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Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2004 3:55 pm
by hooly1
stonemarket
As any one ideas if it will ever be going as it looks handy, but ive tried for months and emailed them no replay, and was wandering if you lot know anything 
Posted: Sat Sep 11, 2004 10:31 am
by 84-1093879891
Well, first of all it's NOT Stonemarket - it's Westminster Stone, a totally separate company. John Clifford, one of the partners behind Westmoinster Stone, pops into the Brew Cabin occasionally, some of you will have seen his posts.
However, the Patio Designer is his dad's baby. I was chatting to Paul (the Dad) about this a couple of months back and it's something he wants to do with help from here, but, as with many other ideas, it's a matter of finding the time to develop it to fruition. I know what it is he's planning to do, and how he plans to do it, but there are a number of problems that mean it's not quite as straightforward as it first appears.
The last time we spoke, Paul was off on his hols, and we agreed to discuss it further on his return. however, it;s been such a busy summer, time has not been easy to find, and so nowt else has happened. We'll probably have a chat about it at Glee next week, and maybe then, I'll have more news for you, or maybe John/Paul will come over to the Brew Cabin and give us more info "straight from the 'osses mouth"
Posted: Sat Sep 11, 2004 12:13 pm
by hooly1
Strange i only copyed the address and pasted it on, as the link says stonemarket, and goes to westminster, i never typed it out ???
cheers
Just have to wait then
Posted: Sun Sep 12, 2004 11:37 pm
by mouldmaker
The westminster stone website's been promising this (and a bunch of other stuff besides) for 2 years or more now, which is when I think it was last updated.
If you want a paving calculator, download the Bradstone random patio planner at Bradstone
It's not perfect but it's available and works with standard sizes so you can use it to plan most jobs. You'll get a better result if you work it out for yourself, though.
Posted: Thu Sep 16, 2004 10:28 am
by 84-1093879891
To be honest, what Westminster Stone are planning is far more involved than that bollix from Bradstone, which produces the same patio, time after time after time. You get to a point where you can spot patios designed using the Bradstone offering, as they repeat a basic pattern every so many metres.
It isn't for me to say just what the Westminster jobby will, or won't do, but I've been talked through the grand plan of what is being aimed for, and it's exactly the tool I would love to provide on this website, if I could afford the development time, not to mention the money!
Like many other manufacturers, John, Paul and the rest of the Westminster Stone team have to focus on manufacturing and sales, not on website development. Some of the really big manufacturers bring in so-called whizz-kids who maybe know all the latest coding tricks when it comes to webbery but know buggerall about paving, and so their corporate websoites are something of a disappointment. I'm lucky - I have no products or services to sell; I've been pensioned off as unfit for work, and I have all the time Mrs Taz allows me to develop a website that I enjoy and that others find useful - if I was still contracting, it's an absolute certainty that I wouldn't have the time to create a site such as this. So, when you see a website that's not been updated or expanded for a few months or more, ask yourself why - with some companies it's because they can't be arsed; with some it's that they don't know how, and with some it's because they leave it to an outside agency. With Westminster Stone, it's because they're a smallish company trying to concentrate on creating quality products and first-rate technical support, rather than pouring all their efforts into a website.
Posted: Thu Sep 16, 2004 5:35 pm
by mouldmaker
Like I said, Bradstone's isn't perfect, but it's available. Personally I'd rather swim in raw sewage than use it, but it helps some folks.
There is a bells and whistles patio designer upcoming (I have the 'beta' version for testing), that will cope with all the stuff Bradstone's won't, like irregular shapes, curves(ish) and will run either stand-alone or from a website and can be configured to work with any manufacturer's products.
If anyone's interested in acquiring the UK license, let me know.
