Mods with Manual Edits Required

[DirtRider]

I always try and stay away from Mods with Manual Edits Required as I just feel that doing manual edits is not a good practice at all. At times when I have been pushed into a corner and have to do this I always find at a later stage it becomes and issue. You then sit with some type of an errors and trying to localize it becomes a nightmare. You will end up with all this additional code that most times you don't even remember where you did the edit or then have no idea why it was done or what it is for.

So I am not sure how the rest of you feel about doing stuff like this but for me seeing a mod with a manual edits just makes me skip right past it

 

[Adam Howard]

I always try and stay away from Mods with Manual Edits Required as I just feel that doing manual edits is not a good practice at all. At times when I have been pushed into a corner and have to do this I always find at a later stage it becomes and issue. You then sit with some type of an errors and trying to localize it becomes a nightmare. You will end up with all this additional code that most times you don't even remember where you did the edit or then have no idea why it was done or what it is for.

So I am not sure how the rest of you feel about doing stuff like this but for me seeing a mod with a manual edits just makes me skip right past it

Are you talking about file edits or template edits?

I can respect the idea of passing up a file edit. Because lord knows that 6 months down the road, even with documentation I maybe a little forgetful of things.

However I don't mind manual template edits. They're often how I start to learn about the system to begin with (before I even dive into the files code). And if anything it gives people a general idea how to fix it if something does go wrong because no you can see exactly what was added or changed vs having to comb through an XML file.

 

[Paul B]

You will end up with all this additional code that most times you don't even remember where you did the edit or then have no idea why it was done or what it is for.

You should always document your changes.

I have a list of all edits in one file, with the template name, original code, updated code, and reason.

 

[Martok]

I do pretty much the same as Brogan, a separate file with all code changes documented in that way. In addition, all code edits in templates start are wrapped in start and end comments e.g.

<xen:comment>START Brief title about the code edit</xen:comment>
...
...
<xen:comment>END Brief title about the code edit</xen:comment>

This also makes it easy to search for code changes as I just look for START and END to find them in the templates.

If it's a code change rather than an addition, I'll often include the original code within the initial starting comment too. That's probably unnecessary but I'd rather make sure I have everything noted than miss something out!

 

[Shelley]

I'm personally not a fan on making file edits but there's a few times I've had to make them and still do (reverting back to the old redactor) Mike colours but it's worth doing imo since it saves the eyes in the long run (infact, looking at the redactor text colour palette it seems the edit needs re-applied).

Template edits - Again, I try not to make them unless I have to but that is the price for that little extra so I'm not at all fussed about making template edits if it brings something beneficial to the site, which it does. I document the larger more complexed edits so it's not a big deal personally for me if I need to make a template edit.

 

[Andrew]

The more you work on your forum/style, the more you will learn. It's hand's on experience that is worth its weight in gold. If you find it hard to remember your edits, then I would suggest you document your edits, just as Brogan suggested.