RedBubble Stats - At Last!
I wanted to know which of my images were most viewed.
I wanted to know which were least viewed.
I wanted to know if my better selling images were really better selling.
I wanted all the above for my t-shirts too.
I couldn’t find out.
So I created a small software application that could connect to the RedBubble site and sift through my stats and work it all out. I have called it ‘Red Bubbler Stats’.
It works like this. You run the program and then it will cycle through all your art work (or t-shirts) collecting the number of sales, comments, favourtings and views for each.
It also works out a sort of percentage calculation based on the number of views for sales, comments and favourtings. In other words, you might have an image that has been viewed 100 times and commented on 10 times. This means it has a 10% hit rate. This can be very useful because a high hit rate means that the image is a ‘hit’ with those who view it. A high view rate with a low hit rate for sales, comments or favourtings indicates that your tags are good but your image is not!
This information can be seen on the application’s screen but you can also export it and load it into Excel for additional number crunching.
SInce every piece of art (or t-shirt) is displayed in the application you can also jump straight to that piece for editing on RedBubble, or to the page that the item is listed on. That can be very useful too.
It’s also possible to sort the collumns displayed so that you can get very quick answers about what has the most or least comments or views etc.
I am making it available for any to use, though I make no guarentees it will work for you or anything else. If you are running WindowsXP then you should just be able to download the executable (which is zipped) and run it. If you’re running Vista, I have no idea but you’re welcome to try. As it only comes as an .EXE with no install, it should not cause any harm at least.
The instructions probably need to come but essentially,
1. You run RedBubblerStats.exe
2. You WAIT until the redbubble screen is displayed. You’ll need to log in the first time of course – I don’t see or store your usercode or password.
3. When the screen has logged you in, press the START button after making any option changes you wish (e.g. include non-visible works, art or t-shirts)
4. It will cycle through all the pages and build up the statistics tab – flipping you there when done.
5. Clicking on a header in the STATS tab will sort (alternately) by the column chosen. EXPORT will create a .CSV file that can be loaded into Excel.
6. Select a line in the STATS tab list and click on Edit Item button to edit the particular piece of art or clothing in the EDITS tab. Click on the Edit Page button to go directly to the page list with that item on it.
You can download it below:
Zip file : RedBubble Stats V01.00.00.01
BTW. for the nerds, it was written in VB6 because it’s all I have available to me. Version 01.00.00.01 includes a fix whereby items with only 1 sale were not being reported correctly! Doh!
betha
Nice work!! I have Vista, so will have a go and let you know.
betha
Did not work for Vista, oh well, I am sure Red Bubble will soon catch on!
lightsmith replied
DId it have an error or anything? I might yet be able to get it going….
Craig Goldsmith
Wow, nice work!
Brendan Schoon
Great application, unfortunately not working for me but this is a great idea!! Maybe RedBubble will soon come up with an advanced online tool or application!! But I must say great work!!
Brendan
lightsmith replied
That’s what I hate about VB. If I had access to java development or something I could probably get it going on everything….. I might try a PHP version.
lightsmith replied
Updated version allows download of written works to your PC
The info re: the ocx below might help
Arletta
Too true, on not working for Vista Ah well, no Nordic males for me, and no stats, either! Thanks for the try!
lightsmith replied
Alas, Vista is a blister! But I won’t give up yet…..
lightsmith
Let me know what the error message was – I might be able to rectify it. I have a VISTA machine I can get to (sometimes) so I might be able to fix that….. or not.
Jane Keats
You lost me after “so I’ve done it myself.” lol
lightsmith replied
LOL. If I could only convince RB to take me on….. I reckon I could get this stuff up and running and better as part of the redbubble environment. Alas, they don’t seem too interested.
Jane Keats
Bummer… keep trying, it worked for Jo!
betha
Error message was: Component ‘TABCTL32.OCX’ or one of its dependencies not correctly registered: a file is missing or invalid. Hey don’t go to too much trouble, I am off away so will not be able to play much anyway.
lightsmith replied
Ah, that’s a good error – and one that could strike on XP too…... I need to think about an installation after all
yolanda
I got the same error as above on my XP Home Edition pc.
lightsmith replied
I can fix it but I want it to be easy for people to install without any risk.
Arletta
Ditto what she said above. It’s one of those things, you can extract the files, allegedly,but, there is nothing executable that is extracted.
lightsmith replied
Updated version allows download of written works to your PC
sigfusson
Worked like a charm for me (Windows XP) and I could not be more delighted to see my stats shown this way!!! You totall Rock lightsmith and I truly appreciate you sharing this with us! Huge Hugs, S.
lightsmith replied
I’m pleased it worked for you. I have found it very useful and am going to do a major revamp I think of my own art.
lightsmith replied
Updated version allows download of written works to your PC
RandyLMonteith
I am running Vista and it works like a charm for me !! Thanks nice program!
lightsmith replied
That’s excellent news Randy. It means that there are only a couple of dependencies and I should be able to build an install that will address that for those who need it.
jo beerens
I tried this on 2 pc’s but it doesn’t cycle through all my art pages (31 pages in my case).
A newer version of TABCTL32.OCX can be downloaded here
lightsmith replied
Hmmm….. I think I have more than 31 pages – does it give an error or just stop? Maybe I need to tweak something…
jo beerens
Nope, no error messages. It gives the stats of page one and it stops.
lightsmith replied
Grrr…. I hate computers. Let me give this some thought!
lightsmith replied
Just had the problem and I’ve fixed it. I have my suspicions…... but it seems to be working now (for me) after a change. Let me know if you are interested in trying the new version.
lightsmith replied
Updated version allows download of written works to your PC
lightsmith
JUST fixed a bug (obviously redbubble had changed sometime) because it was capturing only the first page. Either that or they have multiple servers at different release levels, which is quite likely given some other issues experienced at times. I’ll upload the newer version in a few days probably or sooner if someone demands it LOL
Piet Vermeulen
Oh I am interested too, but also got the above mentioned .ocx missing.
Keep going though!
Piet Vermeulen
Got mine working after registering the ocx, works great!
lightsmith replied
Glad it’s helpful. I’m going to add calendar stats too, and ALSO a way of downloading your writing – useful for those who compose online with no backup! (which I sometimes do). Will probably have a new version just after Christmas…... fingers crossed.
lightsmith replied
Updated version allows download of written works to your PC
Piet Vermeulen
For those wanting to install the said .ocx
Please scan content for a virus after downloading!
lightsmith
Newest revision available. It allows stats on Calendars and Written works.
It ALSO allows download of written works.
I need to write up some instructions….. and create a new journal entry with some pictures, but in case anyone checks here, the way it works is this:
Select the WRITING option rather than Art or Clothing or Calendars.
Click START and wait for the stats tab to be displayed.
Click on the DOWNLOAD tab and select the written works you want to download.
Click on the DOWNLOAD button.
The Title, description and Text of your written works are written to files (with the title of the work as the file name) in the DOWNLOAD folder where the .exe resides.
Try it with one first before going to the lot ….. but it’s working OK for me at the moment.
lightsmith
Oh, and http://download.microsoft.com/download/vb60ent/sample30/1/w9xnt4/en-us/vb6cli.exe is a microsoft download that purports to solve the TABCTL32.OCX error …..
lightsmith
I have just downloaded all my ‘writing’ (i.e. not journals) ..... So I feel much better because a) it works and b) I know that any changes or additions made on redbubble are safely on my hard drive too…
Max Buchheit
I’ll give it a shot. Have you contacted the RB web team about this (I don’t know whio to contact). Given your valiant effort they might be able to enhance it and package it for installation ( or even convert it to something other than VB). Nice work, anyway.
Thanks,
Max
jo beerens
Hi Lightsmith. Great job.
I tried it on one of my pc’s and it worked (after installing some OCX files). Small correction needed. Some people have more than 10000 views for one photo. My photo with 11711 views gets sorted between one with 1181 views and one with 1167 views. If you add an extra zero in front of all the view numbers it is probably OK. No rush, I can work around it.
Thanks again for a wonderful job on this.
lightsmith replied
Good point – I’ll check it ‘cos it should be a simple change and easy to implement.
Max Buchheit
Works for me on an XP box, with some minor glitches. Stats for art worked just fine. However, it bombs for “writing” with a “runtime error 5” and for “calendars” the stats entries are incomplete (but I only have 1 calendar).
Good work, tho. In a simar vein, I’ve been trying to re-order my art in terms of a “rank”. so far I calculate this in my head and do a bubble-sort (no pun intended). The ranking I use is to sort them according to (in order): sales first, then favourites, then comments, then views. I figure a piece with comments etc has to better than one with none but lots of views. I suppose there are many philosophies on what value to put on these or how to valuate your stats. Any ideas?
What RB also needs (and I think they may be working on it) is to have the ability to drag and drop your art in the order you wish. Right now its a monumental pain in ze derriere to do that past the first page.
Cheers,
Max
lightsmith replied
hmmmmm error 5…... I think I have an idea why. The calendars I better double check. Maybe it only works with 2+ calendars LOL. I’ll see what I can find.
Hey – do you have any writing? It only works on ‘Writing’ not ‘Journals’ (they will come later) and when I checked your profile I couldn’t see any writing. If they are all hidden (i.e unpublished) then it should still work and if this is the case, did any writings get downloaded or did it crash on the first?
Max Buchheit
Ahh – you’re right – I didn’t have any writing, just journals.