Registration
The list of members on Plus/4 World started out (and still mostly is) the list of people who developed software for the C16 or Plus/4. We automatically add people once they release a piece of software! Additionally, the forum and the Hall Of Fame is open to everyone; we wanted to make sure there's no barriers to posting, you can do it immediately without any hassle!

If you'd like to register, please send an email to Csabo or Luca. Real name and a public working email address are mandatory, plus the details that you see on our members pages (Type, Handle, City, Country, etc.).

Additionally, if you post 10 times on the forum using the same IP address, a small optional registration form is displayed, which can be emailed to Csabo or Luca.
[ back to top ]


Basic Rules for Editing
About editing programs: Please only add information that you know is 100% correct and can be confirmed. If you remember something, but not sure, put it in the notes field as a remark. This is the order of the source of information:

1) The cover. Any information that is actually on a cover of a software is accepted as correct. Example: BMX Racers.

2) The software itself. Whatever the software displays for name, authors, year of publishing etc. is assumed correct.

3) Magazines. If any info is found in a magazine (printed or software), we can assume it to be correct.

4) Your memory. If you remember something that cannot be found in the previous three places, you may enter it into the database.
[ back to top ]


Data Fields for Software
When editing programs' information, please follow these rules:

ProgramID: This is the unique ID of each software, and it cannot be modified.

Name: This should be the original release name of the software, duplicated as close as possible, and nothing else. If you want additional to add any information, use the notes field.

TransName: The translation of the name, if it's not English. For English titles, leave it empty.

Adult: If the software contains adult material (pictures, text or otherwise), enter 1 in this field. Otherwise leave it 0.

ProductCode: If the software company used an original product code to mark this release, enter it here.

RetailPrice: Enter the original retail price of the release, with currency.

Notes: Add any extra info to this field. This field is searchable, so you may use it to enter common mis-spells of the softwares name. (E.g. notice how searching for KickStart still gives you a correct hit.) This field is 250 characters long, so if you have more to say, see Adding Introductions or Adding Descriptions.
[ back to top ]


Avoiding Duplicates
Before adding a new piece of software, please use the search feature, and try a few variants. The search is very flexible. Sometimes a title is already added, but maybe under a different spelling.

Names that are especially susceptible to this are the ones with dashes. For example, you might think that "Crown Copy" needs to be added, but it in fact exists as Crown-Copy.

If you are sure that your piece of software is new, please add it (the search page has a link right at the bottom!).
[ back to top ]


Deleting
Only site administrators can delete anything. Deleting from the database is dangerous (and if you made a mistake just by entering something, imagine what mistakes could be done with deleting). We will not grant deleting rights, please don't ask. If there is a problem with a record you created, please notify Csabo or Luca. Or you could just leave that stuff, we go around and watch things so we will see when something is out of place.
[ back to top ]


Entering Dates
Dates must be entered in the YYYY-MM-DD format. Leading zeros are optional when entering. E.g. 2002-02-03 is the same as 2002-2-3 (note that on the page it will always show up with leading zeros).

The day and the month can be left empty by entering zeroes. For example, if a program was released some day in July of 1986, it would be entered as 1986-07-00.

Similarly, if only the year is know, both the month and the day would be zero, e.g. 1987-00-00.
[ back to top ]


Special fields
Most of these fields should be ignored.

The filename field: this is used by our crawler when finding links and associating softwares with links. If you do enter something, enter the file name only without the path and extension. Here's an example: Let's say you've uploaded something to a site (doesn't matter which one), and the URL is: ftp://c64.rulez.org/pub/plus4/Games/s/Space_1999_G1C8B.prg in this case the filename would be Space_1999_G1C8B,. One more rule: the filename must always end with a comma. If you are unsure about this, you can just leave it empty.

ThumbURL, MainScreenURL, TitleScreenURL: these 3 images can be uploaded via the Site Uploader. All of them must be regular GIF files (not transparent and not animated), here's what they are used for:
* ThumbURL: 160x100 thumbnail image, shown on the listing pages. Must be the same image as Main, but smaller.
* MainScreenURL: an image which best represents this program. Same image as Thumb, but full size. Size must be 320x200 (no border) or 336x216 (border). Exception: if the program removes the vertical border, it can be taller, but the height should still be divisible by 8.
* TitleScreenURL: if the program has a screen which displays the title, this is it. Same size rules as Main.

PlayOnlineURL: Please ignore this fields for now.
[ back to top ]


Uploading
You can upload files by using the Site Uploader. There are currently 5 things that can be uploaded:

- Generic uploads: these aren't processed automatically, you may need to wait a few days until Plus/4 World staff adds it to the site. You can use this for cover scans or cassette photos. The higher resolution the better!
- Forum image uploads: this allows images to be embedded into the forum. This is also available via simple drag-and-drop while you're posting your forum message.
- HOF uploads: upload proof of your score into the HOF. This is available from the HOF page only.
- Uploading screenshots: you can find this under the details of programs. GIF, BMP or PNG files are accepted.
- Uploading PRG files: you can find this under the details of programs. Note: if you want to add a new release, you must add the Program record first, once that is done, you will have a page where you can upload screenshots and/or program files.
[ back to top ]


Adding Creators
You can create a link between a group/company or a person and a software. One software can have many links (e.g. who programmed it, who made the graphics, etc.) Three things are needed for each link: which software, who did it and what did they do. To add a new creator, go to the software's detail page, and click Add Creator [add]. This will take you to a new screen, from there on just follow the instructions. Note that you can only link each group/person to a software once. So if you want to show that one person did everything, use the 'Created' verb (instead of the usual 'Coded').
[ back to top ]


Adding extra information
Besides the program record, there are 5 categories that can hold additional information about a program. These are: Introduction, Description, Instructions, Cheats, Solutions. Read more below about each section. These should be added from the software's details page - so use search and open the details first, then click [ add xyz ].
[ back to top ]


Adding Introductions
An 'Introduction' should be something short that will quickly introduce the software. This is the only section that will appear above the Program Details section. Example: Idolabirintus. Please use this section with moderation. Only the Notes field will be shown, leave 'description' empty.
[ back to top ]


Adding Descriptions
Description can be anything about the software, here you can really start the text flowing. This will be the first section under details. Here you can describe the program, etc. Only the Notes field will be shown, leave 'description' empty. Example: Plus/Extra.
[ back to top ]


Adding Instructions
Instructions should be either controls (keyboard/joystick - for games), or instructions on how to load/start the software. You can also write some playing tips/hits if it's a game. For utilities this would be the most appropriate section to include how the software should be used. The Description will be the header, Notes field will be shown as the main text. Example: Dangerous Pyramid.
[ back to top ]


Adding Cheats
Cheats are game cheats. The Description field should describe what kind of cheat it is: Infinite lives, Unlimited energy, etc. The Notes field will be the actual cheat. Watch the OrderNumber field, this will control the order of the cheats. E.g. if you want to enter a restart address (which is technically not a cheat, but still belongs in this section), you can change the OrderNumber to 10. For an example, see anything from the Cheats page.
[ back to top ]


Adding Solutions
This is intended for Adventure games (maybe a few other type of games as well). It's the last section that will be shown (we don't want to give away all the secrets as soon as someone opens the page). Items entered here will automatically show up on the Solutions page.
The Description field should be set to one of these values:
- Unsolved
- Partial
- Complete
- Hints
For this last one (Hints), please wrap all answers with the spoiler tag, which is two curly braces. E.g. {{HIDDEN!}} will become HIDDEN!, so that the user must manually highlight the text to be revealed.
[ back to top ]



Copyright © Plus/4 World Team, 2001-2024