Pasting and link creation behaviour, snippet manipulation...

[McTaff]

I have two minor issues with creating content in RealmWorks:

The first is that if I go to a web page with hyperlinks, I cannot copy that text and paste it into Realm Works without formatting. This means that:
All hyperlinks point to external sources (and consequently when removed, you still have to change the colour of the font and remove the underlining to avoid confusing appearance of an active link)
Bold, Italics, Underlining and other formatting are automatically preserved
Line spacing can be interfered with.
...amongst other things. Normally in programs there is a right-click context menu that allows "Paste without Formatting" which simply dumps the plain text into the field. This would be an excellent addition.

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Secondly, link behaviour can't be managed after the first run of creation (especially if there is a PEBKAM error).

Real World Example:
I created two geographical/political areas. One was called "Bobland". In a separate place created "The Nation Of Bobland" within the same realm, do distinguish the two topics as they were containers referring to different adventures - one was a large adventure within Bobland, and the other was for when the nation of Bobland was referenced during another adventure.

So within a complex questline I had "The Nation Of Bobland" referenced a few times. I ignored one of them because I wanted to check which version of Bobland I wanted to link to (short term memory failure). So the next thing it tried was just "Bobland" within the same portion of text.

Here is where the wheels fell off: I ended up with more links uncreated because I abandoned creating links, and there was no way for me to force it to re-recognise the previously ignored or unlinked portions of text. So I had a few snippets with plain text that would not create a link until I deleted a character within that portion of text for it to recognise it as a 'new' item it could attempt to create links.

In addition, we need to be able to clear all links in a snippet and prompt to re-create them (yes, I know half of that request is in the works).

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Also, cutting or copying an entire section of an article and merging/copying/moving them to a new article would be very handy - doing it individually is tedious and time consuming.

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Mutually exclusive snippets would also be excellent - when you have two snippets that are only true at different times for one another (Bobland is run by King Bob, and The Nation Of Bobland is run by Bob's mum when Bob went missing), having a switch to toggle them would be awesome. Conversely, if one is a lie and the other is a truth, when the truth is revealed the lie is exposed automatically as such (not with colour - with a definite tag or a change in the text).

This is a big help for minor changes to a large topic, as there could be a lot of misinformation that could be mythbusted in one click, or a set of governments, people and situational changes that could be affected in one go for when/if a party fails/succeeds in a specific task or a certain point in the timeline occurs.

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Thanks for your time,

- McTaff

 

[Parody]

The first is that if I go to a web page with hyperlinks, I cannot copy that text and paste it into Realm Works without formatting.

Paste Special is a command on the Format Ribbon with a shortcut of Ctrl-Alt-V. It would be nice if it was also on the Context Menu, yes.

Secondly, link behaviour can't be managed after the first run of creation (especially if there is a PEBKAM error).

A few ways to rescan and/or fix links:

Select some text in a snippet, right-click (context-click) somewhere in the text selection, pick "Clear Selection and Rescan for Content Links".

Right-click (context-click) on a link and pick "Select New Link Target..." or "Select New Link Target For All Instances...".

In the Options menu for a Snippet (F9), under Text Content there's a few options relating to links, including "Clear Content Links and Rescan".

In the Content Pane Options menu (F7), under Quick Edit Content there are similar options relating to links as in the Snippet Options menu, but they will affect the entire Topic/Article.

Also, cutting or copying an entire section of an article and merging/copying/moving them to a new article would be very handy - doing it individually is tedious and time consuming.

Most of this isn't there yet, but to split (move to a new Topic/Article) you can duplicate an existing one and delete the stuff you don't want.

Mutually exclusive snippets would also be excellent - when you have two snippets that are only true at different times for one another....

For what you were describing, is the Players' view what's important or yours? For the players you can have multiple versions of the same snippet/relationship/etc. and only reveal the one that's current. For you, I'd probably keep a history snippet with notes as to why, say, Duchess Foo is ruling as Regent instead of King Bar. (This would be very situational.)

Hope this helps.

 

[McTaff]

Yes... yes it does! Thanks a bunch!

As to your last point, what the players see is what I am referring to...
What you've stated is how I currently do it. I have all the points there and select/deselect them as appropriate. But when you end up with one huge topic that has dozens of snippets that are mutually exclusive/supersede one another/truth reveals, it is possible to miss one and give the players conflicting information.

And yes, very situational.
It's hardly Top Of The Pops, but it struck me as a "has to be an easier way" when you have a 'nation' full of people and they get invaded and half of them are replaced, some are enslaved and some go turncoat - as it stands I have a completely new topic of the 'nation', but links can be a nightmare as each persons topic doesn't update until you go in and click them all around. A mutually exclusive one would speed up the updating and ease of changing the current situation for the "after" scenario. Flick a switch and all these people have their regular snippets replaced with sadder, morose ones, their new jobs, the things they lament now, or their lifecycle changes (i.e. they died in battle or were taken away for, um, surgical health checks).

And new people replacing the old ones doesn't work because all the current links don't rearrange to point at the new topic created for the person concerned.

 

[Dark Lord Galen]

Since this thread takes mention of links I thought I would expand it out of the "paste" behavior and discuss another "behavior" links seem to have & perhaps I have over looked a way to correct it.

In the World Builders Guide (p13)

GM Directions
Not technically snippets, GM Directions allow you to add any information about the Topic being edited, which will never be shown to the players. You can use this for such things as how to run a particular part of the adventure, how to roleplay a character, etc. Options to add a GM Direction are on the add snippet menus and the snippet tools menus. GM Directions are formatted with a yellow background and lack a reveal/conceal orb.

and p 22

Note: Remember that revealed plot point will never be seen by the players unless the plot itself has been revealed. The same applies to content relationships, for which both endpoints must be revealed.

and p39

3.0.1 Content Links
Snippets and text area's provide content links. This shows up on the Content Pane (See 1.2 of Gamer's Guide for layout). Content links can be of three different types:
 Outbound: Link from a snippet or text area to another Realm Works object
 Inbound: Link from a snippet or text area to the currently selected Realm Works object
 Bidirectional: These two Realm Works objects have Outbound links to each other
Content links are important as you can see connections between content at a glance, and with that connection you can navigate to that content with a single click. This makes exploring content simple, and the links are only visible to players if both Realm Works objects are revealed, and the snippet if a topic or article where the link originates is also revealed.

Based on these snipits I should not be able to see (nor more importantly my players see_ Content links that are established in a "GM directions" snipit. Regardless of whether the topic is "green lighted" or not.
The text within the snipit is not revealed, but any Content Links in the GM directions do appear in the list at the right.

IF I have DM notes containing links in the GM directions snipit type, I would think these would not be available to the Player Mode view.

As seen here PAUL REESE is linked within the GM Directions / Notes Snipit (and nowhere else on this reveal)

And while the link itself is not revealed, it is listed under content links. I would think that GM info would NOT be. Especially within the content links within "IN PLAYER MODE". I have not yet confirmed that this is occurring in the Players' Edition of RW or not.... IF it is it would be VERY easy for the Player to manipulate this information.

My apologies if this derailed the thread, as the intent was to keep it on topic of link behaviors.

DLG

 

[rob]

That sounds like it may be a bug in the Player Mode Preview. However, this would only be an issue within the GM Edition. The PMP is a SIMULATION of what the players will actually see. The Player Edition itself would require that the link be wholly synced down in order for it to appear ANYWHERE. And that would require a fundamental flaw in the syncing logic, which I'm 99.999% sure is solid for links like this.

This is the sort of issue the needs to be reported via a formal BUG REPORT. Simply reporting it via the forums, especially buried in an only tangentially related thread, is an excellent way to ensure that the bug isn't noticed by anyone on our end. You happened to get lucky here. However, it would still preferred if you actually submitted this a formal bug report via a support ticket, since then you'll know when we officially get it fixed. You'll find full details on support tickets in the sticky threads at the top of the forum.

Thanks!

 

[Dark Lord Galen]

That sounds like it may be a bug in the Player Mode Preview. However, this would only be an issue within the GM Edition. The PMP is a SIMULATION of what the players will actually see. The Player Edition itself would require that the link be wholly synced down in order for it to appear ANYWHERE. And that would require a fundamental flaw in the syncing logic, which I'm 99.999% sure is solid for links like this.

I have yet to confirm this as there are multiple other errors being addressed on my player versions.

This is the sort of issue the needs to be reported via a formal BUG REPORT. Simply reporting it via the forums, especially buried in an only tangentially related thread, is an excellent way to ensure that the bug isn't noticed by anyone on our end. You happened to get lucky here. However, it would still preferred if you actually submitted this a formal bug report via a support ticket, since then you'll know when we officially get it fixed. You'll find full details on support tickets in the sticky threads at the top of the forum.

Thanks!

Uh, well...The intent was to query the community , not to "burry it" and "get lucky", I was simply following the procedure as defined in the Support page (http://www.wolflair.com/realmworks/support/ ) where it asks to "please post your question on the appropriate Realm Works forum or send your question to technical support.". Guess he forgot about that part.

A bug Report & Case has be started.

DLG

 

[Dark Lord Galen]

That sounds like it may be a bug in the Player Mode Preview. However, this would only be an issue within the GM Edition. The PMP is a SIMULATION of what the players will actually see. The Player Edition itself would require that the link be wholly synced down in order for it to appear ANYWHERE. And that would require a fundamental flaw in the syncing logic, which I'm 99.999% sure is solid for links like this.

For this issue, this will be fixed in our next release. It also uncovered that the links could potentially show up for players using the Player Edition in a specific set of circumstances that will also be fixed.

Thanks,

--
David Paxson
Lone Wolf Development Support - support@wolflair.com
http://www.wolflair.com

FYI for those following along.
So much for 99.999%
It would seem there is a probability (giving the correct circumstances evidentially)

So, until the next release AND if you also have a separate players edition of RW you have access to view (to confirm what you reveal is ONLY what you want revealed) , I would be cautious as to what you reveal, As it seems that your players may indeed see it.

And as they say, what has been seen cannot be "unseen".

DLG

PS to community> Also, if you discover that this error exists for you as well, "unrevealing it" is not the simple solution you would think. IF your players have linked notes, etc to those revealed, and then un-revealed elements this could also cause a different crash.
More info to follow as it is discovered & "revealed"

@ LWD> Thanks Shout Out to David for all the support. Not many places provide individual support at 10:30pm (and much much later!) central time.