Bluethrust Dev Blog

I kind of procrastinated a lot today.  I woke up really early to start coding but then it was so nice outside and I got distracted.

Having already coded 3 other “Manage” sections, I was hoping this one wouldn’t be too bad.  But obviously all of these manage sections have their own little qwerks to them and special things that they need.  What gave me the most problems was a stupid mistake I had made in the beginning when I first made console class where I wasn’t sorting by the row that I had set to sort the console options.  I probably spent like an hour and half trying to figure out why the move up and down wasn’t working.

Anyway once I figured that out I just needed to sort it correctly everything went fine.  

I have to go to a wedding tomorrow so I’m probably not going to do any coding tomorrow.  Next on my list is to do the Console Categories section which has the same Add and Manage type pages.  It *should* be easy to get done.

Also sorry to the 2 people that were tweeting at me I never knew where to look to see the mentions before. :\

I answered them on twitter but just so everyone else knows as well I’ll answer here too.

Question 1: ”have just came across your site is this a full site script any eta on v4?”

Yes, it is going to be a full site script and I am hoping to have a beta release by September.

Question 2: “is there a guide on v3? Will v4 be free or how much for a license?”

v4 will be free.  There are no guides for v3.  I wanted to make one but I decided it would be better to get v4 finished.  I am planning to make some video tutorials for v4.  

Question 3: “Is BlueThrust v4 gonna be straight line by line(v3 code) or object oriented php?”

I am kind of a noob with object oriented programming.  I took 2 intro java courses in college and that is really all I know about object orient programming.  However, one of the main reasons I started v4 was to code it in OOP and learn/get better at it.  So yes, it will be object oriented.  The line by line is what I am not really sure about, the pages just use the objects and I have methods and functions that are used with the objects but it’s still kind of line by line so I am not really sure how to answer whether it is line by line.  I guess its a mix.

This week was a fail in terms of getting stuff done.  Just finished Add New Console Option tonight.  See the last post for more detailed information on that page.  But, the key differences from v3 to v4 is that Console options are no longer separated only by which rank you are.  The website admin can also set whether a specific member can have access to any console option.

I am hoping again to finish the Manage Console Options some time this week.  

I also got a forum up.  So if you have any questions about v3 or need help with installing it, sign up and make a post.  I also have a section for v4 Requests where you can post things that you would like to see.

The forum link is here —-> http://www.bluethrust.com/forum

Had to kind of hack together the css to make the theme look kind of like the main site, so if there is any weird stuff feel free to make a post about it in the forum or comment below.

This week I finished the Add Games Played and Manage Games Played sections.  I think they came out really well and am hoping everyone likes the way it turned out.  You can basically create any stat you want.  I set it so you can make auto-calculated stats like Kill/Death Ratio for Call of Duty and Battlefield, etc.  You can also do a win percentage for games like Starcraft.

Another part I worked on this week was the Manage Rank Categories section.  I forgot I needed to finish that part.  There really isn’t anything special there though, it basically does what the name describes….  Edit/Delete Rank Categories.

Lastly, started working on the Add Console Options part.  At first I thought this would not be that complicated of a section to create, but as I was coding it, I realized so much more needed to be in it.  Matt, one of the guys that joined the team had the idea to make it so you can set whether specific members can have access to a certain console option.  So I am implementing that, as well as being able to set the console access based on a member’s rank.  I am hoping to finish the Add Console Options part tomorrow and then sometime this week get the Manage part of that section done.

Follow @Bluethrust on twitter if you want more frequent updates.  I am going to be updating the twitter as I finish parts and then make a weekly combined post on what got finished during the week on here.

Like always, if you have any features that you would like to see in the next version of Bluethrust Clan Scripts, let me know in the comments!  

So, the two new people that applied to help code, both responded back so now that they are going to be helping, v4 will hopefully get done a lot faster.  

On Wednesday night I finished up the Manage Ranks section and we set up an easy way to work on the code together.  Last night we started working on the Add Games Played and Medals sections (two parts at one time!!).

I’ve been coding the add games played section and it might be the most epic add games played section ever.  It blows v3 out of the water.  I made it way easier and more understandable (I think) and also made a way to add auto-calculated stats.  

For tomorrow, I’m hoping to finish up the Add Games Played section and continue on to the Manage Games Played section, where you can edit and delete the games that were added.

Will try to keep everyone posted on the progress at least every weekend now that things are starting to get moving again.  If you have any suggestions that you would like to see in the new scripts leave a comment below or e-mail cs4ideas@bluethrust.com.

I redesigned the site now that I’ve decided to release v3 for free.  I integrated this tumblr blog onto the main page of the site too and added a way for people to leave comments on posts since I can’t figure out how to allow comments on tumblr.  So, with that said, let me know what you think of the new design in the comments!

I’m hoping to also add some tutorials for v3 to this new site as well.  I still plan to help out when I get support e-mails, but it would be good to have to lower the amount of support questions.  I need to definitely install a message board system too.

As for progress on v4, I’m basically finished with the Manage Ranks section.  The only part that is still unfinished is the delete rank page which is probably the easiest part to code of the manage ranks section.  Also, I e-mailed both of the new people that applied to help out.  I have a yes from one and still waiting on a response from the other.  

Sorry for the no posts in a while.  Haven’t done any work… BUT!!!  Long hours are over at work so I’m going to try to commit to at least 2 hours a day on week days and more on the weekends to get this done.

I’m going to be taking on the two people that e-mailed in that wanted to help code.  I want to finish off the manage ranks page before they come on though so I can show how I kind of want things to look and if they have a better idea to let me know.  I still need to e-mail them back too so I am hoping they are still interested.

I’m also going to be releasing these scripts for free and I am soon going to be releasing v3 for free also.  

I worked on the Manage Ranks page tonight.  The form is all laid out and fills in all the info with the selected ranks info.  Need to just program the submit button to save.  

Really close to my real job going back to normal hours.  I’ve decided at this point to at least take a look into getting some help with coding from people who want to help.  I am also seriously considering releasing v4 for free and trying to build a community around it where people can submit their own plugins/themes/etc.  

If you want to be apart of helping code v4 you need to be comfortable coding in/with PHP, MySQL, HTML, Javascript, jQuery and CSS.

To apply send an e-mail to support@bluethrust.com with the following questions answered:

1) How long you have been programming.

2) Examples of your work

3) Why should I pick you?

I won’t be able to pay anyone but if you are chosen to help, and I don’t release the final version for free, you will get a free copy of the scripts and credit on the site and in the code.

Sorry for the lack of updates.  There really hasn’t been much progress on the scripts.  Today was literally my first day off in 3 weeks and I just didn’t feel like doing anything.  Will try to find some time to do some progress but work is making me burnt out and I just want to be lazy when I get home.

Wasn’t able to get any progress done last week.  Was really sick and I didn’t get any days off.  Going to try to get some stuff done tonight.

I’ve been slowly working on the Manage Ranks page.  Each thing that you can “manage” like ranks, games played, medals, etc. has 3 different pages.  A selector page where you select which item you want to manage and then the edit and delete pages.  So for the manage ranks section, I have the selector page done and about 1/3 of the edit page done.  I’ve been super motivated so I’m hoping to have the manage ranks done soon.  Maybe a couple days.

Been also getting a lot of e-mail with people showing support.  I really appreciate everything, it only makes me want to put more effort into this project.  Also there have been some people requesting to help out.  I’m working on this when I can and because I don’t have much time, (I only have one day off from work per week, and most days are like 9am to 8pm) I feel like I wouldn’t be able to kind of oversee everything as much as I’d like to.  Maybe when my job gets off of the 6 day work week, which is the middle of April, I’ll think more about letting some people on to help out with the coding.