Suggested update(s) to Template:OtherResources for AllaKhazam

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I've noticed the Allakhazam links from quests fail much of the time. It generates urls like:

http://eq2.zam.com/search.html?q=Brother_Pang%27s_Trial:_Combating_Corruption

The underscores seem to throw it off.

We could replace the underscores with "+" for the spaces to force it, or more simply use the friendly URLs they offer, e.g.

http://eq2.zam.com/wiki/EQ2_Quest:Brother_Pang's_Trial:_Combating_Corruption

This may be easier as all you'd need to do is change the url in OtherResources (if I understand right, Wikimedia templates make my head hurt) Xhiris 02:17, May 13, 2010 (UTC)

Actually, I'm betting the culprit is the Zam subtemplate which controls the search link... It's setup to replace spaces with underscores. However, as I use your link provided above (Brother Pang's trial -- the topmost one), zam's search engine auto-corrects the apostrophe and returns a result for the correct quest. By and large, it usually seems to do so (for me, at least; and I'm using Firefox).

That being said, the subtemplate is protected and can't be altered without an Admin's hand. It could be tweaked to stop replacing underscores, as that would be the easiest / best-case-scenario for a change. (To revamp all the templates involved for the Zam search links to use their "friendly URLs" would be an incredible undertaking of complex and immense programming....) Since EQ2i and 'Zam use different databases and URLs it may be a nuisance that clicking the Allakhazam link doesn't take you directly to the item/quest/Named info you desire, but it should at least result in that site's search page listing the data you seek. If not, then perhaps an Admin can be invoked to make the template change. -- Mysterious drake 03:08, May 16, 2010 (UTC)

it is indeed that zam template that needs to be tweaked and i think it should be easy to do so. since the other resources template specifies the type of the article, the search alla template could use a switch to generate the different friendly urls -- Vraeth 10:20, May 16, 2010 (UTC)

How would you gentlemen like to proceed then? I can unlock a locked template or subtemplate for a short period of time to allow someone to fix it if they know exactly how it will be fixed. As a general rule, we keep high traffic templates locked because they're the most complex and easy to mess up the whole site. If you know just what to do, however, I can unlock it to make the editing easier and then lock it again once you're done. (And yes I'm still on vacation, but my house guests are still asleep this morning.)-- Kodia 10:53, May 16, 2010 (UTC)

Before it gets unlocked and updated, I think a test version of it should be made and tested. That way we can be sure the update we're applying works as intended. Once we change the real template, it's gonna put just about every page on the wiki into the job queue, which is something we probably should avoid doing multiple times by direct-editing the template. -- lordebon 15:16, May 16, 2010 (UTC)

i played around with it, and the first version of the template looks like this , and here is how it works in action -- Vraeth 15:35, May 16, 2010 (UTC)

Short of wider-spread testing, I think that's actually a somewhat elegant and easy "upgrade" to the template. However, unless I'm not understanding the DevTemp properly, would the Zam links auto-insert the item/mob/quest {{{2}}} switch, or would there need to be other code introduced to do so? -- Mysterious drake 18:45, May 16, 2010 (UTC)

the OtherResources template already calls SearchAlla with those parameters, but may be needed to tweak it a bit more -- Vraeth 19:00, May 16, 2010 (UTC)

You're right, lol, I forgot to reference the OtherResources template again before making my preceding comment. Seems your upgrade idea is on the right track then! (And man, do I still have a lot to learn about Parser Function. /sigh) -- Mysterious drake 04:33, May 17, 2010 (UTC)

any other opinion/objection about this update? -- Vraeth 08:30, May 28, 2010 (UTC)

No objections here. It looks find to me unless I'm missing something.-- Kodia 11:23, May 28, 2010 (UTC)

Only thing I'd suggest changing is the display name: Use "Zam" rather than Allakhazam's, since "Zam" is the name they use nowadays. -- lordebon 15:18, May 28, 2010 (UTC)

only for eq2. though we are about eq2 after all.. :) -- Vraeth 15:32, May 28, 2010 (UTC)

updated my Dev Template with more options for later usage. if it is ok, i'd need the Template:SearchAlla to be unlocked to make the changes. then i could move up on the chain to check the parent templates for necessary modifications. -- Vraeth 22:05, June 23, 2010 (UTC)

Instead of unprotecting the template, I'm upgrading your rights to edit protected pages. This right can be revoked when your work editing this template and its parents are done. Please let me know when you've completed the work. Please keep your hands and legs inside the vehicle at all times. Please don't tug on my cape. ;-)-- Kodia 23:39, June 23, 2010 (UTC)

thanks, i'll begin working on it -- Vraeth 10:45, June 24, 2010 (UTC)

this should be mostly done. however, there are a few things missing. while the links work for spells, the wiki articles are missing on zam - only the db entries are available. also, if we want, the achievements could be linked too -- Vraeth 22:22, June 24, 2010 (UTC)