the update before checking. Some things are still caching and server lingo. When it's complete we can determine what is temporary, and what is broken.
     
  16. gregd
    gregd Member
    Hey Guys!

    Thanks for your diligence in pointing these out! We've got all hands on deck cleaning up these remaining pieces. We're tackling the default renders and shop inventory issues now. Stay tuned and thanks again for the extra set of eyes!

    Best,
    Greg
     
  17. Zews
    Zews Member
    I have an urgent request for a future update.

    Even though I do not have many models on the "My Models" pages, my library of models is growing. AS a jewelry designer I make many different items like rings, bracelets, brooches, pendants etc. I know other jewelry designers do the same. I assume designers who make products for model train sets also make many different items like cars, building, people etc.

    My request is that in the next update Shapeways creates the ability for us to create different folders into which we can place different items that belong together. I would like to be able to organize my models in the same manner as I do on my computer.

    The way it is organized now, I can only sort them in a very clumsy way that is not very helpful if I have more than a few models.

    I can create and organize folders in my online email sites, I think I should be able to do organize my models on Shapeways site.
     
  18. FabMeJewelry
    FabMeJewelry Member
    @Zews

    "Shop Sections - Model a variety of things? Organize them by theme or category. Add organization to feature different products and help shoppers browse through your shop." - Shapeways

    You can make your own shop sections here : https://www.shapeways.com/shop/settings?li=nav (somewhere in the middle of the page)
    When you have made some "groups" you can add a model to a group on the model edit page you want to add.

    These (clickable) shop sections will appear at the left side of your shop page as seen here : https://shapeways.com/shops/fabme



    *** haha apologies Zews I wasn't paying attention, I realised after pushing the submit button ;) ***
     
    Last edited: Jan 21, 2015
  19. 7943_deleted
    7943_deleted Member
    Oh that's a good idea Zews! Thank you!
     
  20. TonyRR
    TonyRR Well-Known Member
    Hello.

    My markups are ridiculously reduced!!!!!

    I've just received a "Items sold list" and the markup shown that I've earned selling these products is not correct!!!

    This must be a bug! Tell me that's a bug please!!!