Greased Issues

Issue #16 November 20th, 2015 Volume 1

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Nov 6 - 19

Badges Earned

Mini Mushroom (30 Posts)Mini Mushroom Badge

  • ZB

Gold Flower (200 Posts)Gold Flower Badge

  • NerdBerry

Bat Pentagram (5 in a Series)Bat Pentagram Badge

  • ZB

Weird Mushroom (Mario Challenge)Weird Mushroom Badge

  • The Cubist

Badges 4.2 is Here!

The set of new badges has been refined and added to and will be awarded in earnest shortly. Remember that these are secret badges, so keep your eye out for hidden clues within each and every issue. There are 19 new ones altogether, so get ready!.

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  • baconbacon

Drop by the Members Area any time to checkup on the latest site developments, a comment, or just to say hi!

Nov 6 - 19

Articles

Exclamation Block

HTML Tips & Tricks

Borders

Borders are a great way to draw attention to a particular segment of your article or offset some piece of information. Technically speaking, borders can be used with almost any HTML tag. They can even be used right in the middle of a string of text like this...but that looks a little excessive to me! In this issue, we're going to discuss exactly how to put a border around an element. For the complete rundown on how to use and control borders along with many more examples, please check out the 1.16.1 Borders Appendix.

Remember, to use these tips and tricks, click on the "Text" tab at the top right of the editing box. Don't touch HTML that you aren't 100% confident with, and also be sure to save your work beforehand and preview the changes until you feel comfortable editing the raw markup. It is all too easy to create a formatting disasterpiece with even the erroneous deletion (or addition) of a single character. Follow these instructions, modify only what's mentioned, and you should be fine!

To create a border, first we must have some sort of HTML element already in place, such as a list (<ol> or <ul>), paragraph (<p>), or image (<img src="χ" />). You'll be inserting the necessary "code" within opening HTML tags which should be visible in WordPress's Text editor. The exception here is the p tag; for some reason, these remain invisible even when in the Text editor. This is easy to get around though. If you do want a paragraph with a border, all you have to do is insert your own opening and closing p tags at the beginning and end of the paragraph, respectively. The line breaks within the Text editor indicate where the p tags "should" appear. We'll discuss exactly how to place the borders more in a minute, but first let's learn how a border is structured.

There are a few different ways to go about creating a border depending on exactly what your needs are. In this segment I will only be covering the most common "shorthand method." If you want even more control over your borders, especially with regards to styling different parts of the border differently (for example making the border on the right a different color than the border on the left), please see the 1.16.1 Appendix.

When defining an HTML/CSS border, we're really defining 3 different properties in one (hence "shorthand"): the width (thickness) of the border, the style (more on this later), and the color. The width can be defined with a percentage, "em" units, or pixels (px). For this guide, we'll be using pixels - overall it's the easiest and most familiar to work with. We express the value as a number followed by px, such as 2px for a border 2 pixels in width, or 10px for a border 10 pixels thick, and so on.

HTML/CSS includes 8 different "styles" that a border can be. All we have to do is use the word, like groove or dotted. Vist The Border Appendix for specific examples of what each style looks like. Otherwise, here are the styles available to us:

  • solid
  • dotted
  • dashed
  • double
  • inset
  • outset
  • groove
  • ridge

Finally we need to specificy a color. The simplest way to do so is with any acceptable HTML/CSS color name like "blue" or "yellow," or a 6-digit hex code. (You can find lists of hex color codes all over the web; ColorHexa.com is one of my favorites.) For our purposes we'll be using hex codes. These values will be listed like #0044f8 or #5CD403 and so on.

Now that we have all the parts of the border, we just need to put it together. To do this, we use inline CSS. Let's say we wanted a 5 pixel border, "inset" style, with the color #00bfff (a deep blue). We would insert the following into an opening HTML tag: style="border: 5px inset #00bfff;" and the border would look like this:

Easy right? Just make sure to define the values in the proper order: first width, then style, then color. There are many more examples within the Appendix; you can also play around with the values using the Try It Editor if you want to see more. All that's left is to know where to actually place this snippet of "code."

Once you've determined what element you'll want to place a border around, all you need to do is find the opening tag within WP's Text editor (unless it's a paragraph, explained above). Within the opening tag all you'll need to do is add style="border: 5px inset #00bfff;" (with whatever values you wish) and you're done! For instance, if you wanted this border around an unordered list, you'd find the corresponding tag using the Text editor - in this case <ul> - add the above, and it becomes <ul style="border: 5px inset #00bfff;">. If you want to add a border to a paragraph, it would look like <p style="border: 5px inset #00bfff;"> - just remember to close the tag (</p>) as well. I don't know why WP refuses to display these tags, though it'll work just fine if you add your own.

Using these principles, you can apply a border to virtually any HTML element you could use within your document, however impractical. Don't be afraid to experiment, just don't get carried away! For more details and examples, don't forget to head over to the 1.16.1 Appendix. I hope to see some borders popping up soon!

Twitch IconUpcoming Twitch Events

 

Nerd Bacon Plays!

with InfiniteKnife @ 7pm EDT

Nerd Bacon Plays! has temporarily moved to Tuesday nights for a while; don't miss it! InfiniteKnife will be returning to Wednesdays in the near future, so stay tuned.

Late Night Nerd Bacon

with The Cubist @ 11pm or later EDT

Make sure to follow us on Twitch and sign up for email alerts so that you'll be notified when these casual (and sometimes completely bizarre) streams pop up! (I know Halo 5 gets a little older every week, but I am intent on streaming it at some point!)

Nerd Bacon By Request

with The Watchman

The next Nerd Bacon By Request will air on Monday, November 23rd. In honor of our Mario celebration, The Watchman has given us several Mario games to choose from - click here to vote now for which game you'd like to see! Don't forget to invite our other Twitch followers that may not be members of Nerd Bacon to vote as well

http://twitch.tv/nerdbacon/

Question Mark

Have You Earned...

The Hammer Badge?

Hammer Badge

If you haven't yet, this is a pretty easy one to add to your collection - all you've got to do is contribute one hardware review. Most any piece of equipment is fair game, from consoles to controllers

Nerd Bacon News: November (2)

Not a whole lot going on during this last cycle, but we want to remind everyone that the Mario Challenge is not only in full swing, but it's also almost 1/3 over! So far we only have a total of 9 Mario reviews published since the challenge began and we'd really like to see that number grow! If you've totally forgotten everything about the challenge, refer back to Issue #14-S for details. Oh, and check out the Mario Challenge Scorecard (below) which we'll be including in every issue between now and February. Even if you can't review 5 Mario games over the next 3 months or simply have no desire to do so, don't let that stop you from reviewing whatever else you're playing!

The holidays and Black Friday are upon us - we've already seen a generous helping of news from The Watchman on the subject, so feel free to join in if you have anything to add. If you've ever thought about becoming a full-on reporter for us (and we really could use two or three more!) then the holiday season is a great time to get your feet wet.

Mario Challenge Scorecard
Member Number Games
The Cubist 5 Yoshi's Woolly World (Wii U)
Super Princess Peach (DS)
Mario is Missing! (SNES)
Super Mario Kart (SNES)
Mario's Time Machine (SNES)
Doc Croc 1 Dr. Mario Online Rx (WiiWare)
NerdBerry 1 Mario's Tennis (VB)
ZB 2 Mario Tennis (N64)
Wario Land 4 (GBA)

Yours truly is currently in the lead with 5 Mario or Mario-related reviews, and despite having reached the goal, I think I'm going to push forward and personally shoot for 10 such reviews by the closure of January! That's right, I'm officially challenging myself - if anyone wants to join in along with me, speak up! There might just be a small reward if I can gain a couple of fellow challengers!

ZB is in second place with a sports title and an entry in the Wario Land series, and Doc and NerdBerry are just getting started with 1 review each. Where's everyone else!? C'mon and dust off those Mario games - once Retroary begins (that's NB-speak for February) the challenge will be over and you will never have another chance to earn the "Weird Mushroom" badge! Remember that only reviews for Mario or Mario-related games written after November 1st count towards the challenge. For a look at all of Nerd Bacon's Mario reviews, check out our celebratory post advertising the event to our audience.

Go Beyond Bacon

When you have the chance, be sure to visit Beyond Bacon, an area that houses works of writing outside of video games, or perhaps discussing a specific facet of gaming. Both Nerdberry and I have several articles dedicated to our musical tastes, ChronoSloth has gotten a column featuring video game music off to a respectable start, and Rhutsczar and Justicesccoby have begun sections on board games and Roblox respectively. Existing authors are free to start their own series if they wish - just email us a pitch and we'll get started! Several of you are eligible and it's a great opportunity to share some of your other nerdy pursuits with the world. If you read something you like, comment on it and encourage the writer to keep writing.

Baconeers: Get Even More Tech Savvy!CSS Icon

During the last newsletter I went into extensive detail about making menus out of lists (and tables) in the hopes of spurning some creative development. Well, I still hope at least a couple of you are playing with these concepts, and here's another trick to add to your reperetoire - borders! Check out the box to the right (HTML Tips & Tricks) for some basic instruction when it comes to creating and using borders. If you had trouble with the last issue's guide on lists, don't worry, I think borders are quit a bit easier. For a more detailed look, check out this issuse's Appendix.

Remember way back when I went over creating collapsible lists using shortcode? Well tune in next issue for a much easier way to create said collapsible lists! In fact it's so simple that I think I'll be able to fit the entire instructional in the newsletter proper! Here's a brief preview:

      • A 3rd level list item.
      • Another 3rd level list item.
        • Fourth-level item.
        • Ditto
    • An item.
    • Another item.
  • Static level 1 item
    • A new level 2 list item
    • And again!
      • Level 3 item
      • Level 3 item

Have an "HTML Trick" to Request?

Is there an HTML "trick" or technique you've seen on the site (or maybe elsewhere?) that you'd like to learn how to do? I make no guarantees, but if it's within my wheelhouse, I'll explain as well as I know how. Or perhaps one of you has some sort of cool design element to share with us? Either way, we'll be glad to use it in the next (or an upcoming) issue!

Help Us Increase Productivity!

It's going to be tough for us to meet our traffic goals without steady productivity. About half of you all contribute regularly while the other half is more sporadic with your submissions. We know that everyone has their ups and downs, but productivity has been well below what we'd hoped for over the last couple of months. If you can, we really need you guys and girls to step up your efforts! And if you can't, then maybe try your hand at recruiting and bring us new members who can help fill the void. Just because the Mario Challenge is underway doesn't mean that you have to stop reviewing whatever else you're playing!

One of our goals is to hit 100 published reviews per month. That's about 25 per 5-day work week, or 5 published articles each weekday. I know it seems like a big pair of shoes to fill, but with everyone contributing maybe we can at least get a little closer. One per month is all that we require, though if you're able to give more we'd be super appreciative. I know it may sound like we're always pushing you all, but it's just because we want to be bigger and better. And right now, that entails having a more productive staff, whether that means having more productive individual members or a larger number of members to bear the load.

Review Spotlight

The Bacon Nets 1,700 Articles!

Holy shit! What a number! Now of course this includes news pieces and any extraneous Beyond Bacon material in addition to actual reviews, but wow, what an accomplishment! It'd be awesome if we could bring that number up to a cool 2,000 by the end of the year, but hey, we're realistic. For that to happen, we'd need to publish nearly 10 articles per day to reach such a number. Still, it would be great if we had a goal...maybe before the winter is out? It's still a pretty big challenge, but it's doable if everyone pitched in. If we approximate and say there are roughly 90 days of winter (pretty close to the truth), and we have about 20 active members, with 300 articles to cover, that's about 15 articles per person and to meet the goal, that'd be 1 article every 6 days. Ok, so that may be a lot to ask, but if we added a few members, we could bump that number down a lot - 25 active members means an article every 7.5 days - 30 active Baconeers brings us to 1 article every 9 days! Hopefully 2,000 reviews isn't too far into the future!

Oh, and who has the distinction of writing article number 1,700? That would be Doc Croc with her review of The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages - congrats! While we're at it, check out some of our other milestones:

  1. Donkey Kong Jr. - NES (The Cubist, 09/22/13)
  2. Flicky - Genesis (Nerdberry, 11/19/13)
  3. Super Smash TV - SNES (Nerdberry, 12/23/13
  4. TMNT 4: Turtles in Time - SNES (The Watchman, 01/31/14)
  5. Dysfunctional Systems: Learning to Manage Chaos - PC (Justicescooby, 03/25/14)
  6. Haunted Castle - Arcade (The Cubist, 05/16/14)
  7. Hotel Mario - CDi (The Cubist, 06/26/14)
  8. P.T. - PS4 (ChronoSloth, 08/21/14)
  9. Issue 27: Bad Hair Day (Cube's 90's Albums) (The Cubist, 10/10/14)
  10. Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master - Genesis (Nerdberry, 11/07/14)
  11. Bill and Ted's Excellent Video Game Adventure - SNES (ZB, 04/130/15)
  12. Final Fantasy III - NES (Paladin, 07/28/15)

Impending Draft Purge

Most of you are familiar with the concept of a draft purge at this point. It's when we comb through the incomplete drafts and delete any that are beyond a certain age. In this case, the cut off date will be November 2015. Any articles with a Last Modified date of earlier than this past November will be deleted! Now we don't want to go and delete anyone's hard work just because they got a little behind, so take some time to check out any outstanding drafts you may have and, if you feel like you can complete them in a timely manner, open them up, make a small change, and then re-save the draft. This will give it a more current Last Modified date and it will escape the purge.

We initiated a purge not more than a few months ago, but it didn't seem to make much of an impact. I didn't take a close look at who the drafts were from before and after so I don't know exactly what happened, other than that a lot of old drafts were updated and are still yet to be completed. Whether this was the result of many members updating a single draft or two, or one or two individuals re-saving several drafts I'm not sure, but either way, far too many drafts slipped through the cracks. This would be a different story if many of those that were spared were then completed, but that doesn't appear to be the case. Think carefully about what you're saving: have you already spared it from one or more purges? Have you worked on it at all since then? Is this something you're going to finish in the next couple of weeks?

We're not trying to be difficult and we certainly don't want to do something drastic like impose a "draft limit," but we do want members to be conscientious of just how many unfinished works they have floating around at a time. It's only natural to have at least one draft floating around at a given time - most of us need a couple of sittings to finish an article. It might not even be that unusual to have a couple of drafts sitting around depending on what you're writing about. But beyond that, seriously think about why you have so many incomplete drafts and if you're truly going to finish them. It can be difficult to keep track of several subjects at once; moreover, the best reviews come from those who've played them recently, so by the time a couple of months have passed, the integrity of the review has probably been compromised.

The draft purge will be occurring on or around December 1st, so take a look at your drafts and get everything in order within the next 10 days. We don't want to scare you from keeping keeping a draft or two around on the server, but we do need to clean up a bit. If you have more than a couple of drafts that you're intent on saving, please try to finish them in a timely manner!

This shouldn't be anything new for most of you, but if you have no idea what I'm talking about or are concerned that your work in progress may be deleted, please contact me as soon as possible so that we can make sure that doesn't happen!

Lightning Bolt BadgeGet Greasy!

Help us fill Greased with the things that you want to know about the site! What do you want us to talk about regularly? What kind of updates are you hoping for? What sort of information would inspire you to be even more productive? Let us know how we can make Greased yours and we will do our best. Don't hesitate to share any tips or tricks you may wish to share as well. We'd love to have more of you guys' and girls' input. We'd also love to field any questions that you guys and girls may have: questions about grammar, spelling, or punctuation? Maybe an ambiguous piece of policy you want clarification on? Or maybe there's a technical aspect that you've seen in another article or on another site that you're interested in using? Chances are that if you have a question so does someone else, so please, speak up and ask us! If you submit something that we use in a future issue of Greased, you'll earn yourself a Lightning Bolt Badge!

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Email IconContact Us

 

Administration

  • NerdBerry -
    NerdBerry@NerdBacon.com -
    Owner/Founder
    Promotion, advertising, funding, events, social networking, editing, concept & direction.
  • The Cubist -
    TheCubist@NerdBacon.com -
    Owner/Founder
    Tech support, maintenance (badges, newsletter, membership management, etc.), graphics, editing, concept & direction.
  • Doc Croc -
    DocCroc@NerdBacon.com -
    Associate Site Director
    Editing, publication, and scheduling.

Management

Staff

Don't Forget About the NB Clean-Up Crew!

In Issue #13 we discussed an upcoming project for the New Year - an attempt to systematically work through The Bacon's older articles in order to fix things like missing SEO and excerpts, improperly sized featured images, and whatever else we might need to do to bring these early articles up to current standards. We will need a small team of volunteers to complete this task, made up of members who are comfortable working within WordPress. We don't want to get in the way of your holiday reviewing or Mario Challenge (at least not too much so) so we're going to wait until sometime in January to get started. Your help will be very much appreciated (possibly rewarded ...?) so if you're interested, go ahead and let me know.

Site DevelopmentSite Developments

I'd like to remind everyone that the genre page/list for "Platformer" has been split into 2 parts. Page 1 contains titles starting with A through M; Page 2 covers N through Z. When reviewing a platforming game and linking "Platformer" in the header of your reviews, be sure to link to the correct page based on your title. Articles (a, an, the) do not count as the first letter/word of the title. So The Legend of Zelda would go under "L" for legend, and A Nightmare on Elm Street would go under "N" for nightmare. The links are clearly labeled when using WordPress to insert them, in fact, it's identical to how you all have been inserting links for the "Action / Adventure" genre.

Also, has anyone been playing around with the menus/lists/tables that we went over in 1.15.1? I'd love to see if you guys and gals have come up with anything. Little menus like this are something that we may be using extensively on the site at some point in order to foster connectivity between articles. Got any ideas? See any styles you like? Go take a look at my examples fron the previous issue and let me know if you see something you ilike! The custom sidebar menus are becoming more difficult to manipulate than we'd like, so stylish menus at the bottoms (and maybe tops) of articles may become the norm. But in order to begin we need some templates to use! Don't be shy about sharing your ideas...it could be your idea that ends up being peppered all over the entire site!

We're still accepting volunteers for the clean-up project beginning in January! Help us out and get those old articles up to snuff!

It's a long ways off, but go ahead and mark your calendars for Retroary 2016 coming in February! Most of you probably know what this means, but in case you don't, it's our custom at Nerd Bacon to spend the month of February reviewing as many "old games" as possible. We've set the cut-off date to the year 2000, about the time the PlayStation 2 came out. All games and systems from the 1st through 5th generations are eligible for Retroary, as well as one 6th generation system, the Dreamcast. As always, everyone is free to review whatever they wish - participation in Retroary is not mandatory - but we do want to focus on these older games as much as we can.

Until Next Time...

We know the holidays are a busy time for everybody, though if you're able to help us out, we'd really appreciate everyone doing their part to try to bring some new members our way. If everyone could focus on spreading the word about NB and its need for writers over the next couple of weeks it'd help us out a lot.

Otherwise, keep on gaming and bringing us reviews when you can, and don't forget that the Mario Challenge is almost 1/3 over! Also keep your eyes open for brand new secret badges as I continue to gather data and start handing them out soon!

Issue #16 November 20th, 2015 Volume 1