We are sorry to inform our users that we will be shutting down in a few days and deleting all our archives. We did not want to do this but it has come to this point where we are no longer able to maintain the site. Read for more information.
April Fools! Hope that worm isn't annoying you too much.
March was a wild ride, and many changes to the site and updates internally were made, and we have some fun project updates to share too. Let's get into it and have a good April.
Site Updates
As many have noticed, we've had quite a bit of changes happen on the site. These are nothing major, but were done not only to make extra room but add additional features and improve the usability. Let's go over some of them.
The Library Pages
The library has been hugely overhauled to feel more personalized towards the software we archive and preserve. We also have been adding more basic information about the software on it's page, to be more informative about what we are on about. You also probably noticed how the selections for each software on the main library page are smaller, and this was done to fit more of them in a small space. We have plans to expand further our software library and improve on the ones we already have, and want to make the process easy. The new display of our selections is also organized in alphabetical order so if you have trouble, just remember that.
You'll also see on the bottom a general set of categories for archives. This is for stuff that isn't quite specific to software or just a general topic. For instance, tools can usually go to multiple archive folders, but we want to preserve the storage space, so we can place them there instead. We will eventually have a system that will automatically link tools relating to the software back to this main category, but it will be but for awhile.
Icons! Icons! Icons!
If you've paid attention to where you are clicking, you'll notice a small improvement to our icons. Yes, after over a year of the site being online and more than 6 months since our initial design release used now, I've decided to change the icons to be more aesthetically pleasing and detailed. I felt as if the old icons didn't have as much flavor, so I decided to take time to quickly redo some of them. I hope you find our new looks pleasing.
Text on the buttons?
If there is one thing I've been informed about in regards to the site design that was an issue, it's been the lack of understanding how to navigate. I've been told it was a struggle to figure out how to get to the rest of the site before realizing the buttons on the side were more than just for looks. I decided to fix that problem by making the buttons 'pop out'. Hovering over the navigation buttons should now display text beside it, informing you of the name of the link. This uses it's own font, and does not work on the mobile layout. However, our desktop users should now understand where they are going if they don't already.
Directory Listings get an upgrade
If you check on a folder that just lists files now, you'll see a neat search and sorting options. These are mostly replacements for the pre-existing configurations provided by the software, but the search feature is an addition to the interface that can help you find a file.
Using the search is pretty straightforward. It uses a normal asterisk (*) as a wildcard character, which means it can be mean anything. This can be very useful when looking for a file with a certain name, or finding certain filetypes. For instance, cat* will list all files that have a name starting with 'cat', as anything else after can count. A search of *.png will show any file with the extension PNG. It can be a very useful tool if you know how to use it, and it can make navigating much easier.
Git
Recently, you may have noticed a new git page hosted within the site. I like my freedom, and I felt it was important to host my software somewhere important where I can meet this amount of freedom with my projects. That is why under the git directory, you will see our self-hosted git using Gitea. Any public project in relation to our archives and efforts will be there from now on, with it's source code and releases. We've even started using it for Worlds Organizer updates and uploads.
And more!
Some other noteworthy changes are a cleaner design in Contacts with more details, an about page, and changes to the look of the news blocks on the front page.
Projects
Details on projects and their updates
Worlds Organizer
If you don't know about my Worlds tool project Worlds Organizer, it's a simple editor tool for Worlds files and resources such as avatars, worldsmarks and soon other sorts of stuff. I've been hard at work and we are nearing it's first release! The tool allows you to modify your list files for WorldsPlayer in an easier and more user-friendly way, giving you complete control of the names and values without having to use the clinky built-in editors or creating them from scratch. You can order and organize them (hence the name 'Organizer') however you want.
Check out the page on it and try it out yourself!
Avatar Viewer
While just starting out, I am in the works of a live preview avatar code creator. It will have a small 3d window that displays the avatar based on the code and allows you to modify certain parts from it. This project still in the works but it is something to look forward to, with full expectations of being licensed under GPL3.
Archives
WorldsPlayer
Thanks to some accidental work, a precursor to the GroundZero world was discovered, and completely uploaded for WorldsMark viewing! It's named WorldsCenter and based on the notes in the developer pages, it suggests it was a recreation and update from the original AOL WorldsChat client. This means we have something extra to find and archive, but it's super neat to explore and we can definitely see some designs from GroundZero originating from here.
V-Chat
Tons of software archives of the client and it's tools were saved as well as a ton of worlds still up for the software.
ROBLOX
Old Roblox Studio and clients surfaced from around 2008 - 2009, and while again not apart of early internet history, it would be a shame to see them disappear.
This months supporters:
Thank you to our wonderful supporters as always.
Paola - $10
Hope you've enjoyed this months newletter. More is coming so stay tuned! Have a great April!