Topics

16

Announcements / Add your chest shop to the official chest shop list!

« on: November 12, 2016, 10:37:49 PM »

As of IDP 10.9.0 it is now possible to get a list of all lots with chest shops! That way if someone wants to know where to find chest shops they can just use /chestshop -list to find all chest shop lots!

For those of you who have chest shops and would like them added feel free to submit a staff request with your lot's ID and what you want the name of the shop to be.

17

Announcements / New tutorial established

« on: November 11, 2016, 10:35:57 PM »

I can finally announce the newest tutorial! The old one which we had been using for a long time has been replaced. The biggest problem it had was that it was too long. The new one is far more condensed than the older one, and the lot part of the tutorial is the first thing past the initial rules area. It still has a lot of the same elements as the last tutorial, but for everything the tutorial doesn't cover, that will be shown in a feature area that will come in the future, including an expansion of existing features.

18

Tutorials / Editing Signs

« on: October 26, 2016, 03:49:25 PM »

There are a few ways to edit signs in an easy way. You can either use the /editsign command, edit sign wand, or by using a sign in hand.


/editsign


When using /editsign to edit a sign, a number of options are available:

Code: [Select]

/editsign <line number> <text>

This will edit a specific line of the sign with the given text.

Code: [Select]

/editsign <line number> <-clear, -c>

This will clear a specific line on the sign.


Edit Sign Wand


Taking a piece of paper, coupled with the /editsignwand command, you can set your edit sign wand to easily edit signs:

Code: [Select]

/editsignwand <line number> <text>

This will set a certain line of your edit sign wand to the specified text.

Code: [Select]

/editsignwand -blank, -b [line number]

This will cause a specific sign line to become blank, overwriting its contents when the wand is applied to a sign. Omitting [line number] will cause the entire wand to be blank. By default, lines that are not set will not overwrite a line of a sign, and must be made blank first.

Code: [Select]

/editsignwand -clear, -c [line number]

This will cause a line to be cleared on the edit sign wand. Omit [line number] to cause the entire wand to be cleared.

Code: [Select]

/editsignwand -view, -v

This will allow you to view the contents of your wand.


Using a Sign in Hand


Using a sign in your hand you can left-click a sign with another sign in hand to copy the text. Simply paste it onto a non-sign block with left-click to paste the previous sign's contents.

19

Announcements / gg server, this was a bad mistake

« on: October 08, 2016, 12:35:21 AM »

I screwed up on something, and now need to reinstall the entire server just to put everything back together the right way... I deeply apologize for this, and want to make things right again. I'm up front about it, not going to hide it.

Not sure when we'll be back to normal, but I will post here when we are. I guess this is a good time to make everything the way it should be... given our state of activity and such, not a lot of people are going to miss the server right now. Currently backing up files so that I can quickly restore things when the server is reinstalled.

Since we had custom configurations, making sure they are backed up is important. I'd rather not re-install and miss some things that should have been there. Also, the database stopped functioning right for IDP when this happened, so that's why the server is in maintenance mode.

If you want to know more in-depth information than this, you can always talk to me personally. But for now, R.I.P. the server...

Edit: I estimate I can get everything done by tonight, if not tomorrow

Edit 2:

This means the following services are down:

• Minecraft Server
• Dynmap server map
• Redmine (affects staff)

I should be able to restore these to full working order.

Edit 3: I setup a temporary vanilla server at game.innectis.net until everything can be resolved. This may be shut down or restarted at any time due to server maintenance.

20

Announcements / Completely new changelog system

« on: October 03, 2016, 03:42:16 AM »

I'd like to announce a complete overhaul for the changelog system. As all if not most of you are well aware of, we've been keeping a list of changes in one topic, spread out over several replies. An obvious limitation with this is there's no easy way to jump between versions. What's worse, there's a limit to how big a single post can be, in which case the post needs to be merged downwards, taking time and effort to spread it all out and add the new changes to the first post. Plus I have to post in the topic when there is a new update to notify forum visitors whenever there is a new update.

I've had an idea for a revamped changelog system for awhile, but never pursued the idea until recently. I actually started the project on a Tuesday, September 13 of last month. The main idea was to create a system written in PHP that would have much more flexibility, but since I don't really know PHP, decided to shelve it until a later time when I did know enough PHP to be able to make the system. In the meantime, I'd have to make do with HTML. However, what I do have is more than adequate at this time.

Not only will this system let you jump between versions quickly, but you can read it a lot easier than you could before. I used CSS to format the areas where the changelog is written to allow easier reading from the rest of the document. I've also included an RSS file that you can subscribe to to keep up-to-date with new IDP releases quickly and seamlessly. That feature alone allows the ability, through the RSS Feeder mod installed on this forum, to automatically post IDP update topics any time a new version comes out. This even allows feedback too!

This system isn't finished though. I had an idea to generate comprehensive statistics for IDP, but only got so far as to release a prototype that can be viewed here. The more I worked on it, the bigger the idea became. That will be released later on. There are some other things I want to do but will do them at a later time.

More information on the changelog system can be found here.

21

IDP Updates / Information on this system

« on: October 03, 2016, 03:41:49 AM »

This board contains automatic posts for IDP updates that are pushed live. It is automatically generated from an RSS file that can be found here.

22

Announcements / Post-minecon Minecraft 1.11 snapshot (Exploration Update)

« on: September 28, 2016, 11:11:47 AM »

As some of you might know, Mojang gave a demonstration of all the new content of Minecraft 1.11. There were some interesting additions but overall this set the tone that Minecraft 1.11 will follow. Well a new 1.11 snapshot came out today, so i decided to set up a snapshot server that everyone can connect to, to see everything that is going to be in 1.11 (yes, Mojang considered this feature-complete, so what you're seeing is pretty much what 1.11 is going to be about.)

It's not typical that we do this, host a snapshot server alongside the live version. However, I felt that I could provide something special to all of you by doing this.

You can connect to the snapshot server at game.innectis.net:25566 and make sure you are using the 16w40a snapshot. Read below for some information on how to get snapshots (this is the recommended method).

To get snapshots, open your launcher and press the “New Profile” button. Call it “snapshots” and check the box saying “Enable experimental development snapshots” and save. To switch to the normal version, you can select it in the dropdown at the bottom left corner of the launcher. Back up your world first or run the game on in a different folder (See the “new profile” dialog).

Snapshots can corrupt your world, please backup and/or run them in a different folder from your main worlds.

23

Bans / JTA1000, ReFLeX__SnIPeS

« on: September 27, 2016, 10:14:56 AM »

Banned for abusing creative world privileges to cause massive lag on the server. The time is indefinite until I can determine what to do with the two of you.

You have a right to appeal in this thread should you choose to do so.

Edit: Not sure if it was the two of you, but JTA your actions made it seem like you were part of it. I really don't know exactly what was going on, so to prevent this from happening again, I decided to ban both of you until I get some answers.

24

Suggestions / XenForo as forum software

« on: September 21, 2016, 05:26:20 AM »

For awhile now we've toyed with the idea of switching forum software, but nothing really concrete has been decided on. I've thought of XenForo multiple times, because it's in use by a lot of communities out there. I've had a lot of exposure to the software from an outside perspective, but never actually had it myself. Two sites that make use of it are the bukkit and spigot sites.

https://bukkit.org/
https://www.spigotmc.org/

However, this isn't free. The price tag is at least $140 / year, which I don't think is too unreasonable considering the features that we'd get. Actually, we'd have to pay $140 anytime we want to renew a license which allows us to buy future updates. We could keep the 1 year license and when it expires, just buy another when we want future updates.

Edit: When replying with your thoughts, check how our data is presented with SMF, and then check how it's presented with XenForo.

25

Announcements / Some forum additions

« on: September 21, 2016, 05:06:03 AM »

I did a few things for the forum. They are:

• Replaced the favicon with the Innectis favicon
• Default RSS items increased from 5 to 20
• Board for guests that is a redirect to the registration page
• Automatic embedding of youtube and other links

Nothing too major, but I figured it was time to work on the web side of Innectis. However, I do have something major coming that has to do with the changelog system.

26

Bans / Draco10M

« on: September 18, 2016, 03:38:18 PM »

Banned for 3 days for advertising.

27

Suggestions / A poll on a feedback system

« on: September 14, 2016, 02:23:20 AM »

Curious to know if you guys think a feedback system for server changelogs would help improve things.

Poll will last for 14 days.

28

Announcements / Status report 9/7/2016

« on: September 07, 2016, 01:42:29 PM »

Alright guys, I have a bunch of stuff to report on the state of Innectis over the past month. No this isn't going to be a monthly thing, just whenever I have a bunch of topics to cover. It just so happened this came a month after the last one!

Anyways, I think this status report is one of the more important ones because it includes some staff decisions moving forward that were mentioned in the transparency letter but not yet covered.

Papyrus

Papyrus is new server software that came in the IDP 10.7.0 update. Built on the Paper Minecraft server, we are using software that has been built on performance. Paper itself builds on Spigot which is also optimized for performance.

SMF 2.1 Beta

I have set up a beta of SMF 2.1 found here: http://beta.innectis.net for you to sign up and get a feel for. Unfortunately SMF still hasn't released it despite it being in development for many years now.

State of the New Tutorial

The tutorial is moving along really well. Most of the stuff is there now, but it still needs to be tweaked around a bit before it will replace our current tutorial. It is much smaller and more straight and to the point than the other one. We'll have an announcement once it is finished and ready for guests, and you alike to check it out!

Gitstats Report

I released a gitstats report a few weeks ago detailing the development that has gone into the IDP the last 5 years. It's more geared towards developers but hopefully makes some sense to non-developers. It is the most comprehensive report released on the contributions made to the IDP.

Build-A-Feature

This week I created this initiative to allow the community to help build ideas for future features of the server. I feel that people should be able to collaborate together to come up with ideas as we did not have many ways the community could help out before. This follows my vision of having the community feel more valued when it comes to what they can do.

Staff Decisions Moving Forward

While I have not opted for a community manager I have decided to move the staff team over to Slack for making the team more fluid and efficient. This tool has everything we need and more. Big companies like NASA use this tool to keep in fluid communication with each other so I figure, "Why not us?".

Special thanks to Almirith for suggesting this and Jailout2000 for demoing the tool for me. This is the most significant move I've made to keep the staff more organized and working together. If any of you are looking to collaborate in a team I highly suggest this tool.

Alright that's it for now guys.

29

Build-A-Feature / Leveling System

« on: September 05, 2016, 12:56:15 PM »

For about a year or more now the idea of a leveling system has come up, and we thought of what we wanted to do in order to get it done, but nothing has really been done. McMMO was suggested at one point, but we ended up not using it. Part of the reason I brought up was because since McMMO was developed by other people it wouldn't have the same feel as if it was developed for Innectis.

This is why we decided to build our own system. However, we have not put forth any ideas to it and it has remained in limbo for quite awhile. So, we would like the community's input to make this feature idea a reality.

30

Announcements / Introducing Build-A-Feature: An initiative for the community

« on: September 05, 2016, 12:45:58 PM »

Since last month I've had a lot of time to think of what could be done to address the issue we are currently facing on Innectis. Over that time, I have come across the same simple concept many times: community is a large reason why things are so successful. Innectis has lasted over 5 years because people have continued to come back time and time again. There may not be as much people anymore, but old timers still come back every now and then.

It is this element of a company, service or other type of group that shows the ultimate value of what is being offered. When you have people come back time and time again, that really means something significant. The community is there continually because of the content they love and enjoy. It's this aspect that we'd like to emphasize more of moving forward with this community. We would like to show the community the value that they have, and give them more opportunities to show that they really help keep the server going.

A method of development that is very common in the development world is known as open-source development. That is where the developers of a project allow others from the community and even outside the community to make their own contributions that can be applied to the project. This gives a community aspect to the project because the developers aren't the only ones who create the final product,  but the contributors help as well. This is a great way of letting those with ideas know that they matter!

I certainly know first-hand the value of open-source development as I have contributed to Bukkit and CraftBukkit a few times, among other projects. Even Hretsam has contributed to World Edit (the pyramid commands). The idea of being open enough to allow contributions from people other than the developers of a project really shows their appreciation for other people.

However, we haven't had a lot of ways the community could help out without being a staff member themselves. They typically had to be active with the community and a respected person before we chose them to be a part of our team. We also have a suggestion board but that can only work to a certain extent. Not all suggestions end up being added to the server. There needs to be more ways for the community to show their value. That is where this initiative comes in, and it's really just the start.

With that said, We would like to introduce the Build-A-Feature community initiative, an initiative made with the community in mind. This is your opportunity to give back in a way that allows some future server features to have been driven by the community. While we have added suggestions from the community, very few if any have been added with direction by the community. We'd like to at least incorporate some features that have been idea-driven by the community.

We hope this change is one that really helps show the value the community really has to Innectis. This is just the start as we want the community to have more influence than what they've had in the years leading up to now. I actually thought of this idea to begin with. I know I have had a history of not really listening to the community, but after last month have really started to get myself together.

Moving forward, let's make this community what it should be. You can find more information about Build-A-Feature here.