v-s.net v0.6

Tuesday, 12:09 am in Archive

Well, I’m actually working on it. Jeebuz… been long enough. Expect the following…

Expanded Template/Skin System
v0.6 will now be using phpBB-style templating. Basically this means that practically everything is skinnable, and much more flexibly than in the past.

Short URLs
Gone are the days of file extensions and var=value querey strings. Here are the days of /post/123 and members/loqia.

Groups System
These were in one of the very first iterations of sk.log as ‘cliques’; and now they’re making a comeback. Groups will control permissions to various parts of the log, including viewing and commenting on items (see below), even adding and admining certain site areas. The user will largely be responsible for adding themselves to new groups, which can then be used to ‘opt in’ to certain areas of the site. Don’t like my drabble writing? Then don’t read it! Hooray. Some groups will be open to be joined by any member. Others will have ‘prices’; either to be paid in karma, reaching a certain item count, or being invited by a group admin (groups can be assigned to non-admin users and modded via other groups).

More OS-like Handling of Stuff
v0.6 will adopt a more crescent-style system of managing posts, comments, art, guestbook entires… whatever. Everything in the system (with the exception of users and possibly groups) is now registered in the one central table. Thus log posts will jostle for itemIDs with galleries, links, comments and site categories. Obviously, depending on type, certain items will be supplimented with cross-referenced tables. All item types have ‘handlers’, which relate back to URLs and thus module files.

Karma
The current karma system is pretty underused currently, but I always kind of liked the idea (in theory if not necessarily in practice). The new karma system will introduce weighting, and make karma more like a site ‘currency’. Now the amount of karma a user has will effect on how much they can add/subtract to items (technically almost everything in the system can be assigned karma, but probably not everything will). A user will have a ‘permanent’ and ‘temporary’ karma score. Permanent karma is like a karma ‘income’ and effects the regeneration of a user’s spent karma over time (I’m not sure over how much time; this is one of those semi-autonomous tasks that will need some investigating), as well as their max spendable karma. Karma can be spent to either give other users karma or take it away, though not on a one-to-one ratio. Subtracting from a user’s karma has a higher ‘exchange rate’, while things like admin and group status can positivley (or even adversley) effect a user’s karma exchange. Finally, karma can be used to ‘buy’ one’s way into groups (groups may end up getting a pool of accumulated karma that can then be spent on… something), or even get things like avatars or signatures or titles or random ‘inventory’ items or whatever other crap I can think up when I’m bored. Site admins will have the option to totally disable karma, since I know it’s generally more trouble than it’s worth (but kind of fun to write).

… and Maybe Forums
Another past ide that may find itself resurrected for the current time. Obviously forums make more sense if you think along the lines that sk.log can not only function as a content management system, but also a community management system (eg. groups and karma).

So that’s the plan for the next three years of sk.log. Hopefully the new system will be neater, cleaner, smoother, faster and more over-chromed than the last one. I love that shit.

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