Imzadi
12-14-2007, 03:46 PM
RPGDATABASE
--- Putting a RAWR in RPG ---
Characters CANNOT be submitted directly to WWD.
Send them in to your respective side instead. Approved characters (of either side) will automatically become available in WWD forums once approved.
Characters can be moved between the ADA, FGB and WWD RPG. So yes, an existing character can indeed be realigned to belong to another RPG and that way retain a complete post history (you know? when you click on "show all my posts" in the character biography) - it also should solve the problem of suddenly having 2 characters with the same names and same aliases in more than 1 RPG.
Resubmitting a character (instead of moving it) is frowned upon and creates false data in a way. It should under all circumstances be avoided.
What is this thing actually?
To put it in one sentence: A nerd and RPG-freak going nuts. The Database was designed to not only add a lot of functions that hopefully will make it easier and more fun to RP and show off your character as well as all the ways and means to really speed up the running of an RPG from the management perspective. It includes a world of functions and additional features, and there may be bugs and errors in places that still need to be found and fixed. So I hope you will report them and help improve the Database while at the same time enjoying the functionality it adds.
I will try list the core functions and explain them. If anything is missing or not explained well enough, please let me know so that that can be fixed. Anyway, onto the RPG Database.
The Directory (http://www.midnight-shadows.org/rpg.php)
Clicking on the link (http://www.midnight-shadows.org/rpg.php) will take you to the starting page of the Directory. This directory is a part of the Database and designed to give you an overview about a) the RPGs that are offered on the board and b) information and the characters that belong to the RPG(s).
On the left hand side you have a short navigation bar with the most important links and on the left hand side you find a listing of the active RPGs being offered.
Clicking on one of the RPGs, you will be taken to a page that includes information on the RPG as well as a list of characters, a link to submit a biography for the RPG and a quick link to the main RPG forum. If for example, you click on View Characters (http://www.midnight-shadows.org/rpg.php?do=view&what=chars&id=4) for ADA you will get a list of all approved and active characters of the RPG, a link to their biography pages, who plays them and when they were first submitted. Give it a try and click on the character names. ;)
But wait, before we look at those pages, let's actually start with the process of submitting a biography and how and where to do that.
Your personal Biography management page (http://www.midnight-shadows.org/biography.php)
You will find the links to submit a new biography all over the place really. Those should be fairly redundant and hopefully placed in pretty much all the places where you'd look for them (did you notice that a link for submitting one also is in the Quicklink dropdown in the RPG forums and threads? ;)).
However, I believe, you'll probably most likely tend to use the link on your personal Biography Management page (http://www.midnight-shadows.org/biography.php). You will find a link to this page in the RPG Directory and in your User CP (first link in the Misc category).
What this page does is show you the links to the biography forms of all RPGs you can submit one for as well as a listing of the character(s) you currently play.
Let's assume you don't yet have one, so we need to submit a biography before it can be displayed here.
Submitting a Biography for ADA (http://www.midnight-shadows.org/biography.php?do=setup&rpg=4) or FGB (http://www.midnight-shadows.org/biography.php?do=setup&rpg=5)
So, this is where it gets serious. Hehe. You will find input fields and text areas for all the stuff the management wants on your character. So, take your time and fill it in. You can use bbcode in this to your heart's desire. Those work and will be saved. Also note that all fields marked up with an asterix ( * ) are required. If you don't have anything for these fields (like for example the Misc field or your Costum Power) simply put "N/A".
Please, however, do NOT use the submit form to just save an unfinished bio. This tends to just take up unnecessary space and annoy the management that will have to steer around an unfinished bio all the time. Submit only if your bio is done, finished and ready to go into the approval status.
So, you filled in all the bits and now only find a "Preview" button. It's meant to be that way. Click it, if no errors are shown, you will then find the "Submit" button you've been looking for.
Submit the biography and you're done here. Your bio is now visible to the management and they will look at it and either approve it or get in contact with you about possible edits that are needed.
Getting a Biography approved
If you now go back to your personal biography page (http://www.midnight-shadows.org/biography.php), you will find your character's name at the bottom in a little table. It will be marked up as "Pending" and give you a few links for it.
One of those links is "View / Edit Details". Now while that is quite nifty, please be aware that the management will be notified about every last edit or adjustment you make to the character even when it is in Pending status. What I am saying here is, the more edits you make the longer it will usually take to get your bio from Pending to Active status (and only in the latter kind can you actually post for the character.)
You also see a link to "Notes". See further below for more information on notes. They are love! I mean, seriously!
Also, you see a link to Image stuff at the bottom of the character listing table. Ha! Yes, more info also further below. For now we'll finish the run through getting a biography approved and managing it once it goes active. First however, let's look at the different statuses a character can have. We know "Pending" but, as if you didn't know it, there's more.
Character Status
So. Let's see. There's a few.
Active: The character is approved and active. You can post for it, edit it, it appears in all listings, it appears as link in your post in all RPG forums, you can upload an image for it, too. W00t! In this status the page that is exclusively reserved for your character's bio is visible to all other members.
Pending: The character is in approval status. It cannot be posted for, and does not appear in lists or your posts, but the management can see it and you can see it. You can edit it and add an image for it.
Bounced: So, what does it mean when a character gets bounced? Basically, we're in need of some heavy editing. The status basically tells you that the current version of your bio was turned down and needs a lot of work. However, a character in this status is not visible. So don't worry, this is solely between you and the managers. Other people wont see your character or its status before it's approved.
Anyway, when you find your character bounced, there will always be a note that comes with it explaining you why it was bounced and what needs to be done. Yeah, characters cannot be bounced without a reason given. :-p When you apply the proper changes, your character automatically goes back to Pending status.
Retired: You can ask to retire your character. This way, it will basically be like in Pending status just without the approval mumbo jumbo. This way, you can preserve a former character and bring it back whenever you want or the management deems the time to be right. Make use of requesting this status. It's a shame losing a good character :)
Ok, so is everyone with me so far? Have the statuses, now onto managing your character.
Approval and Managing the Character
So, you have your pending biography sitting there and, well, waiting for approval (Stating the obvious, as always. lol) What now? Well, now you wait until the management looked at it. Two things can happen: it 1) either goes straight to Active or 2) you get contacted for possible edits (refer to the notes section for more info on how you'll be contacted).
Best possible scenario: it just pops right to Active and you'll find a note letting you know about the approval. If not, you may have to edit parts of the biography.
EDITING THE CHARACTER
When clicking on the "View / Edit Details" for a character, you'll be taken straight to a page that looks a lot like the public biography page, but has a bit more options for you to meddle with.
At the top you have a table with all the basic details of the character and the AI if you uploaded an image. But also another 2 options: Edit Details and the Request Edit dropdown.
Edit Details:
Clicking on this link will take you to a page where you can not only edit the age of your character, but also enter their biography thread (Yes, the one in your Shadow Profile is currently not used). Entering the URL to the thread there, will automatically add a link to your public character profile. Hit save, and you're done :)
Request Edit:
All the options listed are edits you need a manager to apply for you. Some of these options will ask you to state a reason for the change (include what to change the option too, of course). Enter that reason and send the request.
Then, below that you have a listing of all the biography details. Each detail has a little checkbox in front of it. To edit any (or all) of the biography bits, just check all the parts you want to edit and then scroll all the way down and hit the Edit button. Please note, that you can edit more than one part at a time. It is highly requested to NOT edit one part after the other but all in one go (cuts down on the notices the management gets on your edits ;)).
If you edit an active character, please note that for the management, this character will be tagged as "Edited". You will not see the edits right away in the public character page, but only on your private one. The edits will not go public until the management approves the edit(s).
Character Images
Did you notice that some people have these nifty little boxes display in their posts? With their character's name and the image in it? Want one too? Well, if you have a pending or approved character, you get to upload one to. :D
Basics:
The character images must be 115x150 in size and either a .jpg or a .gif. You can only upload one image per character at any time (if you want to change the image, you need to delete the old one before getting to upload a new one).
Character images appear in all the posts for which you select the character's name from the dropdown when posting - and they basically work like a signature (older posts for a character will automatically be updated with the new character image if you change CI's).
The Links:
At the bottom of your character table on your biography page you'll find the following links that help you to browse, set up and edit images.
My RPG Images (http://www.midnight-shadows.org/biography.php?do=myimages): Clicking on this will show you all the character images you have uploaded (for all RPGs the board might host). This is also where you find the Delete option for the images.
Upload new Image (http://www.midnight-shadows.org/biography.php?do=uploadimg): This is where you go to upload a new image (you totally guessed that, right?) Browse for the image on your computer, and then select the character to upload it for from the drop down. This page will show you an error notice if you already have an image saved for all your current characters.
View all images (http://www.midnight-shadows.org/biography.php?do=imguserlist): This is like the image gallery. It will first give you the names of all the RPG's active on the board and a link to a page that will list every character's display picture and a spiffy little table.
Where your image shows:
It will of course show in your personal and public biography page, in all the image listings (when the character is active) and in your posts if you choose the character name from the drop down you find in quick reply, edit post, new reply and new thread.
Ok, this should really be it on images. Onto the nifty novelty of a nice notification nystem ... system. Yeah.
The Notes System
Ok, you want to know why I added yet another Private Message system just for this hack? (Yes, notes are basically like PMs) There is one major difference: All managers for the respective RPG can access and send any note of that RPG. So basically, if you sent a note to manager Anna, then in case Anna is away, manager Ben can also reply to your note without having to wait for Anna to come back and check her inbox. This is to ensure a quicker communication process for editing / approving characters and has proven to be quite helpful so far.
Now let's look at how these babies work.
Notes are always tied to a character:
Notes are always tied to a character. The character is registered for any and every note you send. You can send notes for every character you play - and only for that character / these characters. This is why you have a "View Notes" link for every character in your listing.
Gmail-style display:
Notes work similar to the Gmail-system - so basically they get listed by topic (like a little thread really). The managers can see whether you read a note, and will be notified if and when you reply to it. Each reply to a note will be listed under the thread, so when replying use the form from inside the thread display. When starting a new note-thread, use the form you see when first clicking on the "View Notes" link.
Keeping it clean:
You're encouraged to clean out notes that concern dealt-with issues on a regular basis.
Notification of notes:
Check your Shadow Profile (http://www.midnight-shadows.org/usercp.php) regularly? Well, for notes that should help. Like for PM's you get them listed in your User CP whenever there are unread / new notes waiting for you :).
Misc
Just a few things you might find interesting to know.
When a character is approved, the link to their public profile automatically gets added to your posts within all the RPG forums for a respective RPG.
These links do not appear globally in all posts all over the board, only the RPG ones. This is due to the fact, that the RPG Database is made to house as many RPGs as a board wants to run. That is why it only shows them in the respective forums, not to confuse characters from different RPGs.
I suck at writing FAQs.
You can use the character dropdown when posting even before you upload an image for the character (in case you're still searching for the perfect picture). The character's id will still be saved into the post you make, and have the CI show later even for posts you made before uploading the image.
Use the links to biographies of other players to really quickly check up on their bios for RPing purposes.
If you aren't good at making graphics or dont have a good program at hand, nothing stops you to send a note to the management linking the character's image and kindly asking them to crop and upload it for you ;) (Yeah, they totally can do that :-p) Make em work, muahahaha.
Misuse of the biography form may get you banned from either submitting biographies or the RPG completely (yes, the option does exist and is ready for anyone who wants to test it (A)).
You still need to use the CP submission form for your character's costum power. You can of course include it in your biography, that, however, may result in an extended approval time for the biography.
Constant changing of powers for your character is very likely to attract the wrath of your leaders to you :elol:
You will see a "View All my posts" option in the public character page. This will search all the posts you chose a character for in its search routine. So for your character's posts to be shown when clicking this link, make sure you choose the character from the dropdown.
There are a few known bugs and issues this hack still has. You are very welcome to report any of the kind and help bring this hack from late Beta to a full Gold ;) Thank you.
--- Putting a RAWR in RPG ---
Characters CANNOT be submitted directly to WWD.
Send them in to your respective side instead. Approved characters (of either side) will automatically become available in WWD forums once approved.
Characters can be moved between the ADA, FGB and WWD RPG. So yes, an existing character can indeed be realigned to belong to another RPG and that way retain a complete post history (you know? when you click on "show all my posts" in the character biography) - it also should solve the problem of suddenly having 2 characters with the same names and same aliases in more than 1 RPG.
Resubmitting a character (instead of moving it) is frowned upon and creates false data in a way. It should under all circumstances be avoided.
What is this thing actually?
To put it in one sentence: A nerd and RPG-freak going nuts. The Database was designed to not only add a lot of functions that hopefully will make it easier and more fun to RP and show off your character as well as all the ways and means to really speed up the running of an RPG from the management perspective. It includes a world of functions and additional features, and there may be bugs and errors in places that still need to be found and fixed. So I hope you will report them and help improve the Database while at the same time enjoying the functionality it adds.
I will try list the core functions and explain them. If anything is missing or not explained well enough, please let me know so that that can be fixed. Anyway, onto the RPG Database.
The Directory (http://www.midnight-shadows.org/rpg.php)
Clicking on the link (http://www.midnight-shadows.org/rpg.php) will take you to the starting page of the Directory. This directory is a part of the Database and designed to give you an overview about a) the RPGs that are offered on the board and b) information and the characters that belong to the RPG(s).
On the left hand side you have a short navigation bar with the most important links and on the left hand side you find a listing of the active RPGs being offered.
Clicking on one of the RPGs, you will be taken to a page that includes information on the RPG as well as a list of characters, a link to submit a biography for the RPG and a quick link to the main RPG forum. If for example, you click on View Characters (http://www.midnight-shadows.org/rpg.php?do=view&what=chars&id=4) for ADA you will get a list of all approved and active characters of the RPG, a link to their biography pages, who plays them and when they were first submitted. Give it a try and click on the character names. ;)
But wait, before we look at those pages, let's actually start with the process of submitting a biography and how and where to do that.
Your personal Biography management page (http://www.midnight-shadows.org/biography.php)
You will find the links to submit a new biography all over the place really. Those should be fairly redundant and hopefully placed in pretty much all the places where you'd look for them (did you notice that a link for submitting one also is in the Quicklink dropdown in the RPG forums and threads? ;)).
However, I believe, you'll probably most likely tend to use the link on your personal Biography Management page (http://www.midnight-shadows.org/biography.php). You will find a link to this page in the RPG Directory and in your User CP (first link in the Misc category).
What this page does is show you the links to the biography forms of all RPGs you can submit one for as well as a listing of the character(s) you currently play.
Let's assume you don't yet have one, so we need to submit a biography before it can be displayed here.
Submitting a Biography for ADA (http://www.midnight-shadows.org/biography.php?do=setup&rpg=4) or FGB (http://www.midnight-shadows.org/biography.php?do=setup&rpg=5)
So, this is where it gets serious. Hehe. You will find input fields and text areas for all the stuff the management wants on your character. So, take your time and fill it in. You can use bbcode in this to your heart's desire. Those work and will be saved. Also note that all fields marked up with an asterix ( * ) are required. If you don't have anything for these fields (like for example the Misc field or your Costum Power) simply put "N/A".
Please, however, do NOT use the submit form to just save an unfinished bio. This tends to just take up unnecessary space and annoy the management that will have to steer around an unfinished bio all the time. Submit only if your bio is done, finished and ready to go into the approval status.
So, you filled in all the bits and now only find a "Preview" button. It's meant to be that way. Click it, if no errors are shown, you will then find the "Submit" button you've been looking for.
Submit the biography and you're done here. Your bio is now visible to the management and they will look at it and either approve it or get in contact with you about possible edits that are needed.
Getting a Biography approved
If you now go back to your personal biography page (http://www.midnight-shadows.org/biography.php), you will find your character's name at the bottom in a little table. It will be marked up as "Pending" and give you a few links for it.
One of those links is "View / Edit Details". Now while that is quite nifty, please be aware that the management will be notified about every last edit or adjustment you make to the character even when it is in Pending status. What I am saying here is, the more edits you make the longer it will usually take to get your bio from Pending to Active status (and only in the latter kind can you actually post for the character.)
You also see a link to "Notes". See further below for more information on notes. They are love! I mean, seriously!
Also, you see a link to Image stuff at the bottom of the character listing table. Ha! Yes, more info also further below. For now we'll finish the run through getting a biography approved and managing it once it goes active. First however, let's look at the different statuses a character can have. We know "Pending" but, as if you didn't know it, there's more.
Character Status
So. Let's see. There's a few.
Active: The character is approved and active. You can post for it, edit it, it appears in all listings, it appears as link in your post in all RPG forums, you can upload an image for it, too. W00t! In this status the page that is exclusively reserved for your character's bio is visible to all other members.
Pending: The character is in approval status. It cannot be posted for, and does not appear in lists or your posts, but the management can see it and you can see it. You can edit it and add an image for it.
Bounced: So, what does it mean when a character gets bounced? Basically, we're in need of some heavy editing. The status basically tells you that the current version of your bio was turned down and needs a lot of work. However, a character in this status is not visible. So don't worry, this is solely between you and the managers. Other people wont see your character or its status before it's approved.
Anyway, when you find your character bounced, there will always be a note that comes with it explaining you why it was bounced and what needs to be done. Yeah, characters cannot be bounced without a reason given. :-p When you apply the proper changes, your character automatically goes back to Pending status.
Retired: You can ask to retire your character. This way, it will basically be like in Pending status just without the approval mumbo jumbo. This way, you can preserve a former character and bring it back whenever you want or the management deems the time to be right. Make use of requesting this status. It's a shame losing a good character :)
Ok, so is everyone with me so far? Have the statuses, now onto managing your character.
Approval and Managing the Character
So, you have your pending biography sitting there and, well, waiting for approval (Stating the obvious, as always. lol) What now? Well, now you wait until the management looked at it. Two things can happen: it 1) either goes straight to Active or 2) you get contacted for possible edits (refer to the notes section for more info on how you'll be contacted).
Best possible scenario: it just pops right to Active and you'll find a note letting you know about the approval. If not, you may have to edit parts of the biography.
EDITING THE CHARACTER
When clicking on the "View / Edit Details" for a character, you'll be taken straight to a page that looks a lot like the public biography page, but has a bit more options for you to meddle with.
At the top you have a table with all the basic details of the character and the AI if you uploaded an image. But also another 2 options: Edit Details and the Request Edit dropdown.
Edit Details:
Clicking on this link will take you to a page where you can not only edit the age of your character, but also enter their biography thread (Yes, the one in your Shadow Profile is currently not used). Entering the URL to the thread there, will automatically add a link to your public character profile. Hit save, and you're done :)
Request Edit:
All the options listed are edits you need a manager to apply for you. Some of these options will ask you to state a reason for the change (include what to change the option too, of course). Enter that reason and send the request.
Then, below that you have a listing of all the biography details. Each detail has a little checkbox in front of it. To edit any (or all) of the biography bits, just check all the parts you want to edit and then scroll all the way down and hit the Edit button. Please note, that you can edit more than one part at a time. It is highly requested to NOT edit one part after the other but all in one go (cuts down on the notices the management gets on your edits ;)).
If you edit an active character, please note that for the management, this character will be tagged as "Edited". You will not see the edits right away in the public character page, but only on your private one. The edits will not go public until the management approves the edit(s).
Character Images
Did you notice that some people have these nifty little boxes display in their posts? With their character's name and the image in it? Want one too? Well, if you have a pending or approved character, you get to upload one to. :D
Basics:
The character images must be 115x150 in size and either a .jpg or a .gif. You can only upload one image per character at any time (if you want to change the image, you need to delete the old one before getting to upload a new one).
Character images appear in all the posts for which you select the character's name from the dropdown when posting - and they basically work like a signature (older posts for a character will automatically be updated with the new character image if you change CI's).
The Links:
At the bottom of your character table on your biography page you'll find the following links that help you to browse, set up and edit images.
My RPG Images (http://www.midnight-shadows.org/biography.php?do=myimages): Clicking on this will show you all the character images you have uploaded (for all RPGs the board might host). This is also where you find the Delete option for the images.
Upload new Image (http://www.midnight-shadows.org/biography.php?do=uploadimg): This is where you go to upload a new image (you totally guessed that, right?) Browse for the image on your computer, and then select the character to upload it for from the drop down. This page will show you an error notice if you already have an image saved for all your current characters.
View all images (http://www.midnight-shadows.org/biography.php?do=imguserlist): This is like the image gallery. It will first give you the names of all the RPG's active on the board and a link to a page that will list every character's display picture and a spiffy little table.
Where your image shows:
It will of course show in your personal and public biography page, in all the image listings (when the character is active) and in your posts if you choose the character name from the drop down you find in quick reply, edit post, new reply and new thread.
Ok, this should really be it on images. Onto the nifty novelty of a nice notification nystem ... system. Yeah.
The Notes System
Ok, you want to know why I added yet another Private Message system just for this hack? (Yes, notes are basically like PMs) There is one major difference: All managers for the respective RPG can access and send any note of that RPG. So basically, if you sent a note to manager Anna, then in case Anna is away, manager Ben can also reply to your note without having to wait for Anna to come back and check her inbox. This is to ensure a quicker communication process for editing / approving characters and has proven to be quite helpful so far.
Now let's look at how these babies work.
Notes are always tied to a character:
Notes are always tied to a character. The character is registered for any and every note you send. You can send notes for every character you play - and only for that character / these characters. This is why you have a "View Notes" link for every character in your listing.
Gmail-style display:
Notes work similar to the Gmail-system - so basically they get listed by topic (like a little thread really). The managers can see whether you read a note, and will be notified if and when you reply to it. Each reply to a note will be listed under the thread, so when replying use the form from inside the thread display. When starting a new note-thread, use the form you see when first clicking on the "View Notes" link.
Keeping it clean:
You're encouraged to clean out notes that concern dealt-with issues on a regular basis.
Notification of notes:
Check your Shadow Profile (http://www.midnight-shadows.org/usercp.php) regularly? Well, for notes that should help. Like for PM's you get them listed in your User CP whenever there are unread / new notes waiting for you :).
Misc
Just a few things you might find interesting to know.
When a character is approved, the link to their public profile automatically gets added to your posts within all the RPG forums for a respective RPG.
These links do not appear globally in all posts all over the board, only the RPG ones. This is due to the fact, that the RPG Database is made to house as many RPGs as a board wants to run. That is why it only shows them in the respective forums, not to confuse characters from different RPGs.
I suck at writing FAQs.
You can use the character dropdown when posting even before you upload an image for the character (in case you're still searching for the perfect picture). The character's id will still be saved into the post you make, and have the CI show later even for posts you made before uploading the image.
Use the links to biographies of other players to really quickly check up on their bios for RPing purposes.
If you aren't good at making graphics or dont have a good program at hand, nothing stops you to send a note to the management linking the character's image and kindly asking them to crop and upload it for you ;) (Yeah, they totally can do that :-p) Make em work, muahahaha.
Misuse of the biography form may get you banned from either submitting biographies or the RPG completely (yes, the option does exist and is ready for anyone who wants to test it (A)).
You still need to use the CP submission form for your character's costum power. You can of course include it in your biography, that, however, may result in an extended approval time for the biography.
Constant changing of powers for your character is very likely to attract the wrath of your leaders to you :elol:
You will see a "View All my posts" option in the public character page. This will search all the posts you chose a character for in its search routine. So for your character's posts to be shown when clicking this link, make sure you choose the character from the dropdown.
There are a few known bugs and issues this hack still has. You are very welcome to report any of the kind and help bring this hack from late Beta to a full Gold ;) Thank you.