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How to use this site

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Rolo Kipp
How to use this site

This thread is specifically for how-tos & tips on how to get the most out of this site.

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Rolo Kipp
Uploading images & files to a project. Images: (Note: I am typing this laboriously on my little phone. So this is a placeholder for something better :-P ) You have three options for uploading an image. You can choose a file from your computer (regular upload) You can drag and drop a group of images from your computer (advanced upload) You can paste in an URL for an image from the net (remote file upload) In all three cases *please* do not post anything illegal on this site. For file uploads you have a fourth option - File attach If you file is larger than 128mb, you will need to FTP the file to the vault Dropbox ( FTP.neverwintervault.org ) connect ( I prefer FileZilla ) with the username "anonymous" and no password. Once your file(s) have been uploaded, go into your project and hit the "file attach" button. You will be given a drop-down list of the files you uploaded. (Note: file upload will change - for the better! - once the Vault Storage API is fully integrated. No more FTP!)
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Rolo Kipp
To create a new project: Hover over (or click) the "add content" button to the left to see a list of content types you have permission to create. Click the "Project" button to load a new Project form. (Todo: insert screenshots and walk through fields)
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Ugly_Duck

I tried the "file attach" button but my file didn't show up.  I uploaded it via Filezilla and it has completed the upload.  The file is called: Ugly_Ducks Loadscreen Pack [Complete].7z    Can you help me please?

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The Amethyst Dragon

File attached to entry.

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Ugly_Duck

Thanks for the help!

Just a quick question: when I upload a file more than 128MB via ftp, do I need to let you (or another admin.) know so YOU can attach it?

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The Amethyst Dragon

You shouldn't have to.  As far as I know, you should be able to do the upload, wait a few minutes, then when you post/edit your entry, where it gives you the option of uploading a file, click on the link to attach a file.

When I've done it, I got a drop box with the files sitting in the FTP folder, waiting to be attached.

I'll experiment with it in a day or so, when I upload the Dark Sun CCC content.  The CCC account isn't an admin account.

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Ugly_Duck

Okay.

Just to note: when I uploaded the file, the drop-down menu did not have my "Complete" file available.  It would show as an attachment when I was in the process of uploading, but after it finished, the file was nowhere to be found.

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Urk

There's a lot of great content on the vault that I want to upload NOT because I created it but because I use it (or just love it). So far I've searched for Axe Murderer's Killer Death System, JeffVs Rest System and Maxim's Classic Dungeon all of which I use extensively. What is the etiquette of uploading other peoples work from the vault strictly for archival purposes and is there a way to disconnect these uploads from my account so I'm not getting "credit" for them?

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Rolo Kipp

I have very nearly *begged* people to help do this, so you make me happy :-)

The technique or etiquette...? Well, just copy them over into new projects here. Try to use the "remote file" transfer as much as possible to reduce the tedium of downloading and uploading.

When you've migrated a project, drop me a PM with a link to the new project and I'll switch ownership either to the original (if they have an account here) or the Migrate Wizard placeholder.

So, which ones have you migrated so far (that belong to someone else)?

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Urk

None yet. But I'll have at least 4 for you in the next few days. 

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Eat2surf

Awesome!!! Thanks!!!

 

... and on a side note.. isn't your profile photo from the 1st ed. DM screen? 

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Urk

Yup. I'm OLD school. 

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Andarian

Apologies if this sounds like a dumb / newb question, but how do I upload a replacement for an existing project file without messing up the download count? My attempt to do so just eliminated 263 downloads from the count on one my files (resetting it to zero).

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akinliat

It's not a dumb question -- just one for which we have no good answer.  The download counts aren't directly tied to the content, and  when you upload a new file, you not only create a revision of your project, you also create a new file to go with it.  Both files can't have the same name, so the system renames one of them behind the scenes and poof! -- no more download counts, because they're tied to the real filenames.

This has been discussed in another thread, which is how I found out about it, but I can't see an easy way around it.

Akin

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Berliad

As an alternative, I think project Views can be a pretty good substitute for Downloads.  It's not the same thing, to be sure, but it works as a raw measure of a project's popularity.  The vault always emphasized Downloads (and votes and scores), but I think we can emphasize Views instead.  They are already listed in the project browser screen, and I think(?) that could even be made a sortable category.

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GCoyote

Not so sure about that. Speaking just for myself, I've "viewed" many more files than I've downloaded.  I normally read both the author's description plus any recent comments on the current version before I download a file/project.  In most cases, I pass.

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Berliad

I guess I 'm just saying that if downloads measures a file's popularity, views does that too, albeit much more roughly. I'm sure some files have very poor download/view ratios, while others are closer to 1:1. Still, at one point FP had views as a sortable category, and most of the recent , quality nwn2 modules were at the top of the list. Downloads isn't an option anymore, so Views gives us an imperfect alternative.

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bannor9

Unfortunately, I think view count is also a bad choice.  To be honest, there truly is not much of a way to really tell if a specific file/project is worthy or not without actually looking at it.  That increases the download count, but still does not reflect whether or not the project was actually any good at all.  Nor does the voting system.  Most folks seem to either vote a 10, or a zero vote, seldom do you see a more realistic middle of the road type vote, with an explanation of why it got say an 8 instead of a 10.  Just because I like something is not a true relection on if it is without bugs, OR that it will suite anyone else.

I can tell you that there are likely hundreds if not thousands of gems out there that rarely received community recognition and I can tell you for sure that many of the projects that received HOF status due to all votes being a 10 did not actually deserve said HOF status.  Either because the work was trully created by someone else, but just repackaged...etc.

So, how would we address those types of things?  Unfortunately there really is not much anyone can do about it. 

Did I have to view, and go back and view again, and then again because the instructions for a given project were not good enough?

Did I have to download something several times because it kept getting corrupted due to my bad ISP corrupting everything I downloaded on a give day?

Did I vote a Ten on something because I liked the fact that there was a single nude item included in the project?

 

There are hundreds of ways to view anything, all we can do is to read the descriptions, the wordier the better in most cases, and then try something out for ourselves to see if it does what we expected and does it in a way that we can actually enjoy it.

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Berliad

All of this is true, no doubt. But still, downloads/votes/scores were still useful as a first-pass way of screening for good modules. Community projects like the overlooked module report helped to fill in the gaps. I think we can recognize that all of these general metrics are flawed and yet still find them useful. The point of suggesting views was as an alternative to downloads as a generic measure of popularity. I think it would work, with many caveats attached--just as there are with downloads, votes, and scores.

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xorbaxian

i'm having a similar problem to ugly_duck, above.  i ftp'd the file to the dropbox folder, and the ftp completed successfully. i created a project entry, however, when i click the 'attach file' link, the drop-down doesn't list the file i uploaded. any ideas ?

the project is at https://neverwintervault.org/project/nwn1/other/tool/nwniab-20

the file i uploaded is called NWNIAB2.ova

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Fester Pot

Allowed file types: 7z lzma rar gz bz2 zip exe pdf doc docx txt rtf chm bik erf hak mod bmu mp3 2da ace htm html.

FP!

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xorbaxian

well, that's inconvenient. any chance an admin could just manually link the file i uploaded to the project page ?

the .ova type is already compressed. passing it through 7-zip just to accommodate the web site -- or simply changing the extension [assuming the site's file type checking mechanism is naïve enough to allow that] -- would be pretty kludgey. introducing an additional step to the user's instructions of 'change the extension of the file you downloaded from .7z to .ova' would be kludgey to the point of raising a few eyebrows. asking the user to 'decompress' the downloaded file would add several fundamentally unnecessary minutes to the process, even if the file is just stored [rather than actually compressed] by 7-zip.

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xorbaxian

nvm, i u/l'd as .7z.  users will just have to survive the extra 1:20 decompression... ;)

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