The Dink Network

Private Message

: I was going to post a news item... but the board seems like a better place, as most of the changes I'm going to detail haven't been started yet.

: But I have done the following so far:

: * The Rankings page is back up.  It updates at least every 24 hours, not every time you view the page.

: * The New Files/Reviews box on the main page updates every hour, not every time you view it.

: * The File Listings have changed slightly; before there were 4 icons and a file had one icon, and could have no more and no less.  Now there are two icons (thanks to SuperWolfman for making them), and a file can have both, one, or none.  I also removed the Mirror column from the table, as there are hardly any outside mirrors anymore, and WCNET mirrors virtually everywhere.

: * The File Info Pages have also changed; thanks to everyone who commented when I put up the test, I decided to move Links and stuff in the left column and leave only the Screenshots in the right.  I also reverted back to the old Review format; I didn't really like the black bar one either.

: Upcoming Changes:

: * A standardized review scoring system.  At first I didn't think this was necessary... but with Uber-Reviewers (like DethLord and imacrazyguy) developing their own scoring systems... I realized that it was.  Here is what I have planned:

: 9.0 - 9.9 = Exceptional

: 7.0 - 8.9 = Good

: 5.0 - 6.9 = Mediocre

: 3.0 - 2.9 = Tolerable

: 0.0 - 2.9 = Horrible

: There will also be a theme with each scoring category; for example, horrible files will have skulls and bones and vines on their file-info-page, whereas Exceptional files will have gold hearts and potions and such.

: * A crack-down on files submitted by a Dinker, but created by someone else.  Examples include most of the midi packs (with a few exceptions), a couple of the Tile packs, and so on.  There are a few possibilities... there might be a 'red-list' tag, where if the file is tagged then the submitter doesn't get any points for the file, but still gets credit.  I'm also thinking of just dumping the submitter's names off of the files, putting the true author, and putting 'Submitted by' in the Description or something.

: * Highlight good files.  I'm trying to think of a way to showcase the best files (9.0 and above) in each files category.  I want to make it so when you click on Downloads-D-Mods, the best D-Mods pop-up right away... I did mess with making it automatically sort by rating for a couple hours the other day, but then trilogies and sequels are out of order and such.  So I might try some other things.

The new "awarded" and "screenshot available" don't work in user information pages yet.

Anyway, i've got a new idea: Reviewing dink sites. you could build that into the links page.