Almost done with db caching system. I got it working with one minor or major bug (depending on how you look at it)

If a player pulls up his sig, and his data is in the database, it either updates it (if outdated) or it uses it (if it is up to date). Inversely, if it attempts to update that data, but the eq2players page is down for whatever reason, it will use the database info anyway...

The problem happens when it only gets partial data. I have an issue where I seem to be able to get player data but when it tries to get guild data, it doesn't always get it. And if there is no guild data, it can't populate the signature with that data, but it still makes an image.

I just need to put some more error catching into it, which shouldn't take long. I can fairly accurately way the new version will be posted today. This new version will be both the database and non database script in one (turned off or on via config file) and has a slightly reworked theme system...

/tabs foot..

Where did you guys find the code at? I searched eq2players and came up with nothing and google was full of dead ends:/ Are you guys just parseing the character page? I hate to reinvent the wheel..

I apologize for the wait. All good things come to those that wait though...

EverQuest 2 Signature Generator (version 0.06)
----------------------------------------------------
changes in this version:
* can now add a last name to your signature
* can restrict the signature script to use only by a specific player id
* can enable or disable database caching which speeds up signature display (disabled by default, see readme)
* signature themes are shorter (400px wide instead of 410px) so that they work correctly on the official soe forums
* update frequency can be changed via the config file (see the readme)

upcoming in next version(s):
* ability to restrict use of script to a specific guild id
* ability to use theme modes such as normal, simple, and enchanced for more or less data being displayed on your signature (like stats)
* ability to administer database caching data and other features from an admin interface
* ability to use gd fonts and custom colors (set individually per theme)
------------------------------------------------------------------
and last, but not least -- the download link:
download - http://www.avengingsouls.com/Octavius/eq2sig006.zip (thanks Humudce!)
readme - http://www.avengingsouls.com/Octavius/readme.txt (also contained in the zip file)
-----------------------------------------------

-----------------------------------------------
UPDATE: the 400px wide things isn't working on soe as I intended. Apparently their stupid forums adds a < p> tag or something that throw the image off. They themselves say it can be 400px wide maximum yet 400px wide gets cut off...

http://www.avengingsouls.com/octavius/ is an empty directory. ;)

Sorry about that. Humudce has a unix host apparently, because it wanted capital O for the Octavius directory. I updated the links above accordingly...

Awesome coding! The db cachin works great. About the 400px thing, I think it works fine in IE but not Mozilla/Firefox

Thanx for the DB caching, I can now better my own sig, and and custom ones I've created for people.

Ugh, just spent the last two hours tweaking my code, altering your code to add in the achievements page, add in the database stuff... and somewhere I'm missing some little character, or something... I've got the deviled...

/goes back to scanning his code

*EDIT*

ARGHHHHH /gnaws his own teeth out...

I swear I quaddroople checked typo's. :rolleyes:

super duper quick loading eq2 sigy, thanx to 0catavius:

http://www.advancedmod.com/sigs/eq2/...x42/eq2sig.gif

click and refresh all ya want :p

This is really a great work !
I have some question before i can try it (i'm at work atm damn). How do i know if my web host will support it ?
If there some kind of help file with all the parameters that can be changed ? like if i want my personnal status points, char's info but not tradeskill....
I know it's a lot of question, but there is no possible way i can understand how to create it from scratch, and this is really über sig !

There is info in the readme on what variables can be passed, and basic info on what can be modified in the config file. As for using it on your own host, as long as they support PHP you can use it, but you can't turn database caching on unless you have a mysql database at your host.

As for the ability to add your own variables, I will post a file today that has a test file you can use to see the exact array output that can be then used to add your own info to a sig if you chose to do so. For now though, the standard script only shows what you see on my sig. I will have a version out this week that has 3 modes of operation.

Simple - Name, Adventuring Class/Level, and Guild (if you are in one)
Normal - what you see now
Enhanced - basically very similar to what Drumstix has

my host does support php and i have a mysql db. I've read something about GD library (Drumstix said it was needed), what is that ? How do i know that my host use it ?
Again, über l33t work (to use some mmo's expressions lol) !

yes, sorry I forgot to mention that requirement...

put the following into a new php file and run it in your browser (on your host)
Should tell you the gd library that is installed (if it is)
Alternately you can also do this:
which will output everything about the php environment, including gd. This might be helpful if you wanted to know more about what was supported than just the GD library...

Thx again, i'll try asap when i'm back home. Stupid work proxy won't let me upload files to my host lol

woohoo it's working ! now i need to remove the tradeskill part (not proud of that lol) and add some info. I understood how to change the background, i'm gonna work on that asap... if i can stop playing lol.
Gratz again on the job !

EDIT : it's still a little to high for SoE guilds forum, maybe instead of 79, put like 60 or so....

Using your code, Octavius, I was able to manipulate it to assist me in caching data from my xfire profile (gaming messenger, with gaming hours recording)

here's what I came up with:
http://advancedmod.com/sigs/tribesv/...tribesvsig.gif

and here's my xfire profile:
http://www.xfire.com/xf/modules.php?...ame=drumstix42

Thanx for the work. Much appreciated.

Once again, wonderful work 0ctavius. Now time for another of my "is it possible…" question/suggestions. Not sure if GD supports this, but it would be really cool if you could specify multiple cids and end up with an animated GIF that would "scroll" through each of your characters. (In other words, that Artisan 3 in my sig depresses me, and it'd be cool if I could get it to display my 41 Alchemist as well hehe)

Yeah, actually playing with flash... flash can get data from php, so maybe an animated flash file that displays character data... The possibilities are endless...

Looks nice !
Come on release the command list so i can start messing with it :)

Sorry All been away from the boards for a couple of days. Yes my host is UNIX / Linux based and needed the Captial Letter in Octavius sorry about that.

OK I added a Re-Direct so either way with or without the Captial "O" in Octavius should work now.

Will be released tonight, probably with the new theme modes and better documentation on how to do themes (and MAYBE even some more themes than what I already have out there...) Going to split the config file and the functions up as well, so that going forward you will not have to overwrite your config file every time there is a new release...

Ok scrap that comment about the Re-Direct it only works for the folder, and does not re-direct for the file :(

So please use the http://avengingsouls.com/Octavius/ address with the Capital "O" when linking the files.

You asked for it, and now you have it. Be aware that a lot has changed with themes and such, so if you already created a custom theme, you may want to look at the new theme template files...

EverQuest 2 Signature Generator (version 0.07)
----------------------------------------------------
changes in this version:
* moved all functions to a separate global.php file and made config.php a standalone config file. That way any future function changes will not force you to re-edit your config file
* moved config and global files into a subdirectory called /includes
* moved image creation functions to the theme files. This allows theme creators complete freedom in how they want their signature to be displayed. Anything that is output by the script as an array value, can be used in a signature theme. You just need to know some php and gd functions to be able to manage the theme files. This also means that you are free to use a different image format as well (jpg, gif, png) instead of being forced to use PNG as what I was using previously.
* corrected some mistakes in a function that was causing the cold resistance to show up blank
* activated the guild security feature. You can now require a specific guild id in your script (so that only guild members can use it)
* added a test.php that can be used to display all array values that are returned by the script. The same variables used for image.php need to be used for test.php. The difference is that it will output the player and guild arrays in readable format.
* You can now specify simple, normal, or advanced as a variable passed to the script. Just add &m=simple (or advanced, or normal) to the end of your url.

---- Still playing with GD fonts, and they will most likely be included in the theme files to make it easy to change them per theme.
------------------------------------------------------------------
download - http://www.avengingsouls.com/Octavius/eq2sig007.zip (thanks Humudce!)
readme - http://www.avengingsouls.com/Octavius/readme.txt
changelog - http://www.avengingsouls.com/Octavius/changes.txt
-----------------------------------------------
Samples:
-----------------------------------------------

I will say this for people curious.

Having PHP on a webhost is pretty normal.
GD is somewhat normal now-a-days.
Having the TTF font, or even the GD-type font is not so normal... so....

Just thought I would throw out the heads up...

of course that's what makes PHP great with function checking and all that stuff :D

Very nice!!

Awesome work !
Next step for me -> Remove the tradeskill lol

Go into '/themes/default/theme.php' or '/themes/panel/theme.php' and open them with a standard text editor. At this point there are several things you could do, but I will simply give you the easiest one:
"nullified" can be changed to a number of things. I am simply adding that as a possible choice. If you change it to a regular text value (like ------ or whatever) make sure it is contained in quotes. You could also try replacing it with another data value. For instance if you wanted your personal status to show up in place of the artisan level, you could do this:

$player['artisan] = $player['status']." Status";
(this means your status would be listed twice on the advanced image, so you might want to put a // in front of the line for $player['status'] which can be found halfway down the advanced section of the theme.) You can get creative from here...

As always, if you need help, PM or Email me, and I will help you as best I can, or possibly even customize the theme for you. Would be better to tell you how though, because then you learn how to do it...

Just an added note -- The release I just put out is very close to being the last changes I will make to the signature script. I will be releasing future versions, but the future versions will be released as 'EverQuest2 Script Engine' Instead of signature generator. The reason for this is that I plan to release a roster display, player stats display, and numerous other things, all that get data from eq2players (now AND after they release xml feeds). This means that hopefully my scripts will give any guild what they need to put the eq2players data on their own website. This will include nuke, vbulletin, and phpbb modules (and instructions) for those of you that use it, or standalone scripts for those that do not.

I know someone else has a roster display out there, but given that my signature script was rewritten from the ground up by me, I wanted to create a version of a roster display and player pages that uses the same database data as the signature. This way it is ALL cached and works seamlessly.

For the next few releases however, I am taking a break as I need to get some work done (new servers to build and put online, that kinda thing). I will be releasing theme packages periodically that will expand the theme count and give people more choices (as well as hopefully get more people to be creative and share their themes). I may release theme documentation as well so that people new to it can get an idea on how to do it...

This script seems to be a hit, which makes me happy. I have seen several people on the official SOE forums using it already...

I'll do that first thing when i get back home (i should quit my job lol).
Another last thing (for now hehehe), is there a way to make the normal version just a little smaller like maybe 5x instead of 79 ? This way it could fit for eq2players guilds forums. Right now everything that's under the artisan lvl is hidden :(

Mine works fine on eq2players. Maximum dimensions are 400px width and 100px height. This DOES mean that the advanced version cannot work on eq2players, but that is why there is a choice. The other 2 versions do work fine however...

http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/e...&message.id=17

This DOES include everything in your signature. So if you have text or something above your signature image it may be pushing the image down past the 100px mark...

That's for eq2players forums, not guilds forums (like http://www2.eq2boards.com/?category.id=391205, that's my guild btw). Differents rules there but i can't find them so....

So how do i remove some info in the classic version so it fits on boards don't allow 79px in height ?

Another question: is there any way to force GD to add a stroke to the text? Working on a personalized theme, but I need a stroke around the text (outline) for it to show up legibly.

I highly doubt it. There's some texts out there with stroke on them already, if you can find any good ones ;)

Hm…guess I should start looking into making my own stroked font. ;) Can't be that much harder than the other font work I've done. :)

sweet it's working :)
Thx for all the help. btw why it doesn't always show up here when i reply even if i check the "show sig" when i reply...

Dolby has the forums set to only display sigs once per page to decrease load/scroll times.

http://www.eq2interface.com/forums/showthread.php?t=253

Edit: Darn someone said it first. But I posted link so I win :P

Hideki has released the first community created theme for this script. I am putting it in with my script going forward with any future versions. I am also providing it for download.

Working on upgrading my own website with a new server and the like, so I may be able to have a section on my site soon that will officially support this project, as well as allow you to submit your themes.

Here is his theme and a sample of what it looks like:
download - http://www.avengingsouls.com/Octavius/theme_fabian.zip
sample - http://eq2.obsidian-aegis.com/script...ian&m=advanced

Make sure you guys look at the sig rules. *edit* for this board I mean of course

Very good point. Always check the requirements for the board you are putting your signature in. That is why you see my actual signature is the normal and not the advanced...

Only reason I stated it, was cause I noticed 1 or 2 people using the 185px tall ones.