User talk:Dave Younce

/Sandbox

Problem with crossreferencing generators
If you have time, could you help with the indy generator on User talk:Tocky. It does not seem to work and there is no obvious reason. ToB (talk) 06:27, 18 February 2015 (PST)

Thanks, ToB - issue resolved over on that user page. Dave Younce (talk) 12:14, 18 February 2015 (PST)

Policy regarding blanked generators
There are a number of generators that have been blanked by the author with no clear reason - Victorian doctor mad libs by User:Toiletworldultra and various by User:Kit122. The authors have been absent for years. As I see it, there are a few options. ToB (talk) 03:05, 24 June 2014 (PDT)
 * Leave the generators be. There is some possibility of the author returning, and the space is cheap.
 * Delete the generators. This makes the generator name available for other uses and makes the wiki cleaner. This also removes content, and would likely upset the author if they return.
 * Move the generator to the author's user page or some other place. Leave a link on the author's user page or talk page. This requires a bit more work and thinking than other options.
 * Reinstate the blanked generators. It is possible under the licensing. This might cause bad blood if the author returns or gets to know about it otherwise. This does put the content back into use.

On categories
I wrote Help:Categorisation. Do you see this as good policy? If not, please discuss. ToB (talk) 09:54, 25 June 2014 (PDT)

Gremlins without Class
http://www.random-generator.com/index.php?title=Jgbaxter_SocialClass

They've um, eaten something. -.-;

Might have sent something into a loop but I can't seem to edit/revert it.

Also can you rename that Page once fixed to Jgbaxter_MedievalSocialClass?

Side note, the wiki spam protection went on saying this site was an external link, might want to fix that too. :)

Jgbaxter

How to Create a Completely New Page
How do I create a completely new page? I've done it in the past, but can't remember how, now. It's very frustrating. I can't find a new page button anywhere, and I'm not sure if I just just create a link on a random page, but if so: what page?

Rolling Dice on a Page
Is it possible to roll dice on a page? Something like this: 1,[2d4] Humans 1,[3d6] Orcs I don't care about the syntax: [2d4] or 2d4 or. Anything that works is fine with me.....
 * test

'''Nevermind.... I just found the Dice page, so now I know how to do it....'''

Spam
The number of spammy users is getting high. Could you add some simple test to registration so as to cut their number down a bit? -ToB 10:34, 28 June 2009 (PDT)
 * I'm already using recaptcha to test on account creation and again if an external link is included. I can make it slightly more strict and require it for user page creation too, but I suspect it's mechanical turk and not bots. Thanks for all your work weeding them out, Tommi. By the time they show up on my rss feed of changes, you've already come in and blown them away. I do go in and block their IPs forever; hopefully that will cut down on them over time. Open to ideas if you can think of anything else to do that might slow them down. Dave Younce 15:19, 28 June 2009 (PDT)


 * With my wordpress blog it works so that the first post of any given poster (identified with email address and username) is put on moderation; after that, the rest of the posts from that poster show up with no problem (unless there is an excess of links). Something like that might work.


 * Alternatively, some question that is nigh-trivial to almost all likely users of the wiki but might be at least annoying to random people. Something about dice or roleplaying games. Custom recatchpa-like thing were a picture of a die is shown and the question is: "How many sides?" or "Which die (write in d notation)?" etc. An email address if they have problems getting through.


 * Email confirmation, plain and simple, might work. I'm all out of ideas by now. -ToB 11:34, 29 June 2009 (PDT)


 * SpamBlacklist may be the answer. I can't get it to work at the moment; probably I'll need to upgrade the mediawiki version first. Which is annoying and time consuming and may break Abu, so it'll have to happen when I have more time to devote than this evening. But it looks promising.-Dave Younce 12:45, 30 June 2009 (PDT)

Error
I got the following error message when opening WhipChain. Refreshing did help. So, nothing urgent, but just in case you want to investigate further...

Database error A database query syntax error has occurred. This may indicate a bug in the software. The last attempted database query was:

(SQL query hidden)

from within function "MediaWikiBagOStuff::_doquery". MySQL returned error "1213: Deadlock found when trying to get lock; try restarting transaction (internal-db.s30817.gridserver.com)"

A problem
The name generators page is also dead.

Hey. I get internal service errors when trying to, well, do anything. Do you happen to know what is happening?

Hey, thanks for the welcome! :D
Having great fun noodling around the generators here. Just a question, though -- would it be possible for us to put the iterated sgdisplay results as an ordered list? I tried doing it directly by adding the pound signs in sgdisplay and in the sgtable table definition, but it didn't seem to work... -- T-Boy 20:15, 17 September 2007 (PDT)
 * So I figured out one way of solving it, at any rate: by manually adding list tags into the source code, like so:

A Title
 [foo] 


 * foo


 * Sadly, this leaves a rather unsightly "&lt;/li&gt;" at the end of each list entry. Removing the  tag looks like it'll fix it, but it just leaves those list entries without a closing tag. Argh! Back to the drawing board... -- T-Boy 22:13, 17 September 2007 (PDT)

I'd put this forward as an enhancement suggestion for the 'sgdisplay' tag; it could take an optional attribute (i.e. a 'glue' variable) to define what gets put between each repetition. So that something like: ">[foo]  would create an ordered list, instead of the default   'glue' tags that are currently used. --MidnightLightning 11:45, 21 August 2009 (PDT)

SGTable info
Dave, is there a way to leave a comment inside an SGTable? I'd like to do something like: ;Monkeys 0,This table is for monkeys only, no apes! 10,spider monkey 3,green monkey ... Would a zero work, is there an escape character, or does the MediaWiki comment tag work? Also, is the generator what's responsible for the slow site load times? Thanks! --Xcorvis 12:02, 8 December 2007 (PST)


 * I think the mediawiki comment tag will work within tables. The slow load times are b/c I have a crappy host - that's probably changing this month. You'll know it because I lock the database for a bit and it may take a day to fix DNS issues. --Dave
 * Looks like the mediawiki style comment works fine. So does the "0" entry, for that matter. --Xcorvis 16:43, 13 December 2007 (PST)

Category cleanup
I am willing to clean up the categories and get things in order, I just don't know where to go if I feel one needs deleting. Also, where does one go if a non-generator page needs deleting? Lady Aleena 19:53, 17 December 2007 (PST)


 * Do the categories and templates meet with your approval? :) Lady Aleena 22:28, 18 December 2007 (PST)

if:then
Dave, can you set it up so that there are logical operators?

I'm thinking you've got a "name" table that sorts into "male" and "female", but later wording is gendered "he/she" based on which subtable it comes form. --JMstar
 * You could solve this problem already with the available table structure. i.e. if you have something like:

1, This is [name]. S/he owns a [building].
 * main

1,[male_name] 1,[female_name]
 * name


 * You could change it to something like:

1,This is [male_name]. He owns a [building]. 1,This is [female_name]. She owns a [building].
 * main
 * --MidnightLightning 11:50, 21 August 2009 (PDT)

Periods in titles?
I just created U.S. Cities, and referenced it like this: in Dossiers, but it does not render. Do the periods in the title confuse it? --JM
 * Location of Birth:|| [U.S. Cities.main]

Subtables listings
Hello Dave;

The reason that I started listing the subtables was to give a place for the external subtables. If you look to the left of the screen when you are looking at a page, you will see the "toolbox." In the "toolbox" are two very useful links, "What links here" and "Related changes." Without the links to the external subtables used on the main page, editors won't know what has changed on related pages. Also, if an editor is changing a base page, "What links here" will show the editor how many pages may be affected by the changes.

What I would suggest for people who want to print out the results is to copy and paste the results into a text editor. If you really want to make sure that Abulafia is on the print outs, you may want to go into the general style sheet of the wiki and put a style that looks something like the following. @media print{ .noprint {display:none;} } That would create a class that could then be used in divs, spans, and other tags which could be wrapped around certain elements of a page like the subtables section. An editor could then put the following around material that should not get printed. A big block of stuff that shouldn't get printed. A little string of stuff that shouldn't get printed. I could even write to little templates to cover that. Stuff that shouldn't get printed.

And speaking of code, every generator result ends with a  whether we want it to or not. Could you possibly remove that from the end of the results so that some wikicode would work, like lists. If the editor wants a new line started, it would have to be included in the generator, not automatically generated.

I see that you are editing the Roman numerals generators, and thank you. I made them, but I don't think I have the patience to edit them like you are.

I also created a new administrative folder Category:Categories for renaming and a template to accompany it. '' She wonders if there is a sysop application somewhere. ''

It is hoped that you do not think that I am nuts or anything with everything that I have been doing lately. — LA 11:53, 23 January 2008 (PST)

PS. All of the redlinked categories are now gone or created. Uncategorized pages are giving me headaches since I don't know where to put the last 14 or so. — LA 11:55, 23 January 2008 (PST)

PPS. I thought I had gotten all of the calls to Utility.Color. I am sorry that I missed some, but that shows just how necessary links are to parent and child pages. — LA 12:07, 23 January 2008 (PST)

Generator creation template
Hello Dave;

Do you think that users would be interested in a template to create generators? The template would have the sg tags already in place so that they wouldn't be forgotten and various sections ready to go. If you think that would be something people would want, let me know; and I will get on it. — LA 13:49, 29 January 2008 (PST)

Absolutely. Go for it. Excited to see it! --Dave Younce


 * Dave, I need to be able to use if. Could you please find it and add it here? — LA 18:53, 29 January 2008 (PST)

You got it. Let me know if it gives you any trouble. --Dave Younce

Its done!
Here is your newest template! Spread the word. :) — LA 00:29, 30 January 2008 (PST)

SGNP sixties america
I can't access that generator. I keep getting an internal system error. — LA 11:47, 31 January 2008 (PST)

Yeah, that's odd all right. You can get to it if you add "&action=edit" onto the end of the url, but even putting the old content in a new page results in what you were seeing. I'm away from home, so I can't debug it this weekend - I'll take a look and see what I can figure out on it sometime this next week. --Dave Younce 15:50, 1 February 2008 (PST)


 * Fixed it...see the history. — LA 10:05, 3 February 2008 (PST)

Ah, right. Infinite recursion is now fixed - you'll get an error notice now if you try to go more than 150 calls deep. Seems a reasonable upper limit, doesn't it? --Dave Younce 19:12, 3 February 2008 (PST)

Online meeting
Hello Dave...Is there any way that we could have a real time chat sometime? I use Trillian, so I have four big IMs programs and IRC at my disposal. There is a lot that I would like to chat with you about. — LA 22:06, 4 February 2008 (PST)

Kudos!
Wow, amazing Wiki; I've been wanting to have something like this for a while now, and had started coming up with my own means of creating a wiki-like system based on the TableSmith syntax, but this added on to MediaWiki is amazing! As I was working on my own instance of the same thing, a few features that I'd like to see (that I was hoping to integrate into my own, but I'll share with you) are:


 * Integrated Die Rolling: I know there's a random generator for die rolls over at Dice, but that doesn't cover all options, and doesn't allow for +/- modifiers on the rolls. I'm an administrator of the d20 NPCs Wikia Wiki, and we integrated a die-rolling system right into MediaWiki, without an extension. All you need is a template, like the DieRoll template, which stores the dice information in the "class" attribute of a span around the text, and an addition to the MediaWiki:Common.js of the following script:

/* Dice Roller */ window.onload = init; function init { array = document.getElementsByTagName('span'); for(var i=0,len=array.length; i -1) { array[i].onclick = rollhandler; }	} }

function rollhandler { var res = /dice_([^_]*)_([0-9a+-x]*)/.exec(this.className); if (res) { rollValue(res[1],res[2]); } else { alert('Res failed'); } }

function rollDie(size) { var result = size * Math.random if (result == 0) { result = 0.5 } result = Math.ceil(result) return result }

function rollDice(number, size) { var dice = '' var result = '' var roll = 0 var total = 0 for (count = 0; count < number; count++) { roll = rollDie(size) total += roll if (dice == '') { dice = roll } else { dice = dice + ', ' + roll } }  result = total + ':' + dice return result; }

function getValue(data) { var element_array = data.split('d') var result = '' if (element_array[1] > 0) { result = rollDice(element_array[0], element_array[1]) } else { result = element_array[0] + ':'; } return result; }

function addcommas (sValue) { var X= "", S = String(sValue), L;	while (S != "") { L = S.length-3 X = S.substr(L, 3) + (X > "" ? "," + X : ""); S = S.substr(0, L); }	return X; }

function rollValue(label, data) { var original_data = data; data = data.replace(/ /g, '+') data = data.replace(/\-/g, '+-') data = data.replace(/x/g, '+x') data = data.replace(/\++/g, '+') var element_array = data.split('+') var dice = '' var result = '' var total = 0 var value = 0 var array_size = element_array.length for (loop = 0; loop < array_size; loop++) { value = getValue(element_array[loop]) var result_array = value.split(':') if (result_array[0].charAt(0) == "x") { var multiplier = result_array[0].substring(1); total = total * multiplier; } else { total = total + parseInt(result_array[0]); }   if (result_array[1] != '') { if (dice == '') { dice = result_array[1]; } else { dice = dice + ' : ' + result_array[1]; }   }  }  if (total < 1) { total = 1; } if (total.length >= 3) { total = addcommas(total); } data = original_data; if (dice != '') { alert(label + ' rolled: ' + total + "\n(" + data + ")\n(Rolls: " + dice + ')') } else { alert(label + ' rolled: ' + total + "\n(" + data + ')') } return false; }

Which turns the spans into a click-able area that gives a javascript popup with the result.


 * Capitalization tools
 * Article word tools
 * Pluralization tools

These are similar, and solve the problem of phrasing. Like if you have the entry "You are attacked by a [Animal]. [Animal] are deadly." You want the "a" to be either an "a" or an "an" depending on the start of the animal's name. Also, the second instance of [Animal] would ideally be the same random result as the first, and would be capitalized, while the first was not. Finally, the second [Animal] would want to be plural rather than singular. Since this is MediaWiki, and from an earlier post, I see you've got the "if" template, these may be able to be done with templates, if you're able to call a template from within your random generator extension. Then something like  You are attacked by. are deadly.  would be the result, which is not bad, as far as end users having to write code is concerned. If you can make the extension call the templates from within a "sgdisplay" block, I could write those templates pretty easily.

Thanks for the site!

--MidnightLightning 09:40, 24 April 2008 (PDT)


 * I realized that MediaWiki has the "uppercase" functions by default as a Parser function, so that's available already (and changed my pseudo-code above to reflect that). But for the others, I realize that an installation of the String Parser Functions (to use the #sub function to pull the first letter off a word to determine if "a" or "an" is appropriate), and the Extended Parser Functions to get the #ifeq and other extended comparisons to make the transaction complete. Could we get those installed on this wiki?
 * --MidnightLightning 10:03, 24 April 2008 (PDT)


 * Hey there, just checking in on this previous request; might it be possible to get those ParserFunctions installed on this wiki to enable some more advanced template options? --MidnightLightning 09:20, 14 August 2008 (PDT)


 * Great, thanks for the ParserFunctions getting installed, though one more thing: Could you add in the StringFunctions mentioned above too? I see from trying to get Template:Article working that the   </tt> command isn't being recognized as a parser function yet, which would be also necessary to get some of the advanced templates working. --MidnightLightning 17:43, 21 August 2008 (PDT)

Thanks!!
Thanks for the help on my AoA seed generator, you and another contributor set me straight. JDCorley 21:50, 1 September 2008 (PDT)

re: Basic DnD Monster Generator
Thanks, Dave. I fixed my Basic DnD Monster Generator. Please feel free to delete my busted "Basic D" and "Basic D&D Monster Generator" articles. Abulafia is an awesome wiki! Coldspell (Chris Peterson) 8 November 2008

MediaWiki update?
This site's version of MediaWiki (1.9) is getting a bit outdated (current is 1.15.1). Seeing as this site seems to run a bit slow due to the random generation extension, it might be best to look at the new hooks available in the new versions, or at least keep up to date for security patching reasons. --MidnightLightning 08:22, 20 July 2009 (PDT)


 * Yes, if I were a bit less lazy I'd already have done a test upgrade and made sure the Abulafia stuff still works. Thanks for the kick in the right direction. -Dave Younce 15:50, 20 July 2009 (PDT)

Any progress made on upgrading this wiki engine? --MidnightLightning 14:54, 18 February 2010 (PST)

Parser Functions vs. Separate tables
Dave, I responded (belatedly) to your comments on inline wikitext use on the Talk:Color page. Just wanted to make sure you saw it, since it likely would affect overarching policy of Abulafia. --MidnightLightning 08:45, 20 July 2009 (PDT)

Saw your response on Talk:Color, and great; good to have a clear direction as to policy moving forward (are you going to put that as part of the "Help" documentation?). I agree that some tables are used by other pages, and it might be hard to change the capitalized versions to non, without breaking other pages as it currently stands. Though MediaWiki does have the "What links here" toolbox option, which works well for pages that have a direct link to each other, so when a page says "uses items from Color", or uses the External template, those are easy enough to find, though an enhancement suggestion for the custom extension that handles the sgtable/display attributes would be to have it trigger a "linked by inclusion" automatically like how the MediaWiki Templates have for their "what links here" pages. Don't know if that's entirely possible to do from an extension, but it would make it easier to track down where tables are specifically used. --MidnightLightning 11:28, 21 August 2009 (PDT)

writer's block == ==

I see you're quite active recently, Dave. Got any pet projects for me to look at? I'm kind of in a creative slump. Mike

I'd love to see a few more of the 'Pulp by the Letters' series filled out - example: D Pulp. We've got A-F and a few of the others, but it'd be nice to have more of those. I do also have some new table ideas in a notebook; I'll try to start one or two of them soon and (as always) look forward to your help fleshing them out. -Dave Younce 06:12, 11 April 2010 (PDT)

Yes, that is a fun series. Lots of directions to expand in. Mike

I want to add this one at some point: http://www.scribd.com/doc/20213284/Wandering-Harlot-Table
 * Did that for you: Wandering Harlot Abigail (talk) 16:03, 22 November 2012 (PST)

Hello
Are you the only user on here? Is this place just filled with spammers? Doomeater 05:13, 30 December 2011 (PST)

At the moment we are undergoing an abnormally large spam wave, so you'll see I'm doing a lot of deleting and blocking. I'm not the only active user on here but sometimes days or weeks go by with nobody really editing very much. Now appears to be one of those times (yourself excepted) -Dave Younce 07:58, 30 December 2011 (PST)

Do you ever make generators? Did you found this place? Do you know when people will be back? Doomeater 08:48, 30 December 2011 (PST)

Yes, I made it, I maintain it, and I made a lot of the generators here. It's not a terribly large community, but there are some regulars and we're always happy to have new folks like yourself making new generators too. -Dave Younce 12:43, 30 December 2011 (PST)

Advice please Dave Younce?
Can you please let me know what is an acceptable name for my table?

It is still a work in progress as I have the ;Events so another hundred or so entries. But I have 1500 discreet entries so far so I thought it is okay to start to ask for feedback and whatever.

"Persons possibly encounter something while traveling somewhere during an event in a fantasy setting." I think this is to long for a name?

Do I need to remove the numbers that are generated in front of the words? because it helps with editing, but I noticed that it is a bit different to the others.

Also thank you for providing this service, it is an amazing site. You have made some really great tables yourself, I searched by your user name. They have some very nice flows to them. And there are a couple of generators on your site that are amazing.

Thanks,
 * ) Snake_Eyes

Delete a Page
After I move a page, how do I delete the old page? Should I just put a note somewhere in the old page asking an admin to delete it?

Thanks, User:Arust; Dec 23, 2014

Arust, it usually leaves behind a redirect page, which is fine most of the time. If you really want that redirect page deleted I can do that, just let me know. -Dave Younce (talk) 07:16, 24 December 2014 (PST)

External References
Is there a way to insert some random output from Abulafia onto another web page, if you're creating that other web page. Either as an embedded item maybe, a link, or something? For example, I'm writing an html page, and want to have something from the .1d6 subtable of Dice show up on the page, or a color, etc? What if I'm using another wiki, might there be a way then?

Thanks, User:Arust; Jan 1, 2015

Hide "UNIQ" Text
text that appears after all generator results. That way it's still there in the page source if people need to look at it, but it won't confuse/distract people who don't (probably the majority). Or is there an important use for them I am unaware of? - Serpentine Cougar (talk) 08:27, 12 November 2015 (PST)

Can I help with anything?
Feel free to let me know if you need any admin/support/tech/housecleaning/maintenance/etc help. --Jerimee (talk) 09:09, 7 December 2017 (PST)

C.Casting style Backstory Generator Project
== Fantasy Lives ==

Thanks for making tables and charts I could borrow from.

the main backstory generator  page is at CC-Fantasy-Lives

I've gotten my Casting-style background tables prepared to the point

I want to call for help and beta-testing. my email is Egyptoid @ gmail - com

or my user discussion page User_talk:Egyptoid

please run it a few times, and tell me about what stinks.

also I ask what should the final layout look like ?

some of the errors are minor, and come from trying to parse grammar

across 4 sub-charts, like: the sorcerer summoned the an water elemental that fallen into a volcano

previous authors have tried to adhere to the book, I have just used the Casting book as a skeleton,

and tried to improvise and expand with the wide capabilities of Abulafia.

please let me know if you like it not, and why.