Techie Thread: Next Steps

[WillowIX]

About the directx. Most of teh times it´s probably not necessary to bust your version back to 7.0, First advise shuld be to update you drivers to the newer versions that are fully compatible with dx8. I´ll mail you Detah right away [img]smile.gif[/img]

ps. You remembered teh "a name" tag I hope

[Detah]

I agree. I should have been more explicit about that.

1) Upgrade to newest compatible directx 8.0 drivers for your video card.
2) If still causing problems, downgrade to directx 6.0, 6.1, or 7.0.

Somewhere in the original thread it said that the instructions for 'removing' directx 8.0 were 'above'. But I could not find it. It must have been removed or moved. Could someone please copy/paste those instructions into Appendix F of the new file.

I own a cool win98 utility that can remove, upgrade, and install directx components with a simple click. No hassle. If you have win 98, I highly recommend 98lite. Great utility for disconnecting the IE intergration within Windows Explorer. Increases processing speeds by 33%, makes Windows Explorer more customizable with no more reverting back to old settings, and makes many intergrated programs and features completely optional, like DirectX.

I have no idea what you are referring to with 'name' tag. Sorry.

Detah

[Bungleau]

What WillowIX is referring to is including some HTML code in the posts, specifically a NAME tag. That's what the hypertext links from the index will key in on.

Syntax is something like (a name="thisname") (/a). WillowIX, please feel free to correct me -- my HTML book is on the other side of the room, and I feel more than a trifle lazy at the moment [img]smile.gif[/img]

This tag should go at the top of each post.

[ 08-01-2002, 01:20 PM: Message edited by: Bungleau ]

[Detah]

I sent copies of the finished file to Wyvern, Bungleau, and Deathdragon. I meant to forward it to WillowIX also, but didnt have her email handy and just wanted to go to bed. Very tired day.

I am at work right now and my only complete copy of the file is at home. Would one of you 3 please forward a copy to WillowIX. Thank you.

There is NO html of any kind in the file. All I did was merge the various posts into 6 rough categories of fixes and format it in Word. It can be imported flat as text or someone else can implement the html (bulleting, bolds, indents, etc). I honestly don't want to look at that file for a while. Too many other things on my plate to spend more time on it now anyway.

While I found WillowIX's index to be extremely helpful in categorizing my own file, I think it was premature, considering the new tech thread was not devised yet. An index for the new file should not be necessary. But the intro is important, especially relating to 'how to construct a good tech question/ info to include, etc'. However, I think the file is short enough and obvious enough that it doesnt need a massive index anymore. Wasnt that the whole point of merging all those posts?

Well, I hope I don't sound like I'm trying to nullify Willow's great work, because Im not. I have already made great use of it. If any index is warranted though, then I just think a shorter index would be best. My point is, the index shouldn't be as long as the actual thread. hehe.

When you see how short the new file is, I think all will agree, that an index is not warranted at all. But then again, I have been looking at it for sooo long now and I am able to mindmeld with it. hehe. But you guys can all look at it and decide whether it needs an index or more editing. In fact, Im _sure_ it still needs more editing. The last two nights my eyes started to bleed.

Detah

[ 08-01-2002, 10:26 AM: Message edited by: Detah ]

[WillowIX]

No I think Bungleau forgot to add a star or something and the board took it for a html tag which is now fully functional LOL [img]graemlins/biglaugh.gif[/img] . Here it goes, I´m using an entry from the index say:

<*a name="#11">1.1<*/a> Game crashes during Cet - Kerah fight.

Just remove the stars and the tag will work. As to the "name" (11 in the example above)remove hte dots from the entry number, 5.6--->56 etc, so I know what to link to. I´ll then be able to link from the entry to the post directly. At the bottom of teh post you can also add this:

<*a href="http://www.ironworksforum.com/ubb/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=reply;f=4;t=xxxxxx#mi">Back to index<*/a>.

This will be a link back to the index. I´ll give you the correct URL when Bungleau starts the new tech thread with his greeting.

BTW, did you get my email Detah?

[ 08-01-2002, 11:49 AM: Message edited by: WillowIX ]

[Detah]

I cannot access my home email account from work. I will see it when I get home or you can mail me here, taj@mail.state.ky.us.

Detah

[Bungleau]

Okay, I unconverted my HTML to have the same thing WillowIX did. Sometimes, ya ought to look at things after you post them...

Detah brings up a good point -- I'm not sure we completely agreed on everything before we started, and we all went forth with our own thoughts. Here's what I was thinking:

Keep the help desk as a thread, but revise it. Have an initial welcome post, an index post, and subsequent posts for every known topic. As new items come in, they would be added as posts to the end of the list, and once resolved, would be reformatted and condensed to match the initial posts.

If you look at the help desk thread, a lot of the communication is "here's my problem", "here's a solution", "thanks", "no problem". If we consolidate those down by simply taking out the "thanks" and "no problem" posts, the thread would shrink substantially. By reorganizing it to list known problems and solutions, we can eliminate a lot of the "here's my problem" posts, cutting it down even further.

I looked at what you put together, Detah, and I'm going to have to read it when my mind's more focused. Probably tonight...