I have a feeling that this page will be almost like a blog in that I will be keeping random track of my progress as well as listing any new information as it comes to my attention. All new information will be listed at the top, so you need to go to the bottom and read each section until you reach the top if you want to follow all that has gone before. If it gets long enough, I may insert a Table of contents to make finding specific information a little easier. Until then, please bear with me, this is my first Fan Site. I have no idea if I will even be able to keep up with it and my normal work as well.

New Date/Time Script

Added a new script to the bottom of all pages which should now more accurately reflect when an update was actualy made. The previous script worked well with HTML but when I switched over to all PHP it took me a while to realize that the old script was only displaying the current date/time. My thanks to Develop The Web Forums, specifically this topic, for the idea that lead to the fix I am now using.

New SacredWiki Logo

I have joined the D.A.R.K. Matters Gaming Clan and they are working on a Wiki project for Sacred and Sacred 2. I have started publishing the link to the Wiki in a logo at the top right of the Fan Site.

I just realized that any updates I make to included files, such as the Banner.inc, Greeting.inc, or Navigation.php will be reflected on all pages that use them as a new update on each page! Oh well, it's just something I will have to be lived with. It's not that often I change the include files.

Finally, a great name!

NightWolfe posted on the SIF tonight and I really like her idea for the name for this Website, Sacred 2 Allies! I like it enough, that I am going to go ahead and change it.

Long time, no update!

1358: I have just answered an email from Ascaron about the status of my website and realized that, though I created the entie site in only about 5 days, I haven't done much to update it since!

I am currently trying to do a massive upgrade of my teaching syllabus for two classes but, when I finish that, I really must start upgading all the content of this site. One of the things I should probably do is to start an internal forum just for the Sacred 2 site so I can get some help from others as to the direction to take.

Character View

0314: Finished creating all the drivers and the main file for the Character View file.

1554: Tested all the new Character View links and found 8 errors. Fixed same.

I cannot decide if I want to bother doing drivers for the Logos. They are big enough that they are visible and why would someone want to scroll through them all at a large size?

Screenshots1 has already been done.

I have decided not to do driver files for Logos, Videos, or Wallpaper. Now all that remains is to link in new material as it becomes available. Of course, it would be nice if I had a Banner so I could go public ...

Another oopsie!

0800: Fixed the driver files for Screeshots2 so the Home button would return to the thumbnails page rather than return a 404 error in over half the files. I had forgotten to change the instances of index2.htm and index3.htm to simply index.htm. Working now.

0854: Finished updating listings of all graphics to be displayed on site on all pages.

Drivers

1100: I started creating drivers for the Screenshots page.

1242: Finished drivers for Screenshots and finished modifying the Screenshots page to use the drivers.

1321: Removed filename from the thumbnails in Screenshots2 and combined all thumbnails on a single page.

Tweaks

I haven't made any entries in here the past few days but I have been making general tweaks to the page files, annding some new content (Orcs), and in general, just refining things.

The biggest thing I was working on was a semi-automated way to generate Graphics page files. I now have Screenshots1, which is the way I've always done such pages, and Screenshots2, which is a page generated by a program called JAlbum. It's going to take me a while to experiment with it to see if I truly like the results. I will admit it is much easier to generate all the required driver files but everything also takes a lot more storage.

Fixed Thumbnails

0200: I got tired of thinking about it and decided to go ahead and fix the Thumbnails page. It is, after all, the only place on the entire site where all the images can be seen at once. While I was working on files, I also set up an include file for all the pages so I will only have to change a single file when I finally get a site name and banner. Once that file is updated, I will be ready to go public.

0736: Finished changes and testing to the Thumbnails file. Some of the videos didn't make very good thumbnails, so I had to either create my own or use one of the logos.

Finished Backgrounds and Videos pages

0248: Finished the Backgrounds and Videos pages. Unfortunately, I redid all the thumbnails and now the thumbnails page is broken. I don't think it's all that big a problem, as I may just remove the Thumbnails page entirely as it was only there to help me get the other pages done. Now the only thing left to do is the Characters page and I need to pull information off the Information page to move over to the Characters page. At least the text portion is finished.

0406: Finished with stripping the Character information out of the Information page and putting it into the Characters page.

0506: Finished everything except the Thumbnails page. Since I haven't decided what to do with it, I'm just going to leave it alone unless someone makes a big fuss about it not working. Then I will decide whether to pull it out or fix it.

2020: I've actually been up for some hours playing with the pages. I was even able to fix a couple of problems that Pevil sent me, THANKS PEVIL! Now I need to come up with a list of things to do. I have a feeling, unless a lot of people think it important, the Thumbnails page will be on the bottom of the list. I just have to figure out where to put such a list as I can'tput it here or it will get burried ... or will it?

Finished the Artwork page!

2036: I had forgotten how deadly boring it was to create driver files for a picture gallery. I must try to find an easier way!

2229: Finished the Video page.

2345: Finished the Screenshots page. I plan on adding links as I did with the Artwork page but I will do that later. It's too time consuming and I want to get this published.

More Information added, thanks to NightWolfe.

0150: After getting NightWolfe's permission, I copied the Sacred 2 System Requirements from her Fansite. I hope to start geting the official Ascaron newsletter soon so I won't have to go to others to get the information I need.

1115: Finished adding yet more graphics. Will this never end!

2156: Finished the Wallpaper page. Figured it was time to do something easy!

I am starting to wonder what I've gotten myself in for.

0026: It's now almost 30 minutes after midnight and I'm still playing with getting this site up to speed. What next? I guess Other than the sections I've already outlined to be filled, I should put in a section talking about the "history" of Ancaria, the game system requirements, etc. I may have to reconsider using the Information page as a glorified BLOG.

0102: Not even two days old and I've already decided that I need the Informatin page for better data than ths pseudo-BLOG. I am renaming this to Random Mutterrings and will be posting more important facts on the Information page.

0311: I think it's time to go to bed for now. I don't have to go to work until tomorrow afternoon, so perhaps I will have a chance to find some additional information to add to the site. Hope Ascaron doesn't mind me plagiarizing their website ...

1029: OK, back at it. I see I've put some character data on the Information page. Must have been tired. That will have to be moved over to the Character page once I start working on it. I'm still waiting for a consensus from the SIF forum members though.

1104: I have decided not to have a blank white line between my daily comments. It's not like the information is that different that I need to waste a whole line to separate my thoughts like I do on my main website. Goodbye extra break ...

1153: Just added 2 Ascaron and 2 Fan sites here.

I start my first Fan Site!

About 1300 today I finally got the information I needed from Ascaron to be able to start work on my first Fan Site. The graphics are available through the Sacred International Forum and anyone who is interested in starting their own Fan Site should definitely think about geting the information. If you just want to look, almost everything (and more) from the FSK is in here. I won't tell you exactly where to go to get the FSK, however, because it's a community and you should get to know the regulars and look around a bit before jumping off the deep end. You never know, you might find everything you need without it.

I wanted to get all the graphics sorted and catalogued, so I finished the main index and the Thumbnail sections first. Of course, the Contact link was ultra simple, so that was also put in somewhere during the other work. I finished all that up around 2200 and am now starting on the Artwork and the Information section. I will probably do most of my work in non-graphical areas first as I am waiting fo feedback from the Sacred Community Members about how to display large graphics before I move on to the other, picture laden pages. Besides, they are all available for viewing, just no underlying information yet.

I have decided to keep my ToDo list here at the bottom where I will always be able to find it. I will use a similar marking system to the one I set up for the website when I was creating it.

Note: If you come across any links that do not work, it is probably because it is either new and still under construction or I am fiddling with it (yes, "fiddling" is a highly technical term meaning to fiddle with.). Feel free to take a look but, if you see any of the indicators shown below next to my ToDo items, you will know the condition of any updates.

* = Not working because nothing is there.
# = A number, from 1 to 0, highest to lowest, indicates a project not yet started but gives my priority on accomplishing the task.
? = Partially working because it's in the process of gaining content.
h = On hold while I try to decide what to do with it.
c = Completed, everything should be working properly. Please let me know if you find any problems.

If none of the above indicators are present, then it should be working 100%. See if you can break it!
» Constantly remember to give credit to those helping me to get this site up and running and who help in some way. The finished product is in the details.