A Story of IT
Entry posted by Josh ·
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I generally categorize every aspect of Leadwerks as either "absolutely required" or not necessary. If it's categorized as the latter, I don't bother with it, and if it's categorized as the first, I pursue it with a dogged determination until it is done. This has served us well in many ways, like our vegetation rendering system and character controller.
However, this assumes I have full control and mastery over the product, or at least have someone working for me who does. This is almost always the case with software development. I do not have the same power over other aspects of Leadwerks like the website. Our bug reporting system, based on IP.Tracker, was an unsupported unofficial add-on offered by Invision Power Services. That means they offer it, but if anything goes wrong you are on your own. This should have steered me away from using it. I generally never use any third-party add-ons, especially free ones, but the features were nice and it was compelling. (The one exception in our system is our chat system, which has functioned wonderfully, but also came with a fairly high price tag. Correlation?)
After installing IP.Board 3.2, I attempted to install the new Tracker that works with it, but the installation process would not work. I even got IPS to look at it, despite their policy of this being a non-supported product, but their "fix" was quickly done and didn't actually fix it. I could keep pestering them, but I've already spent a lot of time on it, and we're never going to get a real solution. Even if it could be installed successfully, a new problem could arise at any time, and we'd be back in the same position as before. The application hasn't been updated since August of last year even though there are outstanding bug reports. Despite all it's complexity, there's really no other forum/CMS that comes close to the features IPB offers.
Anyways, the point of my long-windedness is that I'm giving up on upgrading IP.Tracker and created a bug report sub forum here:
http://www.leadwerks.../59-bug-reports
The data is all in the database still, and there's a possibility we might be able to migrate it into the forum, but I honestly wouldn't count on it. The value gained per unit effort is getting very bad if I keep going down this road.
Additionally, the new IP.Gallery application is so badly designed I consider it unusable. Even before the upgrade, people frequently posted images in the Showcase forum rather than deal with the complexity of managing albums and uploading images into different categories. I have implemented a custom system here we have complete control over. I encourage you to re-post your images here where they will be safe, and I have complete control over the layout and design:
http://www.leadwerks...ce/page/gallery
I have posted a few images there to test with. If I posted one of your images and you would like to re-post it in your own name, I will gladly remove my upload. Additionally, the latest images will soon be added to the Portal page, mixed in with the latest videos thumbnails. A link to the old gallery will remain at the bottom of the Gallery page until April 1, 2012 so you can access your images.
This is a complex site, and I am operating it with a minimal amount of IT support. Going forward, we are going to implement a few policies to minimize problems.
1. No third-party applications or features will be utilized, with the exception of our chat bar, which is a paid third-party product that has always functioned perfectly.
2. When a custom database can serve our purposes, that will be preferred over third-party applications and even some official IPS applications. For example, I implemented a custom database for the video section, articles, and replaced IP.Gallery with our own system. (I do not have any plans for any additional databases or website features in the near future.)
The upgrade to the latest version of IP.Board was well worth it, in spite of those couple of problems. First, it would have been very difficult to find a designer capable of and willing to work with the old version. Second, the new system cleans up a lot of the functionality of the older version, which oould be quite chaotic in some places. Finally, it ensures we are up to date if any security issues should arise. There hasn't ever been any, and I have no reason to believe there will be, but it's best to be prepared. IPB 3.1+ was really an infant product compared to the more mature version 3.2. Further versions of the system are not expected to be such drastic changes, as the feature set and design has solidified quite a lot.
Thank you for your patience and especially for generating all the great content that makes this site so fun to browse.
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