I just finished adding in some new features thanks to some assistance from my friend, Alan. This took a lot of playing around with PHP and while I was able to do some of it, Alan really made sure it worked right.
You may now make an account on MMeOw, if you wish. Accounts are not required to comment, but they do give you some neat new features:
- Having an account allows you to stay logged in until you log out, making comments even simpler than before.
- You will be given a profile page. You can edit this at any time by clicking the “Edit Settings” link in the topmost navigation.
- You can upload your own avatar if you wish, up to 1MB in size. If you do not upload an avatar, your Gravatar will be used instead.
- By default a profile contains your username, avatar, join date, last 5 comments and last 5 posts (if you’re an author here).
- Your profile may also display a link to your Web site, a link to your MyLotRO profile, an about section and your server name. These are handled simply through text boxes and drop down menus.
- Profiles are automatically linked to in your comment. Additionally, your MyLotRO profile will be linked to if you add it.
- Update: You can enter your main character’s name and it will automatically point to the character’s profile on my.lotro.com. This is optional.
Just click Register on the topmost navigation bar to get started.
There are more plans for the future that I’m still working out. I’m hoping to allow people to to enter their main character’s name which will then automatically link to its myLotRO profile on the proper server.
You may also now use some HTML in your comments. The comment form now has a small toolbar which allows you bold, emphasize, link and more. I’ve also added buttons for various LotRO Lorebook functions. For example, surrounding the item name Coal with tags creates [Coal]. Keep in mind the name has to be exactly the same as in the game/Lorebook.
In the more distant future, this site will also be making use of the XML data that Turbine is now providing. This means we can show your character’s stats and equipment in your profile if you wish. As with your myLotRO link, server name and so forth, this is completely optional.
I hope everyone likes these additions.
Glad to see all the cool stuff you’ve added. I almost regret syndicating all my blog reading to Google Reader and missing out on the individual blogs, but it would take me way too long to actually visit each and every page I read. But if I comment, I get the goodies. Nice job on the redesign and features. Keep it up!
Tony would be lost without me, this much is true.
Wuv, twue wuv.
Love the new features but can’t help feeling more than a little left out whenever mylotro is mentioned.
There seems little prospect that non-US players will ever see this, and although it’s not by any means a deal breaker for me, it would be nice to be able to inspect my characters out of game.
Yeah, that is disappointing. I’m not sure why they haven’t worked that out. I have to assume the data they pull is handled the same way …
Maybe someday I can set up an interview with someone there and try and get some info on that one.
Use your Jedi powers wisely Tony
Should start up some forums, IMO. It’d be very nice to be able to keep track of discussion that way, rather than just the blog-style comments. Just my 2 copper, though.
I’ll consider that … I’ve ran forums in the past and they’re often a headache. They seem to facilitate arguments more than blog comments.
We shall see. It’s crossed my mind several times.
Thanks for the suggestion!
Please don’t try that stupidity again. Remember how well it worked last time? It just became a soapbox for angry community members to rake you through the mud for perceived laziness.
I am not saying your current users will do this, but I think its best not to tempt fate and save yourself the hassle to begin with.