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Re: lcboapi.com and drinkvine.com

Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2019 5:22 pm
by Urotsukidoji
I see the online stock is not showing. Is there an issue after LCBO's update?

Re: lcboapi.com and drinkvine.com

Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2019 6:47 pm
by Craig
Pretty likely. The way this thing works it is pretty susceptible to breaking when the LCBO update their site.

Re: lcboapi.com and drinkvine.com

Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2019 7:24 pm
by DerekD
Yep, it looks like the update changed a few things. The good news is that it should be faster (and easier) to scrape the online inventory now. The old site used ajax requests, now it's right on the product page.

I'll see if I can update it tonight after the Leafs game, otherwise I'll fix it tomorrow afternoon. Thanks for the heads up!

Derek

Re: lcboapi.com and drinkvine.com

Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2019 8:42 pm
by Urotsukidoji
Just wanted to thank you again for your work, much appreciated sir.

Re: lcboapi.com and drinkvine.com

Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2019 12:15 am
by DerekD
You're welcome!

Should be up now. Looks like the online inventory was down for a few days and I didn't notice. Please don't hesitate to let me know when this happens again.

I just noticed that 3F Oude Geuze was listed recently. Bad timing for the scraper to go down. I hope some of you guys got some...

Derek

Re: lcboapi.com and drinkvine.com

Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2019 12:25 pm
by midlife crisis
This is a bit OT, sorry, but were the recent changes made by LCBO to their own site to remove the "search all stores" feature for a specific product? I can't seem to find that any more. Now you have to select one individual store and the site will tell you whether the product is available there. Then, through a series of increasingly maddening clicks, you can check nearby stores with no ability to filter them whatsoever. Unless I am missing something (always a possibility) they have just significantly reduced the usefulness of their own site! All the more reason we might hope that someday Cask Hunter expands to wine and spirits.

Re: lcboapi.com and drinkvine.com

Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2019 1:40 pm
by Craig
Yup, they took that away again. Last time they caved and brought it back, so complain to them if you want it.

Vintages and food and drink sites still have the search all stores.

Re: lcboapi.com and drinkvine.com

Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2019 6:53 pm
by S. St. Jeb
midlife crisis wrote:This is a bit OT, sorry, but were the recent changes made by LCBO to their own site to remove the "search all stores" feature for a specific product? I can't seem to find that any more. Now you have to select one individual store and the site will tell you whether the product is available there. Then, through a series of increasingly maddening clicks, you can check nearby stores with no ability to filter them whatsoever. Unless I am missing something (always a possibility) they have just significantly reduced the usefulness of their own site! All the more reason we might hope that someday Cask Hunter expands to wine and spirits.
http://www.bartowel.com/forum/viewtopic ... 7&start=30
S. St. Jeb wrote:This thread was started close to five years ago when the 'new' lcbo.com site was launched. It wasn't very good at first, as the complaints in this thread show.

One of the big issues, especially for me, was the lack of a "search all stores" option. Because of that, I used to use foodanddrink.ca all the time.

Eventually they added this option to lcbo.com, and I slowly migrated over until that became the site I used regularly.

Well, sometime in the last few days, they have updated the site and taken this option away again. For me, it worked great, and it is completely beyond my understanding why they would remove something that has been there for about 4 years now.

I complained to helloLCBO about this. Their first answer told me first, how to search for "nearby stores" (not what I was talking about), and second, that I could do a "search all stores" on vintages.com

I replied back and politely said 'thank you' (after all, the people answering me aren't the ones making the stupid decisions), and also said "But I am still curious why such a good tool would be removed from your main site. It does not make sense to me."

To that, I was told "We do apologize, there are no plans at this time for the "Check All Stores" option to be reinstated. Your feedback in regards to the usefulness of the feature again has been forwarded to the appropriate department for their review."

Sigh. Cry. Bang my head against the wall.

Re: lcboapi.com and drinkvine.com

Posted: Sat Mar 02, 2019 8:02 pm
by midlife crisis
Thanks. Wasn't aware of the other thread. My sentiments exactly. Precisely the reason we avoided the LCBO site entirely and used the lost and lamented drinkvine. Hopefully Cask Hunter will eventually fill the void. I would certainly pay a modest amount if he decides to go to a subscription-based model.

Re: lcboapi.com and drinkvine.com

Posted: Mon Mar 04, 2019 6:14 pm
by JaseWescott
no way I am paying a subscription. it doesn't cost a lot of money to run a website like that. I donated $15 to boozewatch.ca and was able to extend the domain another year. can't you just put a PayPal donation thing at the top or bottom of the site and let it work it self out?

Re: lcboapi.com and drinkvine.com

Posted: Mon Mar 04, 2019 7:11 pm
by midlife crisis
Okay then! It was just a suggestion. If you can find a plausible free alternative, please let us know. LCBO seems intent on making searching their inventory as difficult as possible. Personally, I found Drinkvine to be invaluable and would have paid a modest amount to keep it alive. Now we have another Good Samaritan developing Cask Hunter and I think we should support him.

Re: lcboapi.com and drinkvine.com

Posted: Tue Mar 05, 2019 11:05 am
by JaseWescott
midlife crisis wrote:Okay then! It was just a suggestion. If you can find a plausible free alternative, please let us know. LCBO seems intent on making searching their inventory as difficult as possible. Personally, I found Drinkvine to be invaluable and would have paid a modest amount to keep it alive. Now we have another Good Samaritan developing Cask Hunter and I think we should support him.
I want to support the creator but a subscription based business model is extreme. I got enough monthly and bi-monthly subscriptions as is. hoarding beer is expensive :P

Re: Cask Hunter

Posted: Wed Mar 13, 2019 11:08 am
by cratez
I just used Cask Hunter for the first time to track the incoming beers for the Spring seasonal release. While the interface is not as glamorous/good looking as Drinkvine (and presumably still a work in progress), the site is a simple, effective, and user-friendly tool for finding beers at the LCBO. It also works great on mobile. Thank you, DerekD, for quickly filling the void left by Drinkvine's demise.

Re: lcboapi.com and drinkvine.com

Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2019 12:49 pm
by Urotsukidoji
Caskhunter - Nice April Fools, had me for a second :)

Re: lcboapi.com and drinkvine.com

Posted: Mon Apr 01, 2019 1:11 pm
by midlife crisis
Lol. Who doesn't enjoy a nice, cold Busch Light from time to time?