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July 2022 Retro

A rational retro.

Yet another month has past (actually more) since I wrote my previous retro . After all, this is the schedule I’ve agreed to. So here I am, fulfilling my duties.

I’m going to keep this retro less emotional and more rational and see how that feels.

Let’s begin.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Last month’s goals

  • Read a fiction book or part thereof.

    Result: A

  • Integrate AdSlicer with a live Shopify store.

    Result: A

Main events

Reading

I read a fiction book. It’s called Heart of Darkness and I really enjoyed it. This was a personal accomplishment for me because I never considered myself much of a reader and the things I do read are more non-fiction, practical, step-by-step type material.

This book did a great job at capturing the “human experience”. That is, the thoughts, desires, internal conflicts, and distractions that people endure in every moment.

The book only has 3 chapters. Once I started reading I didn’t want to break the rhythm and ended up reading each chapter in one sitting. Well almost, in the first chapter I was struggling to follow the narrative, but once I understood the style then the words started to flow.

It was a heartbreaking story with an intense ending. The author managed to describe the most mundane things in such vivid language. Overall, a pleasant introduction into the world of fiction.

Coding

I spent a lot of time working on AdSlicer’s integration with Shopify.

For context, AdSlicer needs to install a tracking pixel, in the form of a JavaScript snippet, onto the Shopify store. The JS snippet helps link initial UTM parameters back to shop purchases. Usually the snippet would be installed manually by editing the source code of the shop’s theme. However, I wanted it to be a one-click install experience (which it can be) where AdSlicer does all that for you.

After getting everything working in dev and deploying to prod, I realized that the integration wouldn’t work for anyone besides me (the app author).

I mistakenly thought that I could add test users to the Shopify app to allow them to try AdSlicer (similarly to how the Facebook app integration works). But I cannot. The only way to allow others to use the Shopify integration was to publish the app and get it approved by Shopify.

The Shopify app submission process seemed quite daunting and I didn’t want to wait an unknown amount of time before finally installing AdSlicer onto a live Shopify store. So I scrapped the “one-click install” idea (for now) and just installed the JS snippet manually.

I managed to install AdSlicer on 2 live ecommerce stores so far. These are my partner’s Facebook ad clients that approved the installation.

The purpose of AdSlicer is to link shop purchases back to specific Facebook ads, more than what Facebook itself is allowed to track . This is to give digital marketers a clearer view of which ads are converting.

Now that I’m capturing real events, I can determine if AdSlicer is living up to its purpose 🤞.

Time

A breakdown of how I spent my time last month (via Toggl). A breakdown of how I spent my time last month (via Toggl ).

This month’s goals

I’ve written this retro so late in the month that I can already give you a glimpse into the future 🔮

  • Get my Facebook app approved & published.

    🔮 I’ve submitted the app , but I’m still waiting on approval.

  • Get my Shopify app approved & published.

    🔮 This might not happen within this month. The app submission requires a level of polish that I don’t think AdSlicer is ready for.

  • Tweak AdSlicer to track more sales than Facebook.

    🔮 So far AdSlicer is tracking less purchases than Facebook. Not good.

  • Turn 30.

    🔮 I might just make it.

Thanks for making it this far. If you're interested in what happens next, I'll email it to you next month.