UPDATED FOR NEW NETFLIX FORMAT 5/19/05

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Who knew there was so much interest in Netflix, and related plugins for MovableType? Just when I thought I was finished up tweaking Ben's original plugin to display the Netflix Queue, I began to get other requests for other lists and various features.

So, I have decided to just put three plugins in one zip file and name it, presumptuously, the Netflix Suite.

Here are the plugins enclosed:

NOTE: The Image Tags return a URL to the small image for each movie. This uses Netflix's bandwidth, and I don't recommend it. It has been heavily requested, though, so it is included.

NetflixQueue

Displays movies in your rental queue.

Available tags are:
<MTNetflixQueue>
<$MTNetflixQueueTitle$>
<$MTNetflixQueueURL$>
<$MTNetflixQueueImage$>
<$MTNetflixQueueGenre$>
<$MTNetflixQueueRating$>
<$MTNetflixQueueAvailability$>
<$MTNetflixQueuePosition$>

Additional arguments for <MTNetfilxQueue> are "lastn" "firstn" and "randomn"
These treat your queue as such, i.e., FIFO, but they allude to weblogs where
the "lastn" are the "n" most recent posts. In this plugin , "lastn" returns the
list of "n" movies at the top of your queue, and "firstn" returns the list of
"n" movies at the bottom. "randomn" returns "n" random movies selected from your
queue. So, <MTNetflixQueue session_id = "<your session ID>" lastn = "10"> will
return the next 10 movies you will be viewing. Caution: Use of the image tag uses THEIR bandwith.

NetflixOutstanding

Displays list of movies you currently have on rental from NetFlix.

Available tags are:
<MTNetflixOutstanding>
<$MTNetflixOutstandingTitle$>
<$MTNetflixOutstandingURL$>
<$MTNetflixOutstandingImage$>
<$MTNetflixOutstandingGenre$>
<$MTNetflixOutstandingRating$>
<$MTNetflixOutstandingShipped$>
<$MTNetflixOutstandingArrival$>

Additional arguments for <MTNetfilxOutstanding> are "lastn" "firstn" and "randomn"
These treat your "oustanding" queue as such, i.e., FIFO, but they allude to weblogs where
the "lastn" are the "n" most recent posts. In this plugin , "lastn" returns the
list of "n" movies at the top of your "outstanding" queue, and "firstn" returns the list of
"n" movies at the bottom. "randomn" returns "n" random movies selected from your
"outstanding" queue. So, <MTNetflixOutstanding session_id = "<your session ID>" lastn = "3"> will
return the next 3 movies you have out. Caution: Use of the image tag uses THEIR bandwith.

Netflix History

Displays movies you have recently rented and presumably watched.

Available tags are:
<MTNetflixHistory>
<$MTNetflixHistoryTitle$>
<$MTNetflixHistoryURL$>
<$MTNetflixHistoryImage$>
<$MTNetflixHistoryShipDate$>
<$MTNetflixHistoryReturnDate$>
<$MTNetflixHistoryRating$>
<$MTNetflixHistoryRatingGraphic$>

An additional argument for <MTNetfilxHistory> is "lastn"
This treats your "history" queue as such, i.e., FIFO, but alludes to weblogs where
the "lastn" are the "n" most recent posts. In this plugin , "lastn" returns the
list of "n" movies at the top of your "history" queue.
So, <MTNetflixHistory session_id = "<your session ID>" lastn = "3"> will
return the top 3 movies you have out.

Caution: Caution: Use of the image tag uses THEIR bandwith.

Download: NetflixSuite

Comments

123 Responses to NetFlix Suite

kim Says:
May 10th, 2005 at 09:48 pm
Are we sure they broke it? I haven’t updated in ages and mine still works just fine, even the History one, which caused the most problems.
Oscar Says:
May 10th, 2005 at 09:41 pm
Yes, I’m sorry about that trkid= business! Netflix changed their format again acouple of weeks ago and broke the plugin. I promised a couple of people that I would fix it last weekend, but to be honest, I ended up installing Tiger on my Mac and spent the rest of the weekend getting it running right, stripping out old useless crap, and reconfiguring php and apache. Now that I have it all back in order, I will try to fix the plugin ASAP. I just need to get a little break from other things. I’m hoping to have it fixed by the end of the coming weekend.
Seth Bokelman Says:
May 10th, 2005 at 05:34 pm
Quick followup, for some reason, this link works:

http://a408.g.akamai.net/f/408/1284/24h/image.netflix.com/NetFlix_Assets/boxshots/small/759322.jpg

But this one won’t:

http://a408.g.akamai.net/f/408/1284/24h/image.netflix.com/NetFlix_Assets/boxshots/small/759322&trkid=90529.jpg

The bottom one is the one generated for my page by the plugin. Any ideas what tricks Netflix is up to? That trkid doesn’t show up on the title that does properly display its image.
Kat Says:
March 30th, 2005 at 04:43 pm
Hello, thanks for your work on this plugin. I just installed it and am having a bit of trouble with the Outstanding plugin.

My template code is:
<MTNetflixOutstanding session_id=“P1919748098514153405880811887834807”>
<a href=”<$MTNetflixOutstandingURL$>”><$MTNetflixOutstandingTitle$></a> 
</MTNetflixOutstanding>

And I get the following error message upon rebuilding:
Use of uninitialized value in concatenation (.) or string at extlib/HTTP/Cookies.pm line 136.
Use of uninitialized value in pattern match (m//) at extlib/HTTP/Cookies.pm line 182.
Use of uninitialized value in concatenation (.) or string at extlib/HTTP/Cookies.pm line 188.

The Queue and History plugins work just fine though. I’ve tried logging in and out of NetFlix and double checked the session id. Any thoughts?
James Frazer Says:
February 4th, 2005 at 05:16 pm
For some reason I am getting the following error today, any ideas?

Build error in template ‘Main Index’: Error in
tag: HTTP error: 500 Can’t connect to http://www.netflix.com:80 (Bad hostname ‘www.netflix.com’)
DreamStatic Says:
February 3rd, 2005 at 02:02 pm
Hello Oscar, I am getting an error on my Netflix History page. I was wanting to alert you to the error I am receiving. Yet again, I sure appreciate you work on this plugin. Here is the error I am getting during rebuild:

Use of uninitialized value in concatenation (.) or string at plugins/netflix-history.pl line 165.

Thanks
DreamStatic
John Kenneth Fisher Says:
January 25th, 2005 at 02:02 pm
Maybe I�ll get fired or laid up for a week with a moderately severe flu - THEN I could really spend some time!

If that’s what would have to happen, I’d rather see you stay employed and healthy, and the plugin can stay the way it is!

As a side note, not sure if I ever posted the link to see how I’m using your plugin: Westnet Netflix Page. I may be slightly obsessive.
hubs Says:
January 19th, 2005 at 04:38 pm
I’ve been getting errors the last few days. has anyone else?
Oscar Says:
January 13th, 2005 at 08:22 am
No problem Michael - I get a certain pleasure out of thinking I have to do something right away, and then not having to. Though that’s probably a sign of overwork!
Michael Hanscom Says:
January 13th, 2005 at 01:45 am
Gah. I should have done another rebuild before sending that comment — all’s well in Netflix-land after all, stars and everything.

Pardon me while I slink away into the corner…
Michael Hanscom Says:
January 13th, 2005 at 01:41 am
Hey Oscar—don’t know if this is due to a Netflix change or if it was just an odd bug, but I just rebuilt my Netflix page and suddenly I’m not getting the ratings graphic stars.

Netflix had just been down for a few hours, so possibly it’s a change on their end?

Just giving you a heads-up on that.
Oscar Says:
January 12th, 2005 at 06:15 pm
Thanks once again John, for the ideas. The real thing would probably be to check both, or check the second if no joy on the first. Your researches alone have given me a whole pile of stuff to work out with the plugin! I wish I had the time to really think the stuff through. It’s fine for me to hack away keeping them alive and working in the face of minor Netflix changes, but for the deeper stuff, I really feel the need to re-think the whole thing. Maybe I’ll get fired or laid up for a week with a moderately severe flu - THEN I could really spend some time! Well, I’m keeping track of the ideas anyway!
John Kenneth Fisher Says:
January 12th, 2005 at 12:22 pm
((well.. it worked a second ago! [sigh] ))
John Kenneth Fisher Says:
January 12th, 2005 at 12:20 pm
By the way, you use the image format

http://a408.g.akamai.net/f/408/1284/24h/image.netflix.com/NetFlix_Assets/boxshots/small/60035913.jpg

but I find I am more consistently successful using the format

http://cdn.nflximg.com/us/boxshots/small/60035913.jpg

(try clicking the two above to see what I mean)

Might that be worth switching?

(also, any chance of an option that would toggle it from the ‘small’ version to the ‘large’ version, which is done with that replacement in the url?)
DreamStatic Says:
January 3rd, 2005 at 02:57 am
It’s me again. I was implementing your Netflix Queue plugin and I am needing an offset variable. Is this possible? i.e.

I have a layout of 2 rows 4 on each row and am needing the top 4 to be the next 4 coming and the second row of four to be 5-8 next coming? Is this possible? Thanks again for wonderful work and info on this matter.
DreamStatic Says:
January 3rd, 2005 at 12:52 am
For anyone looking for their shopper ID this is an extremely easy way to grab that info. Just follow the steps. Hope this helps some of you out. And OSCAR, wow, you are the man. I appreciate all the time you put into keeping up with Netflix neverending minute changes. Is there some type of paypal address I could donate to for all of your hard work? Thanks again, and now on to the info:

1. Open browser of choice.
2. Login to Netflix.com
3. Open the bookmark you saved from the text below.
4. Bam! Your cookie info including your Shopper ID.

Cookie Info Script: Copy and save as bookmark the below text.

javascript:alert(‘Cookies stored by this host or domain:\n\n’ + document.cookie.replace(/; /g,’\n’));
Michael Hanscom Says:
December 29th, 2004 at 07:47 pm
I’ve just got the Netflix Suite installed on my site ( http://www.michaelhanscom.com/eclecticism/netflix.html ), and for the most part, it’s working great — many thanks!

I do seem to be seeing the same error that John Kenneth Fisher mentioned on the previous comment, though: Movie A (in transit) doesn’t show; Movie B shows, but links to the info page for Movie A, and Movie C shows and links normally. On the whole, though, that’s a relatively minor concern, and I’ll just keep an eye out for an update.

Thanks for the plugin!
John Kenneth Fisher Says:
December 15th, 2004 at 12:48 pm
Just to make your life difficult, I found another problem. This just appeared recently, so presumably it is due either to your revision of the plugin a few days ago, or the most recent changes to the Netflix page.

The scenario is this: Movie A is listed as Shipping Today (or ‘Tuesday’, or whatever). Below that is Movie B, normal, Movie C, normal.

The plugin will generate, as one movie:

The box cover to movie B, with the title of Movie A, linking to the page for movie B.

Below that, Movie C is displayed normally.

I’m sending screenshots in mail.
Jaynee Says:
December 14th, 2004 at 03:47 pm
Still doesn’t work - I made the MT template page as you suggested and it gave me back a blank page. I have watched nine movies in the past 30 days, so I know it’s not that. As you said, it can’t be server problems since the other two plugins work. I’ll try deleting the “old” one and putting on a “new” one and see what happens and get back to you. Thanks for your help!
Oscar Says:
December 13th, 2004 at 04:02 pm
Hi Jaynee, thanks! Well, there is no reason History shouldn’t work when the other two do. How about that?

AND, I just tested it again, and the plugin’s definitely working. So, after checking to make sure you have the newest one AND checking to make sure that you have returned a Netflix movie in the last 90 days (I for one, have not, so MY history is blank - in fact, go to your account history page and make sure that’s working and that there are flicks there!).

Right, so after checking that, what I do is I make an MT template called NFTester or something, and I have no code in it (a totally blank template) except the following (using your real Shopper ID#):

<MTNetflixHistory session_id="PXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX">
<$MTNetflixHistoryTitle$> 
<$MTNetflixHistoryURL$> 
<$MTNetflixHistoryShipDate$> 
<$MTNetflixHistoryReturnDate$> 
<$MTNetflixHistoryImage$> 
<img src ="<$MTNetflixHistoryImage$>"> 
</MTNetflixHistory>

I save it, and then rebuild that page only, then click “view this page.” If that returns blank, then the plugin is definitely not working. So, why? Usual suspects, 1) permissions, 2) plugin file corrupted on upload, 3) old version of plugin not getting overwritten by new one (delete old one first), 4) server problems (not for you since other two Netflix plugins work).

Let me know how it goes. I’m happy to try to troubleshoot it for you!

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