 KeybladeSpyMaster Senior Administrator, News Team(verify) Joined 12 Jul 24 19,600 edits Posted: 23:20, 12 August 2020 (MDT) |
KeybladeSpyMaster - There will always be a Door to the light ! TALK - File:Symbol Character - Mickey.png Helping others always comes before asking others for help! - 11:20 PM Wed, August 12, 2020 MDT |
 Before I start, as a staff, we hope that everyone is doing well right now. We're in unprecedented times, and as members of the community, we hope the Kingdom Hearts Database is a place you can turn to for community and friendship. Our site, social accounts, and Discord are here for you to connect whenever you need someone to talk and connect to.
I'm excited to reveal something we've been working on this summer. We'll be moving to a new server, one that will be more powerful faster. In conjunction with this change, we're working to improve the functionality of the Database, and improving it to provide a better experience for all, both viewers and editors. This thread will go into the changes that we currently have planned to be coming to the site, and we hope to get your feedback on them. We're always looking for ways to improve, and so this thread's purpose is to solicit feedback. We want to know what features, changes, and improvements will help the site be a more effective tool in helping you play the Kingdom Hearts series. So, without further ado, here's what's coming soon to the Kingdom Hearts Database. |
New Server[edit source]
The Kingdom Hearts Database will be moving to a new server that should be more than capable of running the site. In addition, due to the new hosting plan we'll be on, the Kingdom Hearts Database will be guaranteed to be up and running for the next three years. So far, it's running better already, with significant performance gains for both mobile and desktop versions of the site, according to Google's Lighthouse developer report. Our report looks like this regarding performance:
| Current | New Server | |
|---|---|---|
| Desktop | 56 | 62 |
| Mobile | 27 | 57 |
Extensions[edit source]
The Kingdom Hearts Database uses extensions, pieces of software that add to the abilities of the site. Some extensions allow us to build stuff on the site, like templates, using programming techniques like if-statements and loops. Others push notifications of changes to our Discord server or allows us to upload multiple images at once. The current list of extensions can be found at Special:Version, though a brief explanation of each is found here. With our new server, we're looking at the list of installed extensions and deciding which ones we need and which ones we don't. As of right now, we'll be removing the WhosOnline, CharInsert, and UniversalLanguageSelector extensions, and we're adding the RelatedArticles extension, which displays suggested articles to read at the bottom of a page on the Database. If there are any other suggestions, please let me know (a full list of possible extensions can be found at mediawiki.org.
One extension that should hopefully see improvement is the Visual Editor. That extension allows you to edit pages on the Database visually, rather than using wikitext. The next version of the Database's underlying software, MediaWiki 1.35, makes some pretty significant improvements to the Visual Editor and the service that runs it, Parsoid.
Another extension that we'll be adding is CirrusSearch, which basically improves search results. You should now see more results from the Transcript, Walkthrough, Archive, News, and Gallery pages on the Database.
Main Page[edit source]
We'll be reworking the Main Page to further simplify the entry point to the Database. One way we're doing this is adding a large search box on the main page. Since most people arrive searching for something, this feature should make it easier to get to what you need.
Fixed Width and other Styles[edit source]
The Database has always striven to be a site that feels modern, up-to-date, and easy to use. We're improving the Database's style with this update, particularly by introducing fixed widths as the site default. What this means is that articles no longer take up the whole width of the page, but instead take up part of it, allowing the beautiful background to decorate articles on either side. They still take up most of the space, though, and you can always change it back to the classic wiki layout in your preferences. You'll also see some new styles and changes to how the Database's content looks.
Radiant Garden Preservation Committee[edit source]
Alongside the new site updates, I personally have been working on a new initiative called the "Radiant Garden Preservation Committee". The purpose of this new initiative is to recover, collect, and preserve all official information, history, news, art, music, gameplay, story, and resources of beloved video game franchises. It's somewhat an evolution of SNOW. What this means for the Database is that our coverage will expand to also include stuff like archiving manuals and prototypes for display (think of how we currently archive images), deleted content, and anything else we can think of (within the confines of fair use; we don't want SE shutting us down). This will also open us up to more content, more distinction between us and the other Kingdom Hearts encyclopedias, and more opportunities and possibilities with the community. I've got one other wiki already a part of the initiative (the other wiki I run, the Sonic Archive), with a third potentially in the works.
Timeframe and wrapping up[edit source]
At this time, the plan is to move the Kingdom Hearts Database to its new server and home, and implement all these changes, in September. We're currently eyeing the 18th (to somewhat line up with the anniversary of the North American release of Kingdom Hearts). We'll keep everyone informed here and on our Discord server (there will be image previews of the site there, too). You can also check out the test version of the site here, though it's not open to any edits. Please let us know of any suggestions, questions, doubts, anything and everything. Like I said at the beginning, we want to make this the best resource when playing the Kingdom Hearts series, so we want to know what will help you most. Thank you for your support over the last two and a half years, and as always, may your heart be your guiding key!