Project to organize The Creature Index

[Vaynth 3005]

While browsing The Creature Index to find references to use for the skinning competition, it dawned upon me that the entire section could use some revision. So there were a few ideas I brought up to Zarsies and asked permission to assist with.
 

1. Putting the list in alphabetical order and creating a spreadsheet to place new submissions without having to re-organize 

2. Separating the list of lore-accepted creatures from the creature applications-- greatly reducing clutter and confusion

3. Writing short summaries of every creature and placing the full amount of information underneath as a spoiler for each individual one

4. Finding suitable reference pictures for the entries that don't have one

5. Filling in any blank information

 

Originally I thought this was all simple enough to do myself, and it is. But it would definitely take a lot a time with the abundance of creatures we have. Because of this I figured we could turn it into a little community project to move the process along faster. So if anyone would like to help, I could use a hand in writing up some of the summaries. Basically the idea is to take the huge descriptions of every beast and turning them into something very vague,  preferably two sentences at most. Honestly even taking bits from from the original lore is fine if it could fit as a description. 

Example:

Cockatrice- A rather comedic looking creature, the cockatrice is found to have the body and wings of a drake, with the head and legs of the common rooster.

(here there would be a spoiler leading to the rest of it's information)

 

The reference pictures aren't as important, but aiding me in finding some of those would be grand as well. I'll link the spreadsheet here once I'm finished typing in the entries, so that anyone may see the summaries it still requires. So far I have none. You can either post here or message me on Skype if you have any other ideas. Thanks for reading!

 

 

[Cat Evocation 3728]

An improved index is a good idea.

[TinyBiceps 569]

i used all my +1's, so just know you have a +1 in spirit from me. 

[Stag 3229]

Why not have it linked to the wiki and do it through the wiki?

[Vaynth 3005]

Just now, Sir K Andruske said:

 

Why not have it linked to the wiki and do it through the wiki?

 

I could see it working either way.

Perhaps it could even be in both locations. Some people prefer the forums to the wiki and vise versa.

[Sky 0]

Is this a project you wish to embark on yourself, or more so a project you are suggesting the various teams responsible for the list to sit down and go through?

[Vaynth 3005]

Just now, Sky said:

 

Is this a project you wish to embark on yourself, or more so a project you are suggesting the various teams responsible for the list to sit down and go through?

 

 

I actually have fun doing things like this. That's why I asked Zarsies for permission, because he runs the index. I'm simply asking if the community would like to help. So the answer is yes, it's something I'm working on myself.

[Stag 3229]

I was probably the last one to do a major overhaul on the index layout. It is a HUGE chore to do. Especially with that many spoilers. 

[Vaynth 3005]

Just now, Sir K Andruske said:

 

I was probably the last one to do a major overhaul on the index layout. It is a HUGE chore to do. Especially with that many spoilers. 

 

Trust me I know, I'm fine with this. I like having productive things to do with my time.

[Stag 3229]

https://wikia.lordofthecraft.net/index.php?title=Creatures

 

 

So if you opt for this way A LOT of stuff is already on the wiki. Some of the wiki pages for these creatures need some fine tuning but with a new creature index page that links straight to the wiki it could become much easier to view and manage creatures on a whole rather than having to scroll through an endless list.

 

[Vaynth 3005]

49 minutes ago, Sir K Andruske said:

snip

 

That wiki page is beautiful. Just to make sure I'm understanding you clearly, are you suggesting to simply link each creature it's the wiki page rather than putting all of the information in a spoiler? Because if so, I see what you're saying. That could save a lot of work.

[Vaynth 3005]

Just now, Sythan said:

snip

Oh. This is awkward.

[Vaynth 3005]

Just now, Sythan said:

snip

Heh thank you! Pm me anytime you'd like. : )

[Stag 3229]

I'm suggestjng to maybe make wiki pages for each creature and add them to that collective list cuz yeah spoiler lists are difficult 

[Vaynth 3005]

22 hours ago, Sir K Andruske said:

-snip-

I've decided to use your idea as part of the overall plan. What I'm going to do is instead of having the re-formatted creature index page on the forums, the index itself is going to be a link to be an alphabetically organized spreadsheet with a drop-down list on the side. It'll be handy for the purpose of any LT members being able to quickly go in and add newly lore-accepted creatures without hassle. 
(Unless Zarsies suggests otherwise, but if I understood him correctly that's what he wanted.)

The spreadsheet is separated into three categories. Name, summary, and information link. That last part is going to bring viewers directly to the wiki page for each creature. So as you suggested, I'm going to see how I can go about creating pages for the entries that don't have one. I already have a list of pages that need to be created, and I'm going to see about tweaking any of the existing ones that might be lacking information. To be truthful I've never worked with a wiki page and I'm not well versed in HTML formatting, though I know the very basics. So I might have to ask someone for a little help with that.

If that ends up being a pain I might just create temporary creature pages as google docs and link to those rather than the wiki for the missing information.