Forum | Thinking With Portals

#1 · July 23, 2011, 2:55 am

Quote from msleeper on July 23, 2011, 2:55 am
So, me and the staff keep getting bugged about modifying and adding features to the Download Database. Some weeks ago, I said that I was in the process of upgrading it to the latest version of this mod we are using. This is not a lie. For those of you who have been keeping up with the boards I have kind of been having a major crisis in my life that is keeping me from spending loads of my free time doing this. I think I might have a chance to this weekend, but hey no promises.

But msleeper! How can we help TWP add features to the download system!

The fastest and easiest way to be able to make tons of custom changes to better suit everyone's needs is... to find someone who is a PHP developer who is familiar with phpBB's API and interface. I outlined the reason for this previously:

msleeper wrote:

The download system was not written by me, it's a freely available mod to phpBB (much like the old download system was on the old version of the forums). I have opted not to write a custom download system for a plethora of reasons, probably most of which is that I simply don't have the time to undertake a colossal project like that. I wish I had the time to write a from-scratch download system, it would allow me to do all sorts of awesome shit that people keep requesting. But the truth of the matter is that I have a job and other responsibilities that do not allow for this.

I can and have made minor mods to our download system, and I will continue to do to suit our userbase. The reason I haven't rolled out the latest version is because I have to upgrade it, and then re-apply the numerous custom changes I've made since there is no easy, intelligent patching system. But adding download tracking is not as simple as "an outside observer" would assume. Ignoring the fact that phpBB is an extremely difficult code base to work with to begin with, the download mod was written by Germans who have a barely working grasp of English at best. Their code is insane and difficult to follow. All of their documentation and the majority of their site is written in German. And the only languages I speak are English and programming.

For those of you who don't get what that means, maybe you shouldnt be asking for things you dont understand basically it means we need a dedicated programmer to modify our existing download system. Which, needless to say, is a pretty tall order. As I've said before, I'm an incredibly busy person when I'm not having serious IRL problems but I do try my best to stay on top of things.

I might have the time to do it this weekend. We'll see how that goes.

So, me and the staff keep getting bugged about modifying and adding features to the Download Database. Some weeks ago, I said that I was in the process of upgrading it to the latest version of this mod we are using. This is not a lie. For those of you who have been keeping up with the boards I have kind of been having a major crisis in my life that is keeping me from spending loads of my free time doing this. I think I might have a chance to this weekend, but hey no promises.

But msleeper! How can we help TWP add features to the download system!

The fastest and easiest way to be able to make tons of custom changes to better suit everyone's needs is... to find someone who is a PHP developer who is familiar with phpBB's API and interface. I outlined the reason for this previously:

msleeper wrote:

The download system was not written by me, it's a freely available mod to phpBB (much like the old download system was on the old version of the forums). I have opted not to write a custom download system for a plethora of reasons, probably most of which is that I simply don't have the time to undertake a colossal project like that. I wish I had the time to write a from-scratch download system, it would allow me to do all sorts of awesome shit that people keep requesting. But the truth of the matter is that I have a job and other responsibilities that do not allow for this.

I can and have made minor mods to our download system, and I will continue to do to suit our userbase. The reason I haven't rolled out the latest version is because I have to upgrade it, and then re-apply the numerous custom changes I've made since there is no easy, intelligent patching system. But adding download tracking is not as simple as "an outside observer" would assume. Ignoring the fact that phpBB is an extremely difficult code base to work with to begin with, the download mod was written by Germans who have a barely working grasp of English at best. Their code is insane and difficult to follow. All of their documentation and the majority of their site is written in German. And the only languages I speak are English and programming.

For those of you who don't get what that means, maybe you shouldnt be asking for things you dont understand basically it means we need a dedicated programmer to modify our existing download system. Which, needless to say, is a pretty tall order. As I've said before, I'm an incredibly busy person when I'm not having serious IRL problems but I do try my best to stay on top of things.

I might have the time to do it this weekend. We'll see how that goes.

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#2 · July 23, 2011, 5:25 pm

I don't have any publicly active examples of my coding prowess but for a private site I've learned quite a bit about phpBB's inner workings and I think I could give this a stab. I'm comfortable with phpBB's template system, PHP, MySQL, Javascript (and the popular JS library jQuery), HTML and all that kinda good stuff. If you wanna give me a try hit me up via pm and lemme know how you wanna do this.

Me on Steam

#3 · July 24, 2011, 10:38 pm

I could also have a look if you want. I used to be a web developer as a profession.

PortalStories.com
"Oh, in case you got covered in that repulsion gel, here's some advice the lab boys gave me: DO NOT get covered in the repulsion gel."

#4 · July 28, 2011, 9:19 pm

iWork925 wrote:

I could also have a look if you want. I used to be a web developer as a profession.

It's amusing to me that you offer to "help" by abusing the rating system in the most spectacular way possible. I then have to spend time cleaning up the mess that you created - time that could have been spent working on the actual upgrade.

Everyone should thank iWork here for wasting about 2 hours of my time for being a bratty shithead, and being more concerned with exploiting things than being constructive and helpful and simply reporting them. PS - Enjoy never being able to rate a map again.

[Important Threads] Forum Rules | Welcome to the new Thinking With Portals
Please do not Private Message me for assistance. Post a thread if you have questions or concerns.
If you need to contact the staff privately, contact the Global Moderators via Discord.

#5 · July 28, 2011, 10:45 pm

Well I have no idea how to help, but since part of the thread title is a also feature requests...
1. Being able to sort downloads by rating
2. Seeing all of a user's uploaded files on their profile page
3. Seeing ratings down to the tenth (such as 4.3, for example)
4. Increased security against jacking the ratings system (I'm talking to you, iWork)
5. More categories for the details of an upload (like length and difficulty)
Sorry if I seem kinda useless just asking for stuff and not being able to help in return. Most of those ideas were borrowed from other threads, so here are the more popular requests all in one place.

Try out Twin Pillars, a Portal 2 map by BOB74j.

#6 · July 29, 2011, 11:40 am

:wut:
Hate to nit pick, but nice try. Problem still persists. It is useless to resist.

I am not a bratty shithead. I am a concerned shit head.

PortalStories.com
"Oh, in case you got covered in that repulsion gel, here's some advice the lab boys gave me: DO NOT get covered in the repulsion gel."