Web-Based Ticketing Software

Thenomain

So you know what would be kind of nice? Having a web-based interface for Anomaly Jobs. Which is to say, having a replacement for Anomaly Jobs. Which is to say, I'm looking for input.

No promises, mind you.

A bit of software like this has some very important limitations. The first is that is local. Not just local to the machine, but possibly local to an account. Not everyone has the ability to get root-level access to the hosting machine.

The second is that it uses or can use mySQL as a back end. This is a limitation imposed by TinyMUX and TinyMUSH, so from the lowest common denominator this limitation comes. This is so I can build an on-game back end for traditionalists like me.

The third is that it NOT be using PHP. This one is mostly in respect to @Chime whom, while I know does not officially allow new games on her servers, wants to wean the security risk entirely from her sight.

And the last is that whatever else it can or cannot do, it must be accessible to Mushers, not an overwhelming system, or a system that can be made into a fairly simple interface. "Fairly Simple" being an interesting term for something like Anomaly Jobs which can be really effing complex, so maybe around the aJobs level of complexity.

Thoughts, comments, input please. Thanks.

Bobotron

@Thenomain
@Alzie has this, I thought?

https://github.com/ccubed/Mu2/tree/master/Jobs

Thenomain

@Bobotron

That doesn't look like a web interface to anything, also not complete?

Bobotron

@Thenomain
I couldn't make heads or tails of it either, but I don't know squat about SQL. IIRC though Alzie said this is workable for MU*-side and someone would have to write a wrapper to make it work from the web-side in another thread.

Thenomain

@Bobotron

The point, tho, is to start with the web site and make an interface for TinyMUX, which is something I can easily do. Making a ticketing system is labor intensive, and I'd rather start with one written outside the game than visa-versa.

Bobotron

@Thenomain
Cool. I was just throwing that up 'cause that's all I've ever seen. I hope you can get it to work; I'd love to see something like that with Penn compatibility.

Sunny

I know of at least one game that already has a web based ticketing system. When I am not at work I will get that info put here.

somasatori

Sweet. I've been looking for ways to make my hobby feel more like the tech support jobs I've worked!

(this does sound kind of cool and useful, though.)

deadculture

Since you're doing it from the web, maybe some sort of control-through-wizard-account for stat adjustments or whatever else needs to be handled MU side would be good.

Thenomain

@deadculture

That's why it needs to have a MySQL back-end.

Sunny

http://noreturn.closetgamers.com/ is the game that has the web-based ticketing system that I'm aware of.

Bobotron

@Sunny
Is that actually tied to the MU* though? It looks like just a normal web-based ticket system.

Thenomain

@Sunny

Sadly, with no credits I don't know what system, if any, they're using.

Ide

It's this Theno, http://pradeepmakone.com/wpsupportplus/, near as I can tell from the page source.

Alzie

@Thenomain Mu2 is complete. The jobs system in Mu2 is entirely based in MySQL. That it has commands to access it inside the mu is just a convenience. However no, I didn't build the web system into the release. It stores data in mysql, people can use what they want from there: django, flask, ember.js, meteor, etc. All I did was make a jobs system that is 100% mysql based.

Edit: Also, to clarify, the jobs system found in Mu2 is not anomaly jobs. It's MuReq, a custom built MySQL Ticketing/request system.

Thenomain

@Alzie

It's entirely backwards from what I was requesting, which was a web interface that I could write my own Mu* interface for.

faraday

@Thenomain Using an existing system is an interesting idea, but I'd be surprised if you find something suitable. There are some help ticket systems written in Ember and Angular out there, but they all seem to be, like, "Bob's Ticket System". Who knows how stable they are. I'd venture to say you'd be better off making the MU side work the way you want and then write a web client side that scrapes the SQL.

ThatOneDude

@Thenomain Why don't you just switch to Evennia and be done with it already?

It does so much of what you all want already, or I should say it has the ability to do so much of what you guys want easily.

WTFE

I can't speak for @Thenomain, but I can speak for my own experiences.

The process of installing and getting Evennia to run was more painful (by FAR) than getting PennMUSH or RhostMUSH to compile and run. (TinyMUX, on the other hand, I never actually got compiling at all.)

Once running, knowing where to go next was even worse-documented than it is for MUSHes (and I'm on the record for despising MUSHes, their opaque scripting language, and their utter lack of properly useful documentation).

I'd love to see something sane take the place of MUSH code bases. Evennia, as it stands now (and given conversations I've had with its creators likely as it will ever stand) is not that "something sane". It has its uses and its enthusiasts. Replacing the MUSH ecosystem is not one of those uses.

Thenomain

@ThatOneDude said in Web-Based Ticketing Software:

@Thenomain Why don't you just switch to Evennia and be done with it already?

It does so much of what you all want already, or I should say it has the ability to do so much of what you guys want easily.

@WTFE has part of it. The other part is that I know Mux, forwards and backwards. I know the SQL standard well enough. What I don't know is a web-side scripting language other than PHP, and not using PHP is one of my prereqs.

I've been thinking about asking @Volund to stand in as a mentor figure, but I don't yet have the time or brainpower for delving in that deeply.

There is one other thing that WTFE hit upon, and it's pretty important to me: Evennia isn't a Mushlike. It's a Mudlike. It's a backend-coded system that doesn't invite casual coders. It cannot be easily taught in the same way that it can't be easily learned. It would be far preferable to me to get started in that direction and help the WoD games I seem to be coding for head off in that direction, but without that step I'm unwilling to throw all my eggs in that basket.

@faraday, you're right, but I can still easier scrape to Mux than I can to, say Anything on Rails. There are many better coders out there, but if I'm going to be the man on the spot then it has to go the way that I can manage. There's also the consideration of hosting clients, lowest common denominators, and so forth, tho I'll be the first to admit that this isn't the first reason for the backwards way I'm trying to make this work. No, the first reason is, sadly, what I can do.

TinyMUCK has these elements built-in, and even MOO is easier to code in-game, but here I am looking for the solution I can manage.