Dungeonaday.com

[catsclaw227]

Catsclaw, I'm not entirely sure what you mean about not being able to download what you paid for. A download option was always there.

Every single page on the DAD website - that is, every room, every level overview, every map, every blog post, every new monster, etc. - had a button in the upper-right corner to display that page in PDF form, which could then be saved to your computer.

I've been a subscriber since DAD first began, and I've always made sure to save every page as it appears so I'll have it later.

I don't recall seeing that, but I was looking more for a "download the level, with maps". Honestly, I don't recall ever seeing a "save this page as a PDF". Was it the whole web page or was it just the article itself in PDF with illustrations?

If it was there, then I stand corrected, but I looked and don't recall it being there during the first year, especially the first 3-4 months when I checked the site each day (sometimes multiple times).

 

[Alzrius]

I don't recall seeing that, but I was looking more for a "download the level, with maps". Honestly, I don't recall ever seeing a "save this page as a PDF". Was it the whole web page or was it just the article itself in PDF with illustrations?

If it was there, then I stand corrected, but I looked and don't recall it being there during the first year, especially the first 3-4 months when I checked the site each day (sometimes multiple times).

The whole "download the level, with maps" came later, as the level-by-level downloads that have since unfortunately stalled. That said, the individual page-saves were there. Each one allowed you to save a given page's article, with the relevant illustrations.

To see what I mean, take a look at one of the freebie rooms. Notice in the upper-right corner (just above the "previous | next" links), there are three symbols, one for saving as a PDF, one for a printer-friendly version of the page, and one for emailing the page.

That left-most button that lets you save the page as a PDF is what I've been talking about.

 

[catsclaw227]

The whole "download the level, with maps" came later, as the level-by-level downloads that have since unfortunately stalled. That said, the individual page-saves were there. Each one allowed you to save a given page's article, with the relevant illustrations.

To see what I mean, take a look at one of the freebie rooms. Notice in the upper-right corner (just above the "previous | next" links), there are three symbols, one for saving as a PDF, one for a printer-friendly version of the page, and one for emailing the page.

Yea, that meme has been around for blog sites and news sites for a long time, though I don't remember why I never noticed it on the site. Well, either way, once I was expired, any chance of picking up what I DID pay for went away.

I suppose I could subscribe for 1 month and then download everything up to that point anyway, then unsubscribe. But, personally, I find that that tactic a bit cheesy. I know people do it for WOTC and other pay sites that have PDF downloads of past content and it's technically legal, but it gives me a sour taste in my mouth.

 

[Morrus]

But, personally, I find that that tactic a bit cheesy. I know people do it for WOTC and other pay sites that have PDF downloads of past content and it's technically legal, but it gives me a sour taste in my mouth.

That's OK; it leaves both a sour and an empty-table-at-Christmas taste in the mouth of those of use who provide such subscription services, too!

 

[Aberzanzorax]

On the other hand, I'd think it both moral and legal to pay for 1 month, cats, and download all the stuff you previously paid for as well as 1 additional month (the month you are currently paying for)...and just leave the rest be/check it out as a preview.

Might take the sour taste of having paid for, and not having, content out of your mouth.

 

[Janx]

As a software dev, it's kind of sad that this kind of thing is still a problem

Each Article should have an ArticleID, just as each user has a UserID. A simple table of allowed user and Article IDs that is added to as new content is created, or some fun date checking to look at your subscription dates and the article dates) would easily allow for your account to always let you get access to content you paid for.

Given that I just got off tech support with Borders.com for essentially the same problem (My wife bought 5 ebooks, and it shows only 1 in their eLibrary, and their computer system can't look up order numbers). They actually wanted my credentials to login to our account and look for themselves..

If you had a past sub, and can't get your content now. The simplest thing is to sub for a short time, and download everything you had access to and/or more.

Code-wise, if they've already got a download page as PDF, it shouldn't be that hard to loop through all the pages and pack them in (I wrote that code in a few hours...)

PS. If you have Adobe Professional, I have code to download a page as .htm, and then convert it to PDF, as well as append it to an existing PDF. Very short functions, very useful. Requires Adobe Pro for the DLLs to manipulate PDFs (mainly their content conversion library is better than I've found anywhere else). PDF appending, is pretty easy, PDFSharp is a free .NET libary that can do it.

I would not advise doing a short-sub to Enworld, just to strip mine them. It'd almost be cool if En-World could release older content over time to subscribers (kind of like a double-bonus, each month, you get a new thing, and access to an old thing). it would sort of prevent someone from buying a 1 month sub every 2 yearrs, just to content scrape.