KM.com Content Progress Report
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Greetings to all. I have been tacitly helping out on the site for a little while, working with the transfer of content and the early stages of the site restructure. Hence, while Mystara is responsible for the awesome aesthetics of the new site, I am responsible for the majority of the mistakes!
This is just to give a little progress on what has been done so far from my end, (better late than never!) and to offer apologies for the errors and slips that inevitably come along the way. The restructuring work and reconfiguration of images continues to bring up errors and inconsistencies. With perseverance, it should all look tidy eventually.
Site Structure
The restructure, it is hoped, will bring easier navigation around the wealth of pages that the site has had to offer. Some of the finest content here has been sorely neglected (though I hope not to overstate the case), and hopefully the different areas of the site will now be easier to navigate. The restructuring may not yet be fully complete, and links to pages and images will continue to break despite all best efforts to keep track of them all when any movement or restructuring takes place (The Series Guides page is one of the biggest victims, and is one under watch for correction). Even if current news is not in abundance, this can still be a site that propagates high quality content. A full index for the site is in the planning, which will underpin the whole regeneration, and will include the invaluable IKM too.
Media
Media updates, specifically images, have been my most recent priority.
Rise and Fall
All Series pages should now have higher quality images, all nicely embedded through Rokbox to offer the extra sharpness in the thumbnail with the full-size option. It has been good to occasionally add more images where allowable, which adds more visual depth and completeness to the pages. Inspired by Forester’s summaries on the Lexicon [example], most quests now feature images of individual advisors [example]. Some image pages have been reorganised to give more coherence. Series 6, Level 2 now has a WitchHaven, for example, which did not exist before.
The neat thumbnail display will allow some areas (likely Experiences) to be condensed. A gallery page of thumbnails is more palatable than twenty clicks through a full-size gallery; such changes could facilitate navigation to encourage interest rather than discourage it.
Old and New
The Challenge Poker adverts that come with the new captures have been a hindrance. Series 3 is worst affected, whilst Series 8 suffers from large Millionaire ads. I am editing images to remove the adverts with reasonable success, but it has been a fairly time-consuming process and it will now be continued once all other image work is done.
Many clips and images that have been taken from VHS rips (much of the Behind the Scenes / CITV etc), we obviously cannot improve to the same standard. If anyone has access to better quality versions of such content, that would be very welcome.
Troubleshooting
Many of the remaining images across the site were joined together prior to the transfer, but now have had to be separated again and re-done. Some images are not showing due to permissions issues, small mistakes, or where the image size is smaller than the standard thumbnail. Many apologies for this. I suggest that if anyone has been hyper-linking pages or images and values their accuracy, they might like to check the integrity of those links. One can only hope for a combination of pedantry and patience. I hope that we can keep the ‘Website corrections’ thread alive, and I am glad of your help to continue the exacting standards the site has always sought to uphold.
Corrections
One of the most joyous aspects of all of the content work so far has been noting some absolutely choice corrections. Some of the finest include:
• That great Hampshire town of Lipuk [Liphook]. [Series 5, Team 1]]
• Folly’s French masterpiece, ‘En contre’ [Au contraire]. [Series 1, Team 6]
• Confusion over poor Alexander’s gender [no doubt owing to the splendiferous pink shell-suit bottoms; now corrected].
• There was also quite a cool gaffe regarding either Smirkenorff or the Brollachan, which I cannot remember off the top of my head. [Will amend if I come across it]
This is absolutely meant to celebrate (and not in any sense undermine) the amazing work of our glorious alumnus webmaster, Nick, and to accentuate the joys to be found in working so closely with the site material. Are there any more delights out there that have been missed? Please record your finds here, or at the Corrections thread.
What Next?
There is still some material to come in the near future! Clearly, the video content needs to be updated to complement the image work. Aside from that, there will hopefully be some extra snippets on Chevalier, the Timegate pilot clip, and a few other bits and pieces.
Onwards and upwards (or downwards – whichever you see as the most positive!)
Keith / KaM
PS: If you have not yet come across it, please do visit David Rowe’s forum appearance here, and his website: http://davidrowe.net.
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It delights me no end to see that this Grand Undertaking is proceeding with such meticulous attention to detail and enthusiasm. Wonderful stuff so far, and if what you speak about here comes to pass, you and all involved will have pulled off something truly special.
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I'm afraid to say that my update is embarrassingly small when compared to Keith's.
I've been fiddling around with the technical backend (obviously). I've also recently finished separating the pages of news articles into separate pages, in order to make them more parsable and easier to navigate.
I've also been trying to make the main page somewhat easier to navigate with respect to different categories.
There are a few more updates to come, thanks to Keith's work.
Yeah, my news is far less exciting
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RE: Erin Geraghty
Hooray, this long-standing error (Erin Geraghty = Mistress Goody) has at last been corrected in the Series 4 section of the website! Top marks to whoever did that, it's needed doing for yonks!
I think I'm guilty of fixing this.
With respect, I think you're not. This is one of a handful of 'yonks overdue' errors and omissions that I have dismissed from the website, including the lack of a credit for Bryan McNerney, the stocks/pillory muddle, and several references to 'Ariadne's layer'. Most aren't worth mentioning, and I'd hoped not to get caught up doing any trumpet blowing - toots can be problematic in some contexts - but felt I should pipe up briefly. Keith and Alan have done a tremendous amount for the new Knightmare.com (with more surely to come) but not quite every deed is theirs. Pedantry will so often find a way.
Since the subjects are open: for those wanting to know more about Mistress Goody and Erin Geraghty, and indeed Bryan McNerney and the pillory, there are entries for each in the Lexicon.
[A few slight edits made since initial posting to clarify my meaning]
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Well, I'm glad I said think, at least, and there's no doubt that I'm guilty of stepping in something there - the excrement from one's humble pie.
The good David (Drassil), it must be applauded, has done some wonderful research to turn Knightmare minutiae into valuable Knightmare memorandum. [The Bryan McNerney discovery is the most vivid]. I would never aim to take any credit for that. It's merely that I've spent a long time making hundreds of textual changes (to pages which will always remain credited to Nic), and just assumed that I might have applied the knowledge gained from others in this transfer process. I bow in deference, and should this be pedantry, please show me an army.
There are small content updates to report here. There would be more if not for problems uploading material to the site at the moment. But is it worth listing if this is regarded as trumpet-blowing? I've never been a brass-player...
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Knightmare.com, like any KM fan project and indeed the Greater Game itself, is a team effort, with individual contributions occasionally coming to the fore. As only a very small proportion of Knightmare.com's housekeeping has been done by me, I don't mind it being attributed to the team in general - but wouldn't want it attributed to or claimed by another person, however innocently or tentatively.
As for trumpet blowing, I didn't mean to sound pejorative about the Content Progress Reports posted here, just to imply that to post my own would not feel worthwhile. As mentioned, I've not done a huge amount; and besides, my (user)name is in enough places already.
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Then it's Time for a Link.
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Having said that, I've never seen the downside in moar cowbell.
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