Forum topic just for developers

[exoticincense]

I would like to suggest a forum just for the purpose for developers to communicate with each other and Ebid regarding developing code, working with ebid API and generally bounce ideas off each other. In the past any technical or programming discussion gets muddled by posts from people who know little about programming or web development and often the threads turn into an irrelevant mess. The below thread is a perfect example.

http://helpdesk.ebid.net/showthread.php?t=110114

[bykimbo]

Perhaps you could set up a social group for now?

[SalusLibrorum]

It's all a bit pointless until something has been published, or at least mooted to be being published. The silence in that direction has been deafening and I get the feeling that you're onto a loser, I don't think the admin want a published api to be honest, or they would have said something.

[exoticincense]

I suppose you are right. Time to move on I guess.

[JudesNiceThings]

Speaking for the people here who have absolutely no idea what API is:

What does it do?

How would we use it?

[SalusLibrorum]

An API is an Application Programming Interface. It's basically a set of functions made available for general use, so programmers can write applications which automatically carry out requests at a distance from another application. It's a bit like a vending machine, you press the right buttons, and out comes the right product, (or a drawer comes out and lets you put the product in).

All the big, really efficient, sites have them that have user interaction, like evilBay, Amazon etc.

If you have a published API developers can write programmes to make the most of your site so you don't have to, it saves time and money for the originators of the site, and tools appear to make its use easier. I really don't understand why eBid is so reluctant to do it, it's a fast track to success.

Part of the reason why Windows is so successful, and why the original PlayStation, despite not being technically as good as the competition, was so successful was because they had developers all over the world writing applications that would run on them, adding value and getting people to flock to them.

[JudesNiceThings]

Thank you Hazel - having now seen what it is - I would say that it would be a real asset to the site.

[heatemyfather]

It would be handy if such a forum or group could be set up, and excuse me for sounding elitist or discriminatory here, such that non-developers could not add comments, otherwise it would be no different to the situation you describe in your initial post. Can groups be formed where new members can be vetted on here? Perhaps new users would need to give links to websites or programs they've developed before being allowed to join. After all, I know the problem of non-technical people chirping in, I've seen it myself on here and it gets very annoying!

When we talk about web development, I assume we mean coding and not some website builder junk (including Dreamweaver, a chimpanzee could make a website using that).

[rvhc]

If you have a published API developers can write programmes to make the most of your site so you don't have to, it saves time and money for the originators of the site, and tools appear to make its use easier. I really don't understand why eBid is so reluctant to do it, it's a fast track to success.

The reason must be worries about server load?

[SalusLibrorum]

The reason must be worries about server load?

You may well be right, I would have thought that capacity planning would be part of any plan of expansion, which would include plans for a published api, and servers capable of taking the expected load.

However, I have a feeling that this is all moot anyway, I think the admin of eBid have been happy to let their site stay the same for the last 10 years or so (after all they were blown out of the market by evilBay, and made little to no response) and I suspect that they don't want an all conquering world dominating site, it's perfectly possible that this site is being run out of someone's bedroom (or equivalent).

In fact the way the new invoices have been so horribly and amateurishly constructed, and it taking so long to get development of any sort done, it wouldn't surprise me if eBid is someone's hobby rather than a professional business.

(Sorry, I want to be selling on a site that functions properly, not one I have to be making constant workarounds on, and I'm feeling very grouchy at the moment).