XForgery May Update, Week 3

[Null Parameter]

XForgery May Update, Week 3



April Forgery Challenge (The Video!)
As you probably know, one of the perks for winning a Forgery Challenge is a custom made video for the winning map. So, congratulations again to Gunnergrunt! And enjoy this video, made by our very own Zak....

YouTube - X-Forgery Feature: Gold Rush

Wasn't that nice?

May Forgery Challenge (On to the next one....)
The May Forgery Challenge (http://xforgery.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2292) has just begun, and there is still plenty of time to enter.

This month we are bringing in Big Team Battle, in a big way, with our Big Team Building challenge.
So, check out the Challenge Thread (http://xforgery.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2292) and go build some big team fun!

Maps, New Versions and The Closing of Threads (We'll do it automatically)
Many of you are churning out more and more maps, which is great! Some of these new maps are, in fact, not new at all, but rather just edits to old maps. When it comes to creating new versions of your map and submitting them to XF, you have a couple options.


You can edit your old post with the new information.
You can submit a new thread with the new information.

In the case that you choose option two (and there is nothing wrong with that, at all), if and when we see that you have made an additional thread, we will close the original. This prevents people from commenting on the old version of a map, and it also stops it from showing up in the Map Search.

If you want to be a big help to us, feel free to PM me or PsychoBucket, to point us in the direction of the old thread, so that we may close it in a more timely manner.

If you happen to have good reason for wanting your old map threads left open, just tell us and we can re-open them for you. But, "because I want Maps Submitted to be bigger", is not a valid reason.

Post Side Panel Updates (New information at your fingertips!)
After a lot of work (http://xforgery.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1727) from everyone who helped out, we have finally rearranged and awesome-ized the Post Side Panel. This gives you plenty more information, that is readily available for your use. Lets take a quick tour, shall we?

The first big change that you'll probably notice is that the upper section has been rearranged, and it brings XF a little personality by distinguishing it from every other site. (And I happen to think it looks a little snazzy as well ;))

Old & Boring.....
http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/oo114/Null_Parameter/Random/postbit_old.jpg (http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/oo114/Null_Parameter/Random/postbit_old.jpg)

New & Exciting!
http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/oo114/Null_Parameter/Random/postbit_new.jpg (http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/oo114/Null_Parameter/Random/postbit_new.jpg)



The next big change you'll notice is that the Info Tabs ("Dots") are now far more noticeable, because we are using new icons. http://www.xforgery.com/forum/postbit_tabs/information.png


Lastly, we get to the actual Info Tabs themselves. These babies help you get information about the poster, and trust me, there is a lot of handy information here.

First Info Tab (Shown by default):
Changes: Compacted a lot of information. Removed Join Date. Moved Last Activity. Added Newest Map. Made Awards part of 1st Dot. Added XBL GT.

http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/oo114/Null_Parameter/Random/dot1old.jpg (http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/oo114/Null_Parameter/Random/dot1old.jpg) -> http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/oo114/Null_Parameter/Random/dot1new.jpg (http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/oo114/Null_Parameter/Random/dot1new.jpg)

This first Info Tab is shown automatically, and offers the information that you'll probably use most often. Available in this tab is the user's XBL Gamertag, a bunch of XF Stats (like Post Count), the badges that the user has earned and finally, an auto-advertisement for their most recently posted map.

For those that don't know, you can also get even more information through the XBL Gamertag, simply by hovering over it! Like so....

http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/oo114/Null_Parameter/Features/XBL%20Online%20Status/xblonline1.jpg


Second Info Tab:
Added Last Activity. Changed Map Search Link Location. Awards don't show.

http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/oo114/Null_Parameter/Random/dot2old.jpg (http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/oo114/Null_Parameter/Random/dot2old.jpg) -> http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/oo114/Null_Parameter/Random/dot2new.jpg (http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/oo114/Null_Parameter/Random/dot2new.jpg)

This tab gives you some more indepth information on the user's activity and map submission. By clicking the link to the person's maps, you will be taken to the Map Search, where all of their maps will be displayed, whether they have submitted 2, or 22.

Third Info Tab:
Awards don't show.

http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/oo114/Null_Parameter/Random/dot3old.jpg (http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/oo114/Null_Parameter/Random/dot3old.jpg) -> http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/oo114/Null_Parameter/Random/dot3new.jpg (http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/oo114/Null_Parameter/Random/dot3new.jpg)

Not much has changed here, but that doesn't make it unuseful. You'll find lots of contact information here, from IMs to PMs.

Fourth Info Tab:
Moved XBL GT. Awards don't show.

http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/oo114/Null_Parameter/Random/dot4old.jpg (http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/oo114/Null_Parameter/Random/dot4old.jpg) -> http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/oo114/Null_Parameter/Random/dot4new.jpg (http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/oo114/Null_Parameter/Random/dot4new.jpg)

Again, not much has changed here either, but this tab gives you all of the personal details of the user; basically, whatever they fill out in their profile.


Map BBCode (Auto-Embedding of maps)
I've been working on this one for a little while now, and it has given me some tough times. But, after many work-arounds, and some interesting programming, it has all come together. Now, you can automatically embed the Name and Thumbnail of a map by just using a BBCode and the Thread ID of the Map Thread.

Here's a couple examples that I just put in:

964
2165

And here is the BBCode that I used:

964
2165


But how did I get to that BBCode?

964 and 2165 are the Thread IDs of the Map Threads.

For instance, if you go to Metered, the URL is http://xforgery.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2165, then the Map ID is 2165.

It's just that easy! Then you surround that number with the [map] BBCode and you are ready to go!


HaloScreenshots (The workaround.....)
This is another one that has been giving us some trouble.

Many of you know of the website HaloScreenshots (http://haloscreenshots.net/). It is an amazing site, and allows you to store all of your Halo Screenshots for eternity, but there is one problem.....

The only let certain websites access their images!
And not only that, they haven't been responding to our requests! (Not even a "No", just no response)

So, after a lot of thought, and some programming magic, I developed a way to basically cheat the system. Now, when you submit a map through the map submission form, you should be able to use HaloScreenshots images, but only because they go through a backdoor that I developed.

I'm not going to guarantee that this will work 100%, and I'm definitely not going to say that it will work forever, but for now, you should be able to use them.

Note: Again, as I said, this is only valid for the Map Submission Form (http://xforgery.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=88). If you use the screenshots anywhere else, including editing them into your map post afterwards, they will not work.

[CostlyAxis]

Fight the system with all of their open back doors and infinite amounts of loopholes. :)

The auto-embed looks pretty cool, but the use of it is a little questionable (besides nominations). Oh, nice video that Zak made.

[DeathDriver86]

Yet another fine update. Very pleased with the profile revisions and look. Much more interactive then before. It's a shame that HSS isn't even answering your requests...I'd think a professional site would execute some sort of professional mannerisms and politely decline at least. Let's hope your solution holds out. :)

[Null Parameter]

The auto-embed looks pretty cool, but the use of it is a little questionable (besides nominations). Oh, nice video that Zak made.
That is the biggest one, or when you say "Like this map....." and then can have a nice visual link to along with it. I'm considering expanding it in the future to have options for displaying all of the other information we can gather as well, but I haven't got that far quite yet.

[MNM1245]

Damn Null you're a badass going in H3 Screenshots back door! YOu little hacker you! Anywho a pretty good update. I like the Map Code thing. That is going to be cool I guess.

[Letol]

Sometimes I really hate Internet Explorer lol

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v329/sheepman56/AAAAAXboxLiveTabThingcopy.jpg

Otherwise, sounds like some good stuff going on, and even though I don't like using HSS, I'm glad you got it working for the time being.

Also, great job on the video Zak, that was pretty good lol

[PsychoBucket]

Nice update!

programming magic FTW

[Null Parameter]

Sometimes I really hate Internet Explorer
That's not my code to display that XBL stuff, but I'll try to fix it anyway. ;)

Edit: It should be fixed now. :D

[GodlyPerfection]

Very good update and glad to see you finally got my map bbcode suggestion working :)... very nice vid zak. And now that we have a backdoor to HSS wait till you see what we do next... riht Null? ;)

[Null Parameter]

Very good update and glad to see you finally got my map bbcode suggestion working :)... very nice vid zak. And now that we have a backdoor to HSS wait till you see what we do next... riht Null? ;)
Yeah, We have some interesting plans to maximize the potential of this feature, but before I spend a whole bunch of time making this giant feature set, I want to make sure that the embedding works correctly and that it will continue to do so.

[Letol]

That's not my code to display that XBL stuff, but I'll try to fix it anyway. ;)

Edit: It should be fixed now. :D

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v329/sheepman56/AAAXboxLiveTabThingAgaincopy.jpg

D'oh

[Denominator]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v329/sheepman56/AAAXboxLiveTabThingAgaincopy.jpg

D'oh

This (http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/) should fix your problem.

[Null Parameter]

D'oh
You and your crazy IE + Blak-Ice....

It should work now, it works for me. I had fixed it in Default, but forgot to carry the fix over to Blak-Ice. :(


This (http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/) should fix your problem.
lol

[Letol]

This (http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/) should fix your problem.

Lol, nice one, but I already have it. Plus, even if I did use it, you can't guarantee that everyone else will use it

You and your crazy IE + Blak-Ice....

It should work now, it works for me. I had fixed it in Default, but forgot to carry the fix over to Blak-Ice. :(



lol

Ok yeah, it works now, thanks

[Mace]

I R CONTRIBUTED.
Smexy buttons are smexy.

[l33tmeerkatslol]

Wow, the new BBCode will be EXTREMELY Useful! Great job with the new dots and placements. I think I'm just gonna use TinyPic, just to be safe.

[dopeydan]

Nice Coding! Im Glad too see a mini-gamercard. I think that adds too the effect o XF! :P Nice Work Null!

[GodlyPerfection]

Yeah that mini gamercard has been there for a while and was just not visible enough... now it's easy to see people's GTs. Oh and for people who haven't realized it yet, the map BBCode means that you only have to use about 15 characters per map in your Sig.. which means with a what... 250 character limit you can fit ALOT of maps in your sig... just saying. But don't get carried away, cuz we will end up restricting sig size... I like our freedom right now.