Amazon Associate ID

Any trouble you encounter with the Pedias, here's the place to ask for help.
Post Reply
cwise
Junior Member
Junior Member
Posts: 2
Joined: Sun Aug 31, 2008 8:21 am

Amazon Associate ID

Post by cwise »

Bookpedia:
I cannot get an associate ID since I live in NC. I've built my entire database from Amazon. What am I to do now? Can I go back to an earlier version and still gain access to Amazon for searches?
User avatar
Nora
Site Admin
Posts: 2155
Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2004 5:03 am
Contact:

Re: Amazon Associate ID

Post by Nora »

Of course you can return to version 4. The Amazon search is still incorporated. Here is the download link: http://www.bruji.com/bookpedia/bookpedia4.6.8.dmg

Make sure after you downgrade to version 4.6.8 you delete the data file for version 5 (Database.bookpd) so that if you ever do decide to update, the program will be forced to do this from your 4.6.8 file. You will find the file in the Bookpedia data folder, located in your Home folder under ~/Library/Application Support/Bookpedia

If you're on Lion, it hides the Library folder by default so to go to your Bookpedia data folder you have to use the Finder's 'Go' menu, select 'Go to Folder' and copy paste ~/Library/Application Support/Bookpedia into the window that appears.

Have you tried some of the other search sites though? Wikipedia has a very good database as do OpenLibrary and Freebase. Doghouse, the Pedias own new database, is still growing since it is user-built and we have only just launched the programs. But we're sure it'll become a powerful search option soon as well.

Do take a minute to check out this post on our blog about the new search to find about more its features and the new UI.
User avatar
sjk
Addicted to Bruji
Addicted to Bruji
Posts: 529
Joined: Sat Feb 21, 2009 9:01 pm
Location: Eugene

Re: Amazon Associate ID

Post by sjk »

cwise wrote:I cannot get an associate ID since I live in NC.
Should be possible to obtain an Amazon Web Services account (for the Access Key and Secret Key under v5 Preferences > Sites > Amazon Settings) in NC. You can use any Associate ID (for the Associate Tag); it doesn't have to be your own.
TreverT
Contributor
Contributor
Posts: 8
Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2011 9:12 pm

Re: Amazon Associate ID

Post by TreverT »

sjk wrote:
cwise wrote:I cannot get an associate ID since I live in NC.
Should be possible to obtain an Amazon Web Services account (for the Access Key and Secret Key under v5 Preferences > Sites > Amazon Settings) in NC. You can use any Associate ID (for the Associate Tag); it doesn't have to be your own.

It won't even let NC residents sign up for the Associates program - We're stopped at the first screen. I tried using someone else's Associates ID and Bookpedia kicked me back, saying the ID did not match with my AWS account.
TreverT
Contributor
Contributor
Posts: 8
Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2011 9:12 pm

Re: Amazon Associate ID

Post by TreverT »

Also, I am noticing a new problem after downgrading from v5 to v4.6.8 - Amazon searches no longer fill in the genre or plot descriptions, or any other info beyond title and author. I assume this is something to do with the new locking of their database? Using 4.6.8, I can get 50 hits of a book on Amazon, but they're all blank except for title, author, and cover picture. So, apparently downgrading to 4.6.8 is no longer a good fix for this problem either...
User avatar
Nora
Site Admin
Posts: 2155
Joined: Sun Jul 04, 2004 5:03 am
Contact:

Re: Amazon Associate ID

Post by Nora »

I tried using someone else's Associates ID and Bookpedia kicked me back, saying the ID did not match with my AWS account.
Could you send me that error message please? (You'll find our email on the support page.) AFAIK the associate ID does not have to come from the same account as the Access and Secret key. Please have a look at your console log, see if there are any messages from Bookpedia as well. You can access the console log via the application 'Console', located inside your Applications/Utilities. The newer messages are towards the end of the log.

As for the Amazon search in 4.6.8 - it seems to work fine here. Could you give me an example of some search keywords that you've used please so I can try those here?
User avatar
sjk
Addicted to Bruji
Addicted to Bruji
Posts: 529
Joined: Sat Feb 21, 2009 9:01 pm
Location: Eugene

Re: Amazon Associate ID

Post by sjk »

TreverT wrote:
sjk wrote:
cwise wrote:I cannot get an associate ID since I live in NC.
Should be possible to obtain an Amazon Web Services account (for the Access Key and Secret Key under v5 Preferences > Sites > Amazon Settings) in NC. You can use any Associate ID (for the Associate Tag); it doesn't have to be your own.
It won't even let NC residents sign up for the Associates program - We're stopped at the first screen.
Right. I was questioning the ability to get an AWS account there.
I tried using someone else's Associates ID and Bookpedia kicked me back, saying the ID did not match with my AWS account.
You could try using your AWS account number for the Associate Tag field of Bookpedia's Amazon Settings. That worked for me with DVDpedia before I realized the Affiliate Program signup to obtain an Associate ID was a separate process.
Post Reply