For the last few weeks I have been working on a new projects: Social Questing. This is actually the next generation of Sites with Benefits. The big difference is the new version is much more user friendly. Social Questing is a system which lets you create quests (Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Twitch etc) for your users to do. They get points which they can spend in your reward store. I put together a quick video that shows it off.
If you would like to help me beta test Social Questing, let me know!
I've been thinking about blowing up Sites with Benefits and starting over. It's actually a couple years old now. Overall, I wouldn't really call it a success though. At times it has shined, other times not so much. Technically, it works. However, the administration side could stand to see a lot of improvements. It's a big obstacle to other people using the system.
It is currently written in Python on Google's App Engine. Lately though, I have been working with Node.JS and MongoDB, I feel they would be a better fit for the app. Moving to Node would also let me rewrite the Twitch bot so it is hosted on my server instead of the users machine. It would be pretty much a complete rewrite though.
Another feature I could add with a rewrite is to make use of PassportJS. This library would let people log in with their Twitch account, among others. Since Twitch and Youtube are two groups I want to focus on, it would be quite useful.
It would be a lot of work, but I'm not sure it is worth the effort. The original version never took off, what makes me think the new version would? Of course, I'll never know unless I try.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right? As you may or may not know, Sites with Benefits uses an optional Twitch IRC bot to reward points as people watch the stream. One of Sites with benefits users asked for the ability to have viewers request and play songs in exchange for points.
Nightbot, the most popular (I think) Twitch bot already has this functionality. So I did some reading and learned enough to guess how they did it. Basically, they use a website to play the youtube videos in the background. Since Sites with Benefits is web-based, I did the same.
Viewers can now queue up songs through the Twitch bot. They are sent to a special server page which the streamer has open. The page automatically plays the youtube videos in the background and voila, song requests are in. It was a fun project, even if it only took me a few hours to implement.
As always, if you want to use Sites with Benefits drop me a line and I'll get you all setup.
One of my flaws is that I have a one track mind. When I get an idea, I usually am compelled to run with it. That comes at a cost of pretty much anything else. Work, fun, doesn't matter. It all gets pushed aside until I deal with what I am focused on. I wish it was only ideas that caused this, but sadly worries do too.
The last week or so Sites with Benefits has been on my mind. If you are not familiar with SwB, it's a user engagement/promotion/giveaway system. You can see it on the right side of the page. Anyway, one of the users wanted tighter integration with Twitch. Sounded good to me, so that is what I have been obsessed with.
Luckily, we are testing it out today. I hope to go into details next week, once I am sure it is working. It should free me up to start, you know, playing games again. ESO starts up on Sunday! Plus, I want to play some Europa Universalis 4.
I was very close to buying Diablo 3 and the new expansion this week. Luckily, there were plenty of live streams to watch. That was enough to satisfy my urge to play, so I saved $70. Live streams are a funny thing. Sometimes they get me to buy a game, other times they show me enough that I don't want to buy it anymore.
Lately, I have been working on one of my side projects: Sites with Benefits. SwB is a promotion and giveaway system. I've used it for a number of contests. Basically, your readers can do missions, earn points, and buy rewards. You can see the widget on the right side of the screen. I've recently added two new kinds of missions.
Twitch. This mission allows you to reward your users for following a given twitch channel. They go to the channel, follow it, and then enter their username in the widget.
Pinterest. I'm not a Pinterest user, but it seems like it is a popular service. So over the weekend I spent some time and made a mission for it. The reader pins a specified link/image, then enters their username in the widget. SwB should find the pin and reward the reader.
I have several missions on the drawing board right now. They include charity and newsletter based missions. There are some technical hurdles I'll need to overcome first though.
In the mean time, I'll need to get another contest going soon. Hmm, what game to do one for...
One of the problems of the Sites with Benefits was that it took up a good amount of valuable page real estate. The widget isn't the smallest thing in the world, so solving this problem was a priority. I'm happy to say SwB now supports the option to exist as a slide out tab.
You can see it in action on this site, just click on the Sites with Benefits tab on the right side on the screen. To make it go away, click it again. The tab option should make the widget much less obtrusive.
Enabling the tab mode is simple, at siteswithbenefits.com click on Add Site (or Edit Site if you already have one) and choose it in the Type dropdown box. You can have the tab on the left or right side of the screen. Save the changes and you are all set!
Ever have something that you wanted to giveaway using your webpage? Sites with Benefits offers a quick, easy, and free way to host giveaways/contests/raffles on your website. With 14 missions, there are plenty of ways you can interact and engage with your users.
I made a quick video about how to setup a simple giveaway.
I'm happy to announce that one of my projects, Sites with Benefits, is ready for Open Beta. I've been using it on this blog for a while now and run several contests. It has worked out nicely. To help you get started with SwB, I made a video describing how to get the widget installed.
Sites with Benefits is a widget that allows you to reward your readers for doing various activities on your site. There are currently 15 missions which include several kinds of social media sharing all the way to creating and submitting youtube videos.
Missions. SwB currently supports the following missions: Follow Twitter Account, Send Tweet, Leave a Comment (Disqus), Visit a Link, Daily Visit, First Sign In, Create a Video, Submit a URL, Submit to Reddit, Facebook Like, Share Video, Share Link, Google Plus One, Do a Poll and Answer Trivia. Customize. You can pick the colors and icons (via url) that the widget will use.
Points. Completing the above Missions will give your users points which are for your site only.
Rewards. SwB supports 3 types of rewards. Codes, Free-Form and Loot. Codes can be a list of one time use, or a single key which can be used a number of times. Free-form rewards allow you to cover any non-code kind of reward. Loot, which is still a work in progress, allows you to grant users bonuses (like increased point gain).
Rewards can be given out in two ways: direct and lottery (raffle). Direct means the user redeems points to get a code. Lottery allows them to redeem points for a chance at the prize. The winners will be automatically drawn and codes given out when the lottery expires.
Easy Sign-In. Sites with benefits lets you login with the following accounts: Facebook, Twitter, Google, AOL, Disqus, and Yahoo.
We are entering the final week of the WAR Game Time Giveaway. Up for grabs is a 60-Day WAR Time Card, Booster Pet codes and Specialized Training codes. The last one gives each character on your account a free XP level. Since this is the last week, I have added a couple of new missions. Most of them don't even require you to have a subscription going.
To get started, just sign in to the widget on the right.
Visit WAR on Reddit. Since the original Warhammer Online subreddit was never really used, I created a new one, go check it out!
Like this Giveaway. Like the Giveaway, let it be known on Facebook!
Name that Event. A trivia question! Get it right and receive enough points to get a lottery ticket.
Easter Egg. There have been 2 more hints for the Easter Egg hunt, with another one coming on Tuesday. Have you figured it out yet? Just snap a screenshot of it and 150 points are yours.
It's time for another giveaway! This time it revolves around Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. I've got a bunch of codes to giveaway: 1 60-Day WAR Game Time Code, 3 Specialized Training Codes, and 3 Booster Pet Pack codes. So, how do you get your hands on these bad boys? Why do Sites with Benefits missions of course.
The giveaway will end in 2 weeks, on November 26th. Note: The codes will be given out via lottery, so buy as many tickets as you want.
The Sites with Benefits widget is on your right. Just Sign In and get started on the missions.Use the points to buy lottery tickets.
There are plenty of missions to do even if you don't currently subscribe to the game. Spreading the word and sharing videos will earn you enough points for a chance at the Game Card.
This time around we have some special additions.
WAR Easter Egg. Follow the clues, grab a screenshot, submit it, and win 150 points! That will buy quite a few lottery tickets. I'll give out more hints over the next two weeks. Here is the first hint:
In the land of the Dark Elves, five horned creatures gather for a feast under the cover of night by a Menhir Stone.
First Hint: The event can be found in The Blighted Isle.
Second Hint: Some things only happen at night.
Create a Video. Record some footage of you doinging whatever it is you do in WAR and upload it to youtube. It'll net you 100 points and provide some promotion for WAR. It will be automatically added to the Share Video mission to help get it out there. Remember, for the system to know it is yours add Sites with Benefits to the video description.
Want to try out Sites with Benefits on your site? Just log in and check out the Publisher tab.
If you have been to the blog in the last couple of days you might have noticed the new Sites with Benefits widget. If not, it is on the right hand side of the page. I think it looks much better than the old version, but I'm sure there is still room for improvement. What do you think?
Beta! Sites with Benefits is now in a state where I feel comfortable having other people use it on their sites. I added a several beta codes as a Reward, so if you are interested you can grab one and get started. Just logging in will give you enough points to obtain one.
Missions. Sites with Benefits is up to 13 mission types. Those include Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and Google +1 sharing along with Polls, Video/URL Submissions, Trivia and more!
Next Giveaway. Next week (Monday), the WAR Giveaway will begin. The big prize will be a 60-day time-card, but I hope to have some other rewards you can choose from as well. I'm also going to be trying out a new kind of Mission which involves doing some tasks in the game.
Overall, I think the project is going well. I find it pretty useful, and I hope others will too.
It's time for another Giveaway! This is probably my biggest one yet. I have 9 PlanetSide 2 beta keys to give out. PS2 is an amazing game, so this is one you'll want to check out. What about the poll last week you ask? Well, PlanetSide 2 is launching November 20th, so I want to get these keys out the door soon :)
To get started with the Giveaway, just Sign In with the widget on your left and start doing missions. Use the points you gain to buy lottery tickets. On November 5th, the winners of the keys will be drawn. That's all there is to it. On the 5th, I'll add more missions for more chances to get tickets. You could always keep your points for another giveaway too.
What's New?
PvP Poll. What makes a poll be Player vs Player? Only the people who choose the winning option get the reward. In this case, it is a nice piece of loot. Have your allies get in the battle and vote.
Loot. I've added Loot to Sites with Benefits! They are technically consumables which will apply a buff to you while visiting the site. For this contest, you'll get a 50% point bonus 1 week. Those who participated in last weeks poll got a token that gives a 25% bonus.
To use your loot, go to http://www.siteswithbenefits.com and log in. Then go to the Reader tab and hit Show inventory for weritsblog.com. You should see a use link.
Now that Durrig's Secret Stash has wrapped up, it's time for the next Mission. This one is brand new, and appropriate for the season, at least here in the US. It's a poll! Exciting, I know. It's up and ready to be used, just check out the widget on the left side of the page. Login and vote :)
There are 3 choices:
WAR 60-Day Timecard plus various codes
Two Planetside 2 beta keys
SWTOR 60-day Timecard plus five TaunFawn codes
Loot. I've also introduced Loot to Sites with Benefits. These rewards are basically consumables which will give you a buff. If you participate in this mission, you'll receive a Token of Appreciation which, when used, gives you 25% more points for one week. I thought it'd be fun to add, guess we'll see.
Today marks the midway point of Durrig's Secret Stash Giveaway, with the Ornate Chest lottery occurring on Monday, October 22nd. So far everything has been working well, with a minor bug here and there. But there are changes for this last week.
New Missions. Several new mission have been added, and other missions removed. That means new opportunities to gain points!
Comment Mission. This has been changed to a one-time mission instead of a daily. As a result, it is worth a bit more points.
Video Sharing Mission. This is still a Daily, but you can now only share a video once for each sharing type. We had a couple of submissions, so go share them! :)
Unlocks. Sites with Benefits now has the capability to unlock new missions by completing a mission. We'll be testing that this week.
You can find the widget on the left side of the webpage, please let me know if you have any issues. Thanks!
Looking for the contest? Check out this page and sign in with the Sites with Benefits widget on the left to get started!
It's time for another giveaway! Project Murdock, the system I made to give stuff away, has leveled up and received a new name: Sites with Benefits. Along with the new name, I've added a bunch of new features, but more on that later. You can find all the contest details here. This time I am giving away:
Ornate Chest. Probably the most prized item in Wrath of Heroes as it contains an Elite Tactic. I have one code to giveaway, so we will be doing it lottery style. Buy as many tickets as you want. A winner will be drawn on October 22nd.
XP Boosts. I have more 7-Day 100% XP Boosts to give away from Wrath of Heroes too. These just cost points, so get yours while supplies last!
What's New?
New Widget. On your left, you should see the new Sites with Benefits widget. It's not great yet, but I think it is an improvement from the first version.
Themed. As you can see with the name and the campaign page, I am trying to make the contests less dry and more themed to what I am giving away.
Create a Video. This is a new Mission which I spent a good chunk of the weekend working on. The goal here is two fold. First, encourage players to create videos of the game and submit the URL for big points. Secondly, a Share Videos mission is also automatically created which will feature submitted videos and sharing links. Users can then earn points by sharing videos made for the contest.
I wanted to try something to better promote the game I am featuring, so this is one attempt at doing that. Making a video is not a trivial task, so we'll see if it works.
Facebook. I have integrated Facebook with Sites with Benefits. You can now login using FB, or do missions involving FB.
