+rep
Totally agree, wish I had the skills to do it.
Those that are offering to help have
more 'skills' in PHP or JSP and some even have experience in ASP or limited ASP knowledge (those that offered to step up and help 'update' entropedia anyways).
While I agree with Oleg that the current design is fine the way it is, I don't have any
clue as to how the pages are programmed in C# they could be individually hand jammed or computer generated who knows. That is why I proposed to use JSP instead because if there were ever something like this to happen in the future you would have the following:
-Update to database or website design needed: Simple with JSP just update the 'design' page or Servlet (saves manpower hours and time from sifting through pages of code of ASP and PHP, reduces the need to read thousands of lines of code)
-Need to add more admins: Simply update the admin pool to reflect whichever user(s) that need to be added in the case of now where Whitte is the
only one able to administer updates to the wiki i.e. new damages items etc..
-Need to add a new algorithm/formula/damage calculation type: simply create a new function and place it into an existing servlet or create a brand new servlet. (Think of servlets as drivers that you can plug-and-play with, if your hard drive is outdated simple unplug it and plug in a new updated hard drive and transfer the old stuff over)
For the reasons above, simplicity and ease of implementation is why I proposed changing the backbone of the website to JSP. I only mentioned changing the design layout because it has been the same for years and
if the community wanted they could vote on a new design layout that was more streamlined and
professional looking that helped with the flow of the website.
This will be a big undertaking to update the code to JSP though but it would ease my work load if I could see how the database was set up then all I would have to do is modify some servlets I have already pre-programmed and voila-la computer generated 'dummie-holder' pages so when someone goes to input an item that item is 'grafted' onto those dummie pages (similar to how it is now when you add new items). This reduces the server response time as well making the website faster.
Again, I am only interested in helping the community and I am a firm believer that the wiki should stay free for all to use and therefore should be developed for free as well. I am
WILLING to put my free spare time into this project. If someone else has some better ideas I am all ears as well and willing to work with anybody and anyone who is also wanting to help out with this undertaking.
Edit: Ideally, I would like to implement the MV2 and DAO architecture design into the website so that this could never happen again where there is need for one person to update the website.
Edit2: Let me be
extra clear so that my inbox stops blowing up with off topic PMs. When I am speaking of JSP I am referencing JAVA Server Pages and
NOT JavaScript. JSP is a combination/hybrid/dynamic page that combines HTML + JAVA code + Servlets/Beans in order to create pages 'on-the-fly' or 'on-the-query'. It would also be rather time consuming to try and code an entire website completely from JavaScript and it would be rather unsecured.
~Danimal