I should probably post this on Hivelist, but for now, I'm still experimenting. I had a very productive conversation with @thelogicaldude about selling both virtual and physical products, and we have agreed that having one's own website and integrating Hive technology into it is the best route. Once I start working on this full-time (I'm busy with butchering and vacuum forming right now), Hivelist will be where I post notifications every time I release a new product, physical or digital. Previously, I have sold virtual products (specifically .stl files) on Wargaming 3D, so I knew how to set that up on my website, I just never did - until now, as I have .pdf blueprints available. Since @holovision mentioned it in a comment on my last post, here's a WIP of the Type 97-Kai:
This drawing isn't finished yet, so you're not looking at a preview of the .pdf, but a screenshot of the drawing tool in Inventor. I'm currently in the process of re-organising my catalogue so that I can sell more than just historical tanks, and I haven't even updated my database to reflect the addition of Japanese armour yet. I have lots of work to do in preparation, such as making drawings for everything currently in the catalogue. Today, I uploaded a test drawing, one that is fully annotated and watermarked for the KV-220 (a model which I will probably re-design in the future, since it was one of my earliest and thus not up to the standards I operate by now). Given that the KV-220 was a prototype in the development of the KV-3, it appears on the KV-3 post, or "parent page," as I call it. This is how the KV-3 page used to look:
After adding provision for multiple options per variant, the page now looks like this:
If you visit this page and click on the link to the drawing, this is what you'll find:
As you can see, the price is displayed in both USD and HBD. In order to purchase with HBD, simply select "Hive" as the payment method when you check out. The plugin I'm currently using is from @roomservice, and it is available via GitHub. I'll probably add the more recently developed HivePay.io in the near future, and deactivate one or the other depending on which one works better. I also have the Coinbase Commerce plugin installed, but I'm not going to activate it just yet.
You may have also noticed the language option. By default, I will offer all of my drawings annotated in both English and Russian. Be warned, however, that even though the Russian language option currently appears on this page, there is no file there yet, so don't waste your money. The only reason it shows up is because I wanted to at least go through the motions of adding multiple variants of a virtual product. Adding different product options for virtual products is a bit of a pain, since I have to back out of the WooCommerce end, go to the WordPress end to add variants, save the changes, and then go back into the WooCommerce end to upload files for each variant. The interface for both creating and editing products on each end is rather different, so there is a lot of back and forth. As it is, I will end up having to go through the entire catalogue and change the material options, since I'm no longer dealing with coloured resin for the actual miniatures. You can still order white or dark green if you want, but if I don't have one on hand, you'll get grey, since it is a far superior material that will replace both white and dark green. I need some painted samples for the catalogue anyway.
For those of you who have browsed my catalogue or my Shapeways shop, you probably have a fair idea of how much work I have to do. Once all the tanks are taken care of, I have plans to completely re-organise the catalogue to include ships, aircraft, and various designs from my own imagination. The current organisation of the tank catalogue will remain the same, it will just become part of a much larger collection. I doubt I'll get round to making the new version of the website public before year's end, but at least you know what to expect. Until then, are there any tanks that I should give priority to when it comes to making blueprints?
I just ordered a drawing using HBD and received it in my e-mail. Excellent!
More are on the way! Now, to see what's wrong with my notifications...
@tipu curate
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It was a pleasure speaking with you, let me know if I can help!