MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - calibre-plugins.com: A resource for plugin developers

GRiker · 05-01-2014, 01:03 PM

I've created a website at calibre-plugins.com with informative statistics for calibre plugin developers.

At the site, you will see three sections plus a FAQ:

Most popular is a list of the top 10 plugloads downloaded today.
Recently updated is a list of plugins updated within the last month.
Most downloaded is a ranked list of the most popular plugin downloads.
The FAQ answers common questions about the site.

Clicking on any bar graph in the Most popular and Most downloaded sections will reveal a summary of previous releases. Clicking on an individual release summary drills down to daily download totals.

Clicking the release date in the Recently updated section reveals a summary of the current release. Clicking the summary drills down to daily downloads totals.

How are you doing this?

I asked Kovid if he could make the download statistics available so that it would be possible to collate and present the information. He agreed to do so, and made the necessary changes to the plugin server on April 8th, 2014. All historical download data begins on this "plugin epoch" of 2014-04-08. I'm running an auditing server process that snapshots and processes the raw downloads statistics available at plugins.calibre-ebook.com. The auditing server updates once an hour.

Doesn't that mean the download statistics are skewed to recently-updated plugins?

Yes. Popular plugins that have been stable for some time will appear to be less popular than other plugins that have been updated more recently. Over time, as plugins are updated, the data should normalize.

Why are you doing this?

As a plugin developer, I had no way of knowing how many users were installing my plugins, other than forum questions and the occasional karma bump or PayPal contribution. It seemed like something that all plugin developers would find informative.

I also wanted a mechanism to track plugin usage statistics in a manner consistent with how calibre tracks general usage statistics. The iOSRA plugin supports 34 different iDevices, 4 major releases of iOS software, 4 iOS reader applications and 3 OS platforms. Understanding how users are using the plugin helps focus development and testing efforts.

Consistent with calibre’s collection of usage data, no identifying information or library metadata is being collected.

Click here to view a sample iOSRA plugin report.

How can I add logging to a plugin?

Plugin developers can add a small logging class to their plugin to capture session statistics. I've posted server source code at this GitHub repo. The repo includes the basic server code and sample client code. You will need a 24x7 server. If you have an existing server, you can simply deploy the server code as a long-running python app. To rent an inexpensive VPS, see the README at the repo for a recommended VPS provider and a discount coupon.

How long will the site be up?

I expect to run it for at least a few months to see how it goes. At this time, all costs are being paid out of my pocket. If I can cover my costs in the longer term, the site will have a longer life.

05-01-2014, 01:03 PM	#1
GRiker Comparer of the Ephemeris Posts: 1,496 Karma: 424697 Join Date: Mar 2009 Device: iPad	calibre-plugins.com: A resource for plugin developers I've created a website at calibre-plugins.com with informative statistics for calibre plugin developers. At the site, you will see three sections plus a FAQ: Most popular is a list of the top 10 plugloads downloaded today. Recently updated is a list of plugins updated within the last month. Most downloaded is a ranked list of the most popular plugin downloads. The FAQ answers common questions about the site. Clicking on any bar graph in the Most popular and Most downloaded sections will reveal a summary of previous releases. Clicking on an individual release summary drills down to daily download totals. Clicking the release date in the Recently updated section reveals a summary of the current release. Clicking the summary drills down to daily downloads totals. How are you doing this? I asked Kovid if he could make the download statistics available so that it would be possible to collate and present the information. He agreed to do so, and made the necessary changes to the plugin server on April 8th, 2014. All historical download data begins on this "plugin epoch" of 2014-04-08. I'm running an auditing server process that snapshots and processes the raw downloads statistics available at plugins.calibre-ebook.com. The auditing server updates once an hour. Doesn't that mean the download statistics are skewed to recently-updated plugins? Yes. Popular plugins that have been stable for some time will appear to be less popular than other plugins that have been updated more recently. Over time, as plugins are updated, the data should normalize. Why are you doing this? As a plugin developer, I had no way of knowing how many users were installing my plugins, other than forum questions and the occasional karma bump or PayPal contribution. It seemed like something that all plugin developers would find informative. I also wanted a mechanism to track plugin usage statistics in a manner consistent with how calibre tracks general usage statistics. The iOSRA plugin supports 34 different iDevices, 4 major releases of iOS software, 4 iOS reader applications and 3 OS platforms. Understanding how users are using the plugin helps focus development and testing efforts. Consistent with calibre’s collection of usage data, no identifying information or library metadata is being collected. Click here to view a sample iOSRA plugin report. How can I add logging to a plugin? Plugin developers can add a small logging class to their plugin to capture session statistics. I've posted server source code at this GitHub repo. The repo includes the basic server code and sample client code. You will need a 24x7 server. If you have an existing server, you can simply deploy the server code as a long-running python app. To rent an inexpensive VPS, see the README at the repo for a recommended VPS provider and a discount coupon. How long will the site be up? I expect to run it for at least a few months to see how it goes. At this time, all costs are being paid out of my pocket. If I can cover my costs in the longer term, the site will have a longer life. Last edited by GRiker; 05-01-2014 at 02:37 PM.