New database headaches

[Blarz]

OMG what happened to the OLD menu's? Don't take this the wrong way but the new recipes are way out there, I liked the way you used to have all of the ie. dwarven platemail, mischievous platemeail ect ect, used to be listed, now you have to do 2x as much searching to find 1 recipe. I mean no offense by this but at the moment I can't even find infused folded sheets recipe. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE place the older pages up along with the new database pages, or condense them as there is way to much repitition, or at least group them together like they used to be. I don't mean to sound rude or ignorant but PLEASE place the old pages back up along with the new database.

[Krazick]

try using the search. Put in partial names.

Example:

Search for 'Dwarven Plate' returns 48 items.

or

Search for 'Mischiev' returns 24 items.

[Blarz]

Why

No offense I liked the older system better everythign was posted in 1 area not spread all over gods creation. I know that alot of time and effort was placed into this but the repitition alone makes a HUGE page, well over 40k in size which just kills bandwidth, and takes FOREVER to load, and yes I'm on cable modem, but still it takes a bit to load. and you yourself have proven my point. 48 returns on mischievous alone, I have one thing to say to that....ACK. Before the change it used to give 1 return, this is just going to confuse the heck out of newer people going into smithing more then the skill itself does ( Myself have been doing smithing and this new format confuses the heck out of me. Sorry to be a downer but personally the old way saves bandwidth, eystrain, and less time to load, and to be able to find things. Again sorry I don't mean to put the person who spent alot of time doing this down, here's a way to see what people prefer, place the newer links and older links up and watch the counters to see which pages get used more often.

[Sanna]

eh... not exactly an 'option'...

yeah, there are a lot of could-be-called 'function bugs', but things will be gotten to in time. There are things I'd change: more white space, bold some header things, etc. There are lots of little things lots of people would change. The point is, it's a DB now, and there are a significant amount of things that WILL be easy to change... in time.

For now, just admire the cool sleekness of things, and know that it's much more fluid than it once was. things will be ok.

-- sanna
peacemaker today

[Verdandi]

Your comments are appreciated but there's nothing we can do to help you right now. The old pages have been deleted and are gone forever. At this time the focus is on working out the bugs in the database. That means that feature requests of any kind need to wait until the workload is more manageable. If you think of any specific things that would make the database more friendly for you, please hold them until the DenMom gives the okay for feature requests.

[Blarz]

no offense

If the new pages aren't finished yet then they shouldn't be up or they should be alongside the older pages, as for the older pages being deleted, I do webpages and I never delete ANY page I create, makes a nice profile for future projects for people to choose from, different styles and such, but enough of that. All I'm saying is this, the pages have more then doubled, now I noticed that you don't want to charge for your page but if you keep increasing your bandwidth y enlarging the pages themselves then yyour going to be charged more for what you use, if not you have a VERY UNDERSTANDING web server. I never said I didn't like them, just that it's too much, too large, too hard to find what you need, getting 48 responses for 1 search makes oyu have to search through them all. On top of that I do all my searching here while I'm logged into EQ, which I assume alot of people do. Currently I'm waiting for 4 minutes for 1 page of the new database to load. On top of that you have ALL the >250 skill listed items first, they used to be in an order somewhat, they were at least grouped by what type of armor they were. On top of that you have tons of links to the same exact thing, that eats processor speed off of the serving system, I know i can list tons of things even pro not all con, just saying that if it's not finished into a managable database that the old links should be there. Sorry to ramble and seem likea downer just tryin to make it easier on my fragile little mind.

[Sanna]

I smell the Lock Stick.

1) A good author will tell you that Nothing Is Ever Finished. All things are in a state of being fixed. As both an author-in-training and also someone who 'does webpages', the two mediums are not as far apart as one might think.

2) To delete or not to delete? Their choice, not yours.

3) Bandwidth. It costs, it sucks, true. But if you are waiting four minutes for a page to load, I suspect the time issue is on your end. I'm in Germany on dialup, and it does not take a page 4 minutes to load.

4) the old order of things, ie, subcombines being on top of armor, etc. I liked it too. If there were an easy way to fix it (and I suspect there is, but I don't know enough PHP etc to justify my suggesting it), I'm sure they would. Perhaps they will soon.

Ultimately, you are not in Denmother-sama etc's shoes, and that is why they are not taking Feature Requests now. (I even misread a post from Denmother-sama and thought at one point they WERE. Basilisk egg on my face when my error was pointed out to me.)

Come back when they are taking feature requests, and the enter key is that down-left arrow on the right side of your keyboard.

-- sanna
i tried to be a calm peacekeeper....

[Krazick]

OK this has gone far enough.

Opinions are welcome.

Stating you "don't like it" is an acceptable statement.

Stating "bring the old pages back, they work so much better for me" is pushing the edge of acceptability. Almost a demand.

Being able to add new features to the site, the ability to auto-generate "Armor Sets" is something I had suggested, but was deemed a bit too much effort for the first release. But the idea is not dead. Just temporarily shelved.

Stating someone else as a flamer is just too much for me to accept.

Your ideas will be considered. When we have time.

[Ngreth Thergn]

No. We have no plans to bring back the old pages. If we leave the training wheels on... people will not learn to go without them.

We never have any plans to edit a flat page again. To you it may have been nice. To us it was a total unmitigated nightmare of editing. It was literally a 60 hour a week job to keep the flat pages going.

**IF** (and huge big horking if) we ever bring the flat pages back. We will NEVER edit them.

Yes I have been saying we deleted the pages... which is true. They have been deleted from the server. We did make a backup first.

And Krazic is Correct. Do not call another person with a diferent opinion a Flamer.

[Ngreth Thergn]

Also Remember.

We are not taking Feature Requests at this time.

We will ask when we are ready.

[Ngreth Thergn]

Re: Smelling a lock stick

48 replies to 1 search is terrible considering it USED to have 1 response for 1 search.

no. This may be english is second language issue...

we NEVER had search on the old site!!

You before had to plug through pages guess where to find the right link and finally get the correct page. We tried to organize it... but we constantly... constantly had people not able to find information that was there.

Now enter in what you are looking for in the search box on the menu on the left, and it is right there.

[Niami DenMother]

Locking this ESPECIALLY since you've been selfish and inconsiderate enough to ignore the fact that I specifically requested that you keep the database stuff OUT of this forum, then you had the gall to pretty much give my staff grief.

I'll put it in plain terms for you and all the other complainers.

The choice was to go to a database or shut down. Totally. Completely. 100%

I don't even play EQ AT ALL anymore.

It's medically recommended thatI I cut down my work load and my stress, and this has turned inot anywhere from 40 to 80 hours of my personal time a week and is affecting my health.

No, I don't want pity. No, I don't want ANOTHER 50 of you ignoring the front page and filling my PMs with more words of support, comentary, kvetching.

I just want to cut down my work load and find some "me" time again. The database will not only cut down the maintenance time needed per week, but also allow me to delegate more and take care of me for once.

You don't own me. You don't own rights to telling me or my staff to bring stuff back. You don't earn the right to come in here and ignore the VERY bluntly and repeatedly-stated posts on the boards and the front page of the site stating we're not ready to handle feature requests, much less outright demands.

Yes, I am peeved. Many, I am sure, will think it is undeserved, but put yourselves in my shoes for 60 seconds and READ the posts around here before you go firing off with demands.

I've had it ... enough ... totally!!

I've been driven from the game. I LOATHE the thought of even hitting these boards. I WINCE every time I see 6 more private messages hit my box and I want to outright SCREAM every time another selfish person turns a request into a selfish demand.

Just settle down, folks. Before you drive me to just close down totally in pure frustration at the selfishness of people.

Don't add to my HUGE pile of PMs, don't start another dozen "Support the DenMom" threads that eat up time I need to spend on the site ... or on sleep. Don't fling feature demands around. Please... just let the dust settle for a bit ... please?!