Thirty Bees Future Announcement

[veganline]

I am nosey and want to learn as much as I can for free from other peoples' business (and my own in a way).
Any links to guides about buying and selling businesses slowly - when there is time to haggle - would be interesting to read.

[lesley]

The short story is the contract had to be rewritten at the last minute because of an event came up that was beyond anyone's control dealing with a company that thirty bees partners with. It was not my fault or the buyers fault, but the partnership was mentioned in the contract, so that part had to be rewritten. 

[Traumflug]

20 hours ago, Messenger Bee said:

Our focus and goal is not money and profit, but for TB to survive and thrive. Open source and free.

You have full access to the Github repository and the thirtybees.com server already. Writing code doesn't need a contract, you could do this right now.

Quote

Also, we won't be taking what was free once and moving it behind a pay wall.

Which obviously means you plan to keep future additions closed source.

[Messenger Bee]

29 minutes ago, Traumflug said:

You have full access to the Github repository and the thirtybees.com server already. Writing code doesn't need a contract, you could do this right now.

Actually, it's more complicated than that. We can only employ someone once the sale has been finalised. 

29 minutes ago, Traumflug said:

Which obviously means you plan to keep future additions closed source.

This is a completely incorrect assumption. We do not have any plans to close future additions or features behind pay walls. What keeps TB great and free will continue. So think TB as it is now with new additions, improvements, all for free. We are part of the community after all and have no dark side plans. We want what the community wants. Just want to see TB continue, and to improve, survive and thrive. 

We will share all our plans and road maps with you guys when we take over. Expect transparency and happiness 😁

[led24ee]

There is more than year with no updates. Basically TB is dead already. But since TB is far more stable than PS then it is still somehow alive. If there is nothing new in month or two , then also these who at the moment are using it, will be looking for something else. There are many things that are not working and i doubt that they will ever work.

[Messenger Bee]

13 hours ago, led24ee said:

There is more than year with no updates. Basically TB is dead already. But since TB is far more stable than PS then it is still somehow alive. If there is nothing new in month or two , then also these who at the moment are using it, will be looking for something else. 

There are many of us that feel the same way and are worried about TB's survival. This is why we decided to try and do something about it.
And this is also why we are trying our best to get the sale finalised as soon as possible.
 

13 hours ago, led24ee said:

There are many things that are not working and i doubt that they will ever work.

If you don't mind, please detail the "many things that are not working" here. We will ensure that they get added to the "to be fixed" list and that they get resolved accordingly.
You can also create forum posts of the issues, and the community may be able to provide solutions in the interim. The issues may also have to be logged as actual bugs in Github.  

edit: this unrelated discussion what moved to separate thread: 

 

 

[veganline]

For me "many things" includes

• Solved
  Stripe module when working with a free Cloudflare SSL certificate. It half works for me at the moment, and when I am more clear I'll either solve the problem or post on the forum here - https://forum.thirtybees.com/topic/4554-addresses/?tab=comments#comment-37297 
  
  Customers get no re-assuring page after ordering.
  
  I get the money but have to dig in "orders" and "customers" to get information and then cut and paste it to one place. Maybe it is just a problem with the way I have installed Cloudflare SSL, or maybe it'Primary Domain (No Valid Certificate) s much broader and effects everyone on Stripe.
  
  -----------------update 7.10.20
  I find that the "No Valid Certificate" message from Cpanel about cloudflare free SSL is a known Cpanel bug, and not relevant. A default install of TB from Softaculous, updated to bleeding edge with the update module, does work with the Stripe module to confirm orders on a confirmation page. 
  -----------------update 21.10.20
  Solved: an override called mail.php clashed; the system works with this over-ride renamed=disabled
  https://forum.thirtybees.com/topic/4504-stripe-module-not-working/?do=findComment&comment=37892
   
• This thread about trying to sell two products that might have different couriers if bought separately, with the "too heavy" error message applying from either courier - it ends on page 2 https://forum.thirtybees.com/topic/3517-the-product-selection-cannot-be-delivered-by-the-available-carriers-it-is-too-heavy-please-amend-your-cart-to-lower-its-weight/page/2/
   
• Lack of instructions - even a copy of the Prestashop 1.6 ones updated. Not important for most forum users, who are quite tekkie and probably ex-Prestashop 1.6, but important for users who are ex-Shopify or ex-Wordpress. If my problem with Stripe is my fault, maybe some instructions could help.
   
• Niara theme. I have only just learned how to edit it, to make radio buttons to work I hope. Other people on the forum say that the latest Niara version is fixed, so maybe this is a problem of how to update themes smoothly from an install done on Softaculous or the other similar one that lists TB. I install, update to the latest theme if I dare, and the back office says something about "issue #905" but I still have to learn DIY solutions to make radio buttons work. Removing everything in Niara to do with radio buttons might be the answer.
   
• Niara on mobiles: suspected problems on narrow smartphone screens, but I am not sure and not sure how important. I just know that some shopkeepers move to a paid-for theme.
   
• Customer Account. A concept liked by some shopkeepers, but not others and hard to remove with DIY work as I have done. There is no way to remove this complication with a tick of a box.
   
• Notorious PS order form in 3 stages,
  
  presented as 5-stage or 1-stage without explanation & 
  
  no easy editing for those who want to remove fields they don't need. DIY editing is possible but took me a while to learn.
  -------------------------------------------------------------------
  added 7.10.20
   
• Responding to SEO scanners with a running commentary would be good. I don't know how much time it would take or who would pay for the time. You can see the type of thing here:
  https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffront.thirtybees.com%2F&hl=en_GB
  
  Example: my google scan says that Niara type is too small on smartphones, and that the buttons are too close together. True? Important? Fix planned if so? At the moment the system is to wait till someone asks.
  
  Example: speed... my google scan counts the extra milliseconds spent downloading Font Awsome and Railway font from the web. Is it quicker to download from my server, or to use more common fonts? Or is there no simple fix?
  
  It would be great to use a shopping cart that adapted this stuff so that I don't have to, and grouped any comments and threads together under SEO announcements. To give Thirtybees credit, I'm sure it started this way under current ownership with speed improvements compared to PS.
  -------------------------------------------------------------
  added 13.12.30
• Multistore
  When shopkeepers look for ways to grow, wholesale is one idea and multistore could be the way to do it. But even the moderator of this forum says he's thinking of giving up multistore because of something-or-other. I found that the moment I turned it on on a test site, the left column diseapered from my front page, and without instructions it's hard to guess where to start fixing, so I turned it off again. Maybe it just needs more instructions.
   
• Stock Sync: Integrations with different software
  There's an expensive Ebay and an expensive Amazon module, and rumours that Prestashopmanager.com professional edition works likewise, and that an open sorce program called EEP (?) helps integrations generally.  
  
  I have a friendly rival who might co-operate from his Bigcommerce site if I could say it's easy; I might help sell some of his stock for him.
  
  https://www.great.gov.uk/selling-online-overseas/
  ...lists markets other than Ebay and Amazon, so a kind of general linking module that can be adapted to several of them would be good. Preferably not based on the expensive Prestashopmanager.com because of cost, although Prestoolsuite would be fine.
  
  [afterthought: if half US ecommerce sales are on Amazon now, a common sellers' question will be "
  - How can I sync my accounts on the 2 biggest markets?" followed by "
  Does this give me
  - an ecommerce shop,
  - a barcode scanning app to add stock, and
  - sync with other marketplaces as well?"]
   
• Talking of which, Prestoolsuite free edition in the default installation would flatten the learning curve for a lot of shopkeepers. 
   
• Theme: size buttons
  Theme: monospace font for sizes
  Niara theme allows a drop-down form or radio buttons, but not a order buttons as you often see on clothes size order forms. Useful if you want to show all the out of stock buttons in grey and the remaining in-stock buttons bold.
  
  I found a DIY way to use a monospace font for my size drop down. That way, I can put UK and EU sizes next to each other as a neat list, or I can have radio buttons show as a neat grid. It must be a small step to change monospace radio buttons to monospace rectangle-buttons, but at the moment it needs a paid module or DIY. [digression: nanum gothic coding is one of only two monospace google fonts with thirds as a single space. I forget the other]
  -------------------------------------------------------------
  added 18.12.30
   
• Webp format in cheap servers
  bo>preferences>images
  Enable webp images

  YES  NO

  Serve smaller images in the webp format to browsers that support it

   WEBP compression  90%

   

  Save
  will convert a dozen or so if I turn it on, then it stops. Maybe it just recognises some old ones.
   
   ☑  imagick ... is a setting on my server but there might be other ones I need that it doesn't allow
  
  So it would be good to have instructions for free batch conversion of nested directories of files, if anyone has found a way, or else some great free solution perhaps

Edited December 18, 2020 by veganline
thought for the day about webp

[AndyC]

Being able to let customers type their own State/County would be great.Drop downs are outdated here I think as missing counties/States are an issue

Being able to add a cost to a text box or drop down is a huge flaw

 

Edited September 26, 2020 by AndyC

[led24ee]

There is reason why address fields are predefined. If anybody can insert anything then You cant understand nothing. Some mistypes, some "small" errors and mostly wrong order for city/state/ZIP/etc and end result is total mess.

[AndyC]

53 minutes ago, led24ee said:

There is reason why address fields are predefined. If anybody can insert anything then You cant understand nothing. Some mistypes, some "small" errors and mostly wrong order for city/state/ZIP/etc and end result is total mess.

I understand that.. But I have filled in literally hundreds of forms (as have many others) for an address and not 1 of them use a drop down list. I actually can't remember the last time I had a drop down on an address form.. If they wanted to go even 1 step further it would be to introduce the address lookup and auto fill

[zen]

Yes autofill IS great for adresses, i remember that i used it on my oscommerce shop in 2007....it's a great tool !

[Messenger Bee]

Hi all
We have some news to share with you: 
We've received the updated contract and after a few minor modifications, we felt comfortable enough to send it to our attorney.
The contract is now at our attorney for verification and final approval. We should have more news soon.
Will keep you posted.

[led24ee]

Looks like You're dealing with Amazon or Apple. Something like year for contract. I really have no idea but I'm not surprised when there is also discussion about how many spaces, dots,commas, etc can be in code ... I really hope that there are some other reason for this long time.

[Kashir2000]

@Messenger Bee is there any date you estimate for this transaction to end? Will it be month, 6 months or few years?
I think it should be possible to determine when we might expect anything to move?

[Messenger Bee]

On 10/18/2020 at 5:34 PM, Kashir2000 said:

@Messenger Bee is there any date you estimate for this transaction to end? Will it be month, 6 months or few years?
I think it should be possible to determine when we might expect anything to move?

Hi

Apologies for the delay in response.
As mentioned before, the contract is currently with our attorney for analysis and the negotiations continue based on recommendations from the attorney. This is perfectly normal and routine. Also difficult to predict exact times as it's a bit of a process.
We continue to ask for patience and will of course let you guys know when we know. 

In the meantime, Thirty Bees is not dead. There is activity in Github and bugs continue to be fixed. Also, if you do run into problems, you can submit a bug in Github and you can always make a post in the forum.

[Beeta]

2 minutes ago, Messenger Bee said:

In the meantime, Thirty Bees is not dead. There is activity in Github and bugs continue to be fixed. Also, if you do run into problems, you can submit a bug in Github and you can always make a post in the forum.

A question: this activity is done from the "new group" or from the "old devs"?

 

[AndyC]

All this take time especially during this time . We've been waiting for stuff to be done with attorneys and it'll be a year next week and it still hasn't completed, although we got a email 3 months ago saying it's nearly done hahahaha

[Mark]

 

1 hour ago, Messenger Bee said:

the negotiations continue based on recommendations from the attorney

 

This is sounding like the attorney is not satisfied with the deal that took months to get to and its back to the negotiating table and that it could very well be many months more (possibly for them to make as much money as possible? Just doing what they recommend is often not in anybody's best interests except theirs)

 

Thanks though for the updates, much appreciated.

Edited October 20, 2020 by Mark

[Mark]

Although the tb devs have made thirtybees a superior product to presta, those of us buying addons in the presta marketplace continually have to defend tb against devs who dont know about tb and refuse guarantees or even to deal with us because tb isnt presta.

We also have to ask devs to send addon updates because presta addons arent checked for updates on presta. (it would be great if they could be)

[Kashir2000]

2 hours ago, FooLab said:

A question: this activity is done from the "new group" or from the "old devs"?

It's done only by one person. @datakick. Is he part of new crew? I thought he was volunteer. There was also his goodbye post, but he didn't go? Was he hired?

[Briljander]

7 hours ago, Mark said:

Although the tb devs have made thirtybees a superior product to presta, those of us buying addons in the presta marketplace continually have to defend tb against devs who dont know about tb and refuse guarantees or even to deal with us because tb isnt presta.

We also have to ask devs to send addon updates because presta addons arent checked for updates on presta. (it would be great if they could be)

This is really the biggest concern. Modules becoming unsupported from developers and not further maintained because they don't support TB. As long as the module and TB is compatible with 1.6 the old module will work but many developers choose to only focus on 1.7.

[datakick]

7 hours ago, Kashir2000 said:

It's done only by one person. @datakick. Is he part of new crew? I thought he was volunteer. There was also his goodbye post, but he didn't go? Was he hired?

Yes, I'm part of the group that would like to take over thirtybees. Currently we are trying to buy the rights -- not the thirty dev llc company, as we are not US based. Negotiations took a long time now. Every time we get close to the deal something else pop up. 

Important thing is that we are committed to this. Although we prefer continuation of thirtybees for various reasons, we are prepared to fork and proceed under the new brand if the deal is not reached soon.

[led24ee]

Soon ? Your patience can already be measured in light years ...

[datakick]

14 minutes ago, led24ee said:

Soon ? Your patience can already be measured in light years ...

yes

[Messenger Bee]

1 hour ago, datakick said:

Yes, I'm part of the group that would like to take over thirtybees. Currently we are trying to buy the rights -- not the thirty dev llc company, as we are not US based. Negotiations took a long time now. Every time we get close to the deal something else pop up. 

Important thing is that we are committed to this. Although we prefer continuation of thirtybees for various reasons, we are prepared to fork and proceed under the new brand if the deal is not reached soon.

Well, I guess the cat's out the bag now 😉