STEP:State of STEP/2017-02-3

STEP, as if you all haven't noticed, has been rather quiet for a while. Don't fear, we're not going anywhere! In fact, the state of STEP is just the opposite. We are gearing up for some pretty big changes to the project as a whole. For the longest time we have been developing the project and release Guides on our wiki. The thing is, the wiki was never designed to do such a task. Our development has the wiki working much like a software program would and the result of this is a heavy load on our server and the wiki database. The time has come to remedy this issue for good, but we're not just going to stop there! We're going to bring many of our long desired features and "wants" to life during a redesign of the entire project. I will hit some key points below.

New Server

That's right! We're going to be moving to a new server soon! This is one of the necessities of our planned redesign of the project and for our continued growth. Currently we're running on a lackluster server in terms of features and technology. For example, we only recently received a free upgrade to SSD drives; however, the rest of the server is still lacking for our current and future needs. We're planning on moving to a server with 64-bit processes and 8GB of memory to better support the growing demands of the site. Once this move is complete, we shouldn't run into any of those pesky issues of the site going down due to the demand being placed on the server.

Front-end Design

We're going to redesign the front-end of the project! For quite some time we have wanted to move away from just being a forum and wiki. Therefore, we're going to move the project into the modern age and build a front-end website using a content management system (CMS), which will house much of what the wiki houses now. The STEP Guide and its various other integrated, functional, logical components will be first targets in designing what we need from the ground up using Drupal CMS as our functional-management framework. News releases and articles, such as this State of STEP, will also be integrated and managed by the CMS, and this presents new options for integration of forums, wiki content, media, and so much more. This will eliminate much of the process and memory overhead demanded by the wiki as it is currently purposed as a psuedo-CMS.

Mod Picker

Probably one of the biggest changes to our back-end will be to stop using the wiki for Guide development and releases. After much testing, we've decided to take Mator up on his challenge and use Mod Picker as the core framework of how we put together our Guide releases. No, this does not mean users will be required to have a Mod Picker account to use the Guide! Though this does come with two benefits. One being that the STEP Guide will be available via Mod Picker for the users who use that platform. The second being the framework taken off of the wiki will really lighten the load for the wiki. Through the magic of APIs, we'll be creating the Guides using Mod Picker and pulling them together via the CMS. Mator has generously offered to help with this development and will be personally heading up most of it where the Guides and Mod Picker are concerned.

Forum

The forums wil not change too much; however, we will upgrade our forum solution to to the latest software version, which should also open up possibilities for enhanced integration with other site components. The "look and feel" will be further integrated along with these functional enhancements to result in a more unified theme across the entire website.

Wiki

Like the forums, the wiki will not change much. We will update the software to the latest version. Certain aspects and feature of the wiki will change, however. For example, the CSS extension which allows for the inclusion of external CSS via a special wiki page will be removed. The main use of this feature has been on third-party guides hosted on our wiki such as Skyrim Redesigned and Fear & Loathing. The elimination of this extension is to keep the theme of the wiki consistent. Inline CSS will still work for users who feel the need to change elements on their user pages and templates can be set up to replace some lost features, upon request and review. The last thing which has already started taking place is the removal of images hosted on the wiki which are better hosted elsewhere or are not being used at all. Users wanting to post images to the wiki are encouraged to use a third-party hosts such as Postimage for their personal use. Images meant for guides and community knowledge pages are okay and should be uploaded to the wiki so they can be retained over time.

Redesign Project Timeline

To wrap things up, I know everyone will be asking when all this will happen. Currently, there isn't a hard timeline in place. We're hoping to complete the server move by the end of this month or the first half of March. Our goal would be to have the redesign fully built, tested, and released within 3 to 6 months at the latest. However, life happens and there is always the possibility of complications arising during the development. We will keep everyone informed of the happenings via the forums and/or these State of STEP articles.

Graphic Designer

STEP would like a redesign of our logo and look to the community for help with this. All work done would strictly be volunteer work on the designer's part. The logo would need to be something that matches our vision for what the Project is all about, as well as being easily scalable for different uses. If you have some experience in graphics/logo design and would be willing to help up out, please contact TechAngel85 for more details.

Donations

As always, if you like the project consider donating to us so that we can keep things up and running for everyone. We now have two options for donating. One option is a one-time donation via PayPal of any amount desired. The second option is a reoccurring donation that is being called a "Subscription". You can find this link at the top of the forums by clicking "Subscribe". You may also go there direct by clicking here. It will allow for a reoccurring $1 donation on a time period that you choose. Even if only 100 of our 10,000+ members signed up for a reoccurring $1 monthly donation, the majority of our monthly operating costs will be covered. The STEP Team take none of these funds. We do what we do for free because we love to do it! All donations go directly towards our operational costs and nothing else! |SoSstaff=This section of the article is a brief summary of what the top-tier staff have been up to since the last article.

Z929669

Z has mainly been focusing on life and has taken a seat on the "back-burner" for a while. He has committed to be around for the redevelopment, but will not likely have as large of a presence on the forums as he once had. This torch has largely been past on to Tech. Z will still pop in from time to time, but will mainly be handling the financial side of the project. Servers do cost money after all!

Stoppingby4now

S4N will retain his role as our "tech guy" who keeps the servers up and running. When issues arise concerning the project on a technical level, he will pop in to handle things. Like Z, he will remain somewhat in the background as he has for the past couple years. If the site is still up and running, then you know S4N is still taking care of the technical side of the project. S4N will also be around for the redevelopment of the project. Much of our timeline for the redevelopment schedule will be centered around his real life, which is quite busy.

TechAngel85

Tech has fallen more into his role of an administrator for the user-face side (forums and wiki) of the project and will be picking up more for the other areas after the redesign. He will likely be the most active admin on the forums and hopefully nudging the project along the best he can. In his personal life, he's become more active with things like work, yoga, moving back to a vegetarian lifestyle, and focusing on his spiritual growth. However, his time for the project shouldn't be affect too much. His other modding projects may still take priority from time to time, but he will always be around to help STEP progress and grow.

DoubleYou

DY has taken some time to really focus on his personal project, BethINI. If you haven't heard of this amazing tool yet, then you've likely been living under a rock. :P This tool will become a staple to the STEP setup process in the next release by entirely replacing the INI section of the Guide.

EssArrBee

SRB has also taken time to focus on real life, but often pops in to reply on the Fallout side of the forums.

|SoScomNews==== Beyond Skyrim: Bruma Beta === Beyond Skyrim: Bruma is finally in closed beta! Unfortunately, the team is no longer accepting applicants for the beta, however, this is still very exciting news. Beyond Skyrim is a massive project where the goal is to bring all the provinces of Tamriel into the Skyrim engine. The first major focus of the team for release has been Bruma. Bruma is the northernmost city in the province of Cyrodiil, located in the Jerall Mountains along the southern border of Skyrim. The lore says that the city is primarily Nordic with heavy Imperial influences, is always relatively cold and snow-covered, and is rarely clear and sunny in its weather due to its location. The three main factions in Skyrim is also present in Bruma (Thieves Guild, Dark Brotherhood, and Mage Guild), so I would expect to see this in the Beyond Skyrim release of the city as it should be a rather natural and familiar flow from Skyrim. Time will tell how closely the team followed the lore and Oblivion representation of the city. Regardless, it looks like we're in for some new adventures in the near future! |SoSmodHighlights==== Skyrim Realistic Overhaul ===

Skyrim Realistic Overhaul (SRO) is a mod created by Starac. This was a very popular mod when it existed on Nexus. After it was removed from Nexus for reasons we will not get into here, the mod remained alive as a torrent file, but since Starac didn't support the torrent the mod was never updated. Starac worked on other projects, including Enderal, for a time. Now after a long wait he finally decided to put more time into his incredibly vast overhaul of the Skyrim textures. SRO overhauls thousands for textures in the most vanilla-friendly way of all the major overhaul mods. Many of his textures are now available in 4K resolution which have been completely repainted and redefined for better clarity. Many of the normal maps have also be redone to provide the best quality you can get while still staying true to the vanilla style of the game. Starac as released the mod for both Skyrim and Skyrim: Special Edition. This overhaul was once a foundation for the STEP Guide and is very likely to eventually find it way back into the Guide. You can download SRO here: https://www.moddb.com/mods/skyrim-realistic-overhaul/downloads