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Ashe Ravenheart
Great Reader
USA
3252 Posts |
 Posted - 11 Sep 2013 : 18:05:59
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| Well, in their defense, I'm linking to a forum structure that is no longer there (instead, every post in their forums seems to be a specific "comment" now, with no tree structure to a thread or anything). |
I actually DO know everything. I just have a very poor index of my knowledge.
Ashe's Character Sheet
Alphabetized Index of Realms NPCs |
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Jeremy Grenemyer
Great Reader
USA
2717 Posts |
Posted - 11 Sep 2013 : 20:53:09
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| I'm disappointed they didn't index their old site and create a set of temporary redirects for each link that now no longer works. Otherwise all you end up doing is turning people's browser bookmarks into roadblocks. |
Look for me and my content at EN World (user name: sanishiver). |
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Dark Wizard
Senior Scribe
USA
830 Posts |
Posted - 11 Sep 2013 : 21:15:20
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| Not an IT person, but from what I've gleamed from other sites, updating old links to function in a new site layout can all be automated to a large extent. Of course there may be groundwork required from the onset, but once established, the system can be updated with feasible effort (as compared to the Herculean task of updating the links to tens of thousands of pages, which is at least the size of WotC's site for D&D alone) |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36965 Posts |
Posted - 11 Sep 2013 : 22:37:37
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quote:
Originally posted by Dark Wizard
Not an IT person, but from what I've gleamed from other sites, updating old links to function in a new site layout can all be automated to a large extent. Of course there may be groundwork required from the onset, but once established, the system can be updated with feasible effort (as compared to the Herculean task of updating the links to tens of thousands of pages, which is at least the size of WotC's site for D&D alone)
I'm sure it can be automated, but things have been moved around so much on that site that I think it would take a team of people working several months just to find where everything currently is. The site has been redesigned multiple times, often including moving stuff around, and even without redesigns, sometimes stuff still gets shuffled around to new and often unexpected locations.
I've seen little sense in the way some things have been shuffled, and I remain amazed at the way they've got files tucked away that have been on their site for more than a decade, but don't have any links anywhere on their site pointing to them. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen!  |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31799 Posts |
Posted - 12 Sep 2013 : 02:24:13
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quote:
Originally posted by The Sage
quote:
Originally posted by Markustay
Well, I missed the cut-off, so if that thread is gone, then Sage is my last hope (and god-help-me if I end up on his 'to do' list).
I don't see that happening.
In fact, I was skimming an old archive yesterday morning when I came across the entire saved "Utter East" thread I made when I last frequented that particular discussion. So it's close at hand. 
Markus, if you're still interested in this archive, can I ask how and where you'd like me to send it? |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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Brimstone
Great Reader
USA
3290 Posts |
Posted - 13 Sep 2013 : 09:22:08
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| Just checked out the WotC Forums. Took me three tries just to find the darn thing amongst all the clutter. Sheesh what a load of crap... |
"These things also I have observed: that knowledge of our world is
to be nurtured like a precious flower, for it is the most precious
thing we have. Wherefore guard the word written and heed
words unwritten and set them down ere they fade . . . Learn
then, well, the arts of reading, writing, and listening true, and they
will lead you to the greatest art of all: understanding."
Alaundo of Candlekeep |
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xaeyruudh
Master of Realmslore
USA
1853 Posts |
Posted - 13 Sep 2013 : 22:51:16
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
I suppose it's also possible that there is a directive from above to never update links, but I think that unlikely -- such a command really doesn't make sense.
WotC never does anything that indicates a lack of rational thought? 
I think it's a combination of things you've said... they have some talented people, but their web team is small and their figurative plate is overflowing, because the web presence (outside of DDI) isn't important to whoever determines their budget. Old lore doesn't generate revenue. And they know we don't want them to put everything behind the DDI blockade, and at least for now they're indulging us.
Updating old links probably requires specific approval (to verify that supporting a given piece of old material is still something WotC wants to do) and that approval rarely if ever comes, due to apathy and because if they update a particular link on a particular page, then they have to investigate every link on that list, and all the pages that those pages link to.
So (I'm guessing) the web team is under orders not to update (or even look at) the old links, because it's just too much of a timesink. If they don't have better things to do than prowl through old links, then maybe their position at the company is unnecessary since they have so much time to waste.
But as long as Wayback works and WotC forsakes the ever-growing stupidity of their past approach to worldbuilding, I'm okay. |
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xaeyruudh
Master of Realmslore
USA
1853 Posts |
Posted - 13 Sep 2013 : 22:59:56
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quote:
Originally posted by Dark Wizard
Not an IT person, but from what I've gleamed from other sites, updating old links to function in a new site layout can all be automated to a large extent. Of course there may be groundwork required from the onset, but once established, the system can be updated with feasible effort (as compared to the Herculean task of updating the links to tens of thousands of pages, which is at least the size of WotC's site for D&D alone)
The key is resisting (murdering, actually) the desire to move pages around. Whatever name you give the page when you first create it must be that page's name forever. Wherever you put the page in the directory structure is where that page shall remain until Earth is reduced to cosmic dust.
If you do that, you never have to update links. You can update hardware and software, you can fire people and hire new people, and you'll never have to worry about broken links.
That's all taught in the very first web-authoring class, at any community college. Everyone who works on WotC's web page knows that. Which makes their apparent derpness even more confusing.  |
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Dark Wizard
Senior Scribe
USA
830 Posts |
Posted - 13 Sep 2013 : 23:37:03
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| Pretty sure the WotC web teams have feed that little monster quite a bit throughout the years. The layout of the site is drastically different each redesign. |
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WotC Forums migrating 9/9
