OB Network Proposal

[Retribution]

[size=1]Due to Delta's zealousness, the Graphic Worm has been in part resurrected. But the project is still at a halt because of a very complicated hosting situation -- I originally was hosting it, then passed it on to Katana, and the project's been dead since October '06 if I'm not mistaken.

Considering the Graphic Worm's heavy community aspect, as well as being a very important part of the Art Studio, I propose to have it hosted by OB and listed under the OB Network. I know the question of hosting things on the OB Network was asked a while back, with the general consensus being personal sites are a no-go. But considering this is actually part of OB, perhaps it'd be a legitimate addition?

I think there are also obvious benefits of having it hosted by OB, most notably being local hosting means easier access and we get to drop the middle man out of the equation.

Agree/disagree?[/size]

[Aaryanna]

[COLOR=DarkRed]Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't one of the main issues with the Graphic worm the length? Since most hosting puts a limit on total width and height? If so, even if it's just a temporary solution, couldn't you host it in segments? With the joining pieces overlapping? Like segment one would have entries 1-10 and segment two would have 10 to 20 and segment three would have 20 to 30. Seems like something like that would at least make keeping it running more feasible until more permanent hosting was found for putting the whole thing together. [/COLOR]

[Retribution]

[size=1]No, OB would be the GW's permanent host in theory. I'm not opposed to hosting it in segments, but I didn't think that was the problem with hosting it.

Essentially, I just want to know if A) Jamesy can throw me a bone on the hosting and B) it can be listed on the left sidebar.[/size]

[James]

[font=arial]Would you just want a link to the graphic worm or would you want extra information (i.e. the names of all the contributors)?

Also...I assume the worm isn't finished. By that I mean, I assume you will continue to want people to add to it?

We might be able to work something out. If I produce a page for the worm to sit on, one of you can be responsible for updating it as people contribute and then sending the updated worm to me so I can upload new versions. Perhaps this could be done weekly or monthly?

We can use this thread to discuss the idea, if you like.[/font]

[Retribution]

[size=1]All that I'm asking for is a link to the graphic worm. On that page, the names of the contributors could be underneath each segment.

And yes, the worm isn't finished, nor will it ever be, really. So if someone (perhaps myself) could update it twice a month, that'd be ideal. Or if you want to do the actual uploading, that's cool too.[/size]

[Desbreko]

[color=#4B0082]Probably the best way to do it would be to have a page with information on what the worm is, how to contribute (with a link to its thread), etc., along with a link to a separate page that the worm itself would be on. If we don't want to make a whole new web page for it I could just make a custom template, which would be similar to the rules page. So we could have the info page at www.otakuboards.com/graphicworm.php and the actual worm at www.otakuboards.com/graphicworm/ or something like that.[/color]

[James]

[font=arial]Yep, I had thought about giving the graphic worm its own home since it has become a fairly large project.

I like Desbreko's idea quite a bit - simply using a template might be the best way to go. I will come up with a format that I'm happy with and we'll get it going.

Alan has suggested that we could create a system where you can log in and update the worm yourself (Retri) but I don't know if that can be done from [i]within[/i] an OB template. Alan/Des, any thoughts on that?[/font]

[DeadSeraphim]

[size=1][color=indigo][font=arial]I tried the idea, but it require db access to do it properly, and I'm not sure a minor spinoff like this would really warrant the hassle.[/font][/color][/size]

[Desbreko]

[color=#4B0082]I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work in a template page. I'm pretty sure you can slap PHP code in there and it'll run it before spitting out the page's HTML to the client, and you can add things to the page's head section as well as the body.[/color]

[James]

[font=arial]Okay, so here's the deal:

If you can make an OB template page to incorporate the graphic worm, feel free to do so.

I would like the left nav link to link us to a page that contains a link to the worm image itself and then we can also have some other details on that page - perhaps some info about the worm, its history, a member list of who is involved, etc.

If you work with Retri to produce a layout that suits you and contains the info you need, that'd be great.

If it's at all possible to create a login screen within that template to allow uploading of updated graphic worms, then by all means, go for it.

When everything is complete just PM me with a preview before you create a left-nav link for public access.[/font]

[Retribution]

[size=1]So Des is doing the template? What exactly does that entail?

As for the layout of the page housing the worm, there won't really be a layout per se. If it's okay with you all, it'd just be a string of images scrolling horizontally into infinity with the names of the artists underneath each segment.[/size]

[Desbreko]

[color=#4B0082]It basically just means slapping together some HTML to go on a new page that will be part of OB. If you look at the rules page the four headings (Introduction, Spam, Signature Restrictions, Banning) and their content -- everything between the header and the footer -- are a template. So we can stick pretty much whatever we want into that space on a new template.

I was thinking we could just use a similar layout, with headings to explain what the worm is along with a link to it, and one to explain how to contribute along with a link to its Art Studio thread. I'd really rather not list contributors on the page since that would require updating the template every time a new image is added to the worm.

I'll whip up the template tomorrow and then you guys can let me know if you want anything tweaked or added. And if we (by which I mean Alan) go ahead and write a script for updating the worm automatically I can add the interface for that in too.

Oh, and Retri, can you e-mail me the HTML page and images for the worm? I'll need those to be able to upload them onto OB.[/color]

[James]

[font=arial]Well, using a template means that the page would be like the OB Rules and FAQ pages - in other words, the data would be contained within OB's layout.

If we are going to put the OB Graphic Worm up in an official capacity, I want to do it well. Linking to the image itself would be okay but wouldn't really be worthy of an OB Network listing.

Instead we could have a small page within our template that includes some further info about it and then we could link to the image which would open a new window - this way it won't matter how long the image is.

I like the idea of putting the contributors' names on the actual image itself. That way we avoid dealing with constant site updating - it's easier to just do that as part of the worm image update.

[b]Edit:[/b] Ack! Posted at the same time as Des, haha.

[/font]