Quest Database (sorry about that)

[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
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

[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.)

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.