This weekend I started Storybook 4 (http://www.novelist.ch/joomla/ and got the message that my pro version is no longer valid, and the software changed back to the free version. All internet addresses of novelist / Intertec do not work anymore. On bitsdujour, another user complained about this problem, too. Does anyone know what is going on?

Thanks,
Peter.

pereh wrote:

This weekend I started Storybook 4 (http://www.novelist.ch/joomla/ and
got the message that my pro version is no longer valid, and the software
changed back to the free version. All internet addresses of novelist /
Intertec do not work anymore. On bitsdujour, another user complained
about this problem, too. Does anyone know what is going on?

Hm, very strange. I thought I had both Storybook 4 Pro and 3.2 Pro installed on my system, but when I click on the shortcuts, it says something along the lines of

"The item 'javaw.exe' shortcut has been changed or moved, do you want to delete it?"

I don't remember uninstalling them... I paid good money for both...

Dr Andus wrote:

Hm, very strange. I thought I had both Storybook 4 Pro and 3.2 Pro
installed on my system, but when I click on the shortcuts, it says
something along the lines of

"The item 'javaw.exe' shortcut has been changed or moved, do you want to
delete it?"

I've updated Java and reinstalled both versions of the software and now they seem to work. I also get the "you don't have a valid licence" message, but when I'm running the software, it seems to me that the Pro features are available.

So I'm wondering if the message simply happens because their website is down and some kind of an online validation of the licence is not happening (?)

Now the domain 'novelist.ch' is for sale.So the message when starting Storybook does not appear any more, because the site is up again. But obviously, the software has been discontinued.

pereh wrote:

Now the domain 'novelist.ch' is for sale.So the message when starting
Storybook does not appear any more, because the site is up again. But
obviously, the software has been discontinued.

And we're now proud owners of a bit of software history ;)

At least the software works. I'm a bit worried now about what happens with some of my other software that require online activation, in the not entirely unlikely case that the vendor/developer one day disappears off the face of the earth...

Dr Andus wrote:

At least the software works. I'm a bit worried now about what happens
with some of my other software that require online activation, in the
not entirely unlikely case that the vendor/developer one day disappears
off the face of the earth...

I remember IdeaMason v3. They released a version that didn't need online activation any more before ceasing. That's a way I appreciate.

Nevertheless, I now sort out every software form buying that needs such a procedure if there isn't a very, very, very strong reason for buying it.

Hi, I haven't had any time to post lately. However, just before this topic started, I happened to visit the Storybook website to see if any new development was taking place. A message said that the website had been taken down to a tax claim by the Swiss government. So presumably things are not looking very positive.

Before version 4, the personalized feel of the site and emails was starting to change. For instance, the sourceforge bug reports and suggestions links were removed. I wonder if there might have been a change of ownership. However, this is pure speculation and hopefully the software can get back on track.

My Pro version 3.2 works without any license check. I will try to email the author to see about this, and if anything can or will be done to accommodate paying customers.

Best, /Pavi

Hi there, I was one of the contributors to the StoryBook project. I too was surprised to find the site dead and the source code gone from SourceForge. I worked on the Mac version of the software. I have the source code (as of May 27) and was working on updating the code for StoryBook4 to work on the Mac.

Would there be any interest in supporting continued development of this project? At the very least I could create a new source code repository and put up a website where the most current version could be downloaded. I can also remove the checks for the "premium" version (really, just make it so everyone gets the feature-complete version as was always the case with the Mac version)

What do you think?

Regards,
Chris

Pavi wrote:

Hi, I haven't had any time to post lately. However, just before this
topic started, I happened to visit the Storybook website to see if any
new development was taking place. A message said that the website had
been taken down to a tax claim by the Swiss government. So presumably
things are not looking very positive.

Before version 4, the personalized feel of the site and emails was
starting to change. For instance, the sourceforge bug reports and
suggestions links were removed. I wonder if there might have been a
change of ownership. However, this is pure speculation and hopefully the
software can get back on track.

My Pro version 3.2 works without any license check. I will try to email
the author to see about this, and if anything can or will be done to
accommodate paying customers.

Best, /Pavi

I also have a copy of the source tree dated Jan 12 that I was making some changes to because the author wasn't responding to my requests for bug fixes and enhancements. The app is beautifully written and I'd be very happy to help out with development if you need assistance.

p.s. I also have it running on Mac but only via Eclipse hacks.

Regards,
ChrisV

Chris wrote:

Hi there, I was one of the contributors to the StoryBook project. I too
was surprised to find the site dead and the source code gone from
SourceForge. I worked on the Mac version of the software. I have the
source code (as of May 27) and was working on updating the code for
StoryBook4 to work on the Mac.

Would there be any interest in supporting continued development of this
project? At the very least I could create a new source code repository
and put up a website where the most current version could be downloaded.
I can also remove the checks for the "premium" version (really, just
make it so everyone gets the feature-complete version as was always the
case with the Mac version)

What do you think?

Regards,
Chris

Hello,

Firstly please excuse my english, I'm french. I try to resume the maintenance of Storybook. As the name is still stuck on Sourceforge, the new project name is oStorybook ("o" stands for open source). I think to be able to provide a fully functional version in one or two weeks. At this time the published 4.9.9 version contains 90% of basic functions, lacks functions for reading view, as well as export and printing. I'm looking for the original code of these parts. If you have these codes it will greatly facilitate my work.
My goal is to provide a fully open source version. If you know other functions that were protected and if you have the relevant code, I am also interested.

I use Netbeans, so I plan Miginfo abandoned in favor of the standard layout interface.

I hope that prior contributors would like to join the new team.

favdb31 wrote:

Hello,

Firstly please excuse my english, I'm french. I try to resume the
maintenance of Storybook. As the name is still stuck on Sourceforge, the
new project name is oStorybook ("o" stands for open source). I think to
be able to provide a fully functional version in one or two weeks. At
this time the published 4.9.9 version contains 90% of basic functions,
lacks functions for reading view, as well as export and printing. I'm
looking for the original code of these parts. If you have these codes it
will greatly facilitate my work.
My goal is to provide a fully open source version. If you know other
functions that were protected and if you have the relevant code, I am
also interested.

I use Netbeans, so I plan Miginfo abandoned in favor of the standard
layout interface.

I hope that prior contributors would like to join the new team.

I am just an end user of Stroybook Pro. I would volunteer to test anything to get the software back up and running.

See Sourceforge at https://sourceforge.net/projects/ostorybook/

In Files go to the subdirectory "previous", my work is storybook499.zip

Unfortunatly I'm french but I can understand english. Use the Discussion part to ask something.

All my code is Open Source. No "pro".

Hi,

thanks a lot. It runs perfectly. I was thinking to purchase other software. Now I can continue my novel with it.

Merci ;-)

Gustavo.

I had some choice words with the developer when he decided to add the activation requirement. Now I'm doubly glad that I didn't pay for the upgrade (I did pay for 2.X if I recall), since the activation servers did that thing every developer promises won't happen (going down.)

Hi, many thanks for continuing the project! I was a bit confused about how open source vs. licensed (Pro) version worked for Storybook. I was happy to support it, but now that it has gone under, it is good that people who have paid can still use the software.

There do seem to be some bugs, however. For example, editing a scene or other item sometimes edits the previously selected item, or even gives a blank ("null") value. And after some work, I have a completely blank screen for "manage scenes" which makes using oStorybook impossible.

Unfortunately I cannot program in Java, and thus cannot help. I think this is well worth developing, though! Version 4 has a flexible, clean look which is a vast step forward, although it took me a few hours of working in it to fully appreciate the new features.

Best, /Pavi

favdb31 wrote:

See Sourceforge at https://sourceforge.net/projects/ostorybook/

In Files go to the subdirectory "previous", my work is storybook499.zip

Unfortunatly I'm french but I can understand english. Use the Discussion
part to ask something.

All my code is Open Source. No "pro".