Site suggestions/bugs

Gwil said:
Stupid/boring/needless

hey?!!?

i resemble that remark :heee:

hey, my Firefox won't load up the register page, i needed to use IE once again :sad:

maybe it's nothing, maybe u can fix it, maybe it's just me and my s**tty pc that have the problem, thanks anyway,

bye

It would appear that the hosts have upgraded their version of PHP, which broke the register page- though I can't see how you managed to register with IE, the problem should affect all browsers (and indeed did affect mine!). Ah well.

Just noticed this on the logged in user page - Andrew is listed twice for some reason.

Clicking on the snark icon next to a topic takes you to the first
unread post in the thread, but clicking the snark icon of a
forum takes you to the first page of the newest topic. Might be
better if it takes you to the first unread post of the newest topic -
bit annoying when you click on it and it takes you to the first page of
a long thread.

this isn't really a suggestion more of a question, anywhos, why was the snarkpit changed from v.3 to v.4?

This page gives a pretty good history of the site and its various incarnations :smile:

http://www.snarkpit.com/index.php?page=about

$loth said:
anywhos, why was the snarkpit changed from v.3 to v.4?

because we came up with so many new ideas, the old version wouldn't support them :smile:

each version, was a marked step up.

Just noticed that both Gwil and Cass have under 400 snarkmarks, which
seems wrong considering their standing in the site. Perhaps more reward
should be put on map comments and critiques, as they do these quite
often rather than make maps or tutorials. A "usefulness" marker for the
map author to rate the comment could be cool, but of course it would
need to be moderated to ensure it wasn't misused. There could just be a
selection from "Not useful", "Useful" or "Very useful", each of which
gives the comment writer a different amount of snarkmarks, thus
ensuring any misuse really doesn't have a huge impact if gone unnoticed.

on the other side of the coin, we have members who have contributed a fairly tiny portion to the site, but have extraordinary high marks..

the ONLY reason i have not brought this up before, is because i was afraid the system would be scrapped if it was noticed that they have such high scores when valued members are so low. before anyone scoff's, it is a real concern because the snarkmark system has never been fully accepted, and it would be a shame to lose something that can work if the kinks are worked out.

since we the members do not know the exact ratio's the marks are divided by, its really hard to suggest a solution.. would it be possible to post the current ratio so we can work from there?

[edit] this is not intended to sound like an elitist comment, you are more than welcome to apply any term you feel comfortable with to assign value to the people who contribute more to the snarkpit as a whole.. i only chose "valued" because i couldn't come up with any other term less specific.

[/edit]

Once a map has been released, it seems you can still add beta comments which could lead to some confusion.

Idea:

1)in the maps forum, reno (i use reno cause he can handle the limelight pretty well) submits a map.. along comes Tracer who wants to do a full critique, in the reply window there could be a box, that when checked it would credit him a certain amount of points toward his total.. but to prevent people from just clicking the box, there would be some kind of notice we all can see and note if someone is attempting to get points for just a normal reply.

full critique could be something like 5+ screens with accompanying advice in text.

2)another way could be, like the editing forum, someone posts a full critique and a moderator clicks a box to assign points to the person who critiqued.

I think that, like in the editing forum, replies to map threads should
give the writer an option of making their reply simply a normal comment
or critique. Critiques, like answers in the editing forum, could be
marked a different colour by default. The mapper (or a moderator,
should the
author not return to the thread or whatever) could then mark the
critique as very useful, useful, or non-useful, and the snarkmarks
earnt by the critique author would vary based on this. The post would
then also change colour based on this selection. I'm pretty sure
thats what you were getting at Orph but just thought I'd put my
thoughts more clearly.

thats what we are here for duncan, to refine ideas and make them usable :smile:

More ticking and pulling up pe0ns on using the system correctly? :razz:

me mutters and strolls off never! :wink:

Nah, this does sound like a good idea - coupled once again with a
DeviantArt rip off - when posting a map, you can specify the level of
critique you're looking for, or add a bullet points system whereby one
could say..

"i need help specifically with layout" or "i need help with texturing/architecture" ?

thats a nice idea gwil, but may i ask, who would decide? i mean lets say the fella wants advice on texture usage, but the person doing the critique notices far more errors than that.. i think a full critique could/should be worth more than just asking for textures..

perhaps, levels? i mean basic critique, normal critique and full critique?

basic would be many good suggestions but no screens.
normal would be a few screens and a few comments.
full would be like a normal TB, or Reno critique.

and i hate to point this out, but what if the person cannot deal with a real critique and scores TB or Reno poorly? how would that be dealt with?

well, I meant it more in a sense where they would ask for a critique -
of certain depth, as you suggested, and could highlight points they
were particularly interested in hearing about

I think that can be done without a system - people can just put in
their thread that they need particular help with the layout for
example. People could then write critiques, and a person who addresses
what the person is having issues with might be rewarded with a "very
useful" rating on their critique while somebody who wrote a critique
that DIDN'T address these issues might only get a "useful".

you know what i think.. i think someone who doesn't do critiques, or doesn't see them as important as we do, should post some suggestions.. that way we cover every angle..

I was just seeing the unanswered questions in the editing forum, and it looks like there are a lot of them.

Anyway, the scores are in (sorted by no. of questions desc, date asc)

Spartan 34 (4) (Now down to 3)
wacokid (3)
Crockett (1)
Fortune2 (1)
Jezpuh (1)
Frissi (1)
half-dude (1)
BioPulse (1)

and Spartan 34 seems to have a slim lead, closely followed by wacokid. It's a dead heat among the rest. :biggrin:

Anyway, my point being some of the threads seem to be dead or the poster doesn't want to bother anymore. Is it worth removing them from the database, or preferably marking the most likely answer as the correct one?

*Edit: Spartan 34's lead just dropped one point to 3. This race is far from over folks! :bandit:

Woot. I'm in first place for something. If I see an answer to my question I do mark it right. However if it has been a while and still no answers come to my question then what am I suppose to do? You can't penalize me for that.

Spartan 34 said:
Woot. I'm in first place for something. If I see an answer to my question I do mark it right. However if it has been a while and still no answers come to my question then what am I suppose to do? You can't penalize me for that.

No one's penalizing you :rolleyes: The point I am making is that these are unanswered questions. Since they seem to be dead, remove/fix them. I wasnt speaking about any one in particular.

fraggard said:

No one's penalizing you :rolleyes: The point I am making is that these are unanswered questions. Since they seem to be dead, remove/fix them. I wasnt speaking about any one in particular.

Ok, sorry I misunderstood what you were saying.

I was just seeing the unanswered questions in the editing forum, and it looks like there are a lot of them.

Anyway, the scores are in (sorted by no. of questions desc, date asc)

Spartan 34 (4) (Now down to 3)
wacokid (3)
Crockett (1)
Fortune2 (1)
Jezpuh (1)
Frissi (1)
half-dude (1)
BioPulse (1)

and Spartan 34 seems to have a slim lead, closely followed by wacokid. It's a dead heat among the rest. :biggrin:

Anyway, my point being some of the threads seem to be dead or the
poster doesn't want to bother anymore. Is it worth removing them from
the database, or preferably marking the most likely answer as the
correct one?

*Edit: Spartan 34's lead just dropped one point to 3. This race is far from over folks! :bandit:

I do purge and clean the editing forum, bumping possible solutions or
encouraging new discussion. Mostly they are marked as "answered/case
closed" though. I haven't been around as frequently currently so
there's a backlog.

goes spring cleaning

Snarkmarks are meant to contribute to actual contribution, not standing. Yes I probably could make a system where you rated other people's comments etc. which reflected this, but I'd prefer lots of maps and tutorials with fewer comments compared to the other way round :smile:

And I'll have a think about the map forum idea. It would be a bit harder to implement some kind of "usefulness" system like this, and although I'm not against the idea of differentiating between posts more I don't really want lots of funky table colours flying around. Maybe some text appended to the post or something...

Leperous said:
Snarkmarks are meant to contribute to actual contribution, not standing. Yes I probably could make a system where you rated other people's comments etc. which reflected this, but I'd prefer lots of maps and tutorials with fewer comments compared to the other way round :smile:

new people will, or do arrive.. not knowing the system they will create their own definitions to the snarkmark numbers..

the numbers do not accurately depict members.. i look at the numbers and say, "yes" or "no" to them contributing to the site, as i am sure most, if not all people would.. hell i am not new around here and thats how it looks..

shear numbers of maps, should not dictate numbers.. map quality should, or not at all.

but seriously, no one is questioning the system as maps are concerned, at least i don't think they are, cause i have heard of no one complaining..

the system should more accurately depict snarkpit.. snarkpit is an editing forum based site concerned with map creation, more so than map completion.. with that in mind, people tend to put much more effort in the creating of other peoples maps than their own, but with the system as it is, it doesn't LOOK that way.. we have people who have no maps in their profile to speak of, who have done more to assist others than some people who have many maps.

i know i am not being clear on this, and as such i may be ruining any chances of getting a more accurate system in place.. but i hope that i have stated it clearly enough.. the steps taken to create a map should be placed much higher on the list of priorities than the actual finished products, simply because a decent review is all the reward a finished map should have.. and snarkpit is not currently a review site, so having a profile with a dozen maps should not give you more snarkmarks than a profile with one or two maps.

creating a map could involve many people, releasing a map involves only one.

sighs

i wish someone with a better gift for words would take up the gauntlet and explain this.

bottom line, i do not want to lose our system, but its currently not accurately depicting the people who actually contribute to this site.

i hope that made sense.

There is a person on here who I will keep anominous, that has 600 snarkmarks but only 3 maps and less than 100 posts. How did that happen? There are loop holes on here that should be fixed.

Spartan 34 said:
There is a person on here who I will keep anominous, that has 600 snarkmarks but only 3 maps and less than 100 posts. How did that happen? There are loop holes on here that should be fixed.

its more than maps and post counts spartan..

tutorials count VERY high..

but you can show the membership page BY snarkmarks.. do that and look at the list then.

possible bug:

i attempted to catch up on some of my ratings of tutorials.. when i got to fishy's latest it stated i had already voted.. which might be true, but i don't remember doing so, nor can i see it in the list..

is there a link to another page i am missing?

I've had that problems a few times too Orph, but when I post them in
here they tend to get overrun by other posts and not noticed I guess.

Moving threads into other forums seems to cause issues with the most
recent post marker on the forum selection side bar. For example, Gwil
moved Wild Card's thread about hammer problems from general stuff to
editing help, and though the actual most recent post was from Gwil 33
minutes ago, the most recent post thing on the contents said it was
over an hour ago by Wild Card (I assume it was listing the first post
in that moved thread).

Yeah, it's a bit rubbish, but it seems to want to work sometimes :/

I was thinking of reviewing an Sven-Coop map, but I can't seem to figure out how. My control panel says to click on the "new review" button the maps page. Er, where's this button?

Not all of the functionality for the user reviews system has been added
yet, it not yet an available feature of the site. Shouldn't be too long
now though...eh Lep? :razz:

Added... but they won't appear on the site for a while, until I figure out what to do with them :smile:

the "user online" has been showing me, only me for the last 3 or 4 hours..

something might be up with it..

I'm getting that to.

I'm the only one here right now!?!? :eek:

Hmm, that's another one of those problems that wasn't actually caused by anything, and hence fixed by deleting something and remaking it exactly :/

this has been brought up numerous times, mostly by me :sad:

with the influx of so many new members and even more maps, we have a plethora of un-optimized screenshots being uploaded..

i am fully cognizant that we are not able to control images linked outside the pit, but there has got to be a way to limit our own site.. this uploading of 100+,200+ and even 300+k images is rediculous..

640x480 should be no more than 40k
800x600 should be no more than 75k
1024x768 should be no more than 100k

this is a suggestion, but more it is an observation, we have way to many new members who do not know that this site prides itself in efficiency.. and it caters to the poor 56k user.

yeah, i could be mistaken, but if you can be limited to .jpg format and a 2 meg limit on zip files, there has got to be some code that will limit image screens by dimensions..

i also feel the link to XAT needs to be put back into play.. since it was removed and replaced with that better program, the file sizes have been outrageous.. please replace the link back to XAT, it was designed for one purpose, OPTIMIZATION OF SCREENSHOTS..

Why not have both links, so as not to cause arguments :smile:

PHP has functionality to obtain the sizes of remote files. Why can't the filesize of linked images be got when somebody makes a post only (not every time the page loads, as this would be too heavy on the server i expect), and if it is over a certain value (say 128K), the new post page doesn't actually add the post, and tells the user what has happened?

I was looking at the memberlist to see how many new folks had arrived
in the past couple of days, and noticed that the person listed as the
newest member on the front page isn't ACTUALLY the newest member - we
have one newer.

He hasn't activated his account, so doesn't show up on the front page. Simple trick to help prevent misuse...

ReNo said:
I was looking at the memberlist to see how many new folks had arrived in the past couple of days, and noticed that the person listed as the newest member on the front page isn't ACTUALLY the newest member - we have one newer.

this similar i think to threads with deleted replies.. the political one we are on now.. is off.. depending what page its on, and how many replies you have yours customized to i mean.. i have mine set to 10, and who ever replies and is number 10, i cannot see it till the next page which makes it number 2 but shows number 10 as number 1 on the next page..

man, i read that 3 times and it still doesn't read like i want it to :sad:

but the count is off, and sometimes i cannot read it till the next reply afterward.

Suggestion: with the influx of all the new HL2 tutorials, would it not be prudent to have a filter added to separate them from HL1 tutorials?

if not a filter, then an outright new section perhaps?

You mean... something like a Half-Life 2 editing section?! Genius! :razz:

Leperous said:
You mean... something like a Half-Life 2 editing section?! Genius! :razz:

i'm confused, have i overlooked the HL2 tutorial section?

Yes, apparently :smile:

Go to map editing, then select HL2 in the top left corner! Easy peasy eh :wink:

ReNo said:
Yes, apparently :smile:

Go to map editing, then select HL2 in the top left corner! Easy peasy eh :wink:

well its not as if i just blatantly overlook things, but...

lets assume i am a moron, more so than usual..

i click your link, and sure enough it leads to the HL2 tut section, BUT on the front page where the link should be, it leads to the HL1 tut section.. now the 24,000 dollar question, where did you get your link reno?

[edit]

ok, i think i have it now.. not as clear as i would like it to be, but it makes sense once i have located the area..

sorry, my bad i suppose :sad:

You have a point though - most of the people coming to the site at the
moment will be looking for HL2 tutorials as opposed to HL1 tutorials,
so perhaps it should be set as the default page?

ReNo said:
You have a point though - most of the people coming to the site at the moment will be looking for HL2 tutorials as opposed to HL1 tutorials, so perhaps it should be set as the default page?

must not have been a bad suggestion if it was already used :smile:

i feel bad about posting my question now but, i didn't do it to be a prick. ahem annoying..