Technical

June 15, 2019

Wrapping up MangaCrazy


Hi fellow manga readers and lovers,

It is with a heavy heart that I announce that I will not be supporting MangaCrazy anymore. I have come to this conclusion after two years of declaring that I will release further versions, and not delivering. I haven’t been able to give this project time, and I realized I probably will not be able to any time soon.

Mangacrazy came to being as an experiment to counter slow Internet speed in early 2010’s, and as an opportunity to learn Java through an actual implementation. When I got a working version and just uploaded here, a no-name blog with no sponsors, I didn’t think it will reach many, or any, people. Putting out versions was just a way to talk about my learning experience as I kept working at the code, and the very first comments and feedbacks touched me beyond words. It was amazing to know that people actually found this blog, this little piece of software, and that it actually helped them! Through comments and feedbacks I got to know what they liked, what they didn’t. And I don’t know how it happened, but all of a sudden it all snowballed and I started getting mindblowing traffic! Monetizing that traffic was never on my mind, it was just overwhelming reading actual ‘customer reviews’. And it made me want to stay in this field forever. As a developer, there is nothing more gratifying than people using your software. The lines of codes transforming people’s lives, the ultimate pipe dream I wish to live by.

You know your software has lost its edge when you yourself don’t use it anymore, and that has happened with Mangacrazy. Internet isn’t inaccessible anymore. Smartphones and tablets now have apps for this and are more portable. The problem that MangaCrazy was uniquely solving, isn’t valid anymore. It is time to search for a new problem to solve, and learn something different in the process.

Thank you for liking Mangacrazy through its evolution. It is incredible to still see comments asking for the next version, and cheering me on. Thank you for your support. If you found this blog today for the first time, thank you for stopping by. This is the official end of MangaCrazy, and it has been an amazing ride.

Love,

Geekista

P.S. If for nostalgia’s sake or out of curiosity you are wish to read the story of how this came to be, you may be interested in the posts of this series: Manga-Crazy: A History.  🙂

April 25, 2017

Yes I’m Alive!


Hi guys…

Sorry for the radio silence in the past few months! I’m alive ‘n kicking (in case you were wondering 😛 ), and yes, still a manga-crazy 🙂

I haven’t been able to spare time for them recently, however, and that is why I haven’t tinkered with MC. I did read your mails and feedbacks, and I’m not sure if I should be happy so many people use MC, or upset that I let all of you down… #bittersweetIndeed

I am writing this to assure that I will be back with a new version. MC has stopped working because the host sites have changed drastically (again) which means I have to change the source code… again. It needs some time, and presently I am a bit swamped what with my official work (hehe) and academics (my end terms are on the horizon). However, I will try and squeeze this in and release an update as soon as I can.

Thank you for understanding, and supporting me as you do! It is always a pleasure when you guys drop me a line, even when it is to complain that MC broke 😀 It tells me that there is one more person out there who is interested in MC… and keeps me going.

So please hang in there, and don’t give up on MC!

Warm regards,

Geekista

December 25, 2016

Merry Christmas, and MC 5.3 is here!


Merry Christmas guys! It’s my favorite time of the year even though I’m not Christian – I mean who can resist the Christmas trees, the carols, the reindeer! (Goofy, wacky grin right here). And it also signifies that the year’s ending, so we can leave behind all our worries and stride into the next year and start afresh! (Well, one can hope, right!)

Anyway, I won’t chatter much and give you guys the news: MC v5.3 is here!

I wish I didn’t have to number it so… I haven’t added any new features. It’s just MangaFox that works; I could spare only an hour so it was the most I could do… But I indeed have fixed the trailing .tokenxyz issue that was present, and hopefully you guys will find that the images are named in a more consistent fashion.

But I hope you can find the mangas you want on MangaFox for now, and I will incrementally work on the other sites and release in a couple of weeks or so (I’m all booked for the New Years’ weekend, sorry fellas!).

So Merry Christmas guys, and this Santa brings y’all MC v5.3 🙂

Download Link

Geekista

December 15, 2016

MangaCrazy is not working? Why?!


To all the people who have visited my website to report the news, thank you all and sorry it has taken me this long to respond! No, the “website staff” has not vanished… because, well, I’m the lone ranger 😀 I have been a lot busy with academics and work lately, so I haven’t even had time to read mangas (horror!). So I didn’t realize MC started to show errors.

So why isn’t MC not working? Because I do not own the manga contents… MC fetches it for you from the host sites. And those sites have undergone an update, which means MC needs to change the way it operates as well. I will have to dig in a little, but I do not anticipate much difficulties to get at least one or two host sites working, or even more – it all depends on the time I have, and the time it takes to make the changes. Anyway,  I promise I will work on it in my free time this Christmas.

So hold on for about 10 days, and stay tuned!

Cheers

Geekista

March 25, 2016

MangaCrazy v5.2 coming up soon!


Update [1 April 2016] : MC v5.2 is already out – Grab it now! And no, this ain’t an April’s Fool prank ^_^

Yes, you read that right. It’s been months since the last version, and many of you have asked me so many times when I’ll be releasing the next version. And now I can finally answer: in less than a week.

What to expect in MangaCrazy v5.2:

  1. Queued downloads. A popular demand and much needed feature, now MangaCrazy will queue the downloads in the order you add them. This will definitely reduce the pesky ‘Error’ statuses by a great deal. Finally you will truly be able to enjoy the benefits of the ‘Download All’ button.
  2. Site issues fixed. Except for Batoto, all the other site options are working perfectly now. I’m going to work on Batoto’s issues for some more time, but if it takes too long, I will remove the site option for the time being. I’m sorry, Batoto lovers, but I want to release the extensions I’ve been working on ASAP.
  3. Proxy Settings. You asked for it, and you will get it. MC v5.2 will support proxy settings.
  4. Not a very important addition, but now you will know exactly how long to wait before the download begins. No longer to stare at the ‘Verifying’ and ‘Starting’ phases, wondering if something is wrong lol.

These are stuff I’m working on at the moment. If I find the time, I may add a new site or two to the supported sites list, but I can’t guarantee that. However, know this: MC is going to be more reliable than ever 🙂

Have a Good Friday! (Pun completely intended)

Cheers

Geekista

January 20, 2016

MangaCrazy Problems


I know. I know I promised that a new MangaCrazy version would be out for Christmas, and I know you guys have been facing a lot of problems recently. There have been a lot of changes going around (Java 8, Windows 10 problems, Internet problems, you name it). My inbox is flooded with mails, both appreciation ones and panicked ones (!!), and the list of pending comments here in WordPress is overwhelming.

So I’m sorry, I just can’t reply to you all individually. I just hope that you drop by my blog again and see this, my answers to your questions.

  1. If MC is not running, PLEASE CHECK FAQ. I don’t mean to sound harsh, but there is a reason I created that page. Because. It’s got to be the MOST Frequently Asked Question here 😛
  2. Batoto. My nemesis >_< With every released version I update the code for Batoto and then it works… till it doesn’t. Right now they have thrown me a curve-ball and I have to do a lot of figuring out. If you are interested to know, here’s the basics: I fetch Manga images from the html code, but now Batoto fetches content via ajax so a lot of stuff needs to be changed.
  3. If you cannot download chapters from Mangafox and it shows unrelated error, I suggest you go to the site and open the chapter that’s failing. I noticed that some Mangas are licensed and hence not available anymore in certain regions, and that is not something MC is able to overcome at this moment. If it’s not so, I suggest you try downloading after a while, one chapter a time. It might just be a network issue.
  4. Will I add (INSERT_SITE_NAME_HERE) to MC? Well now that you posed the question, I now am aware of the site and if possible, will try and add it in a future release 🙂
  5. Similarly, will I add (INSERT_FEATURE_SUGGESTION_HERE) to MC? I have to say this, thank you for your idea(s), I really appreciate your suggestions. I may add it to MC (as I have done previously too) if it fits 🙂
  6. The link to MC v5.1 does lead to MC v5.1 even though the title says v5.0. I had released that hurriedly and forgot to change the text!

Since my classes started again and my coursework pile is growing at an alarming rate, I’m not able to give MC much time, and so changes are taking place at tortoise-pace. But, honestly, I will try to release the next version as soon as possible 🙂

Thank you for using MC, folks; and btw Geekista has had over 114,000 hits. When did THAT happen?!

Cheers,

Geekista

October 29, 2015

MangaCrazy Quick Patch: v5.1


All of a sudden my inbox was inundated with panicked messages, that instead of Manga images, one of a crazed, running Fox was getting downloaded from MangaFox.

So without further ado, here’s a quick release.

DOWNLOAD MANGACRAZY V5.1

Knowing how urgent this release was, I have made only a few modifications to get this version out ASAP. You may expect a major update in December.

Changelog:

  1. Fixing of “Downloading loading image from MangaFox” error
  2. Corrected the title of message dialog
  3. Customized name of downloaded images

Like I said earlier, much more to come.

Cheers,

Geekista

October 26, 2015

Scheduling next version of MangaCrazy


It’s been a long time since I’ve last posted anything here; I won’t ramble and cut straight through.

A new version of MangaCrazy is now long overdue, and I plan to work on my code once my vacations start. This release I will be focusing on pressing issues like:

  1. Updating the code to work with changes made by Batoto and MangaReader
  2. Add proxy settings so that the network issues faced by some will be resolved
  3. Make MC compatible with Win 8.1 and Win 10 : especially compression issues

So look forward to a revamped MC this Christmas!

Cheers

Geekista

March 8, 2015

What to expect from MC5?


I asked you all to vote whether or not I release MC5 for alpha testing, and I must say, the votes were quite definitive!

And this poll was before I even told you what to expect from MC5. Thank you for believing in me anyway! So here goes a comparison of the current version (MC3.9) and MC5, and you can see what’s different and what to expect. 88% of you guys asked for MC5, while there are about 10% who are understandably worried about an unstable release. Hence, while I will be making MC5 available for download later today MC5 is now currently available for download, I will still keep MC3.9’s link on the main Download Page, and it’s up to you which one to download. I’m going to put up a sample video too I have put up a video here, to help you guys make the most of MC (thanks to Dohm for the idea!). So if you’re here to download MangaCrazy, do go ahead, but if you want, come back in a few hours because you’ll get to enjoy lots of extra features! There are now 2 versions to choose from!

Features MangaCrazy v5.0 MangaCrazy v3.9
Partial Search Supports partial manga-name search. Lets you choose the manga you wish to download Supports full manga-name search. Compares different manga names to get the exact match and then proceeds to download
Manga Description Has a dedicated area for description of mangas.  No such facility present.
Separate areas for manga-search and Downloads  Yes  No
Lists mangas in other languages Yes (Batoto only) Allows download if link is pasted
Button to download all chapters at once Yes No
Track manga chapters downloaded Yes Yes
Store Mangas systematically Yes Yes
Compress Mangas .cbz and .zip .cbz and .zip
Supported Manga Sites MangaFox, Batoto, MangaGo and MangaReader MangaFox, Batoto and MangaReader
Direct download of chapters from link MangaFox, Batoto and MangaReader MangaFox, Batoto and MangaReader