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 Issue 13 - August 28th 2511
Staff Spotlight
by Ro

G.G. Gobberson: Well James first off thanks for being part of GLN. How did you find Fumbbl?

James_Probert I was in a GW store, and there was a BB league going on there. I got interested, heard people mention FUMBBL, and looked was interested enough to try had a look around the site, grabbed a copy of the rulebook and got hooked. :D

GLN: So no previous BB experience before then just straight into the FUMBBL addiction.

James_Probert: Basically, yup tried a bit of meta-gaming with myself, to work out how the rules worked but then jumped into academy to try it out.

GLN: Awesome.

James_Probert: *Academy REALLY needs moving over to CRP like R and B have been *hint hint*.

GLN: Well i think we can agree that the whole site needs to go to the new system. The client is much more user friendly.

James_Probert: Indeed.

GLN: So what is it that you do away from FUMBBL?

James Probert: I'm a student. Studying physics at the University of Birmingham. That's most of the rest of my life :)

GLN: I can see that taking up some time. Now why don’t you tell the nice readers what you do at GLN?

James_Probert: Well, I take the excellent articles written by our team of writers and apply the HTML code necessary to get them onto your screens as articles. Fundamentally, it's a job of repeating the same few things over and over again

GLN: So you are the one that makes it all come together from the mish mash?

James_Probert: However, occasionally, I get an article that requires some real understanding of how HTML works the LRB6 Badges article is a good example.

GLN: Yes that was a fairly extensive one. A lot of work went in to that piece

James_Probert: Yeah, I was pretty proud of that one. I managed to actually do it coding straight HTML, with no errors in one shot. :D

GLN: Now is the FUMBBL format different than others? Meaning is it standard to everywhere else or is there specific stuff to the site?

James_Probert: For the GLN, it's no different to any other website. There are a couple of quirks to putting the pages in, and getting headers be made with minimal coding time but asides from that, it is just web standard HTML

GLN: That is very handy. How did you become involved in GLN?

James_Probert: That story can be read in the forums for those that care enough to look it up. ;-) Summary: Ro wanted to start it back up needed a coders and plenty of writers, but for this story, that’s neither here nor there. I offered my abilities and was accepted as basically the only person who'd offered iirc.

GLN: Besides chasing down your editor for content, how much time does it take to actually code an issue of GLN?

James_Probert: Depends on the issue but as a general rule, I can spend 1/2 an hour on a typical article. The badges, for example, took me 2 hours to do that single article so I can easily spend 5/6, up to 10 hours on an issue. I probably take more, but then, I’d be flipping over to check something with the guys in #GLNR

GLN: So its not just slapping it together in a few minutes and throwing it up for the masses to read.

James_Probert: Heck no. There's consideration of the specific order of the articles to be done and then cross platform checking as well as checking with proof readers for typos and making sure we have all the articles in.

GLN: Cross platform checking? As in different browsers?

James_Probert: Yeah, basically all the browsers have different quirks so what looks great in one, can look painful to read in another.

GLN: Never really thought about that but I see how that could increase your work load.

James_Probert: It tends not to be such an issue with the GLN, but it has pulled the rug out from under my feet before. Now we work with a good frame work here but after my experiences, I like to be meticulous

GLN: Where did you learn to code?

James_Probert: Fundamentally, I learnt to code for FUMBBL to do team bios and such. That's why i learnt HTML. I learnt it using experimentation, use of the page source function, and thanks to w3schools.com which is an excellent website for anyone wanting to learn web development of any kind so props to them.

GLN: So FUMBBL has really expanded your horizons. Blood bowl and coding.

James_Probert: Yup I suspect I would have gotten into coding anyway. as I have had a couple of courses of C++ here at uni and thoroughly enjoyed them.

GLN: So what lies in the future for you after graduation?

James_Probert: I have absolutely no idea at the moment. As far as I'm concerned, because I'm only in the 2nd of 4 years on my course I'm really not sure. If i do a placement over next summer, and I really enjoy it, I would probably move into whatever field it is or else I can really see myself doing a research degree of some form.

GLN: Hah spoken like a true student. Well good to know you have options open for yourself. As long as we can keep you on FUMBBL :D

James_Probert: He he, I can't see that being a problem but when I graduate, I'll probably have less time for FUMBBL because atm, i can have chat open, and be doing my uni work and then be doing a dozen other things at the same time.

GLN: Well James on behalf of GLN and FUMBBL I would like to thank you for your time and effort on GLN and look forward to more of your excellent coding.

James_Probert: Especially on this article ;-) Thank you GG

 
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