GameModHub Dev Log [ALTERNATIVE to Kerbalstuff.com,Spacedock.info,and all other modding websites]

[GGKSPMC]

39 minutes ago, HebaruSan said:

On the other hand, your thread is no longer in The Lounge as of today, so you have a window now where you'll get tons of views. Just a thought.

Oh it looks like the threads switched places  

[Hobbes Novakoff]

Okay. I've read through this thread, and I've got a bit to say to OP. Prepare for a large wall of text. And OP, please do not quote the entire post.

Dear @GGKSPMC,

I admire your intention to start a mod hosting site. I appreciate your intention to provide a better site for uploading mods for Unturned, KSP, and Minecraft. Considering your age, your knowledge of web design and programming is quite impressive. Your creation of even a rudimentary website is beyond my technological capability. And you seem to be passionate about this project-though I'm not sure whether that passion will continue.

However.

It may seem to you that the community is being weirdly hostile to the idea of a mod hosting site. As you have said:

On March 29, 2016 at 10:58 AM, GGKSPMC said:

Minecraft forums & Unturned forums treat me better.

Have you wondered why that is? Here's why. I just went onto the Minecraft forums, and grabbed a sample post:

Quote

Maybe you could play some multiplayer and make some mc friends where you can play with
Becouse im bored of singleplayer to but multiplayer is more fun with more players!

Now, here's a paragraph I yanked from a recent thread on the KSP forums, one of several paragraphs in that post.

On March 31, 2016 at 9:53 PM, March Unto Torment said:

After (yet again - in my defence, this was a test run and I didn't feel like waiting months for the drill to work) hyperediting in a full 3,000 units of ore, I commenced the ascent, convinced that my lander - now stuck with only 1,016 m/s of dV - wouldn't make orbit. However, despite hugely inefficient burning and accidentally winding up on a 30-degree orbital tilt (I need more TWR on my lander), I still managed to ascend much higher than thought - into a roughly 40,000x29,000 orbit (like I said, it was a pretty crude burn). Magic!

Notice the difference. It should be fairly obvious.

The issue is that you talk like you're on the Minecraft forums. 

On March 21, 2016 at 11:25 AM, GGKSPMC said:

SOON I WILL BE DONE WITH BLODDY PHP

On March 23, 2016 at 6:11 PM, GGKSPMC said:

AWESOME HD badge to put into your forum signature!

On March 27, 2016 at 11:51 AM, GGKSPMC said:

Ok.  Thx 4 the advice

On March 30, 2016 at 1:54 PM, GGKSPMC said:

oh  i will also use white  [and steal the colors from KSP forums bwahahahaha i am so evil]

Now, let me give you some posts from the creator of SpaceDock (apparently temporarily renamed PizzaDock)'s OP.

On March 27, 2016 at 11:57 PM, inigma said:

Ok... so I broke AVC with the last two releases. Hopefully the third time I fixes it.  Future non-critical fixes to GAP discovered from now on will be rolled into GAP 1.3. No ETA on 1.3 release, but with KSP 1.1 release hanging over everyone, especially us contract modders, 1.3 might wait post 1.1 release to fix everything that might break with it.

On March 27, 2016 at 6:03 PM, inigma said:

If you made FF use string based IDs, CC could readily be coded for FF compatibility almost overnight. The current numeric ID scheme is impossible to code CC to use it without a ton of coding commitment and resulting support commitment. 

By now I think I've rammed home my point. Most of the forum members talk like they're discussing scientific theory (which, oftentimes, they are). You talk like you're meeting up with a friend on a Minecraft server. I would not entrust files, account credentials, or especially a credit card number to a kid from California whose posts read like a Skype chat I'd have with a friend.

If you want people on this thread to be nicer, and you don't want it to be locked like the last two, here's a few tips.

First off, don't use boldface and capslock. Boldface is for titles, Capslock is for shouting. You are not shouting. You would not shout at someone when discussing a web server in real life. Don't do it on the internet. Use italics if you want to stress a word.

Second off, don't use abbreviations. Nothing says "I'm lazy and I don't really care" like using the letters "IKR" in a sentence. 

Third, please, please, please use proper English grammar, spelling, and syntax. Also, use commas. It'll help people understand you, it'll get you better grades, and your posts will have an air of "I know what I'm talking about, listen to me" rather than "duh hey guys how ya doing?"

Fourth, I know it seems as if it's perfectly fine to rage away in all caps on the evils of Spacedock, or Curse, or "bloddy PHP." Trust me, it's not, and it makes you sound stupid. Just trust me on this. You will look back on that post and wonder "what the hell was I thinking." You get caught up in a popular sentiment, but you perceive it to be more vicious than it is. Just calm down.

My guess is nobody will want to work with you, at least if you keep acting like you're acting. However, even if you become , you've gained a bit of a reputation. My advice? Lurk for a while. Learn how it's done on the forums. Perhaps become a little more mature (though don't take that as an insult.) Then come back with a different account and help out the SpaceDock team. That way, you'll be able to contribute to the effort to develop an excellent mod hosting site, and gain some experience too. If you look up while climbing a ladder, you'll slip and fall off. Keep your eyes on the rungs, and get some more experience before you make the next Facebook.

[HebaruSan]

6 minutes ago, Hobbes Novakoff said:

Third, please, please, please use proper English grammar, spelling, and syntax. Also, use commas. It'll help people understand you, it'll get you better grades, and your posts will have an air of "I know what I'm talking about, listen to me" rather than "duh hey guys how ya doing?"

For those not aware, I discovered recently that this is a forum rule, 2.4.b:

Quote

Users must attempt to use proper grammar and spelling in all messages. Txt-speak, 1337-speak and other exclusionary forms of speech are prohibited

As for your other points, they're correct but I fear futile; some things can only be understood through time and experience.

[Hobbes Novakoff]

Just now, HebaruSan said:

For those not aware, I discovered recently that this is a forum rule, 2.4.b:

Note that the rule says "attempt," which is a very vague term. It's mainly meant to discourage leetspeak and other meme-based languages.

[GGKSPMC]

@Hobbes Novakoff Ok.  Thanks

Thank you for the advice.  I will use PayPal/Bitcoin because I dont use credit cards (I use Bitcoin or PayPal to pay for anything that is digital).  I will now use grammar that my english teacher would be impressed with.  I used to have a Minecraft server, in fact!  I will edit all of my posts to have good grammar.  I am definitely not looking for a team, though. I am the lone wolf (for now)  

Edited April 1, 2016 by GGKSPMC

[inigma]

43 minutes ago, Hobbes Novakoff said:

Okay. I've read through this thread, and I've got a bit to say to OP. Prepare for a large wall of text. And OP, please do not quote the entire post.

Dear @GGKSPMC,

I admire your intention to start a mod hosting site. I appreciate your intention to provide a better site for uploading mods for Unturned, KSP, and Minecraft. Considering your age, your knowledge of web design and programming is quite impressive. Your creation of even a rudimentary website is beyond my technological capability. And you seem to be passionate about this project-though I'm not sure whether that passion will continue.

However.

It may seem to you that the community is being weirdly hostile to the idea of a mod hosting site. As you have said:

Have you wondered why that is? Here's why. I just went onto the Minecraft forums, and grabbed a sample post:

Now, here's a paragraph I yanked from a recent thread on the KSP forums, one of several paragraphs in that post.

Notice the difference. It should be fairly obvious.

The issue is that you talk like you're on the Minecraft forums. 

Now, let me give you some posts from the creator of SpaceDock (apparently temporarily renamed PizzaDock)'s OP.

By now I think I've rammed home my point. Most of the forum members talk like they're discussing scientific theory (which, oftentimes, they are). You talk like you're meeting up with a friend on a Minecraft server. I would not entrust files, account credentials, or especially a credit card number to a kid from California whose posts read like a Skype chat I'd have with a friend.

If you want people on this thread to be nicer, and you don't want it to be locked like the last two, here's a few tips.

First off, don't use boldface and capslock. Boldface is for titles, Capslock is for shouting. You are not shouting. You would not shout at someone when discussing a web server in real life. Don't do it on the internet. Use italics if you want to stress a word.

Second off, don't use abbreviations. Nothing says "I'm lazy and I don't really care" like using the letters "IKR" in a sentence. 

Third, please, please, please use proper English grammar, spelling, and syntax. Also, use commas. It'll help people understand you, it'll get you better grades, and your posts will have an air of "I know what I'm talking about, listen to me" rather than "duh hey guys how ya doing?"

Fourth, I know it seems as if it's perfectly fine to rage away in all caps on the evils of Spacedock, or Curse, or "bloddy PHP." Trust me, it's not, and it makes you sound stupid. Just trust me on this. You will look back on that post and wonder "what the hell was I thinking." You get caught up in a popular sentiment, but you perceive it to be more vicious than it is. Just calm down.

My guess is nobody will want to work with you, at least if you keep acting like you're acting. However, even if you become , you've gained a bit of a reputation. My advice? Lurk for a while. Learn how it's done on the forums. Perhaps become a little more mature (though don't take that as an insult.) Then come back with a different account and help out the SpaceDock team. That way, you'll be able to contribute to the effort to develop an excellent mod hosting site, and gain some experience too. If you look up while climbing a ladder, you'll slip and fall off. Keep your eyes on the rungs, and get some more experience before you make the next Facebook.

VITAS is the creator. Just fixin' the record. But he's more techno-babbly than me though, I'm sure. I think that's why they made me do forum PR and customer support.

Edited April 1, 2016 by inigma

[VITAS]

you shall not quote the whle post

But thank you for the credit.

By the way: As non native speaker i too can only try to write propper english

 

Regarding the Topic:

 @GGKSPMC if you would be more grounded i would maybe be willing show you some things about web development and servers. (classes start each working day after my breakfast pizza)

 

 

 

[GGKSPMC]

1 hour ago, inigma said:

VITAS is the creator. Just fixin' the record. But he's more techno-babbly than me though, I'm sure. I think that's why they made me do forum PR and customer support.

Ok. cool!

@VITAS I would love to hear an awesome web developer's advice!  I will even put you in the credits!  I learn most things from treehouse (teamtreehouse.com).  By the way, awesome job doing the funny April Fools pizza joke!  You obviously have tons of php to update every single page in the site with awesome PHP code.

[GGKSPMC]

Update Beta 2:

     Fixes:

Fixed ScrollMagic bugs

     Updates:

Smoother CSS design

Infinite scrolling page achieved!

     New Bugs:

The infinite scrolling page sometimes takes over 30 seconds to load, but this is probably just my 5 megabytes per second internet

[VITAS]

There was somethign called the 4k site challenge a while back.

from the birth of the web the goal of sites was to give the user somethign to look at as soon as possible.

having 20s loading time on a 5 Mbit/s? Mbyte/s? connection is simply unaceptable. some ppl still have analog modems and isdn.

 

regarding site design:

i always start with a color set of 3-5 colors and shades. then i decide on a primary and secondary color (the rest are for warning messages and other stuff)

there are some rules to colors:

• 75% off ppl say blue is one of their favorite colors
• black isnt a color (no light)
• white is all colors combined so doesnt count either
• green is fresh (especialy if you mix in blue to get cyan or turquoise colors)
• yellow isnt good because its simply to bright
• red gets attention
• there are cold and warm colors (blue is cold, red is warm)
• humans have a good perception of green (so it doesnt have to be intense)
• and so on

After you found your colorset choose two fonts:

1 display fonts (for logo and headlines). it can be artistic

2. one flow text font (it has to be eeasy to read and has to have some connection to your display font)

rules about fonts:

there are serif and sans-serif fonts (that little tips you see on times new roman are serifes)

usualy serif fonts are easier to read but dont look as modern

comic sans is a nogo

make sure your font transports the feeling your site should carry (and match your colors)

e.g. a technical site could be cooler have sans serif fonts that are futuristic and clean. a site about e.g. nature would have more playfull serif fonts and warm colors

next up is sitemap

think about what pages you need and how they are connected

you only have 3 seconds to grab someones attention on your startpage if he spends that time loading it hes gone forever. if it looks crowded and confusing hes gone too.

try zto imagine beeing a user and try looking at other pages (how they guide you and offer the right options in the right places)

now its time for site layout

you have a head with logo, navigation thats always there

clicks on logos should bring you back to the index site

a menu should be clearly visible but not trying to steal the show from the sites content.

a footer is always there

you can decide weather or not it should be shown at all times or not

it usualy contains legal links and other stuff

The content is the star of your page

make it readable and keep as few different layouts as possible troughout your site.

else it confusues people and makes development harder.

if all of that is done you can make your templates, optimize them for fast loading times and only then start building your actual site (including backend code)

also: use some framework.

for php ill suggest "slim framework" its uhm  slim easy to learn and fast.

i hope that gets you on track

 

VITAS

 

 

 

Edited April 3, 2016 by VITAS

[GGKSPMC]

1 hour ago, VITAS said:

There was somethign called the 4k site challenge a while back.

from the birth of the web the goal of sites was to give the user somethign to look at as soon as possible.

having 20s loading time on a 5 Mbit/s? Mbyte/s? connection is simply unaceptable. some ppl still have analog modems and isdn.

 

regarding site design:

i always start with a color set of 3-5 colors and shades. then i decide on a primary and secondary color (the rest are for warning messages and other stuff)

there are some rules to colors:

• 75% off ppl say blue is one of their favorite colors
• black isnt a color (no light)
• white is all colors combined so doesnt count either
• green is fresh (especialy if you mix in blue to get cyan or turquoise colors)
• yellow isnt good because its simply to bright
• red gets attention
• there are cold and warm colors (blue is cold, red is warm)
• humans have a good perception of green (so it doesnt have to be intense)
• and so on

After you found your colorset choose two fonts:

1 display fonts (for logo and headlines). it can be artistic

2. one flow text font (it has to be eeasy to read and has to have some connection to your display font)

rules about fonts:

there are serif and sans-serif fonts (that little tips you see on times new roman are serifes)

usualy serif fonts are easier to read but dont look as modern

comic sans is a nogo

make sure your font transports the feeling your site should carry (and match your colors)

e.g. a technical site could be cooler have sans serif fonts that are futuristic and clean. a site about e.g. nature would have more playfull serif fonts and warm colors

next up is sitemap

think about what pages you need and how they are connected

you only have 3 seconds to grab someones attention on your startpage if he spends that time loading it hes gone forever. if it looks crowded and confusing hes gone too.

try zto imagine beeing a user and try looking at other pages (how they guide you and offer the right options in the right places)

now its time for site layout

you have a head with logo, navigation thats always there

clicks on logos should bring you back to the index site

a menu should be clearly visible but not trying to steal the show from the sites content.

a footer is always there

you can decide weather or not it should be shown at all times or not

it usualy contains legal links and other stuff

The content is the star of your page

make it readable and keep as few different layouts as possible troughout your site.

else it confusues people and makes development harder.

if all of that is done you can make your templates, optimize them for fast loading times and only then start building your actual site (including backend code)

also: use some framework.

for php ill suggest "slim framework" its uhm  slim easy to learn and fast.

i hope that gets you on track

 

VITAS

 

 

 

Thanks a lot Vitas!  I definitely will use blue as one of my colors!  The layouts will be very close to each other for all pages but the front "motivational" page.  Should I also use Python for server-side?  For PHP, although there are some commands to manage the file system, I almost always execute a shell/bash command, but it would be very easy to make a quick Python script and run it.  

Edited April 3, 2016 by GGKSPMC

[legoclone09]

I do think you should reink the site logo. It doesn't look professional. I'd look at font, lists and logos for inspiration. For a logo try something with less bright colors like what Vitas said. And make the logo look good with the site's looks, it helps a lot. Also I was reading this and you are a lot more professional now.

[Hobbes Novakoff]

1 hour ago, legoclone09 said:

I do think you should reink the site logo. It doesn't look professional. I'd look at font, lists and logos for inspiration. For a logo try something with less bright colors like what Vitas said. And make the logo look good with the site's looks, it helps a lot. Also I was reading this and you are a lot more professional now.

There are some websites you can go to to get a good-looking logo. Just make a throwaway email account to use them as they will spam your inbox to kingdom come. 

[VITAS]

i would also suggest using as much ready made stuff as possible if you dont have any idea how stuff works. so i would suggest using bootstrap for css.

personaly i would suggest to go to the arts section of this forum and ask kindly for a logo. maybe someone is willing.

logo generators always look like word art

btw if you get someone else to do stuff for you make sure they write you a few lines allowing you to use their work for your site.

take a look at http://d-mp.org/ something i did 1.5 years or so ago for darklight.

see how the layout is repeated on every page and im using colors only where its important.

(and stick to the main colors)

the trend now is to go very minimalistic. a few years ago designers would have asked where the design is.

most trends in websites are influenced by guis people use every day ....mainly operating systems (windows, macos, android,...)

also there are trend colors. we are now in a cyan turquiouse phase but ill bet you 1 camel and 3 pigs that after that orange will be hip. (trends work in cycles and theres always the move to be the opposite of whats now "in" amongst trendsetters)

the 90s where quite blue (the color) and if you look at hipsters thats exactly the fashion style they weare atm.

arround 2000 was orange the big thing and thats what i think will come back again next.

so you can decide:

do you want to be "now" with cyan like colors or "tomorrow" with orange?

 

another thing d-mp.org will show you is the use of rgba troughout the site. it sets all the shades. so if i wanted i could just set a bright colored background and it would colorize the whole site.

also im using mm and cm instead of px.

reason beeing that especialy mobile devices have very high dpi ratings and i want to gurantee that all elements are always the same size (and profit from the high dpi count)

btw that site uses slim php

its up to you if you want to use python or php. its mainly about what you know best.

Edited April 3, 2016 by VITAS

[GGKSPMC]

3 hours ago, legoclone09 said:

I do think you should reink the site logo. It doesn't look professional. I'd look at font, lists and logos for inspiration. For a logo try something with less bright colors like what Vitas said. And make the logo look good with the site's looks, it helps a lot. Also I was reading this and you are a lot more professional now.

I totally agree!  I will definitely change the site logo

1 hour ago, Hobbes Novakoff said:

There are some websites you can go to to get a good-looking logo. Just make a throwaway email account to use them as they will spam your inbox to kingdom come. 

Okay.

1 hour ago, VITAS said:

i would also suggest using as much ready made stuff as possible if you dont have any idea how stuff works. so i would suggest using bootstrap for css.

personaly i would suggest to go to the arts section of this forum and ask kindly for a logo. maybe someone is willing.

logo generators always look like word art

btw if you get someone else to do stuff for you make sure they write you a few lines allowing you to use their work for your site.

take a look at http://d-mp.org/ something i did 1.5 years or so ago for darklight.

see how the layout is repeated on every page and im using colors only where its important.

(and stick to the main colors)

the trend now is to go very minimalistic. a few years ago designers would have asked where the design is.

most trends in websites are influenced by guis people use every day ....mainly operating systems (windows, macos, android,...)

also there are trend colors. we are now in a cyan turquiouse phase but ill bet you 1 camel and 3 pigs that after that orange will be hip. (trends work in cycles and theres always the move to be the opposite of whats now "in" amongst trendsetters)

the 90s where quite blue (the color) and if you look at hipsters thats exactly the fashion style they weare atm.

arround 2000 was orange the big thing and thats what i think will come back again next.

so you can decide:

do you want to be "now" with cyan like colors or "tomorrow" with orange?

 

another thing d-mp.org will show you is the use of rgba troughout the site. it sets all the shades. so if i wanted i could just set a bright colored background and it would colorize the whole site.

also im using mm and cm instead of px.

reason beeing that especialy mobile devices have very high dpi ratings and i want to gurantee that all elements are always the same size (and profit from the high dpi count)

btw that site uses slim php

its up to you if you want to use python or php. its mainly about what you know best.

I will use PHP and python.

[GGKSPMC]

I made a new icon using GIMP.  Here it is:

I would like to hear your feedback.  If you like this new icon (in my opinion, it looks a lot more modern), then please like this post.

Edited April 4, 2016 by GGKSPMC

[HebaruSan]

24 minutes ago, GGKSPMC said:

I made a new icon using GIMP.

 

I would like to hear your feedback.  If you like this new icon (in my opinion, it looks a lot more modern), then please like this post.

You seem to have borrowed a non-free graphic from a designer in Brazil:

http://www.zazzle.com.br/video_game_controller_icon_adesivo-217776946868260937

I don't speak Portuguese, but the "R$ 13,45" on that page suggests that you would need to pay licensing fees if you want to use it on your site.

[GGKSPMC]

11 minutes ago, HebaruSan said:

You seem to have borrowed a non-free graphic from a designer in Brazil:

http://www.zazzle.com.br/video_game_controller_icon_adesivo-217776946868260937

I don't speak Portuguese, but the "R$ 13,45" on that page suggests that you would need to pay licensing fees if you want to use it on your site.

I got it from https://openclipart.org/detail/227918/video-game-controller-icon.  In this world, there are many icons that look alike  

Also, zazzle.com is a badge store that sells physical badges.  I used Google Translate to figure that out 

Edited April 4, 2016 by GGKSPMC

[HebaruSan]

6 minutes ago, GGKSPMC said:

I got it from https://openclipart.org/detail/227918/video-game-controller-icon.  In this world, there are many icons that look alike  

OK, thanks to my browser's translate feature, it appears the page I found is selling stickers, not licenses. And your site has an upload date of September 2015, whereas the sticker page was created a month later. So you're probably in the clear, but I'm not a lawyer and this is not legal advice, so use at your own risk.

[legoclone09]

Yeah, legal issues can be horrible. It does look a LOT better now, maybe try a blue background. Although then it would look like SpaceDock.

[GGKSPMC]

1 hour ago, HebaruSan said:

OK, thanks to my browser's translate feature, it appears the page I found is selling stickers, not licenses. And your site has an upload date of September 2015, whereas the sticker page was created a month later. So you're probably in the clear, but I'm not a lawyer and this is not legal advice, so use at your own risk.

I thought it sold badges!

51 minutes ago, legoclone09 said:

Yeah, legal issues can be horrible. It does look a LOT better now, maybe try a blue background. Although then it would look like SpaceDock.

I already figured that out when using random images from Google Images for a homework project .  Got a really bad grade for not asking for a copyright  

Edited April 4, 2016 by GGKSPMC

[Hobbes Novakoff]

2 hours ago, GGKSPMC said:

I already figured that out when using random images from Google Images for a homework project .  Got a really bad grade for not asking for a copyright  

The funny thing is, in most cases you'd be in the clear there. 17 USC § 107 notes that fair use (e. g. not making it a major part of the project or a central feature) for purposes such as teaching is generally okay, especially non-profit educational purposes. (However, academic principles such as avoiding plagiarism still apply.) (I'm working on a school project incorporating a ton of images right now and know a bit about copyright from following events on YouTube. Still not a lawyer though.)

If this was a recent thing you could probably do an essay or something on copyright law. That's a sure-fire way of either making your teacher either like you or really, really not like you.

3 hours ago, HebaruSan said:

OK, thanks to my browser's translate feature, it appears the page I found is selling stickers, not licenses. And your site has an upload date of September 2015, whereas the sticker page was created a month later. So you're probably in the clear, but I'm not a lawyer and this is not legal advice, so use at your own risk.

OpenClipArt also explicitly states that all of its images are public domain. 

[GGKSPMC]

Just now, Hobbes Novakoff said:

The funny thing is, in most cases you'd be in the clear there. 17 USC § 107 notes that fair use (e. g. not making it a major part of the project or a central feature) for purposes such as teaching is generally okay, especially non-profit educational purposes. (However, academic principles such as avoiding plagiarism still apply.) (I'm working on a school project incorporating a ton of images right now and know a bit about copyright from following events on YouTube. Still not a lawyer though.)

If this was a recent thing you could probably do an essay or something on copyright law. That's a sure-fire way of either making your teacher either like you or really, really not like you.

OpenClipArt also explicitly states that all of its images are public domain. 

I guess my teacher is strict then

[Hobbes Novakoff]

Just now, GGKSPMC said:

I guess my teacher is strict then

Or just doesn't know all that much about US copyright law. Knowing the American education system, that's probably the case.

Just sayin.'

[HebaruSan]

2 minutes ago, Hobbes Novakoff said:

OpenClipArt also explicitly states that all of its images are public domain. 

Right, but that doesn't necessarily make it true. What concerned me was the possibility that the stickers site owned the image, and some random user saw it on there and uploaded it to OpenClipArt without permission. That looks unlikely now given the dates.