path: root/news.txt

Name: Retrace, Retexture
Date: February 12, 2021
Directory: retrace-retexture
Body:
    <i>Album wallpapers, internal changes, and more!</i>
    Hi again! We hope the month's been as kind as possible to you all. As planned, we have a new monthly update! The wiki's undergoing some significant internal improvements, but we have a host of new features, and, of course, wonderful albums and artists to share, as well. Thanks go out to our very first patrons - details of all past the split!
    <hr class="split">
    <i>As ever, thank you to everyone who sent feedback and kind messages during development! We're also very grateful for all <a href="donate/">supporters of the wiki</a>, including: Nights, enchantingHunter, and leo homestuck!</i>
    This update is another code-heavy one internally, with lots of changes and additions to make improving the wiki easier - and there's still more to come! But first, here's a summary of the new music shared on the wiki this release (check 'em out!):
    - From [[group:michael-guy-bowman]]:
        - All of his albums! He's created some really wonderful music, and we're super happy to share it here.
        - [[album:mobius-trip-and-hadron-kaleido]] is now part of the new <i>solo musician</i> "group" linked above, as are...
        - [[album:ithaca]], which features a diverse set of contributions from familiar names on the Homestuck music team
        - [[album:comfortable-bugs]]
        - [[album:hush]]
        - [[album:archive]], which is absolutely worth a purchase for more obscure tracks like [[track:aba-daba-honeymoon-archive]]
        - [[album:electric-daydreams]]
        - [[album:look-on-my-works-ye-mighty-and-despair]]
        - and [[album:gravity-makes-the-flame-rise]], his latest release from January this year, an absolutely powerful album, and a timely one for the year it was created through!
        - (Seriously, this album owns. Listening to it is like finding that perfectly rageful respite in having a chat with someone who's been through their own flavor of just the same year as you.)
    - From [[group:desynced]]:
        - [[album:desynced-vol-1]]
        - [[album:desynced-vol-2]]
        - [[album:election-season]]
        - These are all soundtracks for the fanventure <a href="https://desynced.xyz/">Desynced</a>. We haven't read the comic yet, but all the tracks here - and their art! - are really excellent!
    - From [[group:psycholonials]]:
        - Just the first release, [[album:psycholonials-ep-1]], for now!
        - These show up in a new row on the homepage. We'll add more EPs as they're released, in distinct updates from the main wiki releases!
        - No information on unreleased tracks or references to previous releases for now, but we'll come back to this once the full game and soundtrack have been released in April.
        - In case you missed it, the entirety of the game is composed by [[artist:clark-powell]]!
    The biggest feature addition this release, as you might've already spotted, is wallpapers for albums! These are easiest to explain by showing them off - some of my favorites are [[album:homestuck-vol-5]], [[album:coloUrs-and-mayhem-universe-a]], and [[album:cosmic-caretakers]]. Album wallpapers are a way to revive the original themes of albums released on Bandcamp and give album and track pages their own personal flare, while still leaving the main design of the site untouched, aiming for a cohesively creative look! Much thanks go to Niklink for suggesting this back in December, and helping with research as well as editing throughout the whole process.
    Besides album wallpapers, there are a few other smaller additions too:
    - As evident in where you're reading this now, news entries now have their own pages!
    - Building on the code for above, we've replaced the old, gargantuan "All Commentary" page with individual commentary pages for each album. (Check out the <a href="commentary/">Commentary</a> index to explore!) These are a distraction-free way to browse the commentary for an album; it's great if you're listening to a whole release and want to follow its commentary alongside playback. Plus it shows off the new album wallpapers. :)
    - There's a footer on all pages now too, thanking supporters and contributors and linking people back to the support and feedback pages. It'll hopefully help show that the wiki really is a group project, and encourage interested folks to get involved!
    Finally, there have been a bunch of internal changes. I won't bore you with the technical details - those are in the <a href="changelog/#12-feb-2021">changelog</a>! :)
    But here, I do want to share a little about the goals we're working towards (and that this code is a big part of). Together - both the dev and the community of contributors! - we've created a really fantastic and powerful music wiki I know I'm proud of, seeing how it's grown and improved since it started! As that development continues, we've been facing a few big questions about the grander context of the wiki.
    Here's the one we focused on this update: This wiki has a clear, defined scope. However, the underlying <i>software</i> is a featureful, powerful creation in its own right. <b>Could the wiki code be generalized to act as a basis for other wikis?</b>
    Hence began the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhGI-GqAK9c">Generalized It</a> project, which I focused on for most of the first half of the month of development time. It's still a work in progress, but we made pretty big progress: we've separated almost all content specific to any wiki from the main code (meaning it can be customized across any version of your own wiki), updated the CLI tooling to make swapping wikis for development easy, and put together two experimental demo wikis! If you're curious, check 'em out: <a href="https://nebula.ed1.club/skeleton-wiki/">Skeleton</a>, <a href="https://nebula.ed1.club/flora-wiki/">Floraverse</a>!
    Although it's still in progress, I hope in the future anyone with the interest and time will be able to create their own wikis based on the code here. There's still much documentation to be written (and probably tooling to be improved) before it's really ready for use, but if you'd like to explore the code anyway, <a href="https://git.ed1.club/nebula/hsmusic-wiki/">it's all public!</a> (So's <a href="https://git.ed1.club/nebula/hsmusic-data/">the HSMusic source data</a> if you're curious!)
    There are still many exciting things to come, and plenty more internal changes as foundation for 'em. It takes a while to design and implement any large change like this - but when it's ready, I hope you'll be excited to see!
    <hr>
    As in last month's entry: the meta around the wiki! :)
    - Again, thanks graciously to our first supporters on <a href="https://www.patreon.com/qznebula">Patreon</a> and <a href="https://liberapay.com/nebula">Liberapay</a>! I really didn't expect it to step up from the ground so quickly. In case you missed it, we updated the tiers on Patreon; the profile names of supporters will show up as part of news entries, as well as on the <a href="about/">About &amp; Credits</a> page.
    - The <a href="discord/">Community Discord Server</a> grew pretty significantly over the development of this release! Working with everyone there was a blast. Thanks to feedback, we restructured the wiki a little, too: there are new #devblog, #devblog-discussion, and #git-update channels, all for keeping up with and discussing particular progress on the wiki! No more need to go through chat backlog; the info's all here. :3
    - <a href="https://leo60228.space/">leo homestuck</a> released an awesome tool called <a href="https://leo60228.space/hsmusicifier-automatically-add-track-art-to-id3-tags-including-fan-anthologies-and-post-2019-bandcamp/">hsmusicifier</a>! It adds track art and artist information from HSMusic to your own music library, and has <a href="https://leo60228.space/hsmusicifier-0-2-0-add-track-art-and-artist-info-to-your-homestuck-music-collection-in-any-format/">a bunch</a> of <a href="https://leo60228.space/hsmusicifier-0-3-0-split-up-bundled-albums-with-additional-flexibility-for-art/">other utilities</a> too. Our car dashboard shows track art for what's currently playing; it's been a wonder to have the original art restored, as well as the anthology fanart for albums like [[album:homestuck-vol-5]] and [[album:beyond-canon]] show up there!
    As ever, thank you for the support and feedback. Besides the Discord, <a href="feedback/">our usual channels remain open</a>, so you're much encouraged to share any comments or music suggestions for the coming releases!
    <i>~ Quasar Nebula</i>
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name: Traversing Fandom
Date: January 12, 2021
Directory: traversing-fandom
Body:
    <i>First update of 2021 - now releasing monthly! (Also, Discord!)</i>
    Hey again, and welcome (as best one can be welcomed) to 2021! As announced in the last update's news entry, the new leading direction of the wiki is sharing and celebrating music created by fan musicians at large. In addition to <i>fifteen</i> new albums, this update builds on last update's foundations - details past the split - and we've started a Discord for visitors of the wiki as well!
    <hr class="split">
    <i>Once again, thanks to everyone who helped out or sent kind messages during development! The launch of the new wiki went totally smoothly, and the encourgament from everyone we've spoken to about the wiki has been really astounding. Thank you!</i>
    Much of last update was spent planning and programming, but thanks to that groundwork, we have far more albums to share this time, each full of uniquely incredible music! To highlight that, we'll jump into the summary right away:
    - From [[group:unofficial-mspa-fans]]:
        - (2017) [[album:weird-puzzle-tunes]], a tribute album for the ninth anniversary of Problem Sleuth
        - (2017) [[album:vaporwave-2016]], a solo album by [[artist:jamie-paige-stanley]] that is exactly what it says on the tin
        - (2017) [[album:xenoplanetarium]], an album inspired by [[album:medium]], lending depth and musical texture to the trolls' lands
        - (2017) [[album:gristmas-carols]], a Christmas-themed holiday album and a reprise of the seven-years-earlier [[album:homestuck-for-the-holidays]]
        - (2019) [[album:cosmic-caretakers]], a tribute to all the guardian figures in Homestuck (yes, all of them!)
        - (2019) [[album:moons-of-theseus]], a fantastically produced tribute to [[album:mobius-trip-and-hadron-kaleido]] and the other works of [[artist:michael-guy-bowman]]
        - (2020) [[album:friendsymphony]], a three-disc album inspired by [[album:hiveswap-friendsim]] with a song for each of the much-befriended Friendsim trolls
    - From [[group:oceanfalls]]:
        - (2017) [[album:oceanfalls-vol-1]], the origin of Oceanfalls music and a solo album by triple-time musician, track artist, and comic creator [[artist:nights]]
        - (2018) [[album:contritum]], a single-track release for the conclusion of Oceanfalls' first chapter
        - (2019) [[album:oceanfalls-vol-2]], an album packed with music and art now from a diverse set of musicians (many who would go on to compose the esteemed <i>catgirl music</i>-pioneering [[album:oceanfalls-vol-3]]!)
    - From [[artist:tee-vee]] (who also contributed several tracks to [[album:friendsymphony]]):
        - (2020) [[album:theres-no-place-like-home]], a prog rock medley album celebrating virtually the entire official discography of Homestuck music! (Be sure to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qh0YkQn_zLU">check out the movie</a>!)
    - From [[artist:toby-fox]]:
        - (2010) [[album:the-baby-is-you]], the infamous pinnacle of T. ("Radiation") F. content, a shitpost we mere mortals are blessed by the birth of
        - (2015) [[album:undertale-soundtrack]], complete with interactive reference info just like the rest of HSMusic, courtesy of <a href="https://undertale.fandom.com/wiki/Leitmotifs">the Undertale Wiki</a>
        - (2018) [[album:deltarune-ch1-ost]], also with leitmotif information thanks to <a href="https://deltarune.fandom.com/wiki/Leitmotifs">the Deltarune Wiki</a>
    - From [[artist:nuclear333]]:
        - (2021) [[album:inhospitable-delisted]], a re-release of the now-delisted INHOSPITABLE Vol. 1 from 2017, featuring music from the original release of their comic, [[group:inhospitable]]
    Phew! That's a lot of music. In fact, <a href="group/fandom/gallery/">the Fandom gallery</a> is starting to become <i>kind of crowded!</i> How is anyone supposed to find what they're looking for now?? (Or so we hypothetically project you asking.)
    Well, you've probably noticed already: <b>groups</b> are the new feature designed to answer that question! They have two purposes: to improve <i>navigability</i>, and to improve <i>discoverability</i>. Conveniently, these go hand in hand - and they're so crucial that we've worked them into the layout of the site as a whole!
    On the right side of the screen (or at the bottom of the page, if you are using a more compact display), you can now see the groups an album is part of. If you click to visit the group's dedicated page, you'll find a blurb introducing the group, and a chronological listing of their albums. Or you can choose the "Gallery" tab to view an album gallery, just like the <i>Fandom</i> and <i>Official</i> homes (which are now programmed as groups too)!
    The inspirations from Bandcamp should be apparent to anyone familiar, but we've added a few bonuses unique to a colossal compendium like HSMusic: chronology links, for easily exploring the history of a group's releases, and external links, for visiting a group or project at its own homes.
    Actually, those outgoing links shouldn't go understated: we're hoping their presence will encourage avid listeners to step further and delve into the worlds surrounding the music featured here on the wiki. (That's been the goal with, for example, displaying artist credit links up-front on the pages they contribute to - we want browsers to explore both the wiki and beyond!)
    As ever, there are a few minor additions and tweaks, too - check out <a href="changelog/#12-jan-2021">the changelog</a> for full details!
    <hr>
    Finally, some announcements surrounding the wiki (the <i>meta</i>, if you will):
    - <b>Discord:</b> We've started <a href="discord/">a Discord server</a> for the wiki! Actually, it's been around for a few months, but we haven't publicized the link properly until now (it's in the "get involved" section on the homepage too). Follow the community guidelines and rules, and all are welcome to join and chat about the wiki, Homestuck music, and similar such shenanigans! (Psst, WIP update teasers are frequently shared here!)
    - <b>Patreon:</b> It occurred to us one strange, ominous night that Liberapay is <i>not actually</i> a platform most people are familiar with. So, <a href="https://www.patreon.com/qznebula">we started a Patreon</a> focused on the music wiki! As ever, there's no pressure to donate, but it would go much appreciated if you're able - this update took over <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11L4ksnILTNKuLXT5PBIBxr34cZ0wk6P9aZO-vpeSsnU/edit#gid=1993970319">45 hours</a> to put together, in all!
    - <b>Updates:</b> Like we mentioned at the top of this news entry, updates for the site will be releasing once a month now, aiming for release every twelfth, provided no (un)natural disasters get in the way! This is kind of experimental, but we figure it'll be fun to have a specific day visitors of the wiki can get excited for.
    As ever, thank you for the support and feedback. Besides the Discord, <a href="feedback/">our usual channels remain open</a>, so you're much encouraged to share any comments or music suggestions for the coming releases!
    <i>~ Quasar Nebula</i>
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name: Launch of HSMusic.wiki!
Date: December 12, 2020
Directory: hsmusicwiki
Body:
    <i>Welcome to all visitors, new and returning!</i>
    We're proud to announce the launch of <a href="https://hsmusic.wiki/">https://HSMusic.wiki</a>, the new home of the Homestuck Music Wiki! If you've visited the wiki before, you've probably already noticed plenty of changes. I'll cover a few of the changes in this news entry, and talk about the future direction of the wiki too - there's been a shift over the last few updates I'd love to shed some light on. :)
    <hr class="split">
    <i>First off: I'd like to personally thank [[artist:nuclear333]], [[artist:foreverflummoxed]], and Niklink for their help putting this update together; I worked with all three through its development, and it wouldn't be as complete or cohesive an update without their feedback and encouragement. Extra thanks to nata for tech help as we moved the site from GitHub Pages to an independently hosted server and domain, and to everyone we contacted for being so welcoming to share their music on the wiki!</i>
    If you've been following the changelog for the last several updates, you might've noticed an interesting assortment of albums coming to the wiki: Clark Powell's [[album:labyrinths-heart]], Casual Sunday's [[album:shortcuts]], and Kal-la-kal-la's [[album:exceptis-excipiendis]], for example. What do these albums have in common? Well, none of them are <i>quite</i> Homestuck albums; across all three, only the track [[track:requiem-labyrinths-heart]] could be considered an outright Homestuck track! However, each album was created by recognizable artists within the sphere of Homestuck music. Could this pattern be significant?
    During the development of those updates (<a href="changelog/#24-july-2020">recompose, refine</a> and <a href="changelog/#10-oct-2020">autumnal polish haul</a> in particular), it was more of an experimental idea - but with the launch of the new hsmusic.wiki domain, I figured now is as good a time as any to really embrace that new direction:
    <b>HSMusic is expanding its focus to feature, side-by-side with Homestuck-specific releases, albums created by artists who've found a home as part of the Homestuck music scene!</b>
    This is in keeping in line with the basic guide of the wiki from the start: <i>celebration</i>. Since the start, we've been celebrating the music we love - through archival, presentation, and discovery. With the former two being polished and perfected over the the year since <a href="changelog/#15-nov-19">initial release</a>, I figure it's time to revisit and prioritize that third one: discovery! So, just as <a href="changelog/#1-mar-20">half a year ago</a>, the scope of the wiki is expanding once again.
    For the forseeable future, in addition to the usual site updates and tweaks part of every major update, you'll be finding new albums shared on the wiki regularly! I'd strongly encourage you to check out their personal sites, and of course, purchase the albums you particularly enjoy, if you're able - every artist appreciates support for their creations!
    On that note, <a href="https://liberapay.com/nebula">I've opened a Liberapay</a> if you'd like to throw a dollar or two my way as tips for my work on the wiki - I'm immensely thankful, of course, but no expectations either! We have enough to keep the site running as-is regardless. :)
    <hr>
    So, without further ado, some update highlights:
    - A totally redesigned homepage! It's considerably denser than before - but I'm hoping I've managed to reach that peculiar paradox of it being more usable as a landing page as well.
    - Five new albums, plus some goodies:
        - [[album:hiveswap-act-2-ost]] - yes, with complete credits. (<a href="media/misc/hiveswap-act-2-breakdown.png">Thanks, James Roach!</a>)
        - [[album:homestuck-for-the-holidays]] and [[album:tomb-of-the-ancestors]], the two albums from <a href="https://homestuckgaiden.bandcamp.com/">Homestuck Gaiden</a> we hadn't archived before! (As far as I know, this is the first time per-track art credits for ToTH have ever been released - much thanks to the album's artist, [[artist:kalibration]], for helping with this via email!)
        - [[album:the-genesis-project-vol-1]] and [[album:oceanfalls-vol-3]], compilation albums from artists who by and large found their roots in the Homestuck music scene! Check out The Genesis Project, a fan-game aiming to replicate Sburb itself, at <a href="https://www.sburb.me/">sburb.me</a>; and Oceanfalls, an excellent webcomic inspired by Homestuck but certainly its own standalone work, at <a href="https://oceanfalls.net/">oceanfalls.net</a>!
        - [[album:perfectly-generic-object]], a lovely track from [[artist:cristata]] following its earlier album [[album:perfectly-generic-album]]!
        - ...and the original four releases of [[album:homestuck-vol-1]], [[album:homestuck-vol-2]], [[album:homestuck-vol-3]], and [[album:homestuck-vol-4]]. Check 'em out!
    - A bunch of stylistic changes and tweaks across the site, all in the hopes of making a more usable and coherent design - or in less pretentious jargon, I'm trying to make things look better. :) Besides remaking the homepage from scratch:
        - All pages use the same "page generation" code, meaning much more consistent navigation and layout everywhere. Though there aren't any particular plans to do so yet, this also means it's much easier to modify or expand page layouts in the future!
        - The border around images is bolder and tiles themselves are smaller, emphasizing color and name recognition. The goal is to make a design for index pages that looks more balanced!
        - Speaking of images, most of the images on the site are now lazy-loaded (meaning they are only downloaded as they enter the screen viewport), and they've all been tweaked so that the layout won't jitter as media files load!
        - The sidebar and navigation for track pages have been revamped; besides grouping the tracks in many more albums (e.g. [[album:ancestral]]), we also show track numbers for groups in the sidebar, and the current track number next to the name in the nav bar!
    - Dozens of data changes, the majority of which are from feedback from users of the site:
        - Thanks to transcription and research efforts from Niklink, lyrics have been added and updated across many tracks! Check out, for example, [[track:how-do-i-live-bunny-back-in-the-box-version]], [[track:mister-bowman-tells-you-about-the-squiddles]], and [[track:creata]].
        - A new "tags" feature for track art, categorizing all art on the wiki by the characters featured! Plus, gallery pages for each character (e.g. [[tag:jade]], [[tag:rose]], [[tag:jack-noir]]) and content warnings on art with sensitive or commonly triggering content.
        - A bunch of reference and credit data has been fixed across the site, thanks to nuclear333, Bambosh, and an emailer! There are also a variety of improved track arts and many new artist credit links, largely thanks to foreverFlummoxed.
    As always, complete update details can be found <a href="changelog/#12-dec-2020">on the changelog</a>! Have fun exploring the site - and of course, any feedback or comments are welcome, and can be sent our way <a href="feedback/">via the usual channels</a>. :)
    <i>~ Quasar Nebula</i>
    (PS: Working with everyone on this update has been a joy, so once again, a tremendous thank-you to everyone who offered feedback, resources, discussion and support over the course of development! Tangentially, with permission from Niklink, <a href="media/misc/changelog/niklink-lyric-shenanigans.txt">here's a transcript of our emails together</a> - just for a look into what collaborating on the wiki is like, and to give Niklink's wonderful commentary the light of day.)