New file feature: change logs

[Dark0ne]

Some nice suggestions. I've changed the ordering so the first change you add is at the top of the list for each version. Similarly changed the "Version" field on a file page to be a link to showing the change log, along with a magnifying glass.

[Zaldir]

Great! It's easier to access now, and the most important changes are at the top! :D

[mojodajojo]

Can we have a remedial class for MojoDaJojo? I can not figure out how to use this feature. *Hangs head in shame.

 

 

Edit: At any rate, I read this whole thread, and I still can't figure out how to manage my change log. I'll pop back in now and again and read the new posts. Maybe my brain cell will figure it out some day.

 

Edited June 19, 2011 by mojodajojo

[Zaldir]

The problem with the invisible background seems to be Mac-specific or something.

 

When on my PC, it works perfectly, but when on my mac, I get the invisible background.

 

EDIT: Nope, I checked some more mods, and they are working fine on the mac as well. And then I checked the mods that the problem had occurred on, and they worked as well. So my conclusion is that the invisible background is a strange problem, no, a strange feature, that comes and goes as it wishes, and we'll just have to live with it...

Edited June 19, 2011 by Zaldiir

[Dark0ne]

The invisible background is normally because people's browsers have cached the old CSS for the site and it hasn't refreshed to the new CSS that was added for the changelog functionality. An easy fix is to press CTRL+F5, if that doesn't work, you need to go directly to here and press CTRL+F5. Should work after that.

[mojodajojo]

Reading comprehension, I have none. I was trying to access the feature from the file's page instead of the manage files area which I've taken to not using so much anymore. I kept skipping over this line in the original post.

_________

 

Today I've implemented that feature and mod authors can now access the change log feature from their management area.

_________

 

Anyway, I withdrawal my request for a remedial change log class.

[Arthmoor]

Could the changelog feature be added to the drop down menu on a file's entry with the other options?

[mojodajojo]

Could the changelog feature be added to the drop down menu on a file's entry with the other options?

 

Yeah, that's where my dumb butt was looking for it. I've gotten spoiled by those admin buttons on the file pages.

[HadToRegister]

THIS.IS.AWESOME!

 

I don't know about anybody else, but when I see a patch for a game or an application, the very FIRST thing I do is look at the change-log to see if it actually changes anything that

A. Has been bugging me.

B. Doesn't affect me at all because I don't use that feature etc

 

This lets me know whether I want to even bother downloading and updating, or if it's an update that I can skip until another update comes along.

It also is usually the BEST place to find out those questions that get asked all the time such as....

 

"Will I have to start a new game if I update?"

"Will this update be compatible with <insert something here> game/mod/addon etc?"

 

Bravo Dark0ne!

 

 

 

[LHammonds]

I'm gonna have to jump on the bandwagon on this one.

 

A great feature but it needs some refinement.

 

I have faced a similar problem to this in the past when dealing with data like this and my initial tendency was just like this....form entry that exactly matches the database field...and just like this, it received a lukewarm reception to many outspoken users who would like to use the feature but cannot due to the implementation.

 

I would suggest an additional option for those with large change logs. The simple entries can remain the one-liner form but having a mass-entry form will serve others with a greater need.

 

I would suggest a text-box entry form that would allow multi-line entries that authors can copy/paste from their text editors to allow them to quickly and easily enter their entire change log and let the form processor split each line and insert them into individual entries in the database.

 

Since you are adding the specific bullet-list code to display each entry as a bullet, I would recommend using an EOL character as your delimiter and strip off any bullet-like characters at the beginning of the line such as " - " or " * " or "* "

 

If there are any errors during the import process (such as more than 255 characters for a single line or invalid characters), try to get the data so it can insert (such as ignoring characters after 255) and then list the errors found along with the line number in which the error occurred at the end of the process. This will let the author know where the problem occurred and can fix it by editing that entry or deleting it and adding a new entry for the lines that had problems.

 

It might be a good idea to save the original data in the text boxes to a debug text field in your database for any entries that did not work perfectly along with the error message you sent to the author so you can see what problems are happening so you can evaluate any possible code changes that may solve that particular problem in the future...such as detecting the special Quote/EndQuote characters typically generated in word processors that are not fit for display in web browsers and changing them on the fly to just a standard quote character. Once the errors seen are mostly things that automation cannot fix, remove the debug code and the debug fields from the database and move on.

 

Well, that's my 2 septims.

 

Thanks for continuing to add new features to an already awesome site.

 

LHammonds

 

PS - Is there a "tools used to create this mod" feature coming too? :biggrin: If so, it would be nice if we had a pick list which would also populate links (that we can change if we want) such as choosing Blender and it adding an auto-link to Blender uploaded at the Nexus.