Beta Testers Needed for wiki page versioning feature

Micah
Micah
edited January 2012 in General Archive
Hey all,

I'm getting close to shipping a new feature, versioning and comparison of wiki pages. In other words, when you save a page, the old version is stored away and you can compare the two, see the changes, and get back to the old version if necessary. MediaWiki (ie. wikipedia) has this and it's pretty handy.

I want to do some beta testing and get some feedback on it prior to making it generally available. There may be aspects to it that I'm missing, and I'd rather iron out any issues in a small setting.

*Criteria for beta tester*

* Ascendant member
* Fairly active with your campaign (adding/editing/updating wiki pages frequently)
* Desire to actually give helpful feedback
* Patience with the process

*Warnings*

This is a beta feature and it will surely have issues. There is almost no chance that it will harm your campaign, but the old page versions may get corrupted or deleted. I may choose to wipe all the old versions out (and do it many times) until I get things the way I like it. Ultimately I may decide to scrap the whole thing, although that's unlikely. Basically, what I'm saying is: don't expect to rely on this feature during the beta phase. We've gotten along without it so far, so I'm sure we can limp through a little longer.

*Timeline*

I'm hoping to launch the beta in a couple days, but we've also got a big server move looming, so it may be delayed a little. However, I want to line up beta testers now so I can get feedback as soon as it's launched.

*Instructions*

If you're interested, leave a post here with your username (which is also on the post, but we'll just see who follows directions) and a link to your main campaign. I'll probably take 5-10 people and then go from there. For anyone left out, don't worry. I don't expect the beta to last long, as the versioning works pretty well in the testing I've done so far.
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Comments

  • GamingMegaverse
    GamingMegaverse
    Posts: 2,998
    killervp
    "A God Rebuilt":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/a-god-rebuilt

    Just trying to help out.

  • Baalshamon
    Baalshamon
    Posts: 585
    StephenWollett
    "Star Trek Late Night":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/star-trek-late-night
  • dneighbors
    dneighbors
    Posts: 7
    Bummer, an active user and willing to help, but ascendant membership requirement check failed. Keep considering making the jump. Will have to wait until a future beta.
  • Micah
    Micah
    Posts: 894
    Was hoping I could get it launched tonight, but there are still a few tweaks to make and I'm exhausted. Perhaps it will go out sometime this week.
  • KenSee
    KenSee
    Posts: 93
    KenSee
    "Paths of Destiny":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/paths-of-destiny-ken
  • wolfhound
    wolfhound
    Posts: 354
    wolfhound
    "Dresden Files:Dallas":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/dfd
  • HurstGM
    HurstGM
    Posts: 205
    HurstGm
    "The Broken Road":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/private-while-under-construction
  • Morrinn
    Morrinn
    Posts: 166
    Morrinn
    "Morrinn's Tomb of Horrors":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/tohe
  • Micah
    Micah
    Posts: 894
    I deployed it tonight, and I've enabled it for everyone who has posted so far. I'll go ahead and say that's enough beta testers.

    Try editing and saving a wiki page. Then, when you view it, you will see some controls in the right sidebar for viewing and comparing differences. I'd like to hear if anyone has any problems, or any suggestions.

    I'll go ahead and address one major issue: the comparison isn't perfect, nor is it all that great. However, it's passable, and implementing a great comparison would be a big undertaking. So, unless everyone agrees that it's completely awful, I'll settle for passable and focus on other things.

    Beyond that, I'd like to know if there are any usability enhancements I can add, or if there's some simple stuff I'm missing.

    For now...bed!
  • GamingMegaverse
    GamingMegaverse
    Posts: 2,998
    When viewing old versions, customizable nav bars move off their location. If you choose that version, it does correct back to the correct spot.
    killervp
    "A God...Rebuilt":http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaigns/a-god-rebuilt

    Just trying to help out.

  • Baalshamon
    Baalshamon
    Posts: 585
    trial run looks good so far, I like it alot.
  • Baalshamon
    Baalshamon
    Posts: 585
    I am noticing the option does not seem available for items.

    Also noticed that the log to the right of the page that shows updates is not functioning as normal. It seems to only be catching 1 update for every four or five posted.

    Dont know if that is related to the tested object.
  • GamingMegaverse
    GamingMegaverse
    Posts: 2,998
    I like the ability to go back to a previous version- that is great. Do not know how valuable the comparison is for me-
    I am assuming wiki pages only? Not available on adventure logs.

    Just trying to help out.

  • Morrinn
    Morrinn
    Posts: 166
    Works fine for me. This will be a great safety net for editing purposes. I often fire up several tabs where I'm editing a page, just to snag some code I was using, and I often worry I might cut some huge chunk of text and accidentally save the page.

    Very groovy Micah.
  • Micah
    Micah
    Posts: 894
    For now, it's only wiki pages. Eventually it will be adventure logs, wiki pages, items, and characters. Maybe forums, but that's doubtful.

    Can anyone else besides StephenWollett confirm that they are not seeing the list of previous versions saving with each update? It should save a previous version each time you edit the page. I may impose a limit, like only saving the past 10 or 20 versions.

    Thanks for the feedback, keep it coming.
  • KenSee
    KenSee
    Posts: 93
    Works great for me. Thanks so much Micah. This is a really cool feature. If I run into any problems I will let ya know for sure.
  • Baalshamon
    Baalshamon
    Posts: 585
    everything is showing now. Have tested on many pages
  • GamingMegaverse
    GamingMegaverse
    Posts: 2,998
    I have also tested on a lot of pages. Works great. Used it to go back to an old page, worked great. When viewing old versions, customizable nav bars move off their location. If you choose that version, it does correct back to the correct spot.

    Just trying to help out.

  • Micah
    Micah
    Posts: 894
    I take the lack of feedback as a good sign...

    Tonight I will try to deploy the compare/restore for adventure log posts, characters, and items. After that we'll let it run in beta for a week or two, then open it to everyone once we feel it looks good.

    One question: Would any of you mind if it only tracked the latest X versions (say 5 or 10)? We could run into some very real storage issues if we track every past revision of everything forever. I can't imagine people wanting to look back all that far. Instead, this is meant mainly as a way to jump back to a previous version in case you accidentally save over it at some point. So it's less about history and more about undo.

    Thoughts?
  • GamingMegaverse
    GamingMegaverse
    Posts: 2,998 edited February 2012
    3 is enough for me... that way it is not only about the last edit, it also gives the last true page.
    Post edited by GamingMegaverse on

    Just trying to help out.

  • Baalshamon
    Baalshamon
    Posts: 585
    I would go with the latest 3 or 4 versions. No real need to go beyond that.
  • magavendon
    magavendon
    Posts: 112
    I agree with the two above, 3 is probably a good number.
  • Micah
    Micah
    Posts: 894
    Didn't get a chance to deploy last night, due to some failing unit tests. I'm hoping to deploy tomorrow morning.

    3-4 sounds like a good number. It's definitely feasible from a storage standpoint. Thanks for the advice!
  • HurstGM
    HurstGM
    Posts: 205
    Ive loved it, In particular when i mess something up or I cant remember the way something was before. However i dont think ive ever gone past 3 in the earlier versions
  • Micah
    Micah
    Posts: 894
    Deployed support for Adventure Log posts, characters, and items this morning. Take a look and tell me what you think. I will target next weekend as the go-live-for-everyone date.
  • GamingMegaverse
    GamingMegaverse
    Posts: 2,998
    Tried it on an adventure log, and it worked seamlessly! All my characters and items have been moved to wikis, but I will try some out and let you know if there are any difficulties. So, no more news from killervp and A God...Rebuilt will be good news.

    Just trying to help out.

  • Baalshamon
    Baalshamon
    Posts: 585
    looks good, no problems to report
  • GamingMegaverse
    GamingMegaverse
    Posts: 2,998
    There have been a couple of recent requests for this feature, so the timing is awesome!

    Just trying to help out.

  • GamingMegaverse
    GamingMegaverse
    Posts: 2,998
    Micah- Ran into an internal server error on a closed campaign I am in. I am the only one getting the error (I talked to 2 others) and so I assume it is related to the Beta. Here is the link I tried- http://www.obsidianportal.com/campaign/new-era/wikis/main-page
    I cannot access the wiki at all, and I can only see the main page of characters & items. I get a 500 error when clicking on an individual character or item. The main page, adventure logs, forums, calendar, maps, and comments pages offer full functionality.
    The reason I ran into this error was I was asked to move a character into a new campaign.

    Just trying to help out.

  • Micah
    Micah
    Posts: 894
    Sounds like Ryan fixed the bug you were seeing, killervp.

    I'm going to play with it a little more, but overall everything looks pretty good. Hopefully people will like it :)
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