Is PinPics down

[hopemax]

While I will not be at the S&D event, I totally support those going to the event to support the DPF folks at the tables. Please make your voices heard and good luck. Based on past experiences I do not think PinPics "management" is going to listen or care about complaints with the database, IMHO.

So what I am going to say, I'm sure will be unpopular, but I've never been one to hold my tongue. I understand the sentiment of supporting DPF people. And if this were the first "incident" with Pinpics and their related businesses I'd be totally on board. But now, I think the trickle down has to be in effect. We all know where the priorities AREN'T and the only way for that to change is to affect their bottom line, and the only way for that to happen is for people to stop buying their pins, stop buying their tables at events, stop buying the gold memberships. And the only way for THAT to happen is for people to have some poor experiences. If people have a great time at their events, make lots of trades for pins they thought they'd never get then they'll just sign up again next time hoping that they will have gotten their act together and Pinpics will have no incentive to do better. Just like Disney reads "showing up" as support for all of their changes, "showing up" even if it's for good reasons can easily just be taken as support for Pinopolis and by association the ownership of Pinpics. If there is to be any expectation of change, we've all gotta go "cold turkey." As hard as it may be. But I know that won't happen, the website will get fixed at some point and people will totally forget this happened, and go back to anticipating their next event/princess pin release/whatever.

 

[LittleBird]

So what I am going to say, I'm sure will be unpopular, but I've never been one to hold my tongue. I understand the sentiment of supporting DPF people. And if this were the first "incident" with Pinpics and their related businesses I'd be totally on board. But now, I think the trickle down has to be in effect. We all know where the priorities AREN'T and the only way for that to change is to affect their bottom line, and the only way for that to happen is for people to stop buying their pins, stop buying their tables at events, stop buying the gold memberships. And the only way for THAT to happen is for people to have some poor experiences. If people have a great time at their events, make lots of trades for pins they thought they'd never get then they'll just sign up again next time hoping that they will have gotten their act together and Pinpics will have no incentive to do better. Just like Disney reads "showing up" as support for all of their changes, "showing up" even if it's for good reasons can easily just be taken as support for Pinopolis and by association the ownership of Pinpics. If there is to be any expectation of change, we've all gotta go "cold turkey." As hard as it may be. But I know that won't happen, the website will get fixed at some point and people will totally forget this happened, and go back to anticipating their next event/princess pin release/whatever.

It may be unpopular, but you're not wrong.

I'm not going to the event. I was never going to the event. Honestly I have so few wants and trades that I don't even need a database to keep track of them. All that to say that I have no skin in this game.

But I am disappointed in PinPics. Have been for a long time. I started trading five years ago and had just enough time to see how good it used to be before it all changed. Things have not improved since then. I think the only way they ever will is exactly as Hope says: people have to stop letting these missteps slide.

I do think PinPics' demise is a matter of when, not if. As such, I want there to be a reasonable alternative in place.

But I know that's not an easy thing when PinPics has been the only game in town for so long. And I know a lot of people don't want to even think about the issue because frankly, it's just pins and it's just a hobby. I don't blame those people one bit. So I won't think badly of anyone who wants to go to the event. I won't think badly of anyone who doesn't want to go to the event. I think everyone should decide for themselves. But I don't think anyone should feel guilty or like they're letting down their fellow pin traders if they don't go. In the long run, I think PinPics/Pinopolis hurting a little now might end up being the best thing for pin trading as a whole, but I'm not psychic. I don't know that for sure. I just hope people give it some thought and then act according to what they think is best, not out of a sense of obligation.

 

[hopemax]

But I am disappointed in PinPics. Have been for a long time. I started trading five years ago and had just enough time to see how good it used to be before it all changed. Things have not improved since then. I think the only way they ever will is exactly as Hope says: people have to stop letting these missteps slide.

I do think PinPics' demise is a matter of when, not if. As such, I want there to be a reasonable alternative in place.

But I know that's not an easy thing when PinPics has been the only game in town for so long.

This is something I haven't talked publicly about, because I have been extremely concerned about my ability to actually pull it off. But in the interest of "putting my money where my mouth is," when Pinpics launched their "new site" and we all hated it. I started working on creating my own. I started from scratch, knowledge-wise, and I'm using a CMS because I still don't know HOW to build a custom database. I am not a programmer or DBA. My Mom getting sick, put a huge delay in it, and for the last year I've felt like I'm "3 months away from getting it ready." But then I learn something new, and that sets me back because I have to redo stuff. I don't want to step on pintradingdb.com's toes too much but I've been worried that when Ryan started it, he was more committed than he is now that he really isn't into Disney pins anymore and I wasn't sure how viable of a solution it was (before all of this recent Pinpics issue started). Plus, I think my longevity in this hobby and the extensiveness of my collection gives me some perspective of what the new site should be capable of. Honestly, after 3 years of working on this on and off, I'll still have breakthroughs in realizing that the back end really needs to be organized like THIS not THAT to really get it to be useful. I started 2018 with the goal of getting it online by 2019 and that's still my goal. There are a few things I really wish I could do that I still don't really think I am going to be able to learn how to do, but I'm too the point where I don't think it's any worse than Pinpics (especially a non-functional Pinpics). But we'll see...typing this out loud is making me nervous that I'm going to get myself "stuck" again, lol.

The only big thing is that I won't be doing a Trade Assistant. I just don't want to take on the responsibility of handling all the stuff Pinpics has to deal with when "trades go bad." I want to at least have comparison tools, but that is one of the things I'm not quite sure I can manage without it being "clunky." I know this might be a deal breaker for people, and why Ryan and if he lets GreyWyvern provide assistance, should still work on improving pintradingDB. It may be a better Trading solution, than I can ever provide. I can promise that in terms of an information repository and inventory management tool it will have many of the features we lost when Pinpics got redesigned, or things we never had but always wanted.

Of course, now that I'm in Florida, I can't work on it for 3 weeks, when I should probably be working double-time on it.

 

[LittleBird]

This is something I haven't talked publicly about, because I have been extremely concerned about my ability to actually pull it off. But in the interest of "putting my money where my mouth is," when Pinpics launched their "new site" and we all hated it. I started working on creating my own. I started from scratch, knowledge-wise, and I'm using a CMS because I still don't know HOW to build a custom database. I am not a programmer or DBA. My Mom getting sick, put a huge delay in it, and for the last year I've felt like I'm "3 months away from getting it ready." But then I learn something new, and that sets me back because I have to redo stuff. I don't want to step on pintradingdb.com's toes too much but I've been worried that when Ryan started it, he was more committed than he is now that he really isn't into Disney pins anymore and I wasn't sure how viable of a solution it was (before all of this recent Pinpics issue started). Plus, I think my longevity in this hobby and the extensiveness of my collection gives me some perspective of what the new site should be capable of. Honestly, after 3 years of working on this on and off, I'll still have breakthroughs in realizing that the back end really needs to be organized like THIS not THAT to really get it to be useful. I started 2018 with the goal of getting it online by 2019 and that's still my goal. There are a few things I really wish I could do that I still don't really think I am going to be able to learn how to do, but I'm too the point where I don't think it's any worse than Pinpics (especially a non-functional Pinpics). But we'll see...typing this out loud is making me nervous that I'm going to get myself "stuck" again, lol.

The only big thing is that I won't be doing a Trade Assistant. I just don't want to take on the responsibility of handling all the stuff Pinpics has to deal with when "trades go bad." I want to at least have comparison tools, but that is one of the things I'm not quite sure I can manage without it being "clunky." I know this might be a deal breaker for people, and why Ryan and if he lets GreyWyvern provide assistance, should still work on improving pintradingDB. It may be a better Trading solution, than I can ever provide. I can promise that in terms of an information repository and inventory management tool it will have many of the features we lost when Pinpics got redesigned, or things we never had but always wanted.

Of course, now that I'm in Florida, I can't work on it for 3 weeks, when I should probably be working double-time on it.

That's amazing! I, for one, will be very excited to see a system put together by someone who has spent so much time in the hobby and who has so much knowledge. I am a firm believer that a variety of different options for sharing pin knowledge is a very good thing. Yes, having a common database gives us all a common language, common referents, and a place to start from, but as we have seen, putting all our eggs in one basket can land us with no eggs at all. I would rather have the option of having lots of different sources of information that can confirm (or contradict) each other and that can serve as backups for each other.

 

[KT07]

It may be unpopular, but you're not wrong.

I'm not going to the event. I was never going to the event. Honestly I have so few wants and trades that I don't even need a database to keep track of them. All that to say that I have no skin in this game.

But I am disappointed in PinPics. Have been for a long time. I started trading five years ago and had just enough time to see how good it used to be before it all changed. Things have not improved since then. I think the only way they ever will is exactly as Hope says: people have to stop letting these missteps slide.

I do think PinPics' demise is a matter of when, not if. As such, I want there to be a reasonable alternative in place.

But I know that's not an easy thing when PinPics has been the only game in town for so long. And I know a lot of people don't want to even think about the issue because frankly, it's just pins and it's just a hobby. I don't blame those people one bit. So I won't think badly of anyone who wants to go to the event. I won't think badly of anyone who doesn't want to go to the event. I think everyone should decide for themselves. But I don't think anyone should feel guilty or like they're letting down their fellow pin traders if they don't go. In the long run, I think PinPics/Pinopolis hurting a little now might end up being the best thing for pin trading as a whole, but I'm not psychic. I don't know that for sure. I just hope people give it some thought and then act according to what they think is best, not out of a sense of obligation.

+10000 well said

 

[timeerkat]

So what I am going to say, I'm sure will be unpopular, but I've never been one to hold my tongue. I understand the sentiment of supporting DPF people. And if this were the first "incident" with Pinpics and their related businesses I'd be totally on board. But now, I think the trickle down has to be in effect. We all know where the priorities AREN'T and the only way for that to change is to affect their bottom line, and the only way for that to happen is for people to stop buying their pins, stop buying their tables at events, stop buying the gold memberships. And the only way for THAT to happen is for people to have some poor experiences. If people have a great time at their events, make lots of trades for pins they thought they'd never get then they'll just sign up again next time hoping that they will have gotten their act together and Pinpics will have no incentive to do better. Just like Disney reads "showing up" as support for all of their changes, "showing up" even if it's for good reasons can easily just be taken as support for Pinopolis and by association the ownership of Pinpics. If there is to be any expectation of change, we've all gotta go "cold turkey." As hard as it may be. But I know that won't happen, the website will get fixed at some point and people will totally forget this happened, and go back to anticipating their next event/princess pin release/whatever.

I preface this by saying I'm not going to Florida next week so I wouldn't be able to go to the PinPics event anyway.

While I see where you are coming from and agree to a degree, I also think that those who have ALREADY spent their money with PinPics should be able to pick up their pins and use the services (such as trading tables) they already paid for without feeling guilty. I assume the money paid for the trading tables is non-refundable, and it wasn't an insignificant amount of money either. So I don't hold it against anyone who does attend so their money doesn't just go into PinPics' pocket with no effort at all on their part.

I also wonder - if someone who paid for a table doesn't show up due to boycott, would PinPics see that as a boycott, or would they just assume something else came up? In that respect, going in person to tell them how you feel and that from then on you won't be purchasing anything or attending future trade events may be more effective than just no showing.

 

[Connies_Hobby]

Haha. They just posted an advertisement for the event on Disney Pin Trading on facebook. So I commented "Maybe pinpics should use the money they have raised from the event to fix their website issues?" because I'll admit, I'm getting pretty salty about the website being down... One of the admin in the group started arguing with me that they don't make money from the event and I replied that all I know is that I paid a lot to be there and I'm disappointed in pinpics and sorry I spent the money. So after a brief back and forth with the admin expressing my disappointment calmly but firmly they just deleted all of my comments. REALLY MATURE!

Wow...that was extremely unprofessional.

 

[Connies_Hobby]

Okay...I just posted a comment on pinpics.com's Facebook page.

I encourage dpf members on FB, who have added their page to your Likes and follow, click on the comment with a "Like"

 

[hopemax]

I preface this by saying I'm not going to Florida next week so I wouldn't be able to go to the PinPics event anyway.

While I see where you are coming from and agree to a degree, I also think that those who have ALREADY spent their money with PinPics should be able to pick up their pins and use the services (such as trading tables) they already paid for without feeling guilty. I assume the money paid for the trading tables is non-refundable, and it wasn't an insignificant amount of money either. So I don't hold it against anyone who does attend so their money doesn't just go into PinPics' pocket with no effort at all on their part.

I also wonder - if someone who paid for a table doesn't show up due to boycott, would PinPics see that as a boycott, or would they just assume something else came up? In that respect, going in person to tell them how you feel and that from then on you won't be purchasing anything or attending future trade events may be more effective than just no showing.

I was referring to the people going to support their friends who bought tables. I assumed if you bought stuff you would still go, because, yeah, you are already committed and most of us don't have the luxury of walking away from sunk money. But if someone is really upset about how Pinpics does business, showing up to go see your friends probably isn't sending Pinpics the right message. It's still bodies in the door.

 

[-em]

This is something I haven't talked publicly about, because I have been extremely concerned about my ability to actually pull it off. But in the interest of "putting my money where my mouth is," when Pinpics launched their "new site" and we all hated it. I started working on creating my own. I started from scratch, knowledge-wise, and I'm using a CMS because I still don't know HOW to build a custom database. I am not a programmer or DBA. My Mom getting sick, put a huge delay in it, and for the last year I've felt like I'm "3 months away from getting it ready." But then I learn something new, and that sets me back because I have to redo stuff. I don't want to step on pintradingdb.com's toes too much but I've been worried that when Ryan started it, he was more committed than he is now that he really isn't into Disney pins anymore and I wasn't sure how viable of a solution it was (before all of this recent Pinpics issue started). Plus, I think my longevity in this hobby and the extensiveness of my collection gives me some perspective of what the new site should be capable of. Honestly, after 3 years of working on this on and off, I'll still have breakthroughs in realizing that the back end really needs to be organized like THIS not THAT to really get it to be useful. I started 2018 with the goal of getting it online by 2019 and that's still my goal. There are a few things I really wish I could do that I still don't really think I am going to be able to learn how to do, but I'm too the point where I don't think it's any worse than Pinpics (especially a non-functional Pinpics). But we'll see...typing this out loud is making me nervous that I'm going to get myself "stuck" again, lol.

The only big thing is that I won't be doing a Trade Assistant. I just don't want to take on the responsibility of handling all the stuff Pinpics has to deal with when "trades go bad." I want to at least have comparison tools, but that is one of the things I'm not quite sure I can manage without it being "clunky." I know this might be a deal breaker for people, and why Ryan and if he lets GreyWyvern provide assistance, should still work on improving pintradingDB. It may be a better Trading solution, than I can ever provide. I can promise that in terms of an information repository and inventory management tool it will have many of the features we lost when Pinpics got redesigned, or things we never had but always wanted.

Of course, now that I'm in Florida, I can't work on it for 3 weeks, when I should probably be working double-time on it.

If there is anything I can do to help- please let me know. I’m excited to see what you’ve come up with and as one who really misses the ‘good ol days’ id love a piece of it back

 

[KT07]

If there is anything I can do to help- please let me know. I’m excited to see what you’ve come up with and as one who really misses the ‘good ol days’ id love a piece of it back

As long as " the pin father" comes back to DPF also. And what about "the bald guy in the back". I'm all about the old days but also open to change if it is done with the community and not too it.

 

[KT07]

Okay...I just posted a comment on pinpics.com's Facebook page.

I encourage dpf members on FB, who have added their page to your Likes and follow, click on the comment with a "Like"

No FB here. But nice job.

 

[Sunoo]

Yes, this is a known error that hasn't yet been fixed. I think @starry_solo said to put "10,000" as the edition size for OEs. (I actually think it doesn't matter what you put as the edition size for OEs: the number won't show.)

The fix I found was to set it to "Limited Edition" and enter "0" for the edition size, then switch to "Open Edition" and it will save properly.

 

[TiggerSue]

Hopemax, Timeerkat and others have made good points..... The best one being - Going Forward - STOP giving them $$$$!!

Don't buy their pins, don't buy tables at future Events, don't play their Pinopolis Game and DON'T buy their "Gold Memberships"!! BTW, Gold Members are in the same boat as everyone else as to PinPics access.

Money talks & then maybe the owners of PinPics will listen and fix their site.

 

[pinnochiolover]

Yes, I agree... perhaps supporting a new database would be in everyone's best interest? Its sad... but it takes the power out of a commercial entity's hands....

Sounds like a good idea, but the last time we did this, Pinpics got the site closed down for copyright infringement (I think that was the reason). We had all spent a lot of time creating the listings and adding pictures. I know we can avoid that particular scenario, but I still feel reluctant to go down that road again.

I actually wish that I had my own database on my PC at home, no links to the internet, just a database for my own use to catalog my pins, not that I have that many, I've just been in this hobby so long now. I have spreadsheets, but that doesn't have pics and sometimes I'm like , which pin is that?

I am actually resigned to the fact that Pinpics is down at the moment, and have decided to find something else to entertain myself with, for the foreseeable future, because of what's gone before. Rewind a couple of years, many of us in the UK were unable to get into the Pinpics website, it lasted over a year for me personally. Pinpics said the right things and showed concern, but at the end of the day they never provided a solution. I spoke to everyone I could think of, internet provider, Pinpics, computer experts, everyone pasted the buck. Eventually the only way I got in was via a proxy server. Having been through that experience, and having experienced the fact that Pinpics always goes down around the time of events, I am comfortable with just walking away from Pinpics for a while and save myself the anxiety/upset/drama of checking it daily. I appreciate though that I have the liberty of walking away for a while, not everyone can, when they have plans for an event. But for me its just like, oh well, again ……….

 

[pinnochiolover]

[QUOTE="I actually wish that I had my own database on my PC at home, no links to the internet, just a database for my own use to catalog my pins, not that I have that many, I've just been in this hobby so long now. I have spreadsheets, but that doesn't have pics and sometimes I'm like , which pin is that?[/QUOTE]

On an after thought, does anyone know, is there anyway we can do this?

 

[disneykins]

Perhaps, someone could update us on the status of PinPics? That would be greatly appreciated,

 

[hopemax]

The problem with The other site was that Ethan imported PinPics database, completely. Not just people’s wants / trades. The images, the descriptions, everything. I emailed with PinPics owner after that and he said he would not go after something like Ryan’s site or any other site that was created from scratch.

 

[hopemax]

[QUOTE="I actually wish that I had my own database on my PC at home, no links to the internet, just a database for my own use to catalog my pins, not that I have that many, I've just been in this hobby so long now. I have spreadsheets, but that doesn't have pics and sometimes I'm like , which pin is that?

On an after thought, does anyone know, is there anyway we can do this?[/QUOTE]

Before I started working on my project, I considered this. I actually got a decent setup by using the open source LibreOffice Base (alternative to those that don’t have Microsoft Office). Years ago, my Dad set up an Access Database to catalog his Disney holiday collection. It does take more knowledge than a spreadsheet to set up because of Primary and Secondary keys and multiple tables. but it wasn’t too bad.

I could probably write out specific instructions or maybe make the base document in Base to send around if I could remember. There are people who have created generic collectibles software and apps, but these cost money. Including Ethan from the other pin site. I think his apps are under Sort It!

 

[pinnochiolover]

Perhaps, someone could update us on the status of PinPics? That would be greatly appreciated,

There's no info. An individual (who has a Facebook page) has been chasing Pinpics directly, regularly, and there is no new info. I admire your hope, I have none.

 

[pinnochiolover]

[QUOTE="hopemax, Before I started working on my project, I considered this. I actually got a decent setup by using the open source LibreOffice Base (alternative to those that don’t have Microsoft Office). Years ago, my Dad set up an Access Database to catalog his Disney holiday collection. It does take more knowledge than a spreadsheet to set up because of Primary and Secondary keys and multiple tables. but it wasn’t too bad.

I could probably write out specific instructions or maybe make the base document in Base to send around if I could remember. There are people who have created generic collectibles software and apps, but these cost money. Including Ethan from the other pin site. I think his apps are under Sort It![/QUOTE]


Interesting to hear that someone has actually tried this. I wouldn't mind paying for something like this, so that I always had access to my lists, because when pinpics is down, it does stop me trading.

 

[KT07]

The problem with The other site was that Ethan imported PinPics database, completely. Not just people’s wants / trades. The images, the descriptions, everything. I emailed with PinPics owner after that and he said he would not go after something like Ryan’s site or any other site that was created from scratch.

That was nice of him.

 

[swscref]

The problem with The other site was that Ethan imported PinPics database, completely. Not just people’s wants / trades. The images, the descriptions, everything. I emailed with PinPics owner after that and he said he would not go after something like Ryan’s site or any other site that was created from scratch.

For what it's worth, PinPics may have had a valid argument on some of the pictures and some of the descriptions, but anything else is/was public knowledge and belongs to Disney, not PinPics. A lot of the pictures and descriptions (literally verbatim) were taken directly from Disney anyway. PinPics holds no copyright on that material. I'm not defending him taking everything and essentially replicating their site overnight, but I do understand that he was just trying to help the pin community he belonged to. I seem to recall there was a lot of nasty stuff going on back then.

 

[Jabberwocky]

^ When I input the hundreds of entries (text and pictures) I contributed to PinPics over the years it was for the PIN COMMUNITY'S PUBLIC USE. Not for private ownership that later took over the site to try to capitalize on (and attempt to monetize). When PinPics tried to claim ownership of MY writing and MY pictures that I contributed for EVERYONE - and stopped Ethan from using PUBLICLY SOURCED non-proprietary information (not to mention information and pictures taken directly from Disney) I knew it was the end for PinPics' integrity and usefulness.

 

[KT07]

^ When I input the hundreds of entries (text and pictures) I contributed to PinPics over the years it was for the PIN COMMUNITY'S PUBLIC USE. Not for private ownership that later took over the site to try to capitalize on (and attempt to monetize). When PinPics tried to claim ownership of MY writing and MY pictures that I contributed for EVERYONE - and stopped Ethan from using PUBLICLY SOURCED non-proprietary information (not to mention information and pictures taken directly from Disney) I knew it was the end for PinPics' integrity and usefulness.

+10000000 even though this may get deleted also.