On the gold changes
First off, I want to say THIS IS NOT MY FEATURE. It's all Wahyudinata's fault... I mean, doing!
Honestly though, I want to be upfront in saying I agree 100% with the changes that have been made. I love the gold notifier, and I've never been a fan of "poll-whoring". I think Gaians who contribute to Gaia, like Cid with her WWLA series (now being upgraded to "Admin Three Point Oh!" wink and the PTAG crew, and the everyday user who posts on threads and have fun discussions with other members should be rewarded for their time.
Poll whoring isn't fun, and all it did was make every single thread have a poll in it. Blah on that. And, earning 10g from each vote was a glitch.
Thanks to [G.E.R.] for a thread with OFFICIAL comments regarding the new gold counter.
Dark secrets to becoming a Gaia developer
Since I've been a Gaia dev, no less than 5 Gaians have asked me for advice on making web pages. So I decided that instead of talking about my week (which was full of secret project in-fo-mation eek ) I would share my nuggets of wisdom (they're very, very small nuggets).
Step One: Remove the brain
Most normal people's brains are grey. If your brain is also grey, you might not be a good fit for Gaia.
If your brain is multi-colored, luminescent, or hologram - you MIGHT be a candidate for Gaia. Jakobo's brain is yellow. L0cke's brain is navy pinstripe. Lanzer's brain is made of pure crystal with individual grapes suspended within. Foobarbazquux's brain is constantly changing opacity. My brain has pulsating islands of green and puce.
A normal brain is good, but a creative, fun-loving, game-playing, music-dancing brain is better.
Step Two: Smash brain with books
Okay, no, you don't need books, but you gotta fill that brain with knowledge. A Gaia developer knows some or all of the following technologies:
- HTML (For pretty making)
- CSS (For prettier making)
- PHP (For stuff happening making)
- Database systems (For things storing happening)
- Javascript (For making pretty stuff happening with things)
- Linux/Unix (For storing things that pretty stuff happening make)
If you survived reading that list, you're well on your way to becoming a Gaia dev!
In the long run, you'll need to know all these things. But since this is How to become a Gaia developer PART ONE, I'll only cover the first part, and arguably the easiest part: HTML.
HYPERTEXT! It's as cool as it sounds
You can't build many web pages without knowing HTML. I mean, you could, but they'd be pretty crappy. They would look kind of like this:
Fleep's AWESOME Website
Hey everybody! This is my website! I don't know HTML so I can't make anything exciting. Heck, I can't even make spacing in my text, because you have to put in special code to break apart "whitespace". So I hope you enjoy reading my website that looks like a Tolstoy novel... blah blah balh
Kinda like that. HTML is what we use to take that, and put graphics and layout around it.
That sounds too hard. I don't wanna
Then get out of my classroom you baby! Why don't you go to preschool with all the other babies and you can cry "Wahhh, I'm a baby, I don't wanna do HTML". Stinky babies.
SRSLY THO - HTML is pretty easy, and you already have all the software you need to do it:
- A text editor
- A web browser
You can also learn it in your spare time WHILE creating your own website. It's pretty fun if your brain happens to be "fluorescent meow bark" colored (see above).
When I first started seriously learning HTML, it was from a site called HTMLGoodies.com. This was years and years ago, but the original tutorials are still up:
* Basic HTML: Introduction
* Basic HTML: Tags
* Basic HTML: Manipulating Text
* Basic HTML: Creating Links to Other Pages
* Basic HTML: Images
* Basic HTML: Manipulating Images
* Basic HTML: Graduation
Seem daunting? Maybe you need...
... a bit of inspiration!
If it seems like too much to handle, learning this thing I call HTML, take the following things to heart:
* Most Gaia devs are self-taught. We started learning when we were young. I started when I was 12! We slowly worked our way up towards being awesome hackers. (Er, school is still very, very important kids! sweatdrop )
* We still get frustrated DAILY with code that baffles us, doesn't work like we expect it to, or makes it seem like the universe is out to destroy us. If stuff that looks like it should be working doesn't work, just stay calm, relax, and mess around with it. Or ask someone with more experience!
* "Coders who need coders are the best kind of coders". Nobody here does anything alone. We all need help and advice from time to time. Don't be afraid to ask for it! Everyone started at the bottom (Except for Beebo the half-monkey/half-computer cyborg who literally has HTML in his bones)
"advice" A little advice
Here are my top tips for surviving learning to be a Gaia dev or just a web developer in general:
1. Get a support group.
I strongly recommend signing up on http://www.webmasterworld.com and
posting on their forums. It's a lot like Gaia... but about web development! Introduce yourself on their New to Web Development forum!
2. Get a mentor
Find someone who already knows how to make web pages to have around to ask questions of. Don't ask them to teach you! Just make sure you have someone you can ask when you get stuck. It's still best to figure stuff out on your own blaugh
3. Get a project
Learning web design for web design's sake isn't a whole ton of fun, but if you have a project in mind, you'll find that it's really, really fun to learn to make web pages. Here are some ideas:
- A Gaia fansite mrgreen
- A tribute to your favorite band or video game
- A gallery of your artwork (if you're an artist)
- A personal site, kinda like a Gaia profile, but where you get TOTAL CONTROL
OR, OR, OR... well, you've all been to that thing called the "In-tar-web", so you know what kinds of sites are out there. Just don't make anything you would be ashamed to show your mother xd
This is boring. You're boring Fleep
It's my damned journal. You don't like it, go read Shounen Jump or whatever it is you crazy kids are reading nowadays...
... er, I mean, read Gaia! Go on the forums! Arrr ninja
Community Member
Now write part two on CSS, I suck very hard at CSS.
You can skip Javascript though heart