Quest Database (sorry about that)

[Tygore]

A while back, we had some internet problems here at home. Modem breaking and all that. I just want everyone to know that I'm sorry about vanishing for nearly a month. I will begin looking at the QDB again shortly, and trying to look into getting a solution up (personally, I'm beginning to think a scrap and start over might be the best solution for the site at this point).

[Freedom]

woah....
Scapping all that work seems a bit extreme to me, ya don't junk your car just because it gets a flat.

[Kingboo30]

(personally, I'm beginning to think a scrap and start over might be the best solution for the site at this point).

That IS a good idea. Right now we have an OoT link artwork on a program which is a supposed to be a Z1 clone, and that it has a rather dull boring brown background with Lttp graphics. Out with the old and in with the new! (You know, I was going to put an "aggresive" word in the there but) (.__.)he disagrees

[Freedom]

Changing a few graphics is one thing, rewritting a database is another.

[Tygore]

Scapping all that work seems a bit extreme to me, ya don't junk your car just because it gets a flat.

No, but you do when the various repair costs don't seem to be worth the trouble in comparison to buying a new model. There are several problems with the current site, some of which are with the administrative control panel. Functions which worked in the past mysteriously ceased function, and the person who coded the majority of the site has moved on with his life. Personally, I'm in favor of a much simpler design (less that goes wrong that way), possibly even having a seperate DB setup than that of the ZC.com main page.

[Nicholas Steel]

scrap all and start afresh.... its the simplist (most effective) way to fix most problems with windows... so why not with a database?

[Luigi]

Personally, I'm in favor of a much simpler design (less that goes wrong that way), possibly even having a seperate DB setup than that of the ZC.com main page.

There was a seperate QDB site to that of the main ZC.com one in the past - about three or four years ago, I believe.

[elise]

Just start with uploading quests till you have made a new one.
We have this one and have to deal with it till you can show a better one .
It also would be a good idea if someone else also can upload instead of now only one person , we saw what happened when you where away................nothing , nothing at all happened:shrug:
People get nervous again , the questdatabase looks out of order again, and new quests aren't uploaded .
be a little creative till everything works again , like now you can't upload screens in the Questdatabase , make a thread in the forum put the screenies there till you can put them in the questdatabase and make a link in the questdatabase in the quest for the thread where they can see the screenies ;)

[rocksfan13]

Tygore, I agree with Elise and Freedom. Don't scrap it unless you absolutely have to. Also, Eckels has been around lately, maybe he'll listen now.

Anyway, back to my point. If you would like assistance with running the DB (uploading quests and such), I'll be glad to help. Just a thought. 2 heads are better than 1. At least in this aspect. If for some reason one should go down, you'll have the other to cover. But, that's an admin call. Might be a good idea to bring it up to them.

I'd hate to see this happen again.

[Pineconn]

I'm a little torn on this one... I agree with both sides in some way.

For the "scrap it!" side, I agree because, well, it would be the more efficient way of fixing the QDB problem. The recent QDB is completely screwed up. We don't have a flat tire, we have problems with the engine, transmission, and control panel!

For the "fix it!" side, I agree since people would have to reupload all of the quests. Not only that, but the votes, comments, downloads, and upload/update dates would all be reset.

Which would be the better choice? (Great to hear that you're back, Tygore! :) )

[WindStrike]

Here's my idea: Start afresh, and make a temporary forum in the Zelda Classic forums to act like the temporary main site until the actual main site is up again.

Or... just do whatever you think is best. Currently, I'm siding with "scrap the old and bring in new stuff!" The site probably needs an entire overhaul anyways...

EDIT: Yeah... I think I'm gonna re-enforce that with a change in the rating/comment system. Right now... it's uhh... sorta... not so great. I'd move it to a 20 or 50 scale if not 100... 5 with some halves just isn't enough. As for the comments... I think it's a bit obvious.

[Gerudo]

hope you finally got my pm about the ZC files, Tygore. if not, i'll pm you again, or if i need to upload any additional files, lemme know.

as far as ZC.com, redo it. it was great when first unveiled, but being littered with errors, spam comments, and the overall look is just getting stale.

g'luck.

[Nicholas Steel]

I'm a little torn on this one... I agree with both sides in some way.

For the "scrap it!" side, I agree because, well, it would be the more efficient way of fixing the QDB problem. The recent QDB is completely screwed up. We don't have a flat tire, we have problems with the engine, transmission, and control panel!

For the "fix it!" side, I agree since people would have to reupload all of the quests. Not only that, but the votes, comments, downloads, and upload/update dates would all be reset.

Which would be the better choice? (Great to hear that you're back, Tygore! :) )

the person managing the main site can just copy the quests and images off the server and re-upload them later when everything is back to normal... no need for quest designers to re-upload there own quests again.

[rocksfan13]

the person managing the main site can just copy the quests and images off the server and re-upload them later when everything is back to normal... no need for quest designers to re-upload there own quests again.

The only thing bad about revamping the whole thing, is the stats that some of those quests have. If you wipe it, they'll have to start fresh.

Other than that, if it's that bad, go ahead and wipe it.

[Pineconn]

It depends. Is it possible to edit the number of downloads? If so, the current download counter could be set to the correct value if a new ZC.com is created. Comments aren't too important, and votes could be added quickly. (I suppose someone could download each quest the appropriate number of times if the current engine is scrapped. :D But that would take painstakingly long.) We can always borrow and use the Pure ZC engine. :shrug: It works.

[rocksfan13]

It's all nice that you want to have the site fixed, Tygore. But what of the Database being updated? Are you still monitoring that?

[elise]

yeah thats kind of what my thinking is too :shrug:
You took JayeM's job her job was to upload quests ........ the database issue was left to myth.... ( sorry lost his name ) but he moved on cause his questions weren't answered .
If he was answered maybe the questdatabase was already back in full function by now . :googly:

[Dark Nation]

I believe that what is needed is a database team.

Manager - This person organizes the team. Hires/replaces team members. Deals with conflicts. Delegates jobs. Finds people who can solve problems. This could even be two or three people to allow for checks and balances and to make sure someone is always available to get things done if a manager is gone (sickness/vacations/etc.)

Programmer - Again, could be more than one person. This person either codes the database from scratch or finds a database somewhere and modifies it for use here. They add new features to the database and fix things that are broken.

Database Front End Designer - Again, could be multiple people and could even be one or more of the programmers if they are also good at layout and design issues. This person designs the look of the database. Obviously, strong web design skills are a must. This person passes their designs on to the programmer(s) who then code the back end of the database.

Quest Uploader - Again, could be a team. This person's only responsibility is to upload quests, descriptions and screen shots. People would submit quests to them complete with descriptions and screen shots and this person would upload them to the database. An alternative idea would be to give everyone upload rights and have this person moderate quests. Instead of uploading quests every day, they simply log into the database and are presented with a list of uploads for the day. Clicking accept on an upload moves it from the waiting area into the database.

Database Assistant - This person (could be more than one) handles questions about the database. They clarify suggestions and pass them on to the Database Front End Designer or the Programmer. Ideally, they would be the only link between the database users and the rest of the team.

Thoughts/suggestions? If the database truly is in limbo right now (nobody is currently doing any sort of work on it and hasn't for some time), then I volunteer to assemble the team to get things going again.

[rocksfan13]

Dark Nation, truely a magnificent idea! Top of the top! This is definately something that needs to be done! A++ man!:thumbsup:
I totally agree 100% with this idea.


An alternative idea would be to give everyone upload rights and have this person moderate quests
The only issue there is you could easily get fake or demo quests uploaded. Where the DB is for finished quests only. Just a thought.

And would like to volunteer as either a Quest Updater or DB Assistant, or both.

[Luigi]

I believe that what is needed is a database team.

Manager - This person organizes the team. Hires/replaces team members. Deals with conflicts. Delegates jobs. Finds people who can solve problems. This could even be two or three people to allow for checks and balances and to make sure someone is always available to get things done if a manager is gone (sickness/vacations/etc.)

Programmer - Again, could be more than one person. This person either codes the database from scratch or finds a database somewhere and modifies it for use here. They add new features to the database and fix things that are broken.

Database Front End Designer - Again, could be multiple people and could even be one or more of the programmers if they are also good at layout and design issues. This person designs the look of the database. Obviously, strong web design skills are a must. This person passes their designs on to the programmer(s) who then code the back end of the database.

Quest Uploader - Again, could be a team. This person's only responsibility is to upload quests, descriptions and screen shots. People would submit quests to them complete with descriptions and screen shots and this person would upload them to the database. An alternative idea would be to give everyone upload rights and have this person moderate quests. Instead of uploading quests every day, they simply log into the database and are presented with a list of uploads for the day. Clicking accept on an upload moves it from the waiting area into the database.

Database Assistant - This person (could be more than one) handles questions about the database. They clarify suggestions and pass them on to the Database Front End Designer or the Programmer. Ideally, they would be the only link between the database users and the rest of the team.

Thoughts/suggestions? If the database truly is in limbo right now (nobody is currently doing any sort of work on it and hasn't for some time), then I volunteer to assemble the team to get things going again.

Would that mean at least 5 more Mods?

[erm2003]

I would like to voulteer my services too to get this thing up and running. I don't know much about coding databases but I can definately help with maintaining the database once it's running properly again.

[elise]

Dark Nation this is the best news we could get , the questdatabase is already out of normal order since Januari and no one ever jumped in or answered our questions on getting it back up , the last try came close but ended like started with nothing , I really hope you are the one that can make a team and that the biggest zelda community stays one , the developers , the questmakers , the quests and the players all on this AGN board. ;)

[Pineconn]

Wow, DN, this is just what we need! I don't care what I would be, I just feel that I need to help the QDB in some way. I say, yes, we need at least 2 or 3 people per job. Unless there are only 15 active members of the ZC board, then that may be too many. ;) I think getting programmers, though, would be the hardest job to fill up.

And, also, the team wouldn't have to be mods, just have their own special title like "QDB Manager" or "QDB Designer" or whatever they would be, similar to "ZC Beta Tester."

[Tygore]

I believe that what is needed is a database team.

Manager - This person organizes the team. Hires/replaces team members. Deals with conflicts. Delegates jobs. Finds people who can solve problems. This could even be two or three people to allow for checks and balances and to make sure someone is always available to get things done if a manager is gone (sickness/vacations/etc.)

Programmer - Again, could be more than one person. This person either codes the database from scratch or finds a database somewhere and modifies it for use here. They add new features to the database and fix things that are broken.

Database Front End Designer - Again, could be multiple people and could even be one or more of the programmers if they are also good at layout and design issues. This person designs the look of the database. Obviously, strong web design skills are a must. This person passes their designs on to the programmer(s) who then code the back end of the database.

Quest Uploader - Again, could be a team. This person's only responsibility is to upload quests, descriptions and screen shots. People would submit quests to them complete with descriptions and screen shots and this person would upload them to the database. An alternative idea would be to give everyone upload rights and have this person moderate quests. Instead of uploading quests every day, they simply log into the database and are presented with a list of uploads for the day. Clicking accept on an upload moves it from the waiting area into the database.

Database Assistant - This person (could be more than one) handles questions about the database. They clarify suggestions and pass them on to the Database Front End Designer or the Programmer. Ideally, they would be the only link between the database users and the rest of the team.

Thoughts/suggestions? If the database truly is in limbo right now (nobody is currently doing any sort of work on it and hasn't for some time), then I volunteer to assemble the team to get things going again.

To clarify to people- upon signing up for this, I was strictly given the duties of quest uploader. However, as problems befell, the responsibility to fix them was put on my shoulders- a task I was not up to. I love the idea of making this a team effort. It really is too much for one person, and was rather overwhelming to feel the brunt of the ZC community as things began to fall apart. Zelda Classic is rather large at this point, and it will take more than one person to maintain a satasfactory database, not to mention having immediate backup incase someone drops off the face of the intarwebz.

[Dlbrooks33]

i could help with the quest uploading if you like.

[Pineconn]

What not be a bad idea, if you can, is to post on the main site that these problems are still [slowly] being fixed. Since the last post was April 28 - I believe - some people may be thinking that ZC has been re-abandoned.

[Luigi]

I hope I'm not being offensive, but I don't think there have actually been many new quests this year, probably because of the beta developments.

[elise]

That doesn't mean that the new ones that where made don't need to be in the questdatabase does it :shrug:
and that also doesn't mean that someone that made a quest even if it's 3 year ago and wants it in the questdatabase can't do it :shrug:

[rocksfan13]

I hope I'm not being offensive, but I don't think there have actually been many new quests this year, probably because of the beta developments.
How about we get back to the suggestion at hand instead of complaining.

I believe DN has an awesome solution here. Who wants to help?

[Pineconn]

(Yeah, there have been new quests. Check out the Top Ten Lists or the forum QDB (http://www.armageddongames.net/showthread.php?t=91119).)

Again, I'll offer my help for any needed position. I don't know about programmer... That job should be covered by someone who is skilled with whatever the site uses to run.

Also, if when the site gets fully functional, we have two options. The first is to continue the way the present ZC.com is running - update only when something significant has happened, like the release of 2.11, a new affiliate, etc. The second is to do it like PureZC - update whenever quests have been uploaded/updated. Also, will we still have only quests, or will we allow music, tiles, and tilesets to be uploaded (like PureZC)? There are many possibilties.

[Freedom]

I don't know a lot about how the database is put together, or the problems with it, I do know a little about html and am familiar with cgi, but my guess is that the site involves php which I haven't played with all that much.
I'd be willing to lend a hand if what knowledge I have would be useful.

Has anyone thought to ask Wild Bill if he'd take a quick look to see if he can pinpoint the problem?
I'd guess he's the most knowledgable in the area that is involved in the ZC community.

[Pineconn]

Yeah, I think it uses php. Ever since I joined and became active, I've never seen Wild Bill in the forums.

[elise]

His forum name here is Raichu86 :)

[Pineconn]

I've rarely seen Raichu86 on. ;) Occasionally, but rarely.

[rocksfan13]

Still, If someone could, that knows him well, contact him and ask a favor of him or at least point him in this direction. I would like to think that the more attention that this thread gets, the faster this issue can be resolved, yes?

[Freedom]

Still, If someone could, that knows him well, contact him and ask a favor of him or at least point him in this direction. I would like to think that the more attention that this thread gets, the faster this issue can be resolved, yes?

He's wildbill at PureZC and from what I understand built Pure's database, he may not want to be bothered with all of this, I can't say, but I'd guess he is the most experienced in that area that comes around here.
He might be able to locate and solve the problem in a matter of minutes, since he probably knows what to look for.
Someone like me would take months digging around in there trying this and that until it finally started working.

[rocksfan13]

Again, what would it hurt to ask him? What' the worste he'd say? No!?
Anyways, I would love to see this getting started. I don't know about anyone else.

[Freedom]

Again, what would it hurt to ask him? What' the worste he'd say? No!?
Anyways, I would love to see this getting started. I don't know about anyone else.

I wasn't suggesting it would hurt to ask him, I was letting you know where he is and how to get in contact with him. ;)

[Pineconn]

Yeah, the sooner, the better. Otherwise, we may be getting less traffic and active members in the future.

But we all agree that something needs to be done, whether it be ask Wild Bill to sight out the problem or completely scrap the old database. The latter should really be our "if all else fails" plan. I'm not a member at Pure ZC (for whatever reason I don't get the verification e-mail!), so I wouldn't be able to ask him.

[elise]

why not just ask Eckels he made it and is still an admin here :shrug:

[rocksfan13]

That would be a good idea IF you could get a hold of him. And I mean IF. He isn't around that much. He's been in and out lately, but not enough to do anything. Maybe he'll see this. Maybe he won't. You just don't know.
I'd like to see him involved in this too. Since he's the one that started it.

[Pineconn]

We all sent him messages about this a few months ago, right? At least I did, and he never got back to me. I know some others did, like the ones involved in the "I think the Quest Database is not operating (http://www.armageddongames.net/showthread.php?t=90503)" thread did. We could try PMing him again. :shrug:

I just wish the people who have had the experience with the site would be more active.

[War Lord]

I'm looking for someone to finish the work.
It's all operational now, just a couple minor things still do not work.
Going to need someone that is around often to add quests as it seems Tygore bit off more than he could chew.

[rocksfan13]

I'm on all the time War Lord. I'll do it. I would love this oportunity!
Although, it would be nice to have a little help. Instead of having just 1 person uploading, maybe 2? Just a thought.

What of DN's idea? Having a team vice 1 person. That would prove to be more efficient. Or don't you think so?
Alot of us seemed to like that approach.

Edited because got War Lord's name confused with Warlock. Woops! Sorry War Lord.

[Kingboo30]

I could do it too. Though having two people do it would be much better. I'm always on and if I'm not on, someone else could do it.

[War Lord]

I'm on all the time Warlock.

I'd be more inclined to choose you if you were good with names.

Myself or goki will be working on this in the coming week or two.

[rocksfan13]

Oops. D'oh! Sorry about that War Lord. Misread your name. It's just between the 2 of you, it's eay to get them backwards. I do know the difference between you two. :)

Any thoughts of doing it like DN suggested? As a team.

[Kingboo30]

Wait hold up War Lord or any one else that can answer this question. When a person uploads a quest to a site and sends to it the ZC.com, is it automatically sent to the datamase without the admin of the site doing anything or does the Admin do something to get the quest in the database?

[rocksfan13]

I believe they get put in a queue. Then the person or persons who are authorized can go in and upload the quests to the server. I'm not 100 on that, but I believe that's the way it's done. Otherwise the person or persons in charge of adding them would need to be site admins.

[erm2003]

War Lord, as I have mentioned, I am on here often thoughout the day and I would love to help keep the database updated. Let me know if I can be of any assistance.

[Pineconn]

I'm always on and I could be the whatever-job-needs-filled guy.

Yeah, 2/3 people would be excellent. It's better than how it was before, with only Eckels and JayeM in charge. In my opinion, the jobs could be run by this many people.

Manager - 2
Programmer - 2
Database front end designer - 2
Quest uploader - 2/3 or even 4
Database assistant - 2

So that's about 10 to 12. Is that too many people working on the site? Perhaps programmer and DB front end designer could be combined into one job.

Sorry, just rambling. ;)

[elise]

Indeed I think we need a few people that do the uploads , that if someone isn't there it goes on anyway , rocksfan and pinnecon showed they really care from the start what happens to the questdatabase , so they both for sure will be a good pick :)

[Eckels]

What exactly is wrong with the qdb? I'm not going to go searching through threads, so if someone types up a concise list of what exactly is wrong, I'll see what I can do about fixing it.


...I'm beginning to think a scrap and start over might be the best solution for the site at this point...

...

You're out of your goddamned mind. I'd like to see you write something close to the database capabilities that the QDB has. It may be glitched a bit, but with over 300k downloads, something must be working properly.

[rocksfan13]

Well, let's see.

1. The comments aren't working. When a new one is added it is unviewable.

2. When a quest is added to the DB the date is not added with it and according to Tygore the scrrenshots on the left for quick links to recently submitted quests aren't working. Along with not being able to link screen shots with the quests.

3. Voting used to be messed up, but is fixed now. I don't know if there is still an issue there.

4. And spam is in the comments once again, when it did work. And the commenter's name never appears.

5. And Tygore is having a time trying to run it.

As far as I can tell that's all right now. I'll give it a better look tomorrow.

If anyone has anything to add, please do.

[Eckels]

The only problem I can confirm is the screenshots do not seem to be attaching themselves to the quest when they're confirmed from the queue.

There are no problems with the comments, at least none that I could verify.

It looks like all the problems that occured are linked to the forum upgrade last year

[rocksfan13]

That's exactly when they started.

As far as the comments. If you look at HOD. It has 2 comments but only one is viewable.
It's also the same with Zelda's Quest for Link. It has 13 and only 12 are viewable.

Also since the upgrade, none of the names are attached to the commentor.

[Eckels]

I just deleted all the comments without names attached, since there's no way to identify the comment to the person. That's one of the reasons that it was giving false numbers just now. I'm also going to disable the code that shows how many comments each quest has, because that info is also false. At some point i'll write a script that will re-tally the comment totals.

...And it seems AGN has used all it's disk space and I can't re-upload the entire file.

Disk Usage 1000.17 MB
Disk Space Available -0.17 MB

So now it doesn't work at all... lovely.

[Joe]

Eckels this is not on topic, but nonetheless...

Is that your Kid?

If so – Congrats!

Great looking Kid!

Thanks - Joe

[Kingboo30]

......Are we ****ed? We have no more space.

[Eckels]

Eckels this is not on topic, but nonetheless...

Is that your Kid?

If so – Congrats!

Great looking Kid!

Thanks - Joe

Yassir! That's an old picture. He's now 14 months old, and usually running around the house. He's got a wonderful personality, and is the light of my life. He's a very cute kid too. His name is Daniel. And thank you for your compliments! :)

Anyways, I freed up some space, so everythings ok. and the comments are ok for now.

[Joe]

Yassir! That's an old picture. He's now 14 months old, and usually running around the house. He's got a wonderful personality, and is the light of my life. He's a very cute kid too. His name is Daniel. And thank you for your compliments! :)

Anyways, I freed up some space, so everythings ok. and the comments are ok for now.
That is wonderful news!

Also thanks for working on the site, it is appreciated!

Stay well!

Thanks - Joe

[Pineconn]

Hey, Eckels! Great that you're back!! :)

Ooh... perhaps you didn't need to delete the unregistered comments... Now most of the ones for my quest are gone. :shrug: Meh, but that really is no big deal at all. Whatever you need to do to fix the site will work for me. ;)

I think the comments are messed up again. I tried posting one and it didn't work, though I was logged in.

Anyway, I hope the site gets fixed soon. I (and I'm sure we) really appreciate your work.

[elise]

The most recently uploaded quest aren't showing in the "Most Recent Additions"
HOD from shoelace is put in by tygore on 06-16-2006

Eckels great that you do this :)

[rocksfan13]

Elise is correct. There are 7 quests that are not showing as recent additions, besides the test quests. I believe the reason is because they have no added date attached to them.

The quests are:
Crossrealm Chaos
First Quest Redux
Legend of Zelda Again
The Legend of Zelda the New Hero
Wind Waker Remake
Hero of Dreams
Spikes of Doom

Unless the uploader has to put the date on them, they have no addition date.

And thanks for looking into this issue Eckels. I'm glad you've come to notice it. :thumbsup:

Off topic: That is a great looking kid you got there. My youngest is 18 months old. His name is Tyler. Aren't they great!

[Pineconn]

Yes, that is the reason that they do not appear. However, it is unknown why a date doesn't attach to the quest. I remember pointing this out to Tygore awhile ago...

[Eckels]

fixed the problem with postdates. somehow the code that sent the postdate got deleted... couldn't guess why. I also deleted about ten quests that were in the DB without download links... probably were all used as test entries.

I'll work on the screenshots later tonight.

[rocksfan13]

Great to hear it! It's been too long that the DB hasn't worked and I think for everyone here, Thank you for taking the time to fix it. You truely are The Man.

[Pineconn]

Yes, thank you. I'm excited that the QDB will finally be restored.


fixed the problem with postdates. somehow the code that sent the postdate got deleted... couldn't guess why.

Probably the work of a hacker. Those lumps of scum. :badrazz:

[Shoelace]

Hey, my game Hero of Dreams isn't in the database anymore. Was that one of the ten quests that you deleted? If so, then do you want me to reupload the quest into the database? Just so I know. Thanks.

[rocksfan13]

Eckels, now that you've disabled the comments, they can't be viewed obviously.
But the links for posting comments and view comments are still there. Are you intending to re-enable them after you've fixed everything. Just curious.

[Eckels]

Hey, my game Hero of Dreams isn't in the database anymore. Was that one of the ten quests that you deleted? If so, then do you want me to reupload the quest into the database? Just so I know. Thanks.

yes please do, that would be helpful. I still have to work on the screenshot code but for now it'll be good to have some real quests to test with.

[Tygore]

You're out of your goddamned mind. I'd like to see you write something close to the database capabilities that the QDB has. It may be glitched a bit, but with over 300k downloads, something must be working properly.

Until you popped up, I had no idea anyone was going to be able to fix it. My idea was to use a much simpler database that, although somewhat lacking in pizazz, would be easier for pretty much anyone to fix if something went wrong. My reasoning was that if nobody knew how to fix it, then it would be better to make something inferior yet functional as opposed to better yet broken.

[Rulehy]

I don't think there is much need to rewrite the database now.:)
Look how they have already fixed that problem.I think its a matter of
time now,before its up and running again!:D

[rocksfan13]

The creator (Eckels) is working on it now. Have patience.

[Rulehy]

The creator (Eckels) is working on it now. Have patience.
Were you talking to me?
Like I said,"its a matter of time".

[rocksfan13]

No. I was informing everyone.

[Rulehy]

Yah!
I didn't even know Eckels was the creator!
I thought he was the managor.:googly:
Oh wait...Isn't Tygore the managor?
I just confused myself!:scared:

[rocksfan13]

Tygore uploads the quests (you could say he manages it, technically)
Eckels owns, runs, and administers it. (He's the DB God) He's the one you thank for having the DB.

[Rulehy]

Ok!
Thanks rocksfan13!

[rocksfan13]

Also, Eckels, the comments are working correctly now. I just added one to swansong and it came up with my name and comment and date of comment. Just a little feedback.
Especially if anyone is curious about the ongoing fix of the DB.

[Rulehy]

I would help try to fix the DB but I dought I have the skills!:shrug:
Oh well!
I can test the DB though!
Do they need people to test it? I dont know if I can,but I can try!

[rocksfan13]

I'm quite sure Eckels can handle it.

[Rulehy]

Ok,just thought I would ask!

[Pineconn]

The comments are up, good. The screenshots are next, excellent. :thumbsup:

Also, I remember that recently-uploaded quests, like TWW Remake and HoD, could not be downloaded. However, those have been deleted, right? I was wondering if the download conflict (if it one or not) has been resolved.

[rocksfan13]

If you read earlier, he said there were at least 10 quests that didn't have a download link with them. And he deleted them. That could possibly have been the reason why they didn't work.
And since they will be re-uploaded the links will attach themselves to them. Unless there is an issue there as well.

[Pineconn]

Ah, no download link. That would be the problem; you can't download without the link!

But it was strange; when you clicked on the download link, a page would appear and wouldn't load... I don't know, it was weird. As long as it's getting fixed, it doesn't matter. :)

[Eckels]

Ok screenshots are fixed. - if there's any other bugs that people know about, nows the time to let me know.

To get the backlog of missing screenshots filled up, I need up to six screenshots from each of the following quests:

Link's Retirement 3 by rocksfan13
Legend of Zelda Again by Zephyr Light
First Quest Redux by Captain Magenta
Crossrealm Chaos by Questions
Spikes of Doom by Darkness 3567
The Monster Arena by XdragonSB

[Cepat]

So the quest submission works now?

[elise]

Cepat just try to upload your new Tao DC and if anything doesn't work , Eckels would be glad to hear that so it can be fixed :)

[Cepat]

Okay I just submitted it. Thanks elise for the info :)

[rocksfan13]

Here are the shots for My Link's Retirement 3, Unless you want me to resubmit them using the form:
http://www.zeldaclassicforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3793
http://www.zeldaclassicforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3794
http://www.zeldaclassicforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3795
http://www.zeldaclassicforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3796
http://www.zeldaclassicforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3797
http://www.zeldaclassicforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3798

[WindStrike]

Heh... sorta makes me wanna make another attempt at the quest again. But I'll have to hold off on it due to vacation...

Anyways, good thing that the good ol' database is back up and that the screenshots are workin' now (Yeah, I'm stating the obvious... just like some others here are going to do sometime soon). Hopefully, it stays up for a while longer (I mean like, 2-3 years later when I release my quest (First quest... yes, I'm gonna "pull a Shoelace")... lol). Oh by the way, Alpha-Dawg's tutorial link should probably be updated with the new one (Wherever the heck it is... I don't have time to find it, so someone else find it).

Aye... good stuff!

[Pineconn]

Superb! (I'm running out of "Great!" and "Excellent!" synonyms. :rolleyes: )

It's not much, but the future plans page is a little out-dated. For instance, it still has layers, magic meter, and the magic jar item on it. ;)

I'll PM Shoelace to tell him to re-submit his quest and screens.

EDIT: Additionally, I believe that we do not need the Temporary QDB in the Quest Announcement/Discussion forum. It could be un-stickied, I suppose...

[elise]

EDIT: Additionally, I believe that we do not need the Temporary QDB in the Quest Announcement/Discussion forum. It could be un-stickied, I suppose...
Just leave it there till everything is working and we have someone that does the final upload again ;)

[Pineconn]

That's true. The QDB isn't fixed yet. ;)

[rocksfan13]

Having the Temp DB will also allow for anyting that may have been missed in the re-upload of quests and their screens. Ultimately, it's up to Eckels if he wants it to remain open or not.

[Pineconn]

I don't think there are any quests that have either been uploaded and with screenshots or that have been submitted that are in the Temp QDB. The quests are LR3, which is obviously yours and with screens ;); Adv. in Mysteria, which is in the official QDB; Hero of Dreams, which I PMed Shoelace about if he didn't submit screenshots (because he already submitted the quest; I don't know about the screens); and Tao of Link DC, which Cepat has already submitted.

EDIT: Had LR4...

[Kingboo30]

I'm going to PM XdragonSB to submit Monster Arena as I doubt he'll be visiting this thread anytime soon.

[Pineconn]

Wasn't there a Wind Waker Remake, too? I don't remember who made it, but the person should re-submit it. It sounds interesting.

(On a side-note, 600th post! But who cares!)

[rocksfan13]

Refer to this post:http://www.armageddongames.net/showpost.php?p=1083033&postcount=64
All of these were deleted from the DB. HOD is in the Temp DB but not the DB. And TAO of Link DC.
And it was LR3, Pineconn.

[Pineconn]

And it was LR3, Pineconn.

I'm sorry. :(

I wasn't thinking when I posted that. :shrug: I'll change it now...

EDIT: Had to post the quote. New page on the thread.

[elise]

TAO of link Cepat would official submit that so if he did that then that one is waiting in the back of the scenes for the final upload .
if Shoelace also does that again with Hod then there are two new ones to upload and to see if everything works okidoki again for Eckels.

If that all is working again we only need some people to do the final uploading :)
Till then it would always be a good idea to keep the temp up also , so people can always release the quest even if it's not showing yet in the questdatabase. It's very annoying when you know a quest is released but everybody including the questmaker is waiting till the final upload :shrug:

but Dark Nation is already looking into that so things are finaly looking okidoki again :D

Pinnecon congrats with you 600th post :p

[rocksfan13]

It would be nice if someone ran it that was dedicated to it like JayeM was and Eckels is now. Not that I'm putting Tygore down or anything, but too much has happened to the poor guy and now everyone doesn't think too highly of him in that position anymore.
And I believe War Lord said he and goKi are going to look into getting someone new on the uploading crew. Hopefully more than one. It would be nice to have some kind of team.

[Pineconn]

I feel special now. :) You really didn't need to do that, Elise. :D But anyway, congrats on your 1182th post, I guess!

I really feel dumb. I have made so many mistakes in my posts today or yesterday... :banghead: I need to verify every single word I post to see if it is correct or not... :p


It would be nice if someone ran it that was dedicated to it like JayeM was and Eckels is now. Not that I'm putting Tygore down or anything, but too much has happened to the poor guy and now everyone doesn't think too highly of him in that position anymore.
And I believe War Lord said he and goKi are going to look into getting someone new on the uploading crew. Hopefully more than one. It would be nice to have some kind of team.

The more, the better. Heck, if we could, we should get 3 or 4 to do the uploading. Or even 5, but that may be stretching it. This would allow for quests to be up quicker and would ease the pain of verifying quests if they are fake or not. And according to JayeM, there are a lot of fake submissions.

[elise]

well like I said before Rocksfan I wouldn't mind if you and pinnecon are gonna do that job , you both showed you care from the beginning , so you both get my vote but .............it's not up to me and I can't vote so my vote is worth nothing :)

[rocksfan13]

The fake quest amount was the ultimate reason why JayeM quit. She got tired of having to sift through all of them.

I totally agree, but it's not up to us. Only the admins and Eckels have the final say. All we can do is offer our services and sit back and let them do what they need to do.

[Pineconn]

Thanks again for that, Elise. I would love to, but I don't know about letting a kid that's still in high school to do a job as important as that...

[rocksfan13]

Hey! I'm not a kid. http://www.mazeguy.net/happy/laughing.gif
That would count if you don't think you could handle something like that. Look at Pure. It's mostly kids over there. And it's fine.

[Pineconn]

I know, I was talking about myself! ;)

[Eckels]

I never said the QDB was entirely fixed, I was simply giving an update on what my progress is.

There's a lot of work that needs to be done on the back-end that the public doesn't see. It'll probably take a little while. I have more time now so i'll be able to get it done a little here a little there.

When it's ready I'll decide on someone to run the daily functions of the QDB and the site in general. I may also change the way some things operate, and one of the things i never did that I had meant to do, is write a tutorial script. If I have time, I may just sit down and do that.

In the meantime, don't everyone shout hooray just yet. I'm ready to fix the quests that are in there, and if you like you can add new submissions, but I'm not in any terrible rush to add the new submissions until i'm confident that the system is working properly.

Just to share, there were a few things that screwed with the QDB.
a.) The Forum Update last year
b.) a PHP version update (which changed some global functions - mostly what they're named)
c.) The massive activity that the QDB has received

Most of the code dealing with the forum update has been cleaned up.
As far as the php errors go, they're almost all on the back-end, and they're still being worked on. I'm going to also have to spend some time optimizing a lot of code to lessen the server load.

So please understand that it's being worked on, although you may not notice blatant changes on the face of the site.

As far as website updates go, as in updating the general information... that'll get done after the code is cleaned up.

[Kingboo30]

Hey! I'm not a kid. http://www.mazeguy.net/happy/laughing.gif
That would count if you don't think you could handle something like that. Look at Pure. It's mostly kids over there. And it's fine.
A kid is a person who is under 13. Otherwise, yeah I have to agree that most of Pure is 13-25, not counting you of course. There's a couple of 12 and under but not much. Pure is not run by a bunch of 12 year olds, otherwise I wouldn't go there. They can handle the site better than AGN who didn't even bother to notice ZC.com after Eckels continued on with life. Thankfully he's back for now.

[Tygore]

Eckles, I saved the screenshots from submissions that didn't work. I could e-mail them to you if you'd like, or upload them somewhere to the site and let you sift it out. I saved them in the same format that was being previously used, so if I just need to put them in the correct directory then tell me and I'll do it ASAP.

[Eckels]

that's great!

upload them to a directory - not the screenshots directory, i want to sift through them. make a directory like LOOKHEREARETHESCREENSHOTS or something

[Tygore]

OK, they're there. I put up everything I had saved.

[Pineconn]

A kid is a person who is under 13. Otherwise, yeah I have to agree that most of Pure is 13-25, not counting you of course. There's a couple of 12 and under but not much. Pure is not run by a bunch of 12 year olds, otherwise I wouldn't go there. They can handle the site better than AGN who didn't even bother to notice ZC.com after Eckels continued on with life. Thankfully he's back for now.

:odd: Some 12-year-olds are actually sharing some of the running of the site? That's a little young, but some people can handle that at that age. All a matter of the level of maturity, really.

Okay, then, I'm an adolescent. :rolleyes:

[Shoelace]

Well I submitted my game. A lot of people urged me to. :P Anyways, I just wanted to say that I submitted it to see if it works. Thanks.

[erm2003]

Is updating your quest still handeled through the submission form for the QDB? I noticed when I tried to resubmit mine I can't use the same title because it obviously already exists and I didn't want to just possibly mess anyone up. What exactly is the procedure for updating?

[Kingboo30]

:odd: Some 12-year-olds are actually sharing some of the running of the site? That's a little young, but some people can handle that at that age. All a matter of the level of maturity, really.

Okay, then, I'm an adolescent. :rolleyes:

No of course not! I meant some of the members. The staff are ages 15 and older. If there were some 12 years running the site then I would be none too happy. Even though I'm 14.

[rocksfan13]

No. To update your quest you need to let Eckels or whomever is running the uploads know to grab the update.

[Pineconn]

No of course not! I meant some of the members. The staff are ages 15 and older. If there were some 12 years running the site then I would be none too happy. Even though I'm 14.

:laughing:

Oh, I see; I obviously misread that! I wouldn't want 12-year-olds to be running a big site like that, either. :p

[rocksfan13]

Not to be a nag or to gravedig or anything but, is there a status on the Quest DB as of right now Eckels? I know you said there wouldn't be any blatant changes to it, but I'm just curious as to how it's comming along. Was there a lot to fix?

[Tygore]

I took a peek at the control panel, and it's clear he's been doing stuff. I don't want to mess with anything at the moment, or know if they'll want me uploading quests in the future; but progress is definitely happening.

[Eckels]

I havent done anything in the past week. It's been a busy week and a half for my own business (a lot of doors and windows that were on order suddenly came in all at once, so I've had to install them all), and there hasn't been much extra time. I'll probably get back on it this weekend.

[Nicholas Steel]

thanks very much for all your effort and hours of un-compensated work.

[rocksfan13]

I havent done anything in the past week. It's been a busy week and a half for my own business (a lot of doors and windows that were on order suddenly came in all at once, so I've had to install them all), and there hasn't been much extra time. I'll probably get back on it this weekend.

Hey, everyone has a life. Always comes first, especially with the little one you got there. Take your time. We know you're fixing it and we appreciate the fact that you are.

Thanks again Eckels.

[Pineconn]

I'm pleased to hear this. I haven't been online since Sunday (because of band camp - and I'm so tired!!), so I haven't really been able to have caught up on the details. I guess I came back in time. ;)

I really hate repeating things, but take your time. Life first, QDB later.

[elise]

Sorry for the grave digging but this is still the same after all those months, nothing is changed :uhoh:

[DarkFlameWolf]

As stated, I'm offering to at least update the database on a semi-regular basis.

[rocksfan13]

I also stated I would help. It seems that this topic has fallen through the cracks again.

[Shoelace]

I was asked to submit my game like 3 times, and I did each time, and it never got put up. lol

[rocksfan13]

You know what would be nice?

If the quest Database got fixed before the new version of ZC 2.5 is released as stable to the public. I mean, what is the point if nobody can submit their new work to it with all the new features. People will be very confused and discouraged. I think a major thing to be fixed before 2.5 is released is getting the main site working correctly again.

Anyone think I'm wrong on this?

[Shoelace]

You are 100% right. But it still doesn't mean it will happen. I am hoping some staff member will take a little bit of time to do this. :(

[Tygore]

I've loaded up the site a few times recently, actually. Quite frankly, there are too many bugs in the system for it to be viable. Every time I try to get to a quest, be it on the site or in the admin control panel, I'm getting the text "IN_PORTAL_AREA, THIS_SCRIPT or VB_AREA must be defined to continue". Believe me, I would LOVE to start uploading quests again, but I can't do that if the system is broken.

Does anyone else get that error right now when they try to go to a quest's page in the DB? Or am I just unlucky?

[elise]

yeah I get that also since today the questdatabase is totally dead:(

[Dlbrooks33]

I am getting the same error.

[Luigi]

Maybe War Lord's repairing it or something?

[DarkFlameWolf]

Well how's this, buy out the doman of zeldaclassic.com from whoever has the rights, and remake the entire website utilizing all quests currently in the database and all information contained theirin. Makes no sense to repair a dying entity when you can just create a new one from scratch.

[Tygore]

You know what I think the best thing to do would be? Just make PureZC the official ZC page. Change it to zc.com with a redirect from Pure, change the graphics to reflect the new "official" nature of it, and let the site continue to run as it has (same staff and all). It's functional, it's complete, and almost everyone who knows about it uses it anyway.

Simplest answer. I'm just throwing it out there.

[Pineconn]

Well, I would not personally like that. For some reason, however many times I try to register on PureZC, I never get the confirmation e-mail. So then I would be wiped off the Zelda Classic slate. Now, if there would be a way to merge the two sites, then it would be perfect.

But anyway, it appears someone is trying to patch the QDB. I checked out my quest's page a few days ago, like maybe 2 or 3, and it worked.

To an older member: Why are there two big ZC sites, anyway? How did PureZC come into existance?

[Nicholas Steel]

PZC came into existence because of the lack of support and work being done on the official website... or at least i think thats why.

[DarkFlameWolf]

I'm still suggesting a totally new site with new base coding with all the previous data ported over would be the best alternative. And I'd even help to update it. (not code it, mind you, but I'd be a faithful updater)

[Pineconn]

Makes sense, now look what, PureZC is much bigger than ZC.com. Well, I can't wait to see this change now that we have the admins taking charge of revamping the entire AGN community.

Actually, a whole new ZC site might not be too bad of an idea, as long it's the same address... and if the current one is too broken to fix.

I would love to help out with ZC.com anyway I can!!! (Sorry, that sounds n00bish.) We had some good ideas going back in the old QDB thread. It might take some gravedigging to find it.

EDIT: [Yeah, here (http://www.armageddongames.net/forums/showthread.php?t=90503)] It's actually an interesting read.