Hi all,
I'd like to announce a few great improvements to RuneTrack. I realize this is a lengthy news post, but I assure you that it's entirety is definitely worth the read!
Firstly, I know there hasn't been a news post in a while - but I have still been very much at work on the "behind the scenes" features at RuneTrack. With RuneTrack's explosive growth over the past few months, I noticed that various pages weren't running as smoothly with the addition of millions of new data values to process. To ensure that our efficiency here is maintained, I re-designed a significant amount of RuneTrack scripts with a better code structure, allowing for a much faster stat tracking and experience analysis.
To give you an idea of the vast improvements made, take a look at this chart comparing certain pages' average load speeds:
Note: Average load time refers to the time it takes the server to process the page (displayed at the very bottom of every page).
The update efficiently reduced the amount of server calculations needed to be preformed on runtime by storing them in a retrievable database during the system update. As you can see from the above table, this was a major improvement.
Additionally, I'd also like to mention the site design enhancements. As you may have noticed, most pages have undergone some nice graphic tweaks, presenting a sleeker feel to the site. I'd like to thank Branin (Lateralus) for all of his help in designing many these new site images. Note that there are still a number of graphical updates to come.
Finally, I have introduced another RuneTrack feature to further improve tracking services. Since the name change update back in October which allows players to change their display names every month, Jagex has still not provided fansites with a way to easily obtain name change information. Unfortunately, this meant that many User Profiles went inactive, simply because there was no way to determine a players' new display names once changed. The individual name changer successfully gave players the ability to merge their old and new display names on RuneTrack - however, as a significant number of users have not done this, many User Profiles still remain stuck on a player's old display name.
To solve this issue, I have now introduced a Name Change Contributions Page (also located on the left navigation menu under "Auto Timezone Converter"). The contribution system allows the community of RuneTrack users like you to help maintain the accurate and efficient stat tracking services, by ensuring that old display names are not left behind.
Essentially, if you wish to participate, the contribution system will present you with a random old display name in the RuneTrack database which someone has recently switched to a new display name. To contribute, all you have to do is locate that player's new name by adding the old name to your Friends List (thus displaying their new name), and submitting their new name on the page. Simply by doing that, the player's entire Individual Tracking account will be completely updated to their new display name, and you will have saved their User Profile from going inactive.
In a database of thousands of users, I knew that I alone would be unable to keep up with the many daily name changes, which is why I decided to give you all the ability to do so as well. Of course choosing to contribute name changes is completely voluntary - but if you ever have a spare moment in-game, you may want consider spending a minute or two helping keep RuneTrack up to date.
Thanks again for all your continued support!
) when I came across a name that wasn't showing up. Not a big deal, thought I would just hit generate next name. Everytime I hit the button it just gives me the same name (Baps Out).
