Wednesday 3 December 2014

Comparison of Zazzle tools: PinAProd and SeeMyBest

I've been asked both directly and in a roundabout way to explain the different purposes of SeeMyBest and PinAProd tools for Zazzlers. So here's a comparison - what they're for, what they produce and their features / options.

If you're pressed for time, skip to the handy features / options comparison table at the end. And if you haven't got time for that, SeeMyBest Pro is the most fully featured and the one I recommend (it's the one I use all the time).

SeeMyBest

Dec 5th Update: SeeMyBest Pro adds html and BBCode generation both for individual products and all products together. And, hot off the press - if you have a Zazzle promo code, it can be included in all product links by putting it into the config screen.
Dec 24th update: SeeMyBest Pro gets a great new personalisation panel feature. Your generated code for websites / blogs now comes with a form for your visitor to type in their details. When they hit the update button, all products change to show what they typed. Live example here: http://razamazazzle.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/first-test-of-new-personalization.html

In principle, SeeMyBest is for generating web sites when you don't have one. Everything is focussed towards getting visitors to it. The sharing card / generated link (shortened) give you something to put in front of people's faces to get them to visit it. When they do, they see your page of products each with those sharing / pin buttons. This is so the visitors can easily share or so they can visit your products and buy.
Here's an example of a page generated by SeeMyBest (free) showing my top 12 most popular outer space watches.
Here's a screenshot of the page that it produces:
Example page generated by SeeMyBest (free)

PinAProd2

PinAProd2 is aimed at folk who do have their own website / blog and aren't afraid to copy and paste (and maybe mess a little with) html. Here's a recent blog post I created


Blog post created with PinAProd2 (free)
Note the text under the  piccies - that comes straight
from the product page description on Zazzle




The html it generates shows your visitors one or more products on your own website / blog (no sharing / pin buttons). The images and links take your visitors to the respective product page on Zazzle.
Both allow you, while you're on the config screen, to pin / share the products that are pulled and shown on the preview screens of each.

PinAProd3 (paid for by donation) adds sharing / pin buttons to the generated html and also generates BBCode (y'know, for forums).

It also passes product name and description (which can include your tags converted to hashtags and can be trimmed to a set number of characters) to Pinterest (not possible with either Polyvore or G+) -

PinAProd2 only passes product name. SeeMyBestPro adds all sorts of options for the generated pages including a contact / profile panel and a panel of up to 3 further links to more SeeMyBestPages (that you have already created). It also lets you give a page background colour and image, and a banner image.

Side By Side Config Screen Comparison

(click to see larger images)
SeeMyBest (free)PinAProd2 (free)


Here's a complete side-by-side feature / options comparison

Updated Jan 26th 2015

SeeMyBest and PinAProd comparison
SeeMyBest
(free)
SeeMyBestPro
(donation)
PinAprod2
(free)
PinAProd3
(donation)
All product links include your referral
id, tracking code and Z promotion
code, if you set one
not promotion
code
y not promotion
code
not promotion
code
Has different tracking codes
for the different places your
links will appear
y y y y
Set the size of image used
when sharing
y y y y
Set the background colour to
product images - also supports
transparent backgrounds
y y y y
When pinning to Pinterest, includes:
product
description
product
description
product name
product name,
description
and hash tags
if option set
Generates a website without you having one y y n n
Sharing buttons included:
Pinterest Pin
Google Plus share
Polyvore share
y y
n/a n/a
Page by-line and description
y y n/a n/a
Short page description
y y n/a n/a
Generated page's link can be
shortened using Google's link
shortener at the click of a button
y y n/a n/a
Set a page background
image that repeats
n y n/a
n/a
Set page background color
n y n/a n/a
Include your banner image at
the top of the page
n y n/a n/a
Sort results by newest / most popular n y n/a n/a
Contact / profile panel - options for
email address and
Pinterest, Twitter and Facebok profiles
and your blog
n y n/a n/a
A panel to hold up to three more links
so you can link to different sections
of your generated website
n y n/a n/a
Config screen and options setting y y y y
Page / html output preview
y y y y
Generates sharing cards
(html and bbcode for forums)
y y n/a n/a
Generates html for your blog
or your own website and
BBCode for forums like Zazzle's
only for
sharing cards
y y y
Generates a Curated Zazzle Collection
n y n n
Pinterest and Polyvore
pin / share buttons
y y y y
Google Plus share button
y y n y
Wanelo share button
n n y n
Config options for pulling products from Zazzle y y y y
Can save all configurations options set
('saving' is done by bookmarking a link you are given)
y y y y
Pull from specific store
y y y y
Use search term or phrase
y y y y
Pull and sort by most popular / newest first
only Popular
y y y
Set how many to pull
y y y y
Pull from 1st, 2nd 3rd etc results pages
y y y y
Pull from a specific store category
y y y y
Pull from a specific department
(ie type of product)
y y y y
Pull from multiple departments (up to 4)
n n y y
Block items from being pulled if they
contain any of up to 3 terms or phrases
n n y y
Set size of image to use for
product thumbnail
n y y y
Include product tags as hash tags
in generated html and Pinterest pin info
n n
n y
Trim product description to length
you set (0 to remove product
description entirely)
n y n y
Remove price from generated html
n/a y n y
Generated BBCode available for
individual items or all items together
n/a saved list n/a n/a
Generated html available for
individual items or all items together
n/a saved list y y
Gather and save products from
multiple pulls from Zazzle
n/a y n n
Personalize multiple products at once
n/a y n n

I'd love to hear what you think or get your suggestions for improvement after you've used them a few times.
As usual, I'm happy to answer any questions you might have :)

comments, likes, +1s, tweets are always welcome! :)