An Auckland convenience store is in the midst of an ongoing online battle after inadvertently allowing its website to be edited by the general public.

The store […] found itself advertising, among other things, a “pair of crusty socks”, a “Princess Diana Commemorative Plate”, and “National Parks to the highest bidder”.

The store’s site uses Base44, a “no-code AI platform” that allows users to build web applications, but it has been left open for the public to edit.

At one point, while items were being added for sale, the website’s operator appeared to be arguing with the public, with one item saying “stop hacking us”. An item popped up in response saying “don’t use an AI site builder then.”

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[–] 2 points 1 week ago (1 child)

The thrust of your advice is good, but Shopify is part of the whole Omarchy situation, having donated to Omacom. That site recommends "WooCommerce or Openfront instead of Shopify;" I have no experience with either of those alternatives but would recommend adding them to your list of options.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 week ago

    oh no

    WooCommerce and Openfront are both things you need to host yourself, which is fine for tech savvy people but probably not something I'd recommend to someone with no experience (or who thinks using AI for it is a good idea).

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