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StarCircleAcademyMember
I think it’s worse than that… Notice:
http://www.google.cz (twice)
So Brazil, the US, Japan and Czech Republic (twice) all scanned this ONE link. I think in this case the user managed to get the file, but if he tried again, the 6 download limit will have been exceeded.
This raises an interesting problem that the download limit even when NOT using link shortener may get repeatedly hammered. Is the take-away to multiply the download limit by a factor of 3 or 4?
StarCircleAcademyMemberwzp: I think I’m getting burned by the “link will be scanned”. I have the google link shortener turned on and lately many of my customers are complaining that the “download limit has been exceeded”.
The links are so long, that it’s difficult to determine what exactly is happening, but here is a shortened log. Notice how many times the file appears to be downloaded… all those IP addresses are Google proxies – except one!
66.249.88.172 – – [31/Oct/2014:22:09:44] URLtoDNLD=kJ7UX7ofH1wJpX%2BCvQ%3D%3D HTTP/1.1″ 200 529744 “http://www.google.com.br/url?sa=t&r
***.***.13.91 – – [31/Oct/2014:22:09:45] URLtoDNLD=kJ7UX7ofH1wJpX%2BCvQ%3D%3D HTTP/1.1″ 200 529744 “-” “Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.0; WOW
66.249.91.40 – – [31/Oct/2014:22:09:45] URLtoDNLD=kJ7UX7ofH1wJpX%2BCvQ%3D%3D HTTP/1.1″ 200 529744 “-” “Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Ma
66.249.83.230 – – [31/Oct/2014:22:10:03] URLtoDNLD=kJ7UX7ofH1wJpX%2BCvQ%3D%3D HTTP/1.1″ 200 529744 “http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=
66.249.83.224 – – [31/Oct/2014:22:10:17] URLtoDNLD=kJ7UX7ofH1wJpX%2BCvQ%3D%3D HTTP/1.1″ 200 529744 “http://www.google.co.jp/url?sa=t&rc
66.249.83.230 – – [31/Oct/2014:22:10:17] URLtoDNLD=kJ7UX7ofH1wJpX%2BCvQ%3D%3D HTTP/1.1″ 200 529744 “http://www.google.cz/url?sa=t&rct=j
66.249.88.174 – – [31/Oct/2014:22:11:07] URLtoDNLD=kJ7UX7ofH1wJpX%2BCvQ%3D%3D HTTP/1.1″ 200 660 “http://www.google.cz/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=
***.***.13.91 – – [31/Oct/2014:22:12:12] URLtoDNLD=kJ7UX7ofH1wJpX%2BCvQ%3D%3D HTTP/1.1″ 200 660 “-” “Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.0; WOW64)
So it look like using the Google link shortner and/or someone using Googlemail is causing both a ton of wasted bandwidth and the links to appear to be downloaded more than the limit in times.
The “660” character response is the “You’ve downloaded this too many times” response.
This problem used to occur once in a while, now it’s happening very frequently. Thought I’d put it out there in case it’s a known problem, or in case someone else is seeing it.
July 22, 2014 at 8:40 pm in reply to: PROBLEM: Using Mandrill (Transactional Email) To deliver Download Links #64356StarCircleAcademyMemberI tried HTML as an eStore option, but as I noted (item B above), links are not encoded as HTML (no -Anchor tags) in my version of the eStore so they too are not rendered clickable, and worse, as HTML everything gets stuffed together in one big humongous paragraph.
It looks like the actual markup was either stripped out of or didn’t make it into my post above. Bummer, ’cause it shows what seems to cause the problem.
For the plugins, I suspect there are several solutions.
One might be to wrap the entire email in
tags (CODE tags). Another necessary step is to wrap all links with the A (anchor tag).
A more clever approach would be to inspect the content and if HTML markup is found, the CODE tags would not be needed, provided A (anchor) tags are present. Most systems I’ve seen that render HTML emails also encode plain text versions (which is yet another complication).
I’m not wedded to Mandrill. There are also Yoast, SendGrid, PostMarkapp, MailJet. It’s just that Mandrill is the same people as MailChimp with whom I already have an account.
July 21, 2014 at 5:11 pm in reply to: PROBLEM: Using Mandrill (Transactional Email) To deliver Download Links #64354StarCircleAcademyMember@wzp: As I noted, Mandrill inserts HTML and a header. This seems to force many clients (by most clients) as HTML markup.
Note I’m using [download-link-sender]
For Yahoo the Mandrill Rending is like this (**links not clickable**)
[http://i.imgur.com/gsysa54.png]
For GMAIL this is the rendering (links OK)
[http://i.imgur.com/uR4uTJl.png]
For HOTMAIL like this (**links not clickable**)
[http://i.imgur.com/AkA5JUF.png]
On Outlook 2010 the links remain intact but the text flows together like so:
[http://i.imgur.com/AkA5JUF.png]
StarCircleAcademyMember@wzp: Thanks. That’s a valuable bit of extra information.
StarCircleAcademyMember>> There is a bit of history for not using gettext stuff in this project.
There are still vestiges of gettext style markup in the eStore_customers_menu.php, that is, the code uses the __(‘ ‘, ‘domain’) function.
Curiously the display customer function is the one other place where I’d like to be able to specify my preferred formatting string to customize what gets displayed.
Another approach would allow the customer to override some functions with their own plugins.
StarCircleAcademyMemberAll in one place is better, but perhaps not enough because I’d still have to figure out which messages are new in the next release, that is, I wouldn’t be able to blindly overwrite the file without breaking some function.
E.g. suppose: version 7.0.3 has 6 msgs. Version 7.0.8 has 12.
I can’t re-use the file I customized from 7.0.3 or I will wipe out half of the defined messages in the new version. However if the message file is well ordered and documented I suppose it could be easier to keep up.
I wonder if you’ve thought about using gettext for I18N and L10N? Doesn’t solve the problem, of course, it’s just that it’s more flexible than using “define”.
http://codex.wordpress.org/I18n_for_WordPress_Developers
The last time I dealt seriously with this issue I was using Java resource bundles…
StarCircleAcademyMemberWould love to get my hands on that!
StarCircleAcademyMemberAs a follow up to my prior comment:
May I request an optional “USER_messages.php” file be included before the download.php (if it is found). That way I’d have a place where I could change the messages (by defining them) and theoretically not be affected by a store upgrade. My responsibility would only be to save and restore that one file, not have to re-add my changes to the newer download.php file. The download.php file would then only define those messages which do not already exist e.g.
defined(‘ESTORE_DLVS_HI1’) || define(‘ESTORE_DLVS_HI1’, ‘The secure download manager…
I am now behind several store bump ups because of the pain in re-making my changes to the message file(s).
A similar strategem could apply to other messages.
StarCircleAcademyMemberI’ve noticed similar issues with the ‘wp_eStore_download_links_tbl’ table. There is some special magic in it.
For example I just did a test where I created a “squeeze” form request to a product with a stamped PDF file. One entry was placed in download_links table as expected. After requesting a download, it bumped the access_count by 2 (not one). However the second download attempt only bumped the count by one.
One problem, IMHO, with the download stats is that they are fairly inscrutable. What I really want to know is which person ordered a product in the last month that they failed to download… and which person exceeded the download limit.
The download stats shows this unhelpful information (I’m using the google link shortener option, and yes, I’ve altered the actual links).
[redacted]
I’ve also thought about changing the way the Download Stats work. I don’t like that it saves my dates since usually when I run it, what I want is data for the most recent N days or weeks, and as I noted, I usually am most interested in those who DIDN’T download something, or those who hit the limit.
StarCircleAcademyMemberI have a few questions about Digital products and variations.
1. What happens if in addition to setting up a variation, something is entered in the: Digital Product URL field? Will it send what is entered in the URL AND the appropriate variation (if any)?
2. How are Digital Variations treated with respect to the other settings in the “Digital Content Details” Panel?
My assumptions is that all the settings there, including download limit, download duration, and Anonymous download flag apply.
3. What about PDF Stamping? My assumptions is that if any of the variations are PDF they too will be stamped.
4. Can one of the digital variations be “empty”?
I’m thinking I’d like to use the “Digital Content URL” as the means to send a PDF while the variations would send other content.
I also discovered an interesting use of the variation field(s): I ask customers to specify what OSX and/or Windows version they are using. It doesn’t change what I ship, but does allow me to collect some marketing information.
StarCircleAcademyMemberReasons to autopopulate and NOT use a regular SqueezeForm:
1. If the form is auto populated there will be no opportunity for the user to mis-enter any details. Indeed, the fields can be immutable / display only.
2. There will be no additional user action except to “accept”. This also eliminates an attack vector.
3. The PDF stamping process will have all the data it needs to properly stamp the file.
4. I’ll have a clear record of the date and time (and what) the customer ordered.
5. Anyone who stumbles onto or is shared the page will NOT be able to abuse the form to get a free or nearly free product for themselves.
Download NOW
6. Download Now is anonymous – no client identification is collected.
7. With download now, there is no data to stamp the file with.
A logical extension of the “pre-populate” is to allow the user to do the entire ordering process by clicking a link in their email (and completing payment when applicable).
I see the pre-populated, immutable field method as a viable, non-exploitable way to offer special upgrades to my customers. Any other method short of unique, single use coupons per customer is vulnerable to abuse. Even single use coupons are subject to abuse: “Bill, I don’t think I wan’t to get the latest version, but you can use my coupon to pay half of the normal price to get this for yourself!”
In the course of writing this, I realize that the best method to pre-populate (for existing customers) is to use a Transaction ID as a key to verify (or look up) the name and email identification. Unfortunately I don’t have the TXid’s in my MailChimp list.
Unfortunately I also just realized that Download Now, Squeeze Form (or most other choices) do not allow “Variations”. Also both the squeeze form and Download NOW methods do not send the “Additional Product Specific Instructions”.
March 23, 2014 at 9:11 pm in reply to: Needed: Suggestion/Best Practice for distributing digital Updates. #57152StarCircleAcademyMemberHere is a question: How can I PREVENT someone from getting a refresh of certain product(s)? If I delete the customer record(s) for a transaction does that prevent the “download link sender” from sending a link again? I assume so.
Also, what if I delete the product?
March 23, 2014 at 9:09 pm in reply to: Needed: Suggestion/Best Practice for distributing digital Updates. #57151StarCircleAcademyMemberI have been using a different tactic for upgrades lately. It’s a bit more pain, but there is some benefit to it as well.
I DUPLICATE the product as a new product. I then create a page with a squeeze form in it for this product and send my prior customers a link to the new page. They can then “request the upgrade” for free. I can also close the door on the special upgrade page and/or offer the upgrade free for a week and then start charging a fee. One bonus for me is that I can tell from which product they order which version they last got.
The downside to this, of course, is that my customers must fill out the squeeze form again (have a question open on that)
Ideally they could just “click a link”.
Perhaps a better solution would be to have a page with a “download link sender” that ONLY sends updates for s specific product. Or better yet, be able to send out an email that allows a “one-click” re-get of a specific product.
StarCircleAcademyMemberThanks, I see the list of tags is here: http://www.tipsandtricks-hq.com/ecommerce/wp-estore-shortcodes-and-functions-reference-460
My suggestion is to add the above link into the product as part of the text under the Product Specific Instructions just as it is on the email settings page.
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This option is useful when you need to give your customer some specific instruction that applies only to this product (e.g. a secret password for the PDF file). This instruction will be added to the buyer’s email body when this product is purchased. Use the {product_specific_instructions} tag in the “Buyers Email Body” field in the settings menu to dynamically place this information in the email body. >> (Click here to see a list of all tags)
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