h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Thanks Clive

Don't rush on our account.

shazz

Not had much time this week to do coding. I'll see what i can get done tongiht and over the weekend.

I surprise myself sometimes.

I'm finished. (almost.) I am as I write this writing up the last block of text I have from the forums. From here on in...it's just the general business of tidyign up and sorting out loose ends.

Once I think it's as ready as I can get it after that, I'll beging chopping up the code and shiping it over to you shazz for editorial duties.

Also - one quick question now that the Beeb (yahoo!!!!) has gone back to no moderation trial period - there were couple of things we had modded while I've been typing this up that I would like to semi restore (****'s instead of the surplanted text.) and I would welcome your views on this.

There's only one or two insatnces in the text where a character swears and I myself have taken out a couple as I've gone along. Even so there a a couple of times when I do think it works in context of the story and would like to see them return. ( ***'d out if it comes to it.)

Sure - the general rule seems to be to leave them in but *** them a little for forum postings, so I don't see why you can't do the same in the story, provided it isn't just there gratuitously of course.

shazz

not really.


Just one of our major character waxing his wroth old testament style.

A minor curse in my opinon but I can * it out and still get the effect no problem.

for your consideration

I can think of one use of b***er and a couple of times p**s crept in from various contributors. How do they sit for gratuitous?




-------

on another note one thing that's been puzzling me is that about half-way through writing up the story, I was using the brackets and ine time i came to close off a paragraph or several with a and it would go through the parsar. Eventually I just left it out and it went through.

Since then I haven't bothered using boxes at all and it's worked fine.

I just tried an experiment going right to the first paragraph and removing the boxes from around that and it still showed up - so I'm just going through removing the extraneous tags (it takes long enough to load up anyway) I trust this wont be a problem for you when I send you the code to the post?

and it *wouldn't* go through the parsar - excuse me.

A couple of bu**ers and a p*ss or two shouldn't be any problem, but I can ask at the Towers for clarification if you like.

Personally I hardly ever use tags - as you say it clutters up the coding and I think you can get just as good an effect with judicious use of 's and 's

</.>ThePost</.> also gets special dispensation to use tags - ideal for highlighting stuff - in moderation.

shazz

I always put those stupid tags the wrong way round! It should have been <./>ThePost</.> of course!

shazz

nah no need to bother TPTB, The actual word is "bu**ery" oh and there are a few bloodies as well but seeing as this was a Very British Affair - I think it's all editorially justifable.

and I think I've worked out what it is.

After years of doing paragraph breaks like Bruce's Guide told me too when I first started coding:


I got set in my ways...then I tried something I used a paragraph tag like a line-break tag:



works just as well and yes less cluttering code to jam up the page, which emans less work to type out each time AND (I think) less hard work for th server to translate all this code each time it loads a page so quicker loading times.

A872624

I hope that you didn't lose all your hard work when your computer crashed Clive

shazz

oooooh...

methinks I'll just nab that blob number ifyerdon'tmind.


and no. Probably lost everything else. but most of it was bumpf anyway - and it needed a good clearing out, granted this wasn't quite what I had in mind but hey-ho. All the storytime stuff was drawn from site anyway - so anything I have lost were just simple text files which I'd copied and pasted and was using for editing duties.

He returns!


*waits patiently for the applause to die down.*

Well I'm back. sort of. the computer is still being tempremental but it's functioning at least (which is an improvement on before.)

Re: storytime - how much longer have I got till the birthday edition 'cos I'm gonna really have to roll it out of the presses soon if it's when I think it is. :-S

'Tis 5th December - ie next week.

However, I am quite happy to give you more time.

shazz

Oops - I forgot...


*applause*



shazz

eep.

Well I suppose if you want to start the prolouge and the cast list going that gives me some more time. *thinks*

I've made some of the big copy > paste alterations where things needed adjusting for editorial duties.

not being online I've not been able to go through the code to remove all of the and brackets. That's not going to cause a problem for you is it, if when I chop it into episodic pieces, the code changes halfway through?

and I'd have liked a little time to work on setting up part three but I suppose I have got until the story finishes until then. so working on the fly this might just work.

all of which signifies that it *was* when I thought it was!

Right

Send the prologue through - or direct me to it again and we'll tag it for inclusion next week. Provided we have the relevant episode through in plenty of time the coding shouldn't be a problem.

shazz

Define "plenty of time" and I'll see what i can do. I'm away this weekend - which makes thiings more difficult.

Well - I seem to remember that the prologue is more-or-less done, so no problem there, but if the other items need a little work, getting them in for attention the previous weekend would help - this going to college lark really puts pressure on for editing lengthy items in the week.

shazz

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/classic/A856109 - this is the proluge. I've tidied it up a little and included the new banner from MO. so yes that is about done. ditto the cast list which I'm moving onto now. I'll keep you updated on the progress i make on the main stroy. when do you want the first 'chapter' submitted by after the prolouge cast list have been run?