Project: Redcap major updates

Dear sodales,

Project: Redcap is long overdue for an upgrade of the wiki back-end. This should be transparent to users -- the content [strike]and appearance[/strike] of the site will stay the same. However, on the back-end, the changes are fairly extensive and dramatic. They are necessary so I can keep Project: Redcap up-to-date with security patches and new wiki features in the future.

The good news is, I am almost finished with the back-end work. I've migrated all the content of Project: Redcap to the new back-end, which is online at beta.redcap.org. The current Redcap wiki is frozen for editing, but still open for reading. If everything continues to go well, beta.redcap.org will go live and fully replace the old wiki, on or about Jan. 1.

Your user accounts, edit history, and preferences should all be intact.

Please give beta.redcap.org a try. Go ahead and add content if you are so inclined. Send me e-mail or use the "Contact" page on beta.redcap.org if you run into any technical problems.

This brings me to my second point.

I've learned a lot about usability over the past couple of years. I think we can all agree, there is room for improvement on Project: Redcap. I have plans to do some fairly heavy re-organization. Currently, I there are two problems I want to address:

  • Too much useful content is buried too deeply in the site
  • There are too many different pages about the project, the fan community, and Ars Magica in general. I see lots of opportunities to consolidate content.

I will be getting started on a major re-organization on the new beta site. Please use the "Discussion" pages to let me know what you think of the changes!

Best regards,

Andrew Gronosky
Project: Redcap maintainer (Praeco of House Mercere?)

I found a new, mobile-friendly theme that I also think looks better with the lovely banner Toshi Casey made for Project: Redcap. I set that as the default theme for the beta site. Let me know if you like it or not.

Hi all,

The Project:Redcap upgrade is complete. The new site is live. Again, all user accounts and the full edit history of the site have been seamlessly carried over, so the fact that it's an entirely new wiki installation is invisible to users.

I've changed the default skin for the site to one that seems (to me) more mobile-friendly. If you have a preference for the old look and layout, you can choose the "Vector" skin in your user profile if you create an account. Also, I'd be happy to change the default skin back to "Vector" and leave the new one as optional, if that's what people prefer.

You will see some red links on the front page. That's because I'm in the midst of re-organizing content. I'll be filling that out over the next couple of days. I would welcome some help if anyone wants to jump in!

Happy New Year, and happy editing!

-Andrew Gronosky
Project: Redcap