I have managed to upload a module before, and the trick seems to be to find the little ‘+’s to the right of the packages and projects if you are an owner. You also need to ensure that the version number in the file name conforms to something similar to 1.2.3, and that the exact same number is the number inside the module.
That said, currently I can’t upload a module because I get an error as reported above, and I have no idea how to fix it.
I’ve put together a short post on how to upload to the new Game Library Service - see
Hopefully that will be of some help.
Yours,
Christian
The old module library had lengthy instructions, that I got the impression no one read or understood due to how often we had to explain to people what to do. I tried to design the new module library so that it would be transparently obvious what to do, so that lengthy instructions would be unnecessary. I can’t help but laugh at this point.
There is nothing you can do to fix the problem. I will get to it at some point. Please be patient. It might be quite a while.
I appreciate your doing this. I hope it makes sense to the people who need it. I can’t tell whether it will.
I made some edits for clarity, as well as correcting some things which were wrong. I worry it’s too long, so won’t be read for the same reasons that the old wiki docs were not read.
I’m likely to soon remove the title sort key as something that’s user-editable. The number of cases where we can’t detect what the correct sort key should be is so small that I’d rather have people contact us to fix those than leave it open to abuse.
Thanks for trying to help.
I’m not thrilled that you think it’s laughable.
I guess we have different ideas on what transparent means. You must think it means confusing, convoluted, complicated, and obtuse. If you designed this so lengthy instructions are unnecessary, I gotta tell you: You failed.
Do you have ANY instructions on how to upload a module? Where are they? Is there a place on this website that has them? If so, can you let us in on this secret location?
How about answering any of the above questions and spare us the laugh track.
Your answer is already there: You are not the owner.
Have you read the brief description of the new library? How about the longer one? Both explain that only owners can edit projects.
If neither of those adequately explain things, perhaps you could suggest in what way they’re lacking.
Clearly. So help us help you. Tell us what would be better.
Thanks Christian. You, at least, pointed me to a place where I can get some instructions. The fact that you had to write them yourself is a testament to how poor the New Library’s own instructions are…if they even exist. (I’m still trying to get an answer to that.)
I’ll go to your link and see if I, as a layperson, can make sense of it. If I can’t, I’ll contact you directly. Thank you for replying.
Joel,
My question was “How do I upload a module?” Now you say only the owner can do that? That’s the answer?
That’s the answer??!!!
Okay, how about this question then… How do I upload a module to an existing page or project or whatever you call it? The last version of Waterloo was 2.2. Mine, if it ever gets uploaded, will be 3.0. Presumably I will be the “owner” of the new version. Can you tell me how to do that?
Yes I read the brief description: A lot of Do’s and Don’ts, but no Where’s to do it.
I read (Christian’s) long description too: Very technical. Beyond my limited computer knowledge. It will take me a while to process it.
What would be better? How about a button on the Project page that takes you to a set of instructions? In those instructions,how about headings for how to add a new version?. (Remember, I’m already on the Waterloo page so I’m not trying to Create a new module. And also, I couldn’t possibly be the “owner” (yet) because the page already exists and the current versions have their own owners.
That seems more transparent to me.
Maybe read your email. I have already answered your question there.
I quote it here:
Also, it’s not productive to carry on this conversation in two places at once. Let’s do it here, where more people can benefit from it.
About whether there’s any instructions: Only this thread, the welcome page and a recent post.
I’m sorry if the a recent post recent post is very technical - I did try to make it as accessible has I could. Please tell us which parts are hard to get, and I’ll try to do something about it.
I think your problem stems from an expectation that comes from the old wiki pages, and which I probably didn’t address well enough.
In the old Wiki pages, each module page was the sole entry for modules of a specific game - that is what I mean by a one-to-one relationship between wiki-pages and games. One Game, one wiki page.
vassalengine.org administrators (Joel and Tim). They, and they alone had the power to accept edits into those pages, including adding modules made by other users than those that already had modules on the page.In the new game library, each game may be implemented by multiple projects. That is, game X may be implemented by project a, b, c, etc. and each project has it’s own page. That’s what I mean by a one-to-many relation between games and projects. One game, multiple projects (and even One-project, multiple games).
Hopefully, this clarifies the situation a bit. Pages (projects)
In your case, you are not an owner of Waterloo, so you cannot add any release or package to that project. That means you have two options:
waterloo_woody8297 of which you will be the owner, and you have sovereignty over. You can set the game title to be “Waterloo” - there’s no clash - or even “SuperDuper Waterloo - much better than the old one” - it is entirely up to you.I can see how coming from the older wiki-based system that this can be confusing, and I think we should try to explain this better - any suggestions are welcome.
Yours,
Christian
For what it’s worth, I didn’t have problems uploading my first module without further instructions (except having to change the version inside the module).
And @uckelman, there is no need to rush solving my little problem if it doesn’t affect too many modules. I know you have a lot on your plate, and the world can wait for my little changes to the module.
Thank you for your forbearance. I’m trying to focus on problems which I can fix quickly, which mostly means page splitting right now.
I’ve added a banner to the wiki indicating that it is no longer editable, and directing people to the documentation category here for documentation, and the new module library for modules.
I’ve also updated the site banner to point to the library front page.
After much, much ado and too many missteps, I finally succeeded in uploading Waterloo 3.0 into the New Library. Thank you Christian for your step by step process. I put you down as co-owner in case you want/need to change anything.
Two glaring mistakes were these:
I had 3.0 listed as the version in my properties box and since the New Library required
3.0.0, I got the above error message. I checked some forum questions and, sure enough, Joel had already answered the question. (Answered in Joel’s fashion of asking questions without suggesting why he’s asking them. ex. “What’s the version in your module?” instead of “What module version shows in your Module Library? If it doesn’t match the New Module Library’s semver, you’ll get an error message.” See how the second answer is much more helpful?) Anyway, I added the necessary .0 to the module’s version to make it 3.0.0 and the module uploaded. Hooray…finally.
The second major screwup (I guess this actually happened first.) was giving up in the middle of my first attempt when I couldn’t figure out that “Release” meant “Version,” I kept getting “Invalid version” messages and I didn’t realize that the semver HAD to have three digits. I kept entering “3.0” because that is the version of my module. After much frustration I gave up.
(Note to Christian: maybe say “Release is the Version number of your module but it must have three places like 3.0.0. A two place version will not work.”)
So when I gave up, it left an unfinished entry in the New Library called “Waterloo_tournament_edition” which I cannot delete. (Sorry Joel, I’ll have to ask you to take that out.) When I came back for my second attempt, I tried to pick up where I left off but “Waterloo_tournament_edition” came up with a blank screen. I couldn’t finish it. I couldn’t delete it. So…I ended up creating another new project called “Waterloo_AH_tournament” and that loaded successfully after I finally figured out the semver/Release/3.0.0 which finally allowed me an entry box where I could upload my module.
So in the end I think I would have been helped sooner if I had been told in simple English that “You cannot add a newer version to an existing game page.You can only add newer versions to your own modules. You have to create your own page–we call them ‘projects’ instead of pages now–and then you can upload your module from that new Project.”
See, I’m just a carpenter. I need simple.
My apologies to Joel for trying his patience and being rude. I’m sorry. And I’m sorry to leave you with that dead entry that you’ll have to delete. Hopefully someone will learn something from all this
Thanks,
Frank
…and I’m back. Jeeze.
This morning I checked to see if my original–failed–attempt had been deleted from the New Library. It wasn’t. Not only that, but now it was available for editing! Yesterday, all that would come up was a blank screen. Go figure.
So today, just for ha ha’s and practice, I finished it. And then I flagged it so Joel can delete it.
And this entry to the Forum is just to let others know what happened. I have no idea why I couldn’t finish this Project yesterday. I don’t know why it came up blank with just the Vassal menu bar along the top. I don’t know why it came up this morning all ready to finish. But that’s what happened. So if this happens to someone else, give it a day and see if it fixes itself.
Frank
Thank you for your efforts and this NEW Module Version. I am a big long time fan of this game. Could you tell me what is the Vassal Configuration for the Waterloo 3.0.vmod? The New Module Pages do not List a Vassal Configuration Reference anymore and I Don’t Know Why.
I’m not sure what you’re referring to. Would you provide a link to it? Everything which was in the wiki is still there.
