Building a dashboard

[jlknauff]

I have been thinking of developing a dashboard for my own use to monitor affiliate data (CJ, Amazon, and Aweber at the moment), rss feeds, analytics, and maybe data from social networks.

I checked out some existing systems mentioned on the forum here, but they don't seem to include the affiliate data. Plus, I'd like to tailor the system to my exact needs and use the process to improve my programing skills along the way.

Since I don't need up to the second data, I was thinking of using php with cURL to scrape what I need, and having it refresh every 15 minutes or so, but perhaps jquery is a better option for a reason I'm not aware of?

I will likely turn it into an opensource package that people can host on their own servers. I've learned a hell of a lot here over the years, so I'd like to give back.

Any thoughts or direction before I roll up my sleeves and get to work?

 

[dchuk]

If it's a personal or open source project, go for it. I don't think there's any worthwhile monetization potential in it to be honest.

As for php refreshes, you'll have a smoother interface with ajax updates. Seems like s good project for something like backbone.js to be honest

 

[Kiopa_Matt]

Sounds like a decent little project, and all the best with it!

My only comment would be these things are a pain in the ass, because alot of the data you want isn't available via established APIs, meaning you have to scrape it. So every time the site changes their HTML formatting a bit, there's a decent chance it'll break the scraper, and you'll have to go in and fix it.

If you're scraping from several dozen sites, there's a chance this will happen every 2 - 3 weeks, so it becomes a pain.

 

[jlknauff]

Correct, there is no monetization plan...it's just something that I would find handy.

Good point on updates breaking the scraper.

Thanks for the feedback, guys!

 

[CCarter]

Ajax/Jquery is definitely the way to go.

Some people may think I'm trolling, but seriously, good luck with your project.​

 

[jlknauff]

CCarter, thanks for your feedback...I was actually considering sending my original post/question to you as a DM—it was one of your posts that got me off the fence and moving forward.

I know absolutely jack shit about any bit of javascript...I can make minor modifications to some scripts, but that's about it. Can you recommend a good book/website to start learning that from the absolute lowest level?

 

[CCarter]

CCarter, thanks for your feedback...I was actually considering sending my original post/question to you as a DM—it was one of your posts that got me off the fence and moving forward.

I know absolutely jack shit about any bit of javascript...I can make minor modifications to some scripts, but that's about it. Can you recommend a good book/website to start learning that from the absolute lowest level?

When I started I didn't know really any "serious" javascript. Just could make modifications too. I found Tutorials - jQuery Wiki really useful, lots of trial and errors, and stackoverflow.com was a life saver. Google in general was a fail, but it helped find most of the resources I then continued to dive into. BUT none of that really matters unless you understand basic good programming practices.

Once you get the core functionality working, making sure you aren't doing duplicate processes or using redundant code is critical. Once I dedicated enough time to javascript, then jQuery, and ajax, it all became relatively simple but that was because of my past coding experience.

Hopefully that make some sense..​

 

[microphone head]

+1 for Stackoverflow & Jquery docs.

Are you really not trolling though? <insert suspicious smiley>

 

[CCarter]

+1 for Stackoverflow & Jquery docs.

Are you really not trolling though? <insert suspicious smiley>

I'd rather have competition which I can bounce ideas off of, or "catch up", then be hitting home runs against nobody. It helps me elevate my own game.​

 

[shindig]

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/JavaScript-Patterns-Stoyan-Stefanov/dp/0596806752/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365745141&sr=8-1&keywords=javascript+patterns]JavaScript Patterns: Stoyan Stefanov: 9780596806750: Amazon.com: Books[/ame]

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Pro-JavaScript-Design-Patterns-Object-Oriented/dp/159059908X/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1365745142&sr=8-4&keywords=javascript+patterns]Pro JavaScript Design Patterns: The Essentials of Object-Oriented JavaScript Programming: Dustin Diaz, Ross Harmes: 9781590599082: Amazon.com: Books[/ame]
My 2 favorite javascript books. It's such a lovely language.

 

[mattseh]

The best systems don't need a dashboard

 

[thehobbster]

The best systems don't need a dashboard

You are such an elitist faggot.

 

[CCarter]

The best systems don't need a dashboard

Except to monitor when the Heroku system goes down... of course.​