Hello (or, V7 Stuff!)

[TerranRich]

OK, so in December (last month) I was hired by a brand marketing and communications firm to do web development for clients' new websites. We use software called Drupal, which is a free, open-source, complete website package in one. They're on v8 now, and it's a quantum leap from what v7 did, and v7 was hugely popular. So I've decided that Xylot Themes V7 will be done in Drupal as well.

This made me realize that about 95% of my work has just been done for me. This means that V7 is now more a reality than ever. I've returned to working/tinkering around on the V7 Style Guide (warning: the table of contents might be broken the further down the list you go), basing it on the brand-new Bootstrap v4 (which I'll get into more later), getting more and more ideas for features for the new site. It's also really just a way for me to tinker around with Bootstrap 4's new/improved toys in ways that make sense for a themes encyclopedia website (which can be more, but I'll get into that later as well).

The biggest load (uh huh huh, huh huh, load) left right now for me is the structure of the data. How shit is stored in a database. Before Drupal, that meant putting all of what makes Xylot Themes what it is, into columns in tables, in databases. Blegh. Well, Drupal 8 has done a lot of the work now, and put everything into "nodes" or "entities" (sound familiar, admins/techs?), which make it easier to link them together, to control exactly how data is represented, with the ability to see it all immediately in action on the front end of the website (what everybody is able to see when they view the main page).

This makes development more like site-building (which is what Drupal calls people who do what I'm doing right now, tinkering in the back end to create the site itself). So I'm opening the floor to all of you.

What would you most love to see in Version 7 of the site? Think of it as... a reboot of Xylot Themes.

It can be anything you fucking want it to be. Right now. Tell me.

Do you want it to keep track of a promotion's PPVs and TV shows and whatnot, linking wrestlers to their show appearances? Done. Already planning it.

Do you want it to tell you everyday that you're pretty, that people love you, that this site is rooting for you? Okay, that's a little weird, but I'll do it. For you, my good buddy. For you.

I also plan on having some ability to listen to the theme. Whether it's the official release YouTube video, or an upload some guy (or gal) put on YouTube, or some link that changes whenever a member suggests a new video to replace the old one, and maybe another member has to come around and approve the replacement (or thumbs-up it) in order for the site to update itself. I'm pretty sure Drupal can do that. And if not, there's always the ol' "write some PHP code that will" route. Drupal is easily extendible with custom PHP code that does the nitty (and the gritty) that Drupal can't (or won't).

Come on now, what are your ideas for Version 7 of the site? Not only functionality or features, but appearance-wise, too. I'm open to suggestions for how the site should be laid out, too. I've been looking at the brand new Bootstrap 4 (beta #3) Components documentation, copying down ideas to the V7 Style Guide. I've also decided to use the Darkly theme from Bootswatch, but I can easily change it to some other theme if anybody can persuade me. Does anybody perhaps see any use in a particular component, or maybe something from other libraries as well?

I know of a few others that can be of great use to us: Fuel UX and oh my god I just found this link and I will never stop working on the V7 Style Guide now, oh nooo...

Anyway, the floor is yours. What do?

[TerranRich]

P.S.: I promise to be more active on the website overall, too. I'm way too anti-social sometimes...

[TerranRich]

P.P.S.: Isn't this new forum theme fucking great? I finally upgraded to the latest phpBB version (3.1.0 to 3.2.something, which I guess was a Big Fucking Deal™) and broke the forums temporarily. Half an hour later or so, phpBB 3.2 was up and running, but alas, the theme was destroyed.

Well, it was a little bent out of shape by not being compatible with phpBB 3.2, but it was borked in places that I didn't want to bother fixing. I decided to just find a new theme and hope that there were some compatible with phpBB 3.2. Luckily, there were, and I found this theme (called "digi green", running on the base "digi" theme), which it turns is fucking great.

I was creating this original post, and there was an overlay that stuck to the top of the page as I scrolled down to write more. I'm impressed.

Question: Drupal 8 ships with a forums module, which means I can create a brand new forum from scratch. But it would mean porting over everybody's data to the new system (which I might just do with a simple survey, the results of which I can easily port into Drupal). The alternative is a module (which, as it turns out, is not covered by Drupal's security policy) that I haven't even looked at yet, but which may turn out to be easy to use (as most modules are, it seems). So it can go either way. No big deal. phpBB or Drupal-based. Up to you guys. (Maybe I should do a poll?)

[TerranRich]

P.P.P.S.: Did you know...? For those not familiar with phpBB (the dodgy software the runs these forums), I have a special role in the software: "Founder". I just thought that was neat. From now on, call me Founder. Please? lol

[Papa Faf]

If we're talking about non-theme related additions...

My number one request: XYLOT THREADS

I will still volunteer to put hours and hours and days and days and weeks and weeks into that just like I did before. It sucks that I lost all the stuff I had saved, but I will absolutely do it again.

Anyway, other requests, which I've already mentioned to you privately:

-The ability to say if someone is a current champion or a member of the Hall of Fame on their profile. Just like how tag teams have their members listed in smaller font beneath the team name, we should be able to also add information regarding titles or HoF inductions.

-Title histories. A detailed history of each championship, including the date the title changed hands, who was defeated, and so on.

-Results. But only televised results. Cagematch is pretty much the go-to for results, but if we become a site for wrestling in general, I feel like we need to have results.

-I'd still like a memorial section. I know we have birth/death dates on profiles of deceased wrestlers now, but I feel like more could be done as a tribute.

-Photo galleries. Speaks for itself.

-Just more biographical information in general. Each profile could have the person's hometown, height, weight, finishing/signature moves, whatever.

I'd also like to see more people getting involved in the blogs. I mean, that's not really related to this at all, as it's something that could already be happening. Nobody posts blogs. There are tons of things we could blog about. PPV predictions and results, current news, lists (much like WhatCulture and BleacherReport do constantly), etc. But I'm not just talking about people WRITING blogs, I'm also talking about people COMMENTING on blogs.

[Wimpyburgers]

I'd like to see album artwork next to themes once you click on the arrows to see information on themes but I don't know how easy that would be for you. Just my thought. Nice to see you'll be more active on the site more often.

[EddieK]

What about doing an area for TV match graphics? Like the ones used on Impact Wrestling, SmackDown, RAW, etc.?

[Hernan]

-Results. But only televised results. Cagematch is pretty much the go-to for results, but if we become a site for wrestling in general, I feel like we need to have results.

Thank you for the compliment.

[Chris]

I would love to see expanded search capabilities.

For example, being able to search linked themes (I brought this up before, but I think this is probably the better place to mention it). I can search a title like "Rough Rock" and get Marc Mero as a result (as I should), but I don't get a result for Jacqueline, who has "Rough Rock" in her count linked from Mero's count. I don't know if this is something only limited to mods/techs, or if no one can do it, but either way I'd love for the search function to provide more thorough results for everyone.

Similar idea with Names, where I think being able to search "Ric Flair" wouldn't just bring up entries specifically with "Ric Flair" in the title, but also any team/stable/promo/etc. that contains Flair, sort of like how the Quick Search on the side functions.

Also, if possible, perhaps more categories to search would be nice, like Library (e.g. Extreme Music) or Used (e.g. WrestleMania 30). Again, I'm not sure if these capabilities already exist for mods/techs, but I think it would be nice to essentially have any sort of theme info that exists be searchable in some form or fashion.

I also think it would be great if mods/techs had a way to ensure information between listings was more consistent. For example, you might have artists, albums, libraries, or even catalogue numbers spelled or formatted different ways between theme counts, which can affect search. I don't know the capabilities of the software, but iTunes is an example that comes to mind where you start typing and it drops down a list with already-existing metadata that starts with what you typed so you can select metadata to match what already exists in your library for consistency. It wouldn't have to be exactly that, just some way they could ensure information was consistent across theme counts, and stayed that way as more get added over time.

Obviously, for me, the main area I see could use improvement is search. That's all that comes to mind now, but if I think of more, I'll add it.

[Hernan]

I would love to see expanded search capabilities.

For example, being able to search linked themes (I brought this up before, but I think this is probably the better place to mention it). I can search a title like "Rough Rock" and get Marc Mero as a result (as I should), but I don't get a result for Jacqueline, who has "Rough Rock" in her count linked from Mero's count. I don't know if this is something only limited to mods/techs, or if no one can do it, but either way I'd love for the search function to provide more thorough results for everyone.

I can use a trick if you want.

[Chris]

What do you mean?

[Hernan]

What do you mean?

Try using the search bar again.

[Chris]

Okay, so that fixes that specific one, but there are still a ton of linked themes that don't come up in search results (e.g. "Unholy Alliance"; the results don't show Undertaker's or Big Show's counts).

It's great that they can be fixed, but there are so many other instances that I've come across over the past few months and the work required to try and find and fix them all would be a monster task. That's why I'm suggesting to have the search function allow for searching all themes, linked or unlinked, so no matter what is searched ALL results show up.

[thebib62]

Request


I want V7 to rename my files. I got tons of themes, and I want it to match the theme count from the main site, but don't want to spend hours countlessly editing file names manually.

My suggestion is to have a "Copy to clipboard" option next to each theme entry, and will be in the format of

NAME Theme Count Promotion - Title

For example:

Eddie Gurrero's 8th WWE - Crackin'

Jeff Hardy’s 8th TNA - Another Me

Then all we do is paste the generated name in the above format.


This is the most realistic option I envisioned just the other day.

[Hernan]

Okay, so that fixes that specific one, but there are still a ton of linked themes that don't come up in search results (e.g. "Unholy Alliance"; the results don't show Undertaker's or Big Show's counts).

It's great that they can be fixed, but there are so many other instances that I've come across over the past few months and the work required to try and find and fix them all would be a monster task. That's why I'm suggesting to have the search function allow for searching all themes, linked or unlinked, so no matter what is searched ALL results show up.

You said it. I normally do that with the counts I regularly check since 2015. Mainly, in case I forgot there is some theme linked, then I use the search bar to see which "x" theme is linked to "x" count. Plus, it's better to have the linked themes with information as well rather than clicking on the other linked wrestler to get all of the information.

You came up with a great idea. It is benefitial for me. The only issue are some extra information that aren't related for the theme but for the wrestler (i.e., a video link from Dailymotion).

[EddieK]

Request


I want V7 to rename my files. I got tons of themes, and I want it to match the theme count from the main site, but don't want to spend hours countlessly editing file names manually.

My suggestion is to have a "Copy to clipboard" option next to each theme entry, and will be in the format of

NAME Theme Count Promotion - Title

For example:

Eddie Gurrero's 8th WWE - Crackin'

Jeff Hardy’s 8th TNA - Another Me

Then all we do is paste the generated name in the above format.


This is the most realistic option I envisioned just the other day.

I actually like this idea.

[ajitkrsingh04]

I also lile this idea..because i m also a web developer..
Nice idea keep it up..
Drupal 8 really fantastic i also used it..

[The Chosen One]

Request


I want V7 to rename my files. I got tons of themes, and I want it to match the theme count from the main site, but don't want to spend hours countlessly editing file names manually.

My suggestion is to have a "Copy to clipboard" option next to each theme entry, and will be in the format of

NAME Theme Count Promotion - Title

For example:

Eddie Gurrero's 8th WWE - Crackin'

Jeff Hardy’s 8th TNA - Another Me

Then all we do is paste the generated name in the above format.


This is the most realistic option I envisioned just the other day.

This is a good idea, but you could make it more universal. Everyone label's there themes differently. You could have a list of tags, such as brackets for counts ([]) then number formats 2, 2nd etc

[Jackson]

Thank you founder. I think I posted this before but I'd like a feature added that provides more thorough info on a theme.

Alternate title(s)/source
Length:
Complete track y/n? Is it full or is this the best length available?
Official release: CD/Digital
or
Unofficial release: Leak (ex MLG tapes)/DVD/Game/entrance video/Youtube/website stream (soundcloud/myspace)

For ex when you choose game, you can enter which game the theme came from like the album field.

Look forward to any and all changes.

[Hernan]

Request


I want V7 to rename my files. I got tons of themes, and I want it to match the theme count from the main site, but don't want to spend hours countlessly editing file names manually.

My suggestion is to have a "Copy to clipboard" option next to each theme entry, and will be in the format of

NAME Theme Count Promotion - Title

For example:

Eddie Gurrero's 8th WWE - Crackin'

Jeff Hardy’s 8th TNA - Another Me

Then all we do is paste the generated name in the above format.


This is the most realistic option I envisioned just the other day.

This is a good idea, but you could make it more universal. Everyone label's there themes differently. You could have a list of tags, such as brackets for counts ([]) then number formats 2, 2nd etc

That's true.