Frogboy Frogboy

WinCustomize Library: Status Report

WinCustomize Library: Status Report

The epic of running a skin site is always about the race between three resources: 1) Bandwidth 2) CPU resouces for handling scripts 3) CPU resources for handling the database Occasionally you'll see the notice of an upgrade to one of these three things. At the beginning of last year, WinCustomize was hosted on around 15 megabits (equivalent of ten T1 lines). Today, it requires 35 megabits of bandwidth. But we're okay on bandwidth, we've done the upgrading there. Thanks to subscribers and Stardock customers. But then we ran out of CPU resources for scripts. That was last Fall. We got a new mega server and things improved allowing even more people onto the site. And that brings us to now. so now the machines that handle the SQL database stuff are stuffed. We're working on a solution to this. But as many have noticed, the site has become incredibly slow due to the literally millions of people trying to access the site. While we could close the libraries for everyone (which is what most sites end up doing in this situation) we have decided that we can keep the libraries open for Stardock customers (make sure you cross-reference your accounts), WinCustomize subscribers, and user swith above citizen access (i.e. skin authors and other contributors). These peopel are, after all, the ones who pay for the hardware upgrades needed to keep the site going on a day to day basis. We expect this situation to be temporary (i.e. a couple of days). If you click on one of the sections on the left and get the library closed message, you can eitehr cross reference your account if you're already a customer or subscriber or you can become a subscriber. Alternatively, you can also gain access by buying Object Desktop and then cross referencing your account then. We apologize for the inconvenience.
30,136 views 65 replies
Reply #26 Top
Frankly, I am stymied at the negative response to something as necessary as an upgrade to a database server. So, the site will be slow for a few days, and access to the libraries will be limited. It’s *not* a big deal people.

There is a group of great people who are working their buns off to provide a free website for you and the skinning community, and in response they get this kind of reaction when they are *improving* the site? Come on folks… where’s your appreciation?

You know… this reminds of a saying… something about not looking a gift horse in the mouth.

Get real. Get over it. If this upgrade has got you all upset, I don’t *want* to know how you deal with the rest of your life.

Sheesh.
Reply #27 Top
For all the people whinning about paying less than $50 (or even $20) a year for something it seems you can't do without, run Linux. You'll get all the free window managers, themes, and other stuff you could ever want.

If you don't want to do that, then shut up and wait a couple of days until the site improvements are finished (no thanks to you), and enjoy what other people are providing for you bottom-feeders.
Reply #28 Top
deleted02 .... nice to see you remain a waste of space!
As for the 'gimme crew', tough.
There are more people here who are only too happy to pay a small price for access to the creative products from Stardock and the creative designs of the skinning and artistic members of this group. >


Powered by SkinBrowser!
Reply #29 Top
I bought the whole thing. and I'm happy I did. For those of you who LIKE using warez'ed software, this whole thread seems to apply to YOU more than it does us people who actually BOUGHT the product. It's very simple -- if you BUY the product, and synchronize your account with stardock, then there's NO problem with going anywhere on the site you like. If you didn't, then you're cut off. So stop sniveling due to your access getting restricted just because you're too cheap to buy Object Desktop and support Stardock & WinCustomize.

>
Reply #30 Top
All I know is, I get more than my fair share of use out of this site, out of Stardock's apps, out of other people's work...so I'm thankful I get unrestricted access, and I would expect that anyone else who wants unrestricted access can find a way to get it...it's not like Stardock locked the place down, they simply need to limit the hogging of resources that goes on.

I'd like to know the email addresses and serial numbers of those who complained...with the last 4 digits X'd out, of course. I'm assuming that the loudest complaints are coming from people who haven;t spent a penny with this company.

Total sidebar: has anyone noticed that among Stardock aficionados, we tend to be a little evangelical, almost like Mac addicts?
Reply #32 Top
Well I think its really lame...

I just uploaded my first objectbar theme yesterday...
and I cannot even see the posting, or see what people may have said about it.

I refuse to pay for subscription, and I have no plans to get a stardock account. If I knew this was going to happen, I wouldn't have uploaded my theme, and instead posted it on other skin sites.
Reply #33 Top
Side note: since there its looks like there will be a fee involved, shouldn't artists then get a royalty? If your going to crack open this pandora's box, might as well open it all the way...
Reply #34 Top
mageguru - here is the one comment on your theme..


Sorry bit in this theme there is only one Bar...

Fix it
by WebMerlin - 1/12/2003 4:20:14 AM


You must be using either a shareware or prirated version of OB. If you had bought OB, you could link your WinCustomize account to the stardock account you have from purchasing OB, and download freely at WinCustomize.

If you feel so strongly about this, you should be able to get to your skins removed. If you can't do it, send an email to someone at the site, and ask them to do it for you.

Reply #35 Top
Here we go again.

1. This site is very popular and sees lots of traffic. Everytime Stardock beefs up the site to handle the load, ineveitablly traffic catches up to it.

2. This site does not require money to acess. There is a download cap of I think 150 megs for folks who do nothing but show up and download.

3. Participating in this site (commenting of skins, participating in the message boards, news discussions) ultimately lifts the download cap. You don't have to buy or subscribe to anything.

4. Alternatively you can purchase a Stardock product. (WindowBlinds, DesktopX, so on).

5. Lastly, you can subscribe to Wincustomize ($20 for 2 years) which also gets you the full WC skin browser.

6. Money gained through Wincustomize subscriptions and Wincustomize CDs, hats, shirts and mugs gets fed back into supporting this web site (see item number 1) so that Wincustomize can keep up with the growing traffic that this place sees.

7. Because of the traffic, generated primarily by folks who have not a. participated in the website, b. bought a stardock product, c. bought a subscription) the site has to prioritize who gets access. Those who have done either a, b, or c get a higher priority. After all, it is those people who have dedicated some amount of time and money toward this place. Resources are not infinite and they do carry a cost

8. In this particular case, the database server is being upgraded. Seems to me the choices are to: a. Not do anything with it. b. bring it down for everyone whilt it is upgraded. c. Allow some access while it is upgraded. Looks like they opted for c (see point 7) which is pretty sensible to me.

Apologies if I'm wrong on these points.
Reply #36 Top
I cannot believe what I am reading here. >
You can have the fastest computer and the fastest ISP but if sites cannot afford " without help from subscribers" to keep their site up and running there will be no internet. Then I'll bet all you whiners would really pout.
This site has been great to me. I have been able to upload things I have made and watched with great satisfaction people downloading my work. I have so far only purchased CursorXP which maybe helped the site some but not as much as the site has helped me. This has become a new little home for me and I would like to see it say in great shape. So there for,I will put my money where my mouth is and I am going to pay for a subscription after I am done typing this out. To the rest of you "especially those who are not even registered users" stop complaining. It I am sure would be a lot easier for the Admins to update this site if they shut it down completely. They are already doing you a big favor and all you can do is complain.
By the way a 2 year subscription is only 20.00. That's 10.00 a year at 2.7 cents a day. I don't have much but I know that's not going to break me.
Reply #37 Top
you people really that surprised. Did you really think stardock would continue offering something free. HAH. They offer it free, until everyone starts using it, then make you pay $50. IE windowblinds b5+, and soon-to-be ObjectDock. They know they've got a cash cow with objectdock too.. give it a few more months, to be out of "beta". Beta being stardocks term for the free era of that software.


by Citizen deleted02 -

if someone gave you a million dollars for free you would probably gripe that you had to pay taxes which means it wasn't truly free. Sure could use a puke icon right about now for you.

Powered by SkinBrowser!
Reply #38 Top
mageguru: you're most probably using a pirated version of Objectbar, so just hush up and go away. If you're not and have purchase Objectbar, then you do HAVE a Stardock account that you can cross-reference to this site and therefore have access to everything.

Deleted02: you are lame. We are just talking about a few days of downtime and there you go announcing the End of the World is near and the Apocalypse is at our door. Just go away and make somebody else's life miserable.
Reply #39 Top
I absolutally love this site. I am a wincustomize subscriber and have always thought that my money was well spent. I think that those who complain about having to pay for this wonderful site, and the huge amount of downloads, are just a bunch of chronic whiners who want everything for free regardless of the quality of service. I have been internet cruising since 1990, and back then just about everything was free, but much to my disappointment the internet has changed. Back in the early days of internet(we're talking dinosaurs)the phone and cable companies weren't trying to get rich off of the ISP backs. So take this advice from someone who screeches everytime she has to pay to join a site...THIS SITE IS WORTH EVERY PENNY!
Reply #40 Top
Well its a mute point... so what if I use the shareware version, and refuse to pay for the full version, or buy a subscription...

I believe I have a more valid point...
If I created something, and uploaded it, and people get charged to download it. Then hell I want my cut of the pie... ie: royalties. This is a general example not saying me exactly. Now if I have to pay for a product or buy a subscription in order to also upload... then more power to this site... and I don't think the site would last with that buisness model.

See what I am getting at...

It's the princible involved...
Reply #41 Top
Your argument is flawed. The problem is that you are not differentiating between the skins themselves and the separate issue of hosting them. The subscriptions go to support the site (bandwidth, hardware, maintenance), not to charge for skins.

Without resources such as subscriptions being rolled back into the site, the site will be unable to keep pace with the ever increasing number of traffic it sees and for all intensive purposes, eventually grind to a halt.

Reply #42 Top
I will try to explain this mess in laimens terms.

When you purchase OD or a wincust. account, you are not buying stock in it. You are paying to use the program freely on your computer. I create skins for personal use and upload to share with the community. Period. If this site didn't exist, I would upload somewhere else.
When I first found out about skinning, I downloaded anything and everything that wasn't nailed down. Now as time and the years have gone by, I have about 4 programs that I use regularly.
I'm not a newbie and I'm not one of the people who make loads of money off the internet.
I'm just an average guy that likes to come to a good stable website and see what the community has created for my own personal use this week.
You shouldn't look at it as a get rich quick skeam, more as, stardock has a product to sell. If you don't like it don't buy it. That simple. At least they let you try it for free.
If the site is down for a spell, I'm sure other sites are screaming (Hey, nows your chance to check us out!).
Be paitient and just remember to keep it fun!!! That's what it's supposed to be.

Reply #43 Top
WHAT'S EVERYONE WHINING ABOUT!! THIS IS CRAZY!! THE SIT NEEDS SOME DOWN TIME TO UPGRADE!! I dont have a subsciption to the site, but have been meaning to buy one for a while. Im willing to pay the $20 for the great skins i have downloaded. There are some wonderful atists who contribute to this site. And i think 10 bucks a year is worth it. So if it ends up that you need to subscribe to download off the sit...so be it. Ya'll hush up now. ya hear? >
Reply #44 Top
I am happy to contribute through my purchase of Object Desktop and don't see what the moaners are going on about. Great site and a great product, keep up the good work.
Reply #45 Top
Hehe, I can't help find it a LITTLE amusing when they complain about server usage and whatnot when they run IIS... http://uptime.netcraft.com/up/graph/?host=wincustomize.com

It'd save them a lot of resources to switch over to PHP on Apache.
Reply #46 Top
mageguru, I'm not 100% sure, but I believe the shareware version of Objectbar doesn't allow you to make or load custom themes, but is limited to the ones included. At least, that's the way it used to be. So, if it's still the case, then either you bought Objectbar, or you are using a pirated version.
Reply #47 Top
What does PHP or Apache have to do with SQL server which is what is the bottleneck.

When you're server millions of different people, eventually you do need to add more resources or optimize code more. In the short run, we need to optimize the SQL code more but to do that in a reasonable amount of time, we need to be able to access the parts of the site at a reasonable speed.

In the longer view, if we can afford it, we will acquire an additional server.
Reply #48 Top
I got here by being in the beta for stardock's game galactic civilizations. Loved it so much i checked out their other products and bought them. If that helps them great! I've never had a problem with them on anything, and they listen to their users. But they can't do it for free. I know how much a t1 line costs and it ain't pennies per day. So give them a break
Reply #49 Top
I don't understand the demanding GIMME! I'm a banker. Talkin money here folks! If some of my staff calls in sick and everyone else there is working their tail off to service the customers, I never, ever hear any grumbles. Most are customers who have been with us a long time and they know we're doing the best we can and they appreciate it!!!!!! SAME THING HERE. Some of you, who are newer to the site and complaining absolutely have no clue what the site is about. It's not all about downloads. A little patience and you will see that. Then again, maybe you won't and miss the whole experience. Some of you sound like demanding little children. Guess you'll grow up some day, hopefully.
Reply #50 Top
This isn't a "2.7 cent a day" issue. This is out 20 bucks as soon as a CC number is entered. Sure, if they only charged it as 2.7 cents a day, everyone would be on. I don't have 20 bucks sittin around so i can go download something. 2.7 cents, i do have. I had heard this site was good. Seems i was wrong, charging people to download a little file is crap. The program - okay, i can understand. But OTHER PEOPLE'S WORK?!? I think not.