Using the Character Database Editor

The file you downloaded is a simple self-extracting archive. When you run it, it will give you the option to place the Editor Application in a directory of your choice.
(c:\Program Files\SkNet Database Editor is the suggested default).

First run

When you run the Database Editor for the first time, it will prompt you for a user name and password. This is the same as the username and password you are using to access this website, and you will only have to enter this information the first time you run the application on your computer.

Database access

When you just freshly downloaded the Editor and are running it for the first time, chances are that your account is not configured for access to the database, yet (remember, i'm doing this manually, for the time being).

In this case, your login will be replied to with an error message stating that the specified user does not have access to the database. You will have to try again a day or two later, or wait until you receive a confirmation email from me that your user account has been granted access.

Downloading information

After i have properly configured your account and you are starting the Editor for the first time, it will prompt you to download the existing character information from the server. This will require a connection to the internet, but you will only have to do this the very first time you start the Editor.

The Editor

After you have started the Editor and it has downloaded the existing character information from the server, you should see an application that looks similar to this:

In the top half of the Application you see a list of all known characters, sorted by their name. In the bottom half, you will see the information for the charcter that is currently selected (on this screenshot this is Roland Deshain).

These details are divided over four pages, which can be accessed by clicking on the different Tabs entitled "Details", "Description" and so on. These pages will be described in detail, below.

Details

This page contains the Name and Sort Name for the selected character. When adding new characters, it is important that these two field are filled out correctly:

Character Name - this field should contain the full name of the character as it will be displayed on the WebSite.
This can be first and last name (as in the example above), or a name such as "The Rat Man".

Sort Name - this field should contain the name as it will be used for alphabetical lists.
In most cases the application will automatically determine the Sort Name for you, when you enter the Character Name of a new character, but the application cannot be smart enough to do this in all cases (for example names like "Rhea of the Cöos" should remain in-tact even for the Sort Name, as the example on this page illustrates).

Description

On this page you can enter the description for the selected character. Apart from entering plain text, you can also type in certain placeholders to link to other characters, stories and places.

In addition to a good and detailed description about a character, it's these links to other information that really make the character database come alive and show it's full power. So please make sure you use this feature.

Futher information on how to add these links to your descriptions can be found here.

Appears in these stories

On this page, you can assign what stories a character appears in. The character will be listed in the character lists of all these stories, and a list of the stories will also be displayed on the character's page.

You can add a new story to the list by clicking on the "Add Story" icon () and choosing a new story from the list.

You can remove a story from the list by selecting it with the mouse and then clicking on the "Remove" icon ().

Adding new characters

To Add a new character to the database, simply click the New Character icon () in the toolbar. A new, empty character will be added to the list that you can fill with information.

If you are planning to add many characters for the same story, you can choose that story to be automatically associated with every new character you create. Click on the Story menu in the Toolbar ( Story...) and choose "Select Story..."

A list of all available stories apears, from which you can select the story you want.

When you are done adding characters for this story, be sure to uncheck the "Add new characters to story" option again.

Uploading your changes

To upload your changes to the server, simply click on the "Send changes to server" () icon.

The Editor will then automatically send the changes you have made to the server.

Please note that the changes you make to the database do not automatically become visible on the site. for the time being, i will periodically go thru all changes that were made and confirm them, manually-

You can, however, see what the characters you have entered will look like by choosing the "Show the selected character's page on the WebSite" option from the "Server..." menu.
Your should use this option to confirm whether all the links you have entered into the character's description work as desired.

[ back to the Database Editor page ]