Release notes on recent improvements

Jun 17, 2021 3:23 pm
Keleth and I have been levelling up functionality and slaying bugs (...and probably making a few new bugs along the way). Here's an update.
Features and fixes
Dark mode

Dark mode can now be enabled for users without the extension. You'll find it at the bottom of your user profile.
Warn if there's an unsaved post

You'll be warned if you try to leave a post page when there's text in the editor. If you like to live dangerously, you can turn this functionality off in your user profile.
Game page

Game descriptions now support BBCode and appear at the top of the page.

Add links to your Games Tavern thread and your profile page to help people introduce themselves before trying to sign up for your game.
Add pictures, videos and styling to make your game page more appealing.
Open/Closed has been renamed to "Open/Closed for applications".

https://i.imgur.com/cFriwp4.jpg
Inviting users to games

You might have seen a few comments in the Game Tavern where GMs said they couldn't invite a specific user to a game because the player name didn't appear in the dropdown.

If the name entered in the Invite textbox exactly matches a username, they now appear at the top of the list for selection.
Thread in breadcrumb

On the advanced posting page, the thread appears at the end of the breadcrumb, so you can open it in a new tab and remember what you're replying to.
ooc in notes

Fixed a bug where ooc in the middle of a note made the rest of the note visible.
Avatars that aren't square

Only BowlOfSpinach requested this and didn't even notice once we'd fixed it. I don't know why we bother (he wrote, sulkily).
Current HP in 5e character sheets

5e characters now have a box for their current HP. Because... yeah... current hit points are a thing.
One player is an allowable option

This site now supports duets.
Game editor
Notes dropdown

Don't enjoy the thrill of spelling bizarre usenames? The notes button now has a dropdown for selecting players - choose "Add Note" once you've made your selection.

https://i.imgur.com/BGeIaTC.png

https://i.imgur.com/K6psjuU.png
Upload to Imgur

If your image isn't already on the internet, this option will ask you to select an image from your computer, upload it, and add the img tag.

https://i.imgur.com/TcFkZrI.png
New BBCode tags
youtube

Click the "share" link on a YouTube video and put it in a youtube tag for inline videos.

https://i.imgur.com/8P5cnyt.png

https://i.imgur.com/xj4yWZK.png



I've seen people use videos for ambient music to play whilst reading the post - I like that (shoutout to AA64 and his smooooth Baldur's Gate noir jazz).

One gotcha. If you want to start from a point in time, the YouTube link will have a "?t=" parameter at the end - you'll need to change that to a "?start=" parameter.

I don't know why YouTube uses a different parameter name for embedded videos. I could convert it in code, but less code means fewer bugs, and that's good too - right?
map

Using On The Fly Battle Maps? The map tag means you can keep all the parameters on separate lines for easy editing. The system will also turn the map image into a link, showing the map in a new tab.

If you're not using OtFBM then this is an img tab that automatically adds a link to view the image in a new tab.

https://i.imgur.com/2H5YKbe.png


Thanks to everyone for the suggestions and feedback.
Last edited June 17, 2021 3:29 pm
Jun 17, 2021 3:47 pm
Absolutely fantastic work. I can't wait to try every one of these new features!
Jun 17, 2021 3:57 pm
Wow terrific! Thanks for putting in all that hard work.
Jun 17, 2021 4:08 pm
Yes, amazing work, Adam and Keleth!
Thank you
Jun 17, 2021 4:31 pm
Incredible! Thanks for the gargantuan update, Keleth & Adam.
Jun 17, 2021 4:34 pm
Oh, all this is so awesome! Embedded YouTube videos is an awesome feature. Is there a way to do the same with Spotify share links?

I love non-square avatars, by the way. :)
Jun 17, 2021 4:39 pm
SavageBob says:
Is there a way to do the same with Spotify share links?
That's an excellent idea (mainly because it's easy to implement).
Jun 17, 2021 5:10 pm
Wow. Some absolutely HUGE contributions here, Keleth, Adam. Thanks.
Last edited June 17, 2021 8:16 pm
Jun 17, 2021 5:14 pm
Just wow! And them battle maps... Go go grandpa Adam!
Jun 17, 2021 5:18 pm
Keleth and Adam: Wow and thanks!
Jun 17, 2021 5:23 pm
Incredible! Many thanks, Adam & Keleth!
Jun 17, 2021 5:24 pm
Great work!
Adam says:
If your image isn't already on the internet, this option will ask you to select an image from your computer, upload it, and add the img tag.
most useful aside from not exposing notes :)
Also could yo try to better explain the maps feature?

Len

Jun 17, 2021 5:50 pm
Amazing work Adam and Keleth! Thank you!

KoldikSteelskin, the map tag uses "on the fly battlemaps," a separate service that generates battlemaps based on the code you put into a URL. Here is the documentation for using it: http://docs.otfbm.com
Jun 17, 2021 6:27 pm
Thanks so much, Adam and Keleth. These wonderful additions will make it way more user-friendly for GMs new to GP.
Jun 17, 2021 9:14 pm
this is really cool. It would be great to have all these bbcode tricks added to the guide so new (and old) players can reference them easily.
Jun 18, 2021 5:32 am
Sweet updates, thanks for all the hard work!
Jun 18, 2021 6:00 am
KoldikSteelskin says:
Also could yo try to better explain the maps feature?
OtFBM

I know more people are using OtFBM on here. The documentation for OtFBM that Len added is the best place to start.

OtFBM is great for a quick map. Just slap...

http://otfbm.io/8x5/D3r-Goblin/A1r-Goblin/G4g-Fighter

...in an img tag, and you have a map.

But before you know it, you're maintaining messes like this:

https://otfbm.io/40x40/@dc42/x22r-Orc14~5nh6m/y23g-A~5nh6m/x23r-Orc10~5nh6m/w24-Orc4~5nh6m/ak20-Orc~5nh6m/ak21-Orc~5nh6m/aj22-Orc~5nh6m/ak23-Orc~5nh6m/ak24-Orc~5nh6m/ak25-Orc~5nh6m/x24-Al~2dhed/v24-Ugo~gt4tf/q20-Diesa~6gr9h~/u17-Turner~p9x5k/x21-Thellan~4qnme/ah11l-Manticore~b8g4t/n9:26x20?bg=https://i.imgur.com/694uWjY.jpg

Editing that mess is like playing a word-search puzzle.

The map tag lets you make that stuff a little more readable and maintainable as you can keep things on different lines and the tag strips whitespace before adding to the image.

https://otfbm.io/40x40/@dc42
/x22r-Orc14~5nh6m
/y23g-A~5nh6m
/x23r-Orc10~5nh6m
/w24-Orc4~5nh6m
/ak20-Orc~5nh6m
/ak21-Orc~5nh6m
/aj22-Orc~5nh6m
/ak23-Orc~5nh6m
/ak24-Orc~5nh6m
/ak25-Orc~5nh6m

/x24-Al~2dhed
/v24-Ugo~gt4tf
/q20-Diesa~6gr9h~
/u17-Turner~p9x5k
/x21-Thellan~4qnme

/ah11l-Manticore~b8g4t
/n9:26x20?bg=https://i.imgur.com/694uWjY.jpg



It also adds a link to open the image up in a new tab (so the poster doesn't need a url tag with that huge OtFBM link as well as the img). This is useful because GP automatically shrinks images in a post, but for wide battle maps players might need that extra detail (esp. if there's a mix of range and melee combat going on).
Other maps

But you could use it for other maps (having whitespace isn't mandatory!). Under the hood, it's an img tag with a link.

Consider the image: https://media.wizards.com/2015/images/dnd/resources/Sword-Coast-Map_LowRes.jpg

That map is 3600 pixels wide.

If I do this:

https://i.imgur.com/eHeC0Yg.png

Then it acts like an img tag but the players can click it to view it all, and it's a little more readable and compact than a URL with the same img:

https://i.imgur.com/l2CfRns.png

Jun 18, 2021 6:02 am
...but, yeah, otfbm is doing the heavy lifting. The new map tag just makes it slightly easier to give it the stuff to lift.
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