Remember, we have been thinking about this stuff for nearly three years, so all would do well to study the Data Dictionary of our Semantic Mediawiki implementation of Mods and Packs in particular.
Please discuss or add input on the above-linked DD Talk page
All Pack-Mod-centric information needs to be consolidated on the page I linked in order to be implemented (so that we all know what is going on and why). A forum is just too convoluted for consolidating ideas. Let's get all of the good ideas onto that Talk page and revise the Packs tab in particular as necessary. Even if you just want to add links to posts over here on the forums ... THAT IS FINE. Just please help us to consolidate on the wiki (I am way too immersed in RL to take that on myself ATM).
At some point, I will tidy up the wiki page and consolidate everything neatly.
In short:
- Mod Template (i.e., mod pages) should contain all common, static mod-specific info about a given mod. These pages are absolutely necessary to driving the wiki for just about any implementation that is desireable. No getting around creating mod pages, so bite the bullet and get them created as necessary. They will NEVER go away
- Pack Template should contain all common, static pack-specific info about a given pack. Like mods, pack pages will never go away, but we can drastically change them to suit the needs of Pack users
- Guide Templates bring Mod/pack info together, and we could have more than one type of template even to produce whatever guide style is wanted.
- Versioning or tracking of other changing information associated with specific Mods/Packs/Guides (conflict res, instructions, version #s, patches, etc.) will need to be handled as Semantic sub-objects or some other method that is scaleable and practically maintainable.
Anyone interested in helping out needs to learn about Semantic Mediawiki. A prerequisite is a decent understanding of wiki markup in general as well as template creation and maintenance.
Lastly, anyone interested in helping with development of the SMW infrastructure as actual devs or just those willing to propose viable ideas and contribute in an organized way (this is you Nearox and Smile, et al.), please PM admin to get access to the DD forum thread and Pack implementation forum thread and get ready to read a lot of historic info.
Pack Proposal
With the release of STEP v2.2.9, STEP will shift it's focus to our new paradigm outlined out the STEP:Mandate page for STEP v2.3.0 and beyond. This also means STEP:Extended will be shifted from the main STEP:Guide to a Pack and will be the Official STEP Pack. What is a Pack? Well to quote the Mandate:
One of the primary reasons for keeping STEP:Core pretty strict with regards to vanilla is that the overarching STEP project intends to evolve into a more community-driven initiative of mod 'recipes' constructed as extensions of a central core recipe (aka, STEP:Core). These mod recipes are simply extensible build instructions that we have been referring to as STEP 'Packs'. These packs are themselves extensions of STEP:Core that build on it in ways that express or support different visions of the game. ...
STEP Packs are where the substantive deviations from vanilla Skyrim can and will occur, depending on the vision of any given pack author. Some of the packs may be focused on gameplay changes, others on further graphic enhancements, but together they will allow users more flexibility and choice when determining their modded Skyrim experience. The real beauty of this paradigm is that ANY STEP member will be able to author their own STEP Pack and host their guide on the STEP wiki. Think of it as a 'Nexus' of mod-recipe add-ons that will serve to expand on the ideas of the Steam Workshop, the Nexus, TES Alliance, Planet Elder Scrolls, etc. as a "mod-setup-creation infrastructure" using a common set of development tools to derive a limitless expanse of potential outcomes, each with its own support infrastructure (e.g., forum threads, wiki resources, custom tools, etc.). ...
STEP:Core will provide a common, front-end Guide to modding Skyrim and articulate (via the Semantic Mediawiki infrastructure) with the community-authored Pack guides. The build interface will allow modders to assemble mod compilations complete with detailed instructions specific to mods, mod compatibility patches, Packs and Pack-compatibility solutions as well as a whole host of other relevant attributes, flags and tags for describing Packs and mods. This will be accomplished using forms on the wiki, and the result will be dynamically-created mod lists and Pack Guides that will "snap" together over STEP:Core. The result will be a series of (hopefully seamless) unique instructions for creating the particular build desired by the end user.
You can see a list of example Packs created by users here: https://wiki.step-pr.../Category:Packs Some are using the in-place infrastructure which we're considering to be a Beta format and some are simply using a normal Wiki page. Our goal is to have all Packs using the infrastructure that the Wiki Devs have put their hard work into; however, we need help from the community and that's where you come in!
The infrastructure is still in a Beta state; however, is working for simple Pack creation and should be mostly, if not completely, bug free. We need you, the community, to help improve this infrastructure by using it and providing feedback on its use. Even if you don't play on creating a Pack, you can use it to create a "dummy pack" for testing purposes and these "dummy packs" can be removed later. We're looking for all and any feedback! Everything from feature suggestions to changes and/or improvements on existing features and its use will be helpful. Even if there are Core mods that you think would be best shifted to Extended, we want to hear about it! If you're interesting in testing this out, please contact a Staff member to be added to the Pack Author group on the wiki.
Wiki Development
If you know your stuff with Wiki Development and are interested in becoming part of that team, please let us know! We're always looking for new members that can work in this area. Keep in mind the wiki uses https://semantic-mediawiki.org/ .
Feature Ideas, Suggestions and Improvements
- Ability to use a custom CSS file via the forms as well as a default one if no custom CSS is provided
- Add Pack Author group to forums with or without a badge
- Tabs to the form on the Mod Pages which users can access to for adding general and Pack information. See discussion starting here.
- See this post for Nearox's well rewritten ideas for mod tables, ToC and more. Clarifying post here.
- Addition of icons (see here)
- Load Order section (see here)
Features Implemented / Changes
- Removed the "Mod List:" text from the tables headers so only the user's desired titles will display. (Template edit)