Anargo Revived

[Kage2020]

For those interested individuals who still check by on the status of the project, you will note that nothing really has happened in quite a while.  There are various reasons for this, all of them uninteresting.

Discussion is currently ongoing as to how to revive the project, as well as going through the various archive forums etc. to see what has survived so that it can be considered in regards to that revival process.  I am not sure how long that is going to take since it requires going back to first principles on many of the concepts and also trying to figure out how best to use the various software/technologies out there to serve our ever-increasing requirements.

I know.  You've heard it all before.  And I've said it all before.  This time, though, there is a core group of individuals working to bring this back.  So here's hoping.

A number of changes that you're likely going to see before any others include:

• Updating the forum software from 1.1.4 to the latest version, 1.1.11.  This will hopefully plug the security holes so that we don't need the horrendous sign up process.
• The Explore site is going to be brought down.  I do not have the inclination to hand-code everything and so we are looking towards using a CMS to handle this (the forums will remain distinct).  It might not be as pretty at first, but at least it will allow multiple people to contribute in a number of ways.
• Pruning the forums.  There's just a lot of junk here that needs to go away.  There might be, once again, some structural changes.

And that's it for the moment.  I will post more information when more information becomes available.

Kage

[Kage2020]

The first two attempts at upgrading the forum software was unsuccessful.  This has involved:

• Trying the upgrade script that comes as part of the software.  There were "parse errors" that would not allow sequential update of SMF versions, i.e. 1.1.4 --> 1.1.5 --> 1.1.6, etc.
  
• A manual upgrade failed because the jump from 1.1.4 to 1.1.11 was too great.

I'm not going to see about a more laborious process by downloading the original upgrade files for each addition and applying them by hand.  Keep your eyes peeled.

Kage

[Kage2020]

After a bit of wrangling with the older version of SQL used on the server upon which Anargo is located, I've managed to update the forums to version 1.1.11. 

Go me.

Step 1 completed, and as such I've also removed the requirement for new members to post their email address, etc.  As such, I've removed the "Account Request Forum" and deleted all posts therein.

The Explore site is going to remain up for a bit longer as those individuals that are currently searching through the information to determine the best way of re-visioning the Anargo Sector Project are still referring to some of that information and it's just easier to have it up on the site.

When you see the Explore site come down, chances are that the re-visioners have found their vision and will begin to post very shortly.

Kage

[Malika]

Cool! Great to see the project revived. This in combination with some revival of modelling blogs and some of Philip's ideas my interest in the 40k universe is kind of revived.

Who is the team re-visioning the ASP btw?

[Kage2020]

At the moment, the project is being reformulated by myself, Destecado, and Dragon Lord.  Going through some of the older content is a bit laborious, as is filtering out some of the cliches that had cropped in.  We're making headway into what would be a more "realistic" sector that is driven by the narrative rather than the nature of the project as it tried to incorporate every single member interest.

Edit: Please also note that the 'blogs have been removed.  They weren't being used and the goal here is to be more project focused and disband with the premise of "community" as we--I--had previously dabbled with.

Edit 2: Registration is temporarily disabled while I mod the site to prevent the spam bots, of which I have deleted 10 already today.  More information will follow.

Edit 3: Registration with Member (email) Approval re-initiated.  I've modded the registration process so it requires answering simple questions, so we shall see if that actually cuts back on the spam bot registrations.  If that doesn't work, then I'll throw in some more modifications.

Kage

[Kage2020]

Preparations have been made with regards to archiving the old forum threads.  All this will entail is that, so we don't lose any information, older threads are moved into the archive.  This will leave much of the board looking strangely nude.  To combat this, interesting threads or those that might otherwise be offered up to the community as part of the re-vised approach to the project can be brought back across the veil of "death" (well, archival) to repopulate the new forum.

If you wish to "bring back" a thread that has been archived, then please just post a new thread with a link to the original one.

PLEASE NOTE: For the purposes of the revival of Anargo, and perhaps beyond that point, the forum rule with regards to "Threadomancy" is lifted.  If you see an interesting discussion, or now of one, that you wish to bring back to the fore for reconsideration or just further consideration, feel free to post it.

While relocating the content of the forum in terms of the discussion that has gone on before, the goal here is to revise and refresh the project.  Having to trawl through hundreds of posts and thousands of replies is not seen as a viable way forward (especially if we want to get rid of the "loremaster" concept).

As for other news, we--in this case, I, since I'm the "tech savvy" one of the group (at the moment)--continue to work on the Explore CMS.  We envision that the proto-type will be available by the time we've begun to rebuild the core worlds.  The goal is to ensure that it is up and running at least by the time these core worlds are fleshed out, either be bringing them back from the archive (see above) and introducing them to the new "world building" format, or by fresh creation.

Kage

[Kage2020]

Soon we shall be starting a thread that builds up the history of the Anargo sector (based on CELS' original article), but tweaked for the more narrative approach and to remove the cliches that have cropped into the sector (aliens everywhere, Nihilic Rift, etc.).  This will also include thumbnail images on the subsector and worlds. 

Each point will be one for discussion, so keep checking in on the thread regularly when you see it.  It's going to be locked, so you're going to have to start up a new thread in this forum to discuss it, but our goal is to get this information out there sooner rather than later.  (We're just trying to figure out the most important step of the moment, which is how to integrate the world-building endeavours of the community members and still have it integrated with the software selections that we have made.)

Keep it coming.

Also, don't be afraid to go into an old thread, or raise a new topic, that is close to your heart.  It's possible that if you have a love of a given topic that the new narrative might not encompass it (e.g. if you loved the Nihilic Rift then you're in trouble), but you'll find that the re-vision process will probably go quicker and smoother the more that is happening around the project.

And with that terribly unsubtle hint, I'll go back to thinking about archaeology for a while longer.

Kage