Server Move
This site might be off-line for a few days while I shift hosting companies. It should be painless, but please let me know if things do not work afterwards....
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February 12, 2006
February 22, 2006
Overview
To see commentating in action refer to this page.
Everytime someone playing a game you are commentating on is finished with an entry they will reassign it to you. You will then receive an email at your registered address telling you about it. The email should have a link so that you can immediately begin to add your commentary. Failing that you can login and then click the Entries button in the top left to find the entry in question.
You can type your commentary directly in the middle of their entry. Once its typed in you highlight it with the mouse, and then click the Quote button to the top-right of the Entry Body section. Its the button on the far right.
That automatically wraps your commentary in special tags that make it stand out from the rest of the entry when published. Once done, Save your changes to the entry.
Once the whole game is over you have to set each entry to a Published state by going in to each entry in turn, changing it to Published. You also have to change the category of the entry from the individual players view up to the main game category. Once done save it again.
The game is then viewable on the site for all to see.
Overview
To see posting an entry in action, see this page
Every turn you take in your game, login and hit the New Entry button in the top left. Its important you make 1 posting per turn. Do not save them up until the game is over as this puts a strain on your Commentator.
Enter a Title for your entry but bear in mind its possible for your opponent to read your entry titles. Not the contents, just the titles. I would recommend you stick to generic titles like "Deployment", "Turn 1", "Turn 2" rather than "Ha ha ha, he'll never expect Greys!"
In the pull down box titled Primary Category select the correct category for the game being played.
This is very important
Then categories are arranged like this:-
- Commentator
- Player 1 Vs Player 2
- Player 1's View
- Player 2's View
- Player 1 Vs Player 2
If you are player 1, select Player 1's View. If you are playing multiple MLSN games (you nutter!) then make sure you are in the correct games area. The category can be changed later, but its much easier all round if this is set right in the first place.
Type up your entry including any screenshots you want to add and then click Save at the bottom. Make any mroe changes you want, saving them each time.
Once you are completely happy with your entry click the link at the very bottom of the page that reads "Transfer ownership of this entry" . Select your Commentator from the drop down list and click the Transfer button. Once this is done you can make no further changes to the entry.
Now go off and worry about what's going to happen when the turn comes back!
Ready to Go!
Indri is now in the process of arranging some matchups and some Commentators to cast their impartial eye over the proceedings.
To get in on the action make yourself known here
I've added an FAQ section over on the right that will eventually list a number of helpful hints and tips. No-one has actually asked me anything yet, so I'm just making it all up.
If you do want to ask me anything then feel free
How do I change my email address and password?
Once logged in you can click your username in the top right.
This allows you to amend all your Author settings, including the email address, password and your secret Password Hint.
Ooops, I've forgotten my password....
No problem.
On the login screen just click the Forgot My Password link. It will ask you for your username and your Password Hint. This is set to that little bit of additional information I asked you for when creating your account.
If you get them both correct then your password will be reset, and you will get sent an email to your registered address with the new password. Log in and change it to something more memorable this time!
How do I change an entries Category?
Each entry is assigned its own category in order to organise them.
The categories are arranged as follows:-
- Commentator
- Player 1 Vs Player 2
- Player 1's View
- Player 2's View
- Player 1 Vs Player 2
While the game is in progress they should be assigning their entries to their respective view. Once the game is complete and you have finished your commentary you need to change each entry from the Player 1's/2's View up one into the Player 1 Vs Player 2 category. This is so that they all appear on the same page once the game is over.
You can change the category via the drop down box towards the top right of the Editing screen. Just click the arrow, select the correct game category and then Save.
You can either do this as you go along or you can come back and do them all at the end.
New FAQ Section Available
I've posted up a few items under an FAQ section. You can get to it via the sidebar on the main page.
I'll be adding more Questions and Answers over the coming days so if you get stuck on anything then check there first.
How do I add screenshots to my post?
This looks more complicated than it is, so bear with me...
If you know a bit of HTML and have some webspace then you can add the HTML code directly to your entry to insert any pictures you like. I would ask that you limit yourself to using Thumbnail images and linking them to any fullsize images you want to show.
However, that's not what I do, mainly as I'm too lazy.
I host all my images on a free Image host called ImageShack . You can either use the PrintScreen functionality of Windows to take a snapshot of your LSN screen and manually upload your image file to their website, or you can use their free tool called QuickShot
If you upload them manually you will be presented with a screen that looks like this. The code you want is the one marked Thumbnail For Websites.
Copy and Paste this code directly into your entry and you will have a clickable thumbnail. You can check it in the Preview option.
Notice how that image to the right has a rather ugly black bar along the bottom with the image dimensions? There is an option on the Imageshack site for removing those, although it didnt seem to work this time... Try to opt to remove them as the thumbnails look much better without them.
If you use the QuickShot program mentioned above then its even earier. I have my copy set up like this. Notice it also has the option to remove the black resolution bar from the thumbnails. With the program setup like this I just press CTRL and U together and the program does a screen capture, uploads it to ImageShack and then puts the code for the clickable thumbnail directly onto my clipboard so I can paste it right into my entry.
I have also signed up for a free ImageShack registration which means that I can visit a page at ImageShack that shows me all the pictures I've ever uploaded to them, along with all the code for inserting the screenshots. Its very useful if I accidently upload a screenshot but forget to paste the code into my entry. To use this in conjunction with QuickShot make sure you visit the Account Settings tab within the program.
I would really recommend everyone uses the QuickShot program as its just so easy to get nice looking screenshots into your entries.
The other thing you need to know how to do is to Float your images to the left or right. The images above are floated, which means that the text flows nicely round them instead of them standing out on their own.
When you paste code in from ImageShack it looks like this (Forgive the line wrapping):-
<a href="http://img520.imageshack.us/my.php?image=012920061450266is.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/492/012920061450266is.th.jpg" border="0" /></a>
To make it float you need to add an extra snippet of code. You need to make it read like this:-
<a href="http://img520.imageshack.us/my.php?image=012920061450266is.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/492/012920061450266is.th.jpg" style="float:left; margin: 0px 8px 0px 8px;" border="0" /></a>
Again, sorry about the line wrapping. You should be able to see the added 'style="float:left; margin: 0px 8px 0px 8px;' section . Change left to right to float the image on the other side.
Thats not the easiest of things to remember, so just cut-and-paste that extra snippet into a draft email, or a notepad document so you have it to hand. Personally I use the Signature extention below to remember these two snippets. I can then just right clck in Firefox and insert the snippet. Nice and easy.
This Clippings extention would probably aslo do the trick, but I use the Signature one above.
February 23, 2006
How can I stop my comments from going behind a screenshot?
If one of the players has posted a screenshot and you add some commentary nearby then you might find that your comment section site behind the picture, hiding either the opening or closing quote and generally looking a bit rubbish.
See the example below:-
Wow, look at this lovely screenshot of some troops running about. Very informative
I agree, this is a very nice screenshot indeed.Most infomative
Oh no! My comment is getting hidden behind the screenshot. You cannot see the closing quote!!
However can I fix it!!!!??!?!
Ahem...
This is dead easy to fix, but you need to manually correct it. I cannot tell when you are commentating next to a picture, you'll have to use the Live Preview option to check for it. If you forget, or miss one then don't worry as you can still perform this fix even after publishing the game.
In the example above I used the standard Commentating procedure of highlighting my commentary and clicking the quote button. This gave me text that looked like this:-
<blockquote><div>This is my comment</div></blockquote>
If you are commentating next to am image thats on the right you need to change this to
<blockquote class=right><div>This is my comment</div></blockquote>
Likewise, you can change that 'right' to 'left' if the image is on the left.
See how it now looks with that slightly amended section:-
Wow, look at this lovely screenshot of some troops running about. Very informative
I agree, this is a very nice screenshot indeed.It looks so much better now that the commentary is positioned properly.
Good job all round!
Nimzomitch
BA Nimzomitch was the first Commentator on this site. He did a great job at giving the commentating system a test.
Why cant I get blank lines to show up in my comments?
For some reason any empty lines you leave in the middle of your comments get stripped out, so this:-
<blockquote><div>That was a nice move
I think it will work really well
- Robmonster</div></blockquote>Looks like this:-
If you find this happening to your comments then insertThat was a nice moveI think it will work really well- Robmonster
<p> wherever you want a newline to appear.
<blockquote><div>That was a nice move<p>
<p>
I think it will work really well<p>
<p>
- Robmonster</div></blockquote>This doesn't seem to happen all the time, so check your entry preview to see if its required.
February 27, 2006
How often should I post my entries?
You should post your entry at the same time as you plot your turn.
Please do not write your turns up separately and then post three at once. It makes life more difficult for the commentators and also results in the final write-up page displaying in a funny order.
If you do not have time to complete your entry then do not send the turn in. Thats why we advise you play 60 day games to give you the most time possible.