Reshaping

I noticed there is some traffic going to the old RPG blog. This is because I left the links live in some of the departments I haven't been able to get to yet, namely Champions. Specifically, visitors are going to the Megacity posts. I'm just writing this to let you know those posts are being dismantled so I can format them for the Web and present them traditionally (as HTML pages).

Because The Weirding is so text-heavy, I'd originally thought using a blog as a CMS (Content Management System) was an easier route than going it traditionally, but it turned out to be far more work (and far less effective) than it was worth. That's also the reason I decided against using an actual CMS package: it's just too much work. While I'm sure it would look nice and there are many other reasons it is a good approach, the only way I can be sure I control every aspect of the content and presentation is by doing it traditionally.

With everything I have to deal with IRL, and how long it takes me to complete even a single page (current conditions aside), I do not have time to learn a new system - and those CMS have steep learning curves! This little blog/CMS/HTML attempt has cost me months, but I don't regret it; I know I could tweak things and develop a working system from the disparate components, but why bother? Of course, it means an even longer wait for content that's technically ready to be published, but it will be worth it.

Champions fans have reason to rejoice, though: because the Champions material is already done, it's going to be one of the first things published. I am still working on organization and layout/design issues which have forced me to rewrite (/recode) a lot of the material already "finished" (otherwise it would already be available) but it is still further along than most of the other departments, so I'm able to knock it out sooner.

Right now, my schedule allows me at least one hour each day to work on the site, in addition to the weekends, on which I can usually focus on the site alone. At this pace, it takes about a week to complete one page, though images take far longer. Due to Champions' subject matter and my predilection for drawing it, it is taking longer than most of the other departments - of course, that means it will be pretty damned hip once it's actually available. So, if you figure-in the fact that most of the written material is complete, but Champions has a lot of images (which take a long time to finish), it means Champions is about as far along as everything else...

One of the reasons I really wanted a system like this to work is so you could leave comments and hopefully add to, and modify, the material. I am working on developing an alternate approach for handling that. Individual articles may still be posted (they'll now be posted here, on The Wording, instead of elsewhere), though most of the posts here will actually concern "meta-" and IRL discussion - such as this one.

I am leaving the links live for now, but they will redirect to the new pages once those are complete.

© C Harris Lynn, 2009