Devilfen
Grunt
Posts: 12
Registered: 10-19-2004
Member Is Offline
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suggestions (feature request) for dfbarracks.com: RSS feeds
Hi there,
I have a couple of suggestions to improve usability and usage of dfbarracks, which is my point of reference to download maps.
First suggestion: custzomize the tag for each page, so that if a user bookmarks a specific map, it won't be bookmarked as "Delta force
Barracks" but something more informative like "dfbaracks.com > JO:E Maps > Operation Borderline"
2) Add RSS feeds for each
- category
- map author
- search
(- forum post?)
- ...
- This will result in people subscribing to a feed of a category e.g. Joint Ops Escalation, Coop maps in order to be updated when a new map is
published in that category.
- A fan of an author could subscribe to a feed of his favorite(s) map maker(s) in order to be updated when a new map is out.
- A fan of a specific type of maps could issue a search, e.g. I love coop close quarters maps and sometimes I go and search for the word: cqb,
subscribe to the feed of the search and be updated when a new result is out. This could be useful also to find when new IC maps are out in example.
If you want to know more about RSS feeds: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS_%28file_format%29
More about feeds on searches: http://www.feedster.com
RSS is something really useful, I hope wou will implement at least a feed for the main categories to begin (and test) ;-)
Best regards,
Devilfen
p.s. I am a freelance php webdeveloper, if you want some assistance in creating this I may help, I'm available after May, 16th
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perigrine falcon
Map Rater
     
Posts: 1684
Registered: 3-11-2003
Location: Iowa
Member Is Offline
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there is an advanced search in the MDB where u can search for keywords in description, mapname, and creator.
if there was a certain criteria for a mapper to follow when making description it would help improve the odds of finding the map your looking for when
an advanced search is done for map description that has to be done by check boxes like there is for gametype IE. CQB, MID, SNIPER ETC
if u search for maps for oldest first and right click on the "next 10" or "previous 10 button" and save link(same with "SHOW ALL MAPS by creator
name") u will a record of that page but i agree it would be simpler if u could just bookmark it.
a next 50, a next 100 button, or a search by approximate date would be useful.
however A.BULLET doesnt have the time to spend on the site that he used to but he always seems to have something in the works or ideas to improve the
site
P.S. fixed youre links there has to be a space after the link (just an empty line wont work)
lack of ignorance is the first sign of stupidity
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Devilfen
Grunt
Posts: 12
Registered: 10-19-2004
Member Is Offline
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thank you, i know how to use the advanced search. I was talking about RSS. I love the site, it works very well. RSS would be a plus. an additional
feature (not required) that would make it nicer.
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A.Bullet
General
    
Posts: 1319
Registered: 7-23-2002
Location: CT. USA
Member Is Offline
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I like the idea.. however I think it will be some work to implement it.. since I would need to make a couple of things in order to make it work..
Basically I would need to make a user interface for people to sign up.. then.. I would also need to make a database query system which generated
queries based on peoples RSS feed requests..
my thought is in order for this to work.. there would need to be a user interface for people to choose what they wanted to recieve feeds about.. ie
new downloads, maps of certain types.. etc..
then.. I would need to store that information.. and have an automated process which used those subscriptions to create new rss feeds..
I havent done much with RSS feeds so maybe im not clear on how they work..

-- A.Bullet
-- Owner / Head Programmer
-- DFBarracks.com
"You can only protect your liberties in this world by protecting the other man's freedom. You can only be free if I am free." -- Clarence Darrow
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Devilfen
Grunt
Posts: 12
Registered: 10-19-2004
Member Is Offline
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Hi A.Bullet, you can have a look at wordpress (blogging software made in php: very easy to install) . wordpress uses a php file to create the feed: wp-feed.php, that calls
wp-rss.php, wp-rss2.php, wp-atom.php etc. based on the user's choice, as there are different type of rss versions around.
By default it uses version rss2. If you take a look at wp-rss2.php you'll see that it's not that complicated. You can use that file as a reference.
There is a foreach call that will populate the feed. Of course when you create the feed you decide how many entries to include in the feed (e.g. if
there are 1000 maps in your db you don't want to put 1000 maps in the feed: you may include e.g. the 20 most recent. Remember: the feed primary
purpose is for the user to get updated when there are news (new maps, new announcements etc.).
About subscribing: people can subscribe to a RSS feed simply by entering the feed URL in their feedreader or web aggregator.
You can insert the rss logic in the /mapdb/inidex.php, using the same variable names (action, gv, gmt ...).
E.g. /mapdb/index.php?action=rss2&gv=joe&gmt=COOP
To summarize your concerns: you don't need to modify the DB, you don't need to store information and save it to a xml file (unless you want to do it
to reduce the server load).
If I were you I would test it as I suggested, by adding an "action" = "rss" you can add the logic as follows:
if (action=="rss") { //instead of showing the page, show the rss feed
//here insert the loop to generate a valid rss feed, see the example UI sent you by u2u if you don't have time to install wordpress
}
The advanced thing is to create a feed based on search results. This can be more complicated but I think once you create the feed for the maps you'll
want also feed based on search, which is cool, usaeful and innovative ;-)
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