Version 1.3a Bug Fixes New Feature Graphical Update
Home/Index (Searching)
+ A bug/glitch/whatever-you-want-to-call-it has been fixed that prevented searching from functioning at all. This was due to a plugin update. I have since hacked the fuck out of it so it works like it used to.
+ An error dialogue will pop up if there were no guide results for your search.
Submit (Submit Link)
+ A loading icon now displays when keywords and classes get loaded dynamically (after you select your game/mod).
Magic Find Calculator
+ Fixed a bug/glitch/fail/whatever-you-want-to-call-it in the overhead menu. I had changed the name of the PHP file for the MF calculator and forgot to update the menu link. It should now work.
+ Takes the total of your FCR modifiers and your character class and displays the FPS of your spells/skills and the frequency* you can spam these skills. (*Does not apply to some skills, like Meteor and Frozen Orb, which have separate cooldowns.)
As of this post, the Firebolt strategy guides "search engine" and tools can be found at its new home: http://www.diablostrategy.com . Thanks for all your support, encouragement, and usage!
I also updated the site footer with a little nod toward Blizzard's ownership of the game. I guess it wouldn't hurt to have that little guy there
Edit--
And finally got around to updating the wallpaper. Thanks for such great work, Yngvar! (And your permission--sorry I am so late on acting on it.)
As much as I love gradients I still think the yellow at the bottom of the tool tip (the ?) makes the white text hard to read. A flat orange background, or black text with the gradient would be easier to read.
Yep it's easier to read now... not sure about the new background though. It's a cool pic and goes with the site but it looks odd on widescreen displays. I would lose the transparent black because it should be easy enough to see as is.
I wasn't sure about the transparent block. I put it there because without it everything looked to busy in the center. Maybe I'll revert to the old image again... I just wanted something more memorable than the background that came in the fansite kit
(I have all widescreen displays and thought similarly. I might be able to somehow hack it into a repeatable image...)
Really loving the way everything is looking. Currently though search is not working for me, not sure why may have to do with address change. Also go to guide is still VERY easy to notice. I support it being closer to the link of the guide you wanna click.
But it's looking really snazzy. Has a new haircut and suit even a new name.
Currently though search is not working for me, not sure why may have to do with address change.
Does it work on any mobile devices you have with web browsers or any other PC's/laptops you may own? Are you allowing a brief moment for the list to populate once you've typed a word?
Also go to guide is still VERY easy to notice. I support it being closer to the link of the guide you wanna click.
Okay, so, the green areas being redundant links to the guide, itself, which do you think is the most logical, the most important, and the most easy to notice/access?
But it's looking really snazzy. Has a new haircut and suit even a new name.
I noticed the one in the middle of that screenshot. Not the tab but the other. Took me a minute though.
Also it's not working for my laptop either, maybe it's google chrome? I'll keep trying. When I hit enter OR click search it just takes me back to a empty search box.
Hm... I should work fine on Chrome, since thats what I do all the primary testing in. Have you tried any other browsers that meet the requirements in the OP?
Edit---
It *may* be a redirect issue. I had to update some URL's in several of my scripts when I migrated. I don't know why it would affect only you (or at least not me), but I guess it's a possibility.
Reinforcement and all that. Thanks, I'll fix those.
Edit-- Fixed.
Edit---
@critter: With the new logo (thanks again, Jetrall!), I think it looks okay without the transparent black background. Had to shift things around a little, but there you go.
Reinforcement and all that. Thanks, I'll fix those.
Edit-- Fixed.
Edit---
@critter: With the new logo (thanks again, Jetrall!), I think it looks okay without the transparent black background. Had to shift things around a little, but there you go.
Some things I'm working on that might be done by Monday some time...
New search GUI
You can say good-bye to that stupid Facebook-like search thing. It's really gimmicky and not the most intuitive tool.
Revised/Restylized guide profile page
You'll notice that where the keywords appear, it shows two instances of "1.13". This is because patch versions are now their own datatype in respect to games and guides. Patch keywords will be removed in the next version in favor of specified patches on guide submission.
Game profile page
Member registration concept (this won't be included in the next update, but just for shits and giggles)
And, finally, an MF calc revamp with real, dynamic charts
Also, all old search links will not show you search results any longer. This is because, in the older versions, I was sending data unique identifiers as parameters through URL's (like, for instances, "searchKeywords=1,23,532,2,32" or "gameId='2'"). These have been modified and replaced so that, in theory, you can just type "diablostrategy.com/index.php?searchKeywords=Sorceress,Blizzard&gameTitle=Diablo II&xpacTitle=Lord of Destruction" into your address bar and get those results.
This is also part of my SEO updates.
I'm also researching some different classes for simple spelling suggestions (since now search won't be accepting valid keyword id's, but everything a user can possibly type). This wasn't necessary with the old version, but should prove worthwhile and helpful with the new one.
Member registration concept (this won't be included in the next update, but just for shits and giggles)
The concept is good, but I think a guide writing tool is not something you should focus on. You're designing a search tool for guides that allows for a wide variety of guides to be gathered in one place from various different sources. Which is great, since the avenues for writing guides will not change once D3 hits, it will still be done predominantly on forums and sites like gamefaqs. But you'll be competing with those sites for no apparent reason, since every guide going up on another site can be added to the guide library. Hosting them on diablostrategy provides no additional benefit other than increased cost and development time and support from you.
PlugY for Diablo II allows you to reset skills and stats, transfer items between characters in singleplayer, obtain all ladder runewords and do all Uberquests while offline. It is the only way to do all of the above. Please use it.
Supporting big shoulderpads and flashy armor since 2004.
Member registration concept (this won't be included in the next update, but just for shits and giggles)
The concept is good, but I think a guide writing tool is not something you should focus on. You're designing a search tool for guides that allows for a wide variety of guides to be gathered in one place from various different sources. Which is great, since the avenues for writing guides will not change once D3 hits, it will still be done predominantly on forums and sites like gamefaqs. But you'll be competing with those sites for no apparent reason, since every guide going up on another site can be added to the guide library. Hosting them on diablostrategy provides no additional benefit other than increased cost and development time and support from you.
Just my thoughts
Good point. Right now it's just a single page. I mostly did it to test some jQuery validation and that Captcha API. Can easily be scrapped.
Also, all old search links will not show you search results any longer.
Does that mean all guides have to be re-submitted?
No. Sorry. Links stored in the database aren't affected at all. This only relates to how my scripts interpret URL's.
When you commit a search in the current version, you'll notice that in the top there are a number of parameters ('gameId','searchKeywords',etc.). These contain the data that you sent with your search so that my script knows what you're looking for. With the current version, however, these parameters are highly inaccessible to end users.
For instance, if I search for "Magic Find" for "Diablo II: Lord of Destruction", it sets the ID of the keyword and the ID of the game (that correlates to the keyword words and the game title in the database) in the URL. You have no idea what 8K means, even though my script interprets it as the keyword ID for "Magic Find"*.
With the new version, you can simply go to the URL in your address bar, place your cursor after "searchKeywords=", and add another English keyword, like "Paladin", and it will work. No more strange numbers or ID's. All of that is handled with back-end validation and comparison through a fuckton of queries.
* It's actually slightly more complicated than that since classes and keywords could both be sent through searchKeywords. I had to add letters (K for keyword and C for class) to help me parse the ID's so I could know what datatype to look for. (Since there could be a keyword with ID 3 and a class with ID 3).
Another benefit of this is better search engine optimization (SEO).
What I mean is that on the proposed game page you have the "back to guide" and "go to officla site" links at the top. A forum link to the (in this case) Diablo II forum here and a link to the Diablo II page in the wiki could also fit up there, yes?
PlugY for Diablo II allows you to reset skills and stats, transfer items between characters in singleplayer, obtain all ladder runewords and do all Uberquests while offline. It is the only way to do all of the above. Please use it.
Supporting big shoulderpads and flashy armor since 2004.
Oh. Well, that should be easy enough to implement. Just some string comparison... Hrm... arrays... queries... nipples...
Edit---
The update to the new version is almost complete. I still have to work on the link submission page a bit (some of the logic is getting complicated with so many fields to validate and so much data to load dynamically--the script for the submit page itself is over 400 lines, and that's not including the four other AJAX scripts and my Javascript), so that won't be up until some time shortly after I get back from my trip.
If anyone encounters any errors while I'm gone (or any time tonight), post them here.
Yeah, that was actually a while back. I asked Yngvar about that around the same time that I put up the first version on the old site. It's what gave me the idea for the name. And it's epic, too
Bug Fixes
New Feature
Graphical Update
+ A bug/glitch/whatever-you-want-to-call-it has been fixed that prevented searching from functioning at all. This was due to a plugin update. I have since hacked the fuck out of it so it works like it used to.
+ An error dialogue will pop up if there were no guide results for your search.
+ A loading icon now displays when keywords and classes get loaded dynamically (after you select your game/mod).
+ Fixed a bug/glitch/fail/whatever-you-want-to-call-it in the overhead menu. I had changed the name of the PHP file for the MF calculator and forgot to update the menu link. It should now work.
+ Takes the total of your FCR modifiers and your character class and displays the FPS of your spells/skills and the frequency* you can spam these skills. (*Does not apply to some skills, like Meteor and Frozen Orb, which have separate cooldowns.)
New Web Domain
Site Footer Update
As of this post, the Firebolt strategy guides "search engine" and tools can be found at its new home: http://www.diablostrategy.com . Thanks for all your support, encouragement, and usage!
I also updated the site footer with a little nod toward Blizzard's ownership of the game. I guess it wouldn't hurt to have that little guy there
Edit--
And finally got around to updating the wallpaper. Thanks for such great work, Yngvar! (And your permission--sorry I am so late on acting on it.)
Edit--
Done.
(I have all widescreen displays and thought similarly. I might be able to somehow hack it into a repeatable image...)
But it's looking really snazzy. Has a new haircut and suit even a new name.
Does it work on any mobile devices you have with web browsers or any other PC's/laptops you may own? Are you allowing a brief moment for the list to populate once you've typed a word?
Okay, so, the green areas being redundant links to the guide, itself, which do you think is the most logical, the most important, and the most easy to notice/access?
I NO RITE?!
Also it's not working for my laptop either, maybe it's google chrome? I'll keep trying. When I hit enter OR click search it just takes me back to a empty search box.
Edit---
It *may* be a redirect issue. I had to update some URL's in several of my scripts when I migrated. I don't know why it would affect only you (or at least not me), but I guess it's a possibility.
Edit-- Fixed.
Edit---
@critter: With the new logo (thanks again, Jetrall!), I think it looks okay without the transparent black background. Had to shift things around a little, but there you go.
You're welcome!
New search GUI
You can say good-bye to that stupid Facebook-like search thing. It's really gimmicky and not the most intuitive tool.
Revised/Restylized guide profile page
You'll notice that where the keywords appear, it shows two instances of "1.13". This is because patch versions are now their own datatype in respect to games and guides. Patch keywords will be removed in the next version in favor of specified patches on guide submission.
Game profile page
Member registration concept (this won't be included in the next update, but just for shits and giggles)
And, finally, an MF calc revamp with real, dynamic charts
Also, all old search links will not show you search results any longer. This is because, in the older versions, I was sending data unique identifiers as parameters through URL's (like, for instances, "searchKeywords=1,23,532,2,32" or "gameId='2'"). These have been modified and replaced so that, in theory, you can just type "diablostrategy.com/index.php?searchKeywords=Sorceress,Blizzard&gameTitle=Diablo II&xpacTitle=Lord of Destruction" into your address bar and get those results.
This is also part of my SEO updates.
I'm also researching some different classes for simple spelling suggestions (since now search won't be accepting valid keyword id's, but everything a user can possibly type). This wasn't necessary with the old version, but should prove worthwhile and helpful with the new one.
How about a wiki link and forum link at the top along with the official page?
The concept is good, but I think a guide writing tool is not something you should focus on. You're designing a search tool for guides that allows for a wide variety of guides to be gathered in one place from various different sources. Which is great, since the avenues for writing guides will not change once D3 hits, it will still be done predominantly on forums and sites like gamefaqs. But you'll be competing with those sites for no apparent reason, since every guide going up on another site can be added to the guide library. Hosting them on diablostrategy provides no additional benefit other than increased cost and development time and support from you.
Just my thoughts
Does that mean all guides have to be re-submitted?
I don't think I understand what you mean. Wiki link and forum link based on what?
Good point. Right now it's just a single page. I mostly did it to test some jQuery validation and that Captcha API. Can easily be scrapped.
No. Sorry. Links stored in the database aren't affected at all. This only relates to how my scripts interpret URL's.
When you commit a search in the current version, you'll notice that in the top there are a number of parameters ('gameId','searchKeywords',etc.). These contain the data that you sent with your search so that my script knows what you're looking for. With the current version, however, these parameters are highly inaccessible to end users.
For instance, if I search for "Magic Find" for "Diablo II: Lord of Destruction", it sets the ID of the keyword and the ID of the game (that correlates to the keyword words and the game title in the database) in the URL. You have no idea what 8K means, even though my script interprets it as the keyword ID for "Magic Find"*.
With the new version, you can simply go to the URL in your address bar, place your cursor after "searchKeywords=", and add another English keyword, like "Paladin", and it will work. No more strange numbers or ID's. All of that is handled with back-end validation and comparison through a fuckton of queries.
* It's actually slightly more complicated than that since classes and keywords could both be sent through searchKeywords. I had to add letters (K for keyword and C for class) to help me parse the ID's so I could know what datatype to look for. (Since there could be a keyword with ID 3 and a class with ID 3).
Another benefit of this is better search engine optimization (SEO).
To the rest: Ah, I see.
Edit---
The update to the new version is almost complete. I still have to work on the link submission page a bit (some of the logic is getting complicated with so many fields to validate and so much data to load dynamically--the script for the submit page itself is over 400 lines, and that's not including the four other AJAX scripts and my Javascript), so that won't be up until some time shortly after I get back from my trip.
If anyone encounters any errors while I'm gone (or any time tonight), post them here.