WikiLink - NEI Support and Built In Wikis!

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DrEinsteinium

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Jul 29, 2019
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WikiLink 2.1.024 is hot out of the oven and I have some EPIC stuff for you guys! I have not only added NEI SUPPORT but I have also added over 30+ built in wiki plugins. (Screenshot) There is also version control that will notify you when WikiLink is out of date!

WikiLink is a utility used to open various information sources based on what you want to look up inside of Minecraft. If you are curious about the uses of redstone, all you have to do is use one of the various built in functions of WikiLink and you’ll get the information you need in seconds via your default web browser.

WikiLink it fully compatible with other mods as long as they have a WikiLink plugin in their mod somewhere. It takes two seconds to add one, so if you're a mod developer, check it out.


Developers no longer HAVE to add their wiki support themselves. I am going to do my best to maintain all of the wikis for the community. If you are a developer, you can still add your wiki for yourself, check it out. If there is a wiki that I have missed or currently a wiki that is bugged, please PLEASE send me a message via tweet or any other messaging system. (Twitter is best!)

If you're interested in downloading WikiLink, here are the various ways to do so. All instructions are on the forum post. :)

My website has all of the information and documentation on it including dated releases, built in mod lists, configurations, ect.

Minecraft Forums, Website, Curse Forge

If you have any questions about WikiLink, just post and I'll answer them as soon as possible. You can also tweet me if you can do it in 140 characters or less!

Cheers!
 
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draeath

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I fully support this! Maintained mod documentation is very important, and it is almost as important to provide easy access to it. ;)
 
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Succubism

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What's the benefit of me using this mod instead of just opening a browser and searching it myself?
Hell I could do it on my other monitor.

Does it actually open up the search engine in an in-game browser?
Is that functional inside a modpack with well over 50 mods?
is it demanding in terms of processing power? It is java after all.

Understand I'm not just asking this to be pedantic or rain on your parade, I'm genuinely curious/interested in this.

It would be cool if you shook hands with chickenbones and had a keybind option similar to the recipe finder on NEI to quickly look up an item with a key when hovered over an item with your cursor.
 
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draeath

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Not everyone knows what every mod is called. Not all are easy to find, even once you know it's name. Not everyone has another monitor. I would expect it to open your system's default browser? "It is java after all" doesn't mean very much. You should know better. Minecraft is... a rather bad example of Java. Java is not inherently slow.
 
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ShneekeyTheLost

ShneekeyTheLost

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DrEinsteinium said:
WikiLink it fully compatible with other mods as long as they have a WikiLink plugin in their mod somewhere. It takes two seconds to add one, so if you're a mod developer, check it out.
Click to expand...

This is the sticking point I'm concerned about. How many mods have a WikiLink plugin? For that matter, how many mods have a Wiki? And for that matter, how many wikis have information you can't just get out of NEI?

Mind you, I'm not bashing your mod. I'm all for in-game access to relevant mod information. I'm just a bit worried that your mod's usefullness will not be fully realized due to a lack of dependent documentation it requires.
 
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Succubism

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draeath said:
Not everyone knows what every mod is called. Not all are easy to find, even once you know it's name. Not everyone has another monitor. I would expect it to open your system's default browser? "It is java after all" doesn't mean very much. You should know better. Minecraft is... a rather bad example of Java. Java is not inherently slow.
Click to expand...

Granted, you can't easily look up what an item is called, however if you're going to install this into a modpack, 9/10 times the modpack will have NEI installed which will give you the name of the mod.

Sure, you could use NEI to also look up what mod the item belongs to with the process of elimination in the item subsets menu, but that's a pain for that reason yes, that would be a nice little tool to have, however technically Forge or even NEI again could adapt to tell you from which mod loadout an item or block comes from sorta like how the creative menu tells you from what category a vanilla block/item belongs to.
And if it does just open up your default browser.

I still fail to understand the benefit of just doing this with this mod as opposed to, assuming there's no second monitor, tabbing out of minecraft and clicking your browser to do it that way. Hell, even with the mod installed people might just up and forget it's even installed for the sake of doing it that way. Which brings me to my suggestion of a hotkey function in tandem with NEI. Yes - I'm aware there's a hotkey functionality existing that hovers over an item you have in your hand to look up that item, but that's not necessarily the best when you want to figure out an item is before you build it or even if you want to figure out what a block is in front of you without necessarily breaking it.

I retract my comment about Java, but while I may maintain it's not inherently slow, it is an inherently inefficient and messy program language especially in contrast to other existing languages, but that's not what this is about.
 
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DrEinsteinium

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Jul 29, 2019
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First off, I'd like to thank you all for the feedback you have given me, good and bad, because I can take this feedback and turn it into some new and better features for my mod. I appreciate all forms of constructive criticism and you are by no means offending me or my work by bashing it as long as you have a good argument behind it.

I understand the controversy between using WikiLink as opposed to not even bothering. As of right now, it is designed for players who don't play with NEI, even though 9/10 times people who play with mods will always have it installed. I have looked at NEI integration before and I quickly gave up as for the lack of API features on NEI's side, which is why I implemented the current keybinding system instead, but maybe it is time that I reconsider working towards the NEI functionality.

As for mods that "plugin" to WikiLink in order to have their wiki added, I understand the concern. I don't necessarily like the current system because WikiLink's functionality isn't being used for what it was designed for if modders don't take the time to extend my API, but I had to design it that way. I could easily go into WikiLink's files and add every wiki or information source for a good portion of the community's mods, but then I would face a new problem.

For example, if a modder moves his wiki, doesn't support the wiki that I have added myself, or just doesn't care for WikiLink, I would be forced to either update or remove the plugin entirely. With the current system, modders will maintain their wiki plugin themselves and they will have a choice to or not.

One way I have combated this though is through Bing and Google. They are the two biggest search engines in the world, so why not utilize them? If a mod does not currently have support for WikiLink, it will automatically search for what you are looking for on Google or Bing. This somewhat closes the gap between having support for a mod and not.

Another possible solution to combating the lack of information is through the big wikis such as FTB's wiki or even Technic's wiki. I have support for both inside of WikiLink, and I can add a configuration option to where all searches direct to those wikis if necessary. The only reason I have not done that already is for the lack of information on both. FTB's wiki is still early in development, but I can see it being a useful tool in the future for not only WikiLink's functionality but for every user of FTB.

As for what Succubism said about opening an in game browser, I do somewhat agree with her statement that "It is Java after all." There are two reasons why I can not or will not add in game browser support, and the main reason being is because Java simply will not be able to handle it with 100+ mods installed. My computer is already slow with the 118 mods that I play with, and I have already had to increase the JVM bind. Adding a browser for Java to handle alongside this would make it worse. The second reasoning behind my stance is something that my dad has always told me: "Why would you reinvent the wheel?" I do understand that reinventing things is sometimes necessary, but when there are at least 8 to 10 browsers that can do the same thing as what I want, it makes sense not add this functionality.

When it all comes down to it, WikiLink is a new mod that needs a lot of work for it to be great and something that everyone can use. It not only needs some sort of NEI integration, but it also needs time to "resonate" with the community. I am certain that once some mod developers start seeing WikiLink and the fact that other modders support it as well, they will not hesitate to add support. For that though, we just need to wait.
 
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ShneekeyTheLost

ShneekeyTheLost

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If you can manage it, NEI integration would be massively powerful.

Pull up an item in NEI. Don't know what it does? Click the WikiLink button next to the question mark. It automatically pulls up the wiki article on that item.

However, this again goes back to my original concern: Such documentation simply does not exist for several mods, or at least the information contained therein is woefully and sadly out of date. The FTB Wiki does a pretty decent job of being up to date, but even there, not every item has an entry with relevant information.

While this is not your fault, I suspect some might end up blaming you for that problem anyways, even though it is clearly out of your control. It isn't your fault that the wiki article they are searching for does not exist. But because your mod did not magically produce the answers they were looking for, you are the one going to be blamed.

Honestly, I'd like to include this mod in my mod pack, once it matures a bit. My mod pack is explicitly designed for newer players, and this functionality would enormously increase the user-friendliness by providing users with the information at their fingertips.
 
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Succubism

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ShneekeyTheLost said:
While this is not your fault, I suspect some might end up blaming you for that problem anyways, even though it is clearly out of your control. It isn't your fault that the wiki article they are searching for does not exist. But because your mod did not magically produce the answers they were looking for, you are the one going to be blamed.
Click to expand...
Let them blame him for all the good it'll do them, it'll be irrelevant.
Should this mod become a successful staple to the modpack universe then those who can't find information may moan, but those who know that it'll do no good will take matters into their own hands and provide the information themselves.
If anything, this mod would provide encouragement for others to contribute to the wikis.
 
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DrEinsteinium

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Jul 29, 2019
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Encouraging mod authors to make proper wikis, or at least contributing their information to something like the Feed the Beast wiki would be great. Hopefully once WikiLink matures it will start to become normal for more community members to contribute to information sources.

Until then I am going to get in contact with chicken_bones and see what he has to say and if he can give me some tips. I'll post what updates I can :)
 
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Succubism

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DrEinsteinium said:
Encouraging mod authors to make proper wikis, or at least contributing their information to something like the Feed the Beast wiki would be great. Hopefully once WikiLink matures it will start to become normal for more community members to contribute to information sources.

Until then I am going to get in contact with chicken_bones and see what he has to say and if he can give me some tips. I'll post what updates I can :)
Click to expand...

Just be careful he doesn't take your idea.
Not to saying he would, but you gotta be careful, he's been known to take his "own spin" on mod ideas.
 
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