Neil Wheatley

On a mission to create a free archive of verifiable gaming knowledge for everyone.

3 minute read

Summary: We’ve fixed and improved many Dbljump article features and we’re working on new ones, including web resources and game details.

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We deployed a new version of the Dbljump public reference last week, which brings lots of fixes and improvements - and takes us another step closer towards achieving our mission.

Dbljump wasn’t Showtime-Ready when we first launched a few months ago, and it isn’t now. But that’s ok. Our current phase is about trying things out in production, sharing what we’re working on, and inviting you to get involved.

We’ve rewritten a LOT of the dbljump.com reference, but here are some of the most noticeable improvements:

  • Game release dates work. They now display correctly in the article header. The earliest release place is shown in the versions table. And you get a comprehensive list of dates, places, and platforms in the details section of each game article.
  • We split the site in two. The public reference and content editing tools now have separate homes at alpha.dbljump.com and editor.dbljump.com. This has made the public reference application much smaller and simpler, which means it loads faster. Separating concerns like this means we can work towards much more focused designs for each site.
  • You can now read from the top. When you click through to a new page, you start at the top - not at the previous page’s scroll position like before.
  • Metadata lists work. We fixed problems with abbreviated lists like “Action, RPG, Fantasy, +3 more”.
  • 404 errors work everywhere now. You would previously get a blank screen when visiting a URL like https://alpha.dbljump.com/people/bad-link. Now you get helpful feedback.

If you’d like to see these changes in action, check out some of our more complete articles like Breath of the Wild and Ghosts ‘n Goblins Resurrection.

Or, why not sign up and create your own!

We’d love to know what you think of our progress so far. What do you like? Where are we totally failing? Tell us via Twitter or Facebook.

I’ll be reading your messages - and I’m ready for tough criticism! We really need your feedback to move forward in the right direction.

Next steps: Web resources and new game details

In the meantime, we’re already working on bringing important new features to Dbljump.

Firstly, we’re building a new system for managing links and references, called Web Resources. Web Resources will allow us to properly cite sources for article notes, which is vital if we’re going to build a world-class reference. Web Resources will also allow us to add YouTube videos and trailers to Dbljump articles, and to add official websites, Twitter pages, and other useful links to our articles.

Expanded game details

We’re also going to expand the kinds of technical details you can add to games. You can already specify display resolution, frame rates and a few other things that help you compare each platform version. We think it’s also important to add minimum and maximum player counts for offline, LAN, and Internet play. And we’ll add other details, like I/O options, so that Dbljump articles can provide information about features like VR support and motion controls.

Get involved

Dbljump is a non-commercial technology project with a clear mission: to build the world’s best video game knowledge reference.

Naturally, we can achieve our mission much faster with your help.

If you’d like to be involved in an ambitious video game data project, you want to build some useful experience, and you have some free time, feel free to get in touch. Some of the areas we need help with include web development (Ember.js, Ruby on Rails, data), community development, and business development.

We know the value of having a diverse team, and everyone is welcome to join in.

Again, just reach out via our Twitter or Facebook.

Thanks for reading!

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