Accounts

Virtually everything on this site to be done can be done without ever creating an account. This is by design. But for those of you who don’t mind, several additional features open up:

• no more confirmation emails (assuming you’re using your account email)
• manage all your posts from one page
• answer all questions from one page
• manage all your search alerts from one page
• … ?

So check it out: https://allurstuff.com/my_account.html

And tell us what you think.

HTML Support / Live Preview

Hey all, I’ve added HTML support to your posts. The following tags are supported:

a, blockquote, br, b, center, code div, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, img, i, li, ol, pre, p, strike, strong, sub, sup, table, td, th, tr, ul, u

and obviously everything else is torpedoed. There is a little tiny bit of a security concern with the img tag, which could allow posters to track by IP address viewers, but craigslist allows it so I’m following their lead. (if you disagree and think it should be blocked, comment below or PM me)

Oh yeah, one more thing… I’ve added a “live preview” feature to the post page. It’s pretty cool – check it out.

Love ya all!
Derek

Lots of changes!

Hey all, I thought i would give a rundown on what’s changed at allurstuff, if you haven’t been here in a while.

From the major-new-features dept, check out the following:

• Searches can include data from craigslist. We have the entire db of which CL cites are located where, and we can automatically search the craigslist site closest to you when you search allurstuff. There is a checkbox under the “advanced search” feature that turns this on and off, but it is turned on automatically whenever we have nothing matching your search locally. (there is also a “add results from CL” at the bottom of the search list) CL ads display below allurstuff ads (obviously – post here first! ) and show less information than allurstuff ads, but we do try our best to make sense of CL locations and put them on the right spot on the map for you.
• Speaking of CL, crossposting is now much more robust. We support a LOT more of their servers (over 400), and can auto-pick the closest one to you. If you haven’t seen the crossposting feature, it lets you post your ad and your pictures here, and we automatically upload them all to craigslist for you too. Just saving you time…
• The advanced search options are also cool. Every search is run through a formula to decide the order all the ads should appear in. But some people may have different preferences (say you live on campus and don’t have a car….distance may be much more important to you than other considerations). Just adjust the sliders and reclick the search button.
• Speaking of the search page, check out the “big map” view. Like? Think it’s useless? Let us know.
• The search alerts are my personal favorite change. Search like usual, click the email icon to the right of the search bar, and type in your email address. We’ll automatically email you any new posts that match your search, whenever they happen to get added. Very handy if want to jump on some new deal, but don’t want to come and see us every day. (sniff)
• Check out the locations page. You can see everywhere anyone’s used the site…

After that, just lots and lots of bug fixes. (over 5000) Keep emailing your suggestions! And thanks for stopping by!

Site Launch

Hey everyone, allurstuff.com is finally up! For those of you who don’t know me, this started with an idea last summer (that idea being “craigslist sucks”), was the motivation for me to seek my PhD at UTD, and something I’ve put a lot of myself into these past 8 months. So please, go, use it, and for pete’s sake let me know what bugs you find.

Also, I want to say thanks to those who tested for me (esp. those who were unabashed in their criticism), and of course to my investor.

Enjoy,
Derek

P.S. Obviously there isn’t much data available yet other than the real estate information I’m pulling dynamically, so if you’re just checking it out for the first time I recommend searching around Plano, TX for say “house with pool”.