Monday, August 21, 2006

 

Amazon Alert

We seem to be having some trouble connecting to the Amazon API today. We are attempting to contact them for further details.

Until we get this resolved, expect intermittent results from the Amazon module. If you've selected specific Amazon products to be listed on your lens, please refrain from updating the modules until further notice.

Update: There was a temporary glitch in Amazon's system that caused this problem. It was corrected soon afterward.

Saturday, August 05, 2006

 

In the beginning, there was Lens Creation...

(And last night, there wasn't!)

Yes, yesterday was a buggy day.

For a few hours last night and early this morning, our "Create A Lens" page had a hitch in it.

That's fixed now, and you should be able to make lenses like crazy.

If you're getting stuck anywhere, please let us know here.

Thanks!

Friday, August 04, 2006

 

Yikes!

Squidoo has a revenue sharing model. We call it a co-op. People talk about what matters to them, recommend great content, and maybe earn some royalties along the way.

Some lensmasters are earning upwards of $50 a month, straight into their pockets. Others are donating their royalties to charity.

We're very proud of both sets of people, and are working to optimize earnings for everyone, the entrepreneurs and the fundraisers alike. At the same time, we're delighted to see how well the traffic model and content-focus is working. Because our lensmasters are making outstanding lenses.

BUT...But today we screwed up.

Today we processed our monthly payment, and as a result of a recent push of new features, something in our payment reporting broke.

Some of our lensmasters who set their royalties to cash, saw their royalties sent to charity instead.

Yikes.

We're really sorry. We've got a tiny team, but I can promise you we're all home on a Friday night working to fix this.

So, now what? For those of you that this happened to, please rest assured that early next week we'll be paying you your cash in full. It's yours, and you'll get it.

Also, we'll be spending quite a bit of time, before the next payment period, to purge our system of any remaining bugs and to make sure that your payment settings are indeed sticking.

In the meantime, I invite you to send a note to me directly if you're having trouble or have any concerns about our payment system. Megan [at] squidoo.com.

Thanks for hanging in.

Megan
Editor in Chief
Squidoo.com

 

Trouble with CafePress module

We're currently experiencing some trouble with the CafePress module. We're working with their team to help get this resolved as soon as possible. Things should be up and running again by 3pm EST.

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

 

Finessing Flickr

Our friends at Flickr recently expressed concern about the automated "Let Flickr Pick" option we offer in our Flickr module. In the spirit of curation, recommendation, and crediting photographers, we're changing our Flickr module to only display handpicked photos, or favorite photosets, instead of just pulling in random photos by tag.

What does this mean for you? If your lens currently shows photo thumbnails via "Let Flickr Pick" they will remain on your lens. But we won't be loading any new ones automatically via that tool. And, if you edit your Flickr module (recommended) you'll now be required to point to photos using the other 2 options instead: "Let Me Pick" and "Pick By Photoset."

We're sorry in advance for any hassle this may cause you guys, and we hope the other 2 photo-selection options will provide more than enough Flickry goodness for your lenses.

P.S. Some tips to help you Flickrize your lenses to their fullest potential:

1) Give credit where credit is due, of course. If you feature someone's Flickr pictures, thank him or her on your lens.

2) Pick by Photoset: Try picking your OWN photosets. Upload your pics to Flickr and create a "Squidoo" set, let's say. That way you can easily add your own pictures to your lens.