[REQ] Web flow

Web discussions, including project website, forums, wiki, and others.


Post Reply
User avatar
Reid
Lead Developer (SoM)
Lead Developer (SoM)
Posts: 1548
Joined: 15 May 2010, 21:39
Location: Artis
Contact:

[REQ] Web flow

Post by Reid »

It seems we have a big technical debt and many design issues with our way to download a client for TMW Classic.
An user has to go through classic.themanaworld.org to wiki.themanaworld.org to manaplus.germantmw.de and then choose from a list of file the right folder.

We should trigger the right download directly from classic.themanaworld.org as any extra step might just confuse any new players and drive them away.

For that we have to modify some JS code, it seems none from the active development team know this language and would require some extra help!
If you think you can help you can directly contact us on Discord/IRC or answer this thread for more info!

"Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so."
-- Ford Prefect
User avatar
Livio
Warrior
Warrior
Posts: 347
Joined: 26 Feb 2019, 19:08

Re: [REQ] Web flow

Post by Livio »

Reid wrote: 31 Mar 2023, 15:46

It seems we have a big technical debt and many design issues with our way to download a client for TMW Classic.
An user has to go through classic.themanaworld.org to wiki.themanaworld.org to manaplus.germantmw.de and then choose from a list of file the right folder.

I'm not updating ManaPlus since a lot of time but I always managed to get it from: https://manaplus.org/
I even compiled it from source years ago.

Reid wrote: 31 Mar 2023, 15:46

We should trigger the right download directly from classic.themanaworld.org as any extra step might just confuse any new players and drive them away.

Maybe some advanced user agent detection can point to the "right" download link. Try to think to many devices manufacturers sites that use that trick. I personally dislike that but it works many of the times.
The problem to me is that pages are badly organized as if people are expected to know what ManaPlus and Manaverse are. I'd put a bigger button/link/image/whatever to directly download the only mature and tested client that worked nicely for years and it's known to work for anyone. Then I'd put the other choices for those ones who would like to try other clients or compile their own.

Reid wrote: 31 Mar 2023, 15:46

For that we have to modify some JS code, it seems none from the active development team know this language and would require some extra help!
If you think you can help you can directly contact us on Discord/IRC or answer this thread for more info!

Why is JS required?

User avatar
WildX
Source of Mana
Source of Mana
Posts: 2084
Joined: 07 Aug 2010, 14:13
Location: United Kingdom
Contact:

Re: [REQ] Web flow

Post by WildX »

Livio wrote: 23 Apr 2023, 18:34

I'm not updating ManaPlus since a lot of time but I always managed to get it from: https://manaplus.org/

Manaplus is deprecated and no longer the official client since 4144 left TMW. He hasn't updated it since 2021 and I don't think he will ever update it since he was pretty much done with TMW.

https://manaplus.germantmw.de/ < that's where you can find the latest builds of the client we now call Manaverse or just TMW client. It hasn't diverged much from M+ yet but it's the project that is actively supported and accepts contributions.

TMW Team member

User avatar
Livio
Warrior
Warrior
Posts: 347
Joined: 26 Feb 2019, 19:08

Re: [REQ] Web flow

Post by Livio »

WildX wrote: 23 Apr 2023, 19:36
Livio wrote: 23 Apr 2023, 18:34

I'm not updating ManaPlus since a lot of time but I always managed to get it from: https://manaplus.org/

Manaplus is deprecated and no longer the official client since 4144 left TMW. He hasn't updated it since 2021 and I don't think he will ever update it since he was pretty much done with TMW.

https://manaplus.germantmw.de/ < that's where you can find the latest builds of the client we now call Manaverse or just TMW client. It hasn't diverged much from M+ yet but it's the project that is actively supported and accepts contributions.

Uh... That's confusing.
The official and supported client is Manaverse now right?
Why https://manaplus.germantmw.de/?site=3 is pointing to https://gitlab.com/themanaworld/manaplus/manaplus.git then?
Do the fork retained old application name?

User avatar
jesusalva
Moubootaur Legends
Moubootaur Legends
Posts: 1438
Joined: 14 Nov 2016, 22:20
Location: Brazil
Contact:

Re: [REQ] Web flow

Post by jesusalva »

https://gitlab.com/themanaworld/manaplus/manaplus is a mirror, so old links remain working.

The official repo is at https://git.themanaworld.org/mana/plus

But to be honest, you should be fetching the client from https://themanaworld.org/Downloads ─ that frontpage exists mostly if you need something specific (e.g. source code) or if something went wrong. It haven't been maintained in a while; the former dev leads always said we have more important things to do (i.e. add new hats!!) than fixing bugs anyway :>

(But yes, currently almost everyone is assigned to a task or have a backlog of tasks to fix, so unless the dev lead shows up and says "hey people could X be prioritized over the rest?" it will likely remain outdated for a while) (for the record, the rest here might be just keeping the websites up sometimes XD)

Jesusalva (aka. Jesusaves)
Donate to the project! ─ (Note: If you want to support me instead, Buy me a coffee!)

Former system administrator, project lead and developer.
Do not contact me regarding The Mana World inquiries.

User avatar
Livio
Warrior
Warrior
Posts: 347
Joined: 26 Feb 2019, 19:08

Re: [REQ] Web flow

Post by Livio »

If I try to think like a n00b I find hard to seek a link that allows me to skip all the boring chattering, things, stories, whatever and go downloading a working client immediately as I enter themanaworld.org.
There's no shortest path from search engine to start playing.
I understand that this project has more important priorities but, well... Contributors usually come out from client users.
Another thing to be nice to have is hash value of binaries.

Post Reply