Saturday, July 12, 2014

Time to Get Interactive!

     Well. I'm sure some of you thought I was dead. I'm not. I have been working very hard to bring you this next update. I'm not going to lie, this one is a big one. The patch notes are a mile long. My brain is fried. My family hates me. But it's here. Finally.

     I'm going to start by saying that I'm considering this new update to be a beta sort of thing. I'm sure there might be a few lurking bugs and scary ghosts and I hope you as a community report any that you might find on the forums. I really poured a lot of my life into getting this up and running. This will probably be one of the biggest patches I do but this lays the groundwork for a lot more future features.

     As you will read in the patch notes, Living in Wildstar now accepts members. That's right, we're going interactive. So sign up and start exploring some of the members only features. I will stress that this will in no way hinder the browsing capabilities of the website. You do NOT need to sign up. But I hope we've provided you some nice perks to actually do so. I won't bore you with the details here, that's what the patch notes are for.

      The main reason for taking this direction is to allow the community a nice, easy way of helping fill in missing information. There are features in place that will allow you to submit screenshots and fill in details forms to help fill the database. Take your time reading all our notations as this will make your experience much smoother. We've tried to make things as intuitive as possible, but issues will arise I'm sure. Since we wanted to ask you to help us, we figured we'd throw you some fun features to keep you engaged with the website. Some features are even ones suggested by the amazing Reddit community!

      I'm sure you're eager to explore. So I'll let you get to it. Please, please, please report any problems you encounter on the forums. If you don't have a forum account, sign up for one... they're shiny. Note that the new member signup for the website and the forum signup are two different systems. One ring does not rule them all. We apologize if that's annoying. Have fun with the patch notes!

     Be well....



PATCH NOTES

  • Captions
    You know when you click a screenshot and it gets bigger and all fancy like? Well we added the item's name and other related information to the caption for smoother slideshow viewing.
  • Menu Re-Shuffle
    Some stuff has moved around on the  main navigational menu. And we're not quite done re-shuffling. As we add features, things will shift more. So keep an eye on new options. You never know what's going to show up!
  • Challenge Videos
    Living in Wildstar is all about making friends. And we have teamed up with a very lovely video maker known in some circles as "The Ankh". He enjoys making videos that cover the challenges that come from housing Fabkits. So we're going to promote him and use his videos on our site. He rebooted and rebranded his series and he'll be rolling them out over time. So look for the Youtube links on select Fabkit challenges. His first video is for "Dump Diving". Welcome aboard Ankh!
  • Become a Member
    Created a signup system. This allows people to sign up for an account if they so desire. We even set up a password reset system that will email you a link to reset. Note that this is a different system than the forums. Even if you signed up for them, you'd still need a new account for the website.
  • Profile Page
    Every member gets a profile page. For now, this is a fairly basic section but will grow over time.  Your profile page is viewable to other members unless you set privacy options.
  • Edit Your Profile
    We have made it so you can  edit your profile. This includes changing your basic info, uploading and managing thumbnails and portraits of your character, and setting privacy options.
  • Member Directory
    In an attempt to bring the housing community closer together, we created a member directory. This allows you to search for fellow housing enthusiasts by either searching for their Main Character's name, assuming you know it, or by browsing realms. So if you want to be easily searchable, make sure you set your server and character names in your profiles.
  • Track a Member
    Did you find that special someone in the member directory? Well you can add them to your favorites and keep tabs on them. This feature will be more important as time goes on with some of the features we have planned. Just view a member's profile and click the conveniently located button to stalk them. We mean, follow them.  You can view your favorites on your profile page.
  • Stalkers
    From your profile page you can also see who's following you. We don't know why this important, we just thought some of you might want to know who the lurkers are!
  • Privacy Options
    If you would like to opt out of having your profile gawked at like a bunch of drooling rabid wolverines, you can alter your profile privacy options. There are two ways you can limit your exposure. Turning "searchable" off means people can't find you by name or by realm listings. This would still allow you to share your profile's url with certain people so they can find you and add you if they desired. Turning privacy on means your profile is hidden entirely and all the people will see is a default "locked" picture. But in the spirit of good community, let everyone find you and say hello!
  • Introducing... The Wishlist! 
    Ever stumble upon an item in the catalog and knew you wanted to remember it for later? We sure have. Well now you can add it to your Wishlist. That's right, members get to do cool things like that. Just find a decor item you like and you'll see a button to add it (or remove it if you need to). You'll be able to access your Wishlist from the members section and it'll be conveniently broken down for you by decor type. For now this feature only applies to Decor. If people like it and use it a lot we will implement a Wishlist for Fabkits and Challenges as well.
  • User Submitted Screenshots
    People have been sending in screenshots of items we don't have them for. We haven't used any because of our anal desire to have all our screenshots look universal. But we hate to turn you guys away with your lovely images. And so a new feature was born. Now members have the option to submit screenshots for decor items, fabkits and challenges. You will notice when you're looking at the details page for an item that there's a menu to the right that will allow you to submit a screenshot. These do not immediately post. We're just getting to know each other and I'm not sure I trust that you guys won't send in some truly gnarly stuff. So for now they will be submitted for approval. No hard feelings, we hope. Once approved, they will show up on the details page for all the world to see. You'll even get credit in the picture's caption so make sure your character name is set!
  • Fill in the Blanks
    Time for a really important feature. As most have noticed the database needs a lot of love. It's a hard and complex task to compile all of this. Many in the community have expressed interest in helping fill in the blanks. Well now you can do so. It's time to put up or shush up we guess. On the details pages for decor items, challenges and fabkits, you will find a link on the right that will allow you to fill out a form for careful review by us. Be as descriptive and helpful as possible. Read all instructions carefully so you know what we're looking for. For items that have information, these fields will be conveniently filled in when you load a form. They can be altered of course, it's just a guiding point. All submissions will be reviewed and if deemed worthy, added to the database. Don't spam us junk. That would be rude and we may cry and take away some features. So play nice.
  • Hey, You Forgot One
    Of course we are missing a lot of stuff altogether. We know this, you know this. So for those times when you know of an item/fabkit/challenge that doesn't exist in our database at all, we have a form for that too. Brand new item forms can be found in the members section in your member pages menu. They're a lot like the other forms we previously mentioned except these aren't based off an existing entry. They're for BRAND NEW entries. And again, all entries will be reviewed blah blah blah.

Friday, June 27, 2014

Forums and Donations

Well we have a couple of new site additions today. First are the Forums that I hinted about a few times. Well they are finally here. Over the next few days, my trusty forum administrator and I will be creating some pertinent information for each of the boards to inform you of everything you may need to know. So you may look at them now and say, "Damn, these are really boring and empty." And you would be correct but that will change. But we wanted to open the doors to you all so you can get in and set up your accounts. Feel free to post in the meantime. For content submissions we will be releasing detailed guidelines and forms to help you leave concise information. Basically this opens up yet another channel of communication between us and you guys. As a community we will make this website awesome.

The second addition today is the "Donate" page. For now you can find it on the main navigation bar of the main website. Donations are, of course, completely optional as the site is and will remain free. But after some feedback and careful consideration, it seemed like a good idea to allow the community to show appreciation in this fashion if they so desire. Again, I want to stress that this feature is completely optional. I don't want our beloved userbase to feel pressured in order to use the site. There is more information on this matter on the Donation page itself so have a peek!

I will be doing a lot more content entries this weekend as well. I want to give love to the Remodel section which at this point is just a framework with very little content. I also have a stack of challenges to add that give decor items. Also, with the relase of the PTR I had wanted to peek at the new Strain housing stuff but they don't seem to allow me to copy my character or boost a character unless I had a level 50 prior to 6/12. That seems silly. So if any lvl 50's on the PTR have details on the new housing stuff coming in the new patch, feel free to post on the forums, I am sure we are all eager to see them!

Bye for now!

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

New Logo & Social Media

Another day, another site update. It seems all I've been doing lately is eating, sleeping, dreaming this gosh darn website. And I'm really loving it.

Before we get on to business, I want to give the community a warm thank you. This past weekend was very successful thanks to some very active Reddit users and I'm noticing my humble site trickle more and more across the world and across social media. I'm stunned and humbled by the show of support thus far. All I can promise is that that I will do my very best to keep the flow of development moving smoothly and continue to take feedback seriously.

Today's update notes brings a variety of changes. Some were needed (a new site logo) and some will make sharing the site and it's many pages easier. I have several more things I am working on that will be rolling out very soon. I am only one person working on the majority of this stuff so it takes a bit.

So thanks again... and keep visiting and spreading the love....



PATCH NOTES
  • Thanks to the wonderful community, I had quite a few offers to re-design the site's logo. I have settled upon one I truly adore and I hope you enjoy it as well. Special thanks to Logan for helping me with this!
  • A Twitter account has been created for Living in Wildstar! You can follow us @liveinwildstar. I also added a Twitter button to the footer of each page.
  • A vast variety of social media sharing buttons have been added to the following pages:
    • item_details.php
    • fabkit_details.php
    • challenge_details.php
    This means that any decor item, fabkit, or challenge can easily be shared without having to copy/paste links. I may add these buttons on other pages as I see fit, but these were the major ones.

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Search Feature Available

Hello everyone.

This update brings a new feature to the site. A search box! That's right, there's a shiny new search box to try out. You will notice it as you browse through the site. It's pretty self explanatory. Your search will be matches against entries for Decor, Fabkits/House Plugs, Challenges and Vendors. Your results will be presented to you in an easy to navigate fashion. So yeah... search box!

I have also edited about 40 items in the database to reflect their category and add screenshots and thumbnails. A good chunk of these are part of the architect profession with some of the recently added recipes and ones I skipped for some reason. The architect category for decor is close to complete! I am trying to get as many items as possible and I am going as fast as I can while still managing playing time. Please bear with me as that stuff expands. I will catch up. One of these days. People can help if they drop me a line!

I have another new feature coming that I teased in the last update. I hope to be complete with that within the next week. Well at least I plan to have the framework available, filling in data will occur over time just like every other gosh darn section of this website. But it's a section that I think will please certain players and I hope it's worth the wait.

In the meantime.... SEARCH BOX!

Til next time...

Monday, June 16, 2014

Website Update

Hello all.

I know it seems like things have been quiet over here for the last few days but that couldn't be farther from the truth. I have just released a large update to the database and to the website. The "patch" notes can be found below.

I want to take a second to thank everyone that has been using the website so far. In just the last 6 days we have amassed 64 thousand page views and over 10,000 users spanning 82 countries. I am humbled by how fast my little site is spreading and it makes me immensely happy to see some of the feedback I have been getting. Keep spreading the love and share my site with everyone who cares. I have noticed several websites have linked to my site. If you would like me to return the favor, just shoot me a message and I'd be happy to oblige since I am currently developing a links page. Oh and drop by our Facebook page and give us a like why don't ya?

Lastly, anyone who wants to help with the website can drop me a line at livinginwildstar@gmail.com. This has been such a large undertaking thus far and we still have a long way to go. We can do this!

Thanks for reading. Now... off to find my Lopp Hookah.




PATCH NOTES

  • Added about 40 challenges that give housing items
  • Added and categorized roughly 60 new decor items with screenshots to various categories.
  • Several tweaks made to item, fabkit and challenge information.
  • I also started creating House Tour videos for all the houses. My best buddy has finished the editing on the very first one and it can be found right here!
  • Started back end database work on a new website feature that should be unveiled very soon.

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Plans for the Day

So here are the things I will be focusing on next.

I wanted to establish some sort of communication from me to you and I have done that with this blog. I will integrate it better with the site but there are other pressing matters to focus on. I will be creating the Contact page hopefully today so that will open up another form of communication. Some of you may notice the site has no footer bar and it spits out an error on the bottom of every page. I am aware of this and the answer is very simple. I have not created one yet. That will happen today as well.

I also am aware that lots of images load in slowly. I have been in the somewhat grueling process of optimizing them all. It takes time. But it will get done because I want the site to be as speedy as possible. I will do more of that today as well. I also have about 40 items that I have recently obtained which I need to create photos for. I hope to get that done today too.

So look for those changes hopefully today.

P.S. Today's patch really hurts. The killing of how much an item vendors for will really hinder my acquiring gold to obtain all the items I need for categorizing and screenshots. So if you're on the Evindra server and you are Exile, feel free to contact Wilson with any donations on items that are listed as Uncategorized on the website. Your contributions would certainly be appreciated and earn you mention on the website!

Welcome to the Website

Well folks, the website has been up for about 10 days and I have finally gotten a second to set up some communication. Eventually I will have this more integrated with the website, but for now this will give me a chance to talk to you all and hear some feedback.

That being said, welcome to "Living in Wildstar". This project has been a much larger undertaking than I originally had planned. It keeps growing and growing. I want to add more sections, and I will, but I chose to keep the scope as focused as possible to start off with. There is a TON of information required for this site's database. I am working as fast as I can to compile the information as thoroughly as possible. There is a ton of information still missing and I can assure you I will continue to keep filling in the blanks.

I have tried to lay the site to make it as user friendly as possible. There are tweaks and slight bugs that need to be ironed out as we go along but it'll all come together. My goal was to make something functional and filled with an adequate amount of data and have it out close to the game's launch. I feel I have succeeded on that front. Now it's all about adding new content, developing further sections and working out any issues. I really would like some feedback as to how people are enjoying things so far and any idea of changes or additions that you may like to see happen.

To all the people who have visited so far, I thank you from the bottom of my heart, This has been an awesome project to develop and I look forward to seeing how it all unfolds. But community will be a huge part of this project. There will be ways that you guys can help. So if you like what you see so far, spread the word. Tell a friend, bug a co-worker, include it in your Christmas family newsletter. Whichever you prefer. I'm not picky.

Again, welcome! More to come soon....