Questions: The Path Forward
 

So I realize devs are in a crunch to pound bugs and release content market, etc.

Can anyone answer the following questions about future direction for Realm Works?

1. Is there an intention to add the ability to print any screen (topic/article) from within realmworks at some point?
2. Is there an intention to add a bulk import feature (spreadsheet, etc.) of some sort?
3. Is there any intention to release an API or open up mod support for features that are missing?
4. Is there any intention to include spellcheck?
5. Is there a "Hot List" anywhere that shows what features are being slotted for the future, etc?

Thanks in advance.

1) To the best of my knowledge no. That is all tied up with the CM and controlling IP.
2) Import by XML is how that is going to be done. Import from spreadsheet is simply nonsensical without some intermediary transformation being done first or requiring the spreadsheet being in some very specific format which is the equivalent of the XML in the first place.
3) To the best of my knowledge, and I've asked about this one several times, no.
4) Another no at least in the short term. However there are plenty of tools that will give you spellcheck in RW. The thread on spellcheck in the suggestion forum details several.
5) Not really. The Features forum includes some long and active discussions of the features most desired by the forum community and replies from LWD about a few that may not be practical.

RE; #5
Based on past experiences and what LWD has said, once the Content Market is released, there will be some form of questionnaire/ survey for the user community to express interest in the features LWD feels are practical.

Their current working mode is to have ONE major project/ feature in development (currently the Content Market) and to work in smaller enhancements/features as the developers have time between parts of the major feature.

The survey provides guidance to LWD, but does not by itself determine "what's next". It is one of many factors that LWD will weigh when making decisions about what to work on.

I want to clarify that, As always, I am not speaking in any official capacity here.

1a) They've indicated in the past that they eventually plan to include web-based access to Realm Works. They haven't said this explicitly, but one imagines that with web-based access, one could use the browser's print feature to print a given topic, article or screen.

1b) For now, you can use my RWExport script to convert your .rwoutput files to HTML or Word format, and print from there. The latest version is 1.5: https://github.com/EightBitz/RWExport/tree/Version-1.5

2) As far as official, published content, LWD's offerings will most likely come through the content market.

3) I wouldn't count on anything. This is a specialized, proprietary product, and databases are temperamental beasts. Developing a stable, reliable API without risking the integrity of the database would likely be as large of a project as Realm Works itself.

4) I don't know, but for now, you can use my script to export to Word and spell check there. It's not ideal, but it works. The script creates an organized Word document with proper headers for topics, sections and subsections, so it should be quite simple to correlate spelling errors in word with their respective topics and sections in Realm Works.

5) They have posted priorities before. I think highest on the list are a) ongoing important bug fixes, as they're reported, b) the content market, and c) custom calendars. Somewhere in there is web access for players followed by full web access for players and GMs.

If you're interested in my script, but don't want to RTFM, Daplunk has posted a video for creating exports and a video for using my script.

Creating Exports: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfL2gGSBBqQ
Using my script: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsJjkFnrNEw

[QUOTE=EightBitz;245447]

1b) For now, you can use my RWExport script to convert your .rwoutput files to HTML or Word format, and print from there. The latest version is 1.5: https://github.com/EightBitz/RWExport/tree/Version-1.5

I don't know how printing can't be an important feature. I was deciding if I was going to buy this or not and until I saw you made a work around I wasn't going to just because of the lack of printing. The lack of a spell check is really annoying too and I'm a good speller, but when you are use to it everywhere it can really slow things down when you are unsure of a letter in a word. A lot of us gamers tend to have a bit of OCD and I don't know about you, but spelling areas drive me batty. Sometimes I'll get the self doubt and switch over to google a word and that risks being distracted from writing. It really breaks things up for me. :(

You can install any of a variety of programs that will add spellcheck all of your programs.

For instance tinyspell
http://tinyspell.numerit.com/#download

1. Is there an intention to add the ability to print any screen (topic/article) from within realmworks at some point?

Personally i see Realm Works as a move away from print media so this is not something I need or want. I would wager that most people wont need it once the web view gets released and they can run on a tablet. So much functionality and therefore reason for using RW is lost in physical print IMO.

2. Is there an intention to add a bulk import feature (spreadsheet, etc.) of some sort?

I would personally love this and it's apparent that members of the community have already figured this out. The game systems make this immensely advanced though as they are all configured differently and therefore need to be handled differently. I wouldn't want LWD focusing on this any time soon. We are in a status of constant change currently which would mean making this now would just generate more on-going work for the already stretched team.

3. Is there any intention to release an API or open up mod support for features that are missing?

See above. Until RW stops changing constantly this would just cause unnecessary work for the Dev team. It's hard enough for them to keep pumping out updates without breaking something due to the thousands of ways we all do things differently without adding something like this to the mix.

4. Is there any intention to include spellcheck?

Yes please, this is necessary. I have played around with 3rd party spell checkers that do work but I found them to be a distraction and less productive versus just doing an EightBitz Export and looking for things that needed to be fixed.

5. Is there a "Hot List" anywhere that shows what features are being slotted for the future, etc?

The big ones we know about... Content Market > Web View > Journals > Custom Calendars (not necessarily in this order)

There is no "automatic" way to do bulk import, since there's no simple way to say how you want your CSV (or other) data to be translated into which snippets within which topic types.

Regarding spell check, I don't get the need for application-specific spell check. As others have said, install a universal, program-independant spell checker on your system. Better yet, get a word-expander/universal macro program like PhraseExpress, ActiveWords, or TextExpander and get both universal spell checking, along with powerful automation features.

Asking for spell-checkers to be added to everything is just asking for more bloat. Spell-checking is something better handled at the OS level and you can be sure to have the one that works for your language and custom vocabulary sets.

Isn't it best to be handled at the school-level? :-)