Suggestion to have extra coders for more updates

[Piefan]

I agree, but the likely reason there aren't is that CS simply can't afford it. Web devs earn less than other programmers, but a single one is still maybe 36k USD per year. And of course CS is a big site with access to hundreds of thousands of emails and passwords - you need trusted professionals if you're going to allow them to touch the code.

[ElementalInsanity]

While I agree that you need trusted people because of the kind of access, I’m not suggesting the pay programmers because I know CS likely couldn’t afford that. I was meaning something like how they have artists. Volunteer basis.

[jarside]

i think this would benefit the site, but i'm no coder. i would want to hear nick's thoughts before fully saying yes.

[ElementalInsanity]

i think this would benefit the site, but i'm no coder. i would want to hear nick's thoughts before fully saying yes.

I definitely agree. I’d love to hear from Nick if this is like even be something he’d consider. ^^

[JayDC]

I definitely support this!

I know it can be overwhelming to be the only one in a certain department, so I'd love to have some of that pressure alleviated for Nick.

[Shian]

I really want more updates. Updates are how you know a site is alive and well.

Someone once told me, "Don't get into IT if you can't handle the thought of breaking something." and that has really stuck with me because I really don't like breaking things or making mistakes.

CS has been down all of three times in 11 years that I know of: a major storm where the servers are; the heartbleed issue and the 10 yr anniversary.

Is that worth the cost?

[lil rascal]

I like the idea of more updates but am not sure how much it would actually help to have volunteer coders? Surely before Nick actually allowed anything new to go active on the site he'd have to familiarise himself with the code (so he can fix, update or change it if the coder isn't available) and check it for bugs, either accidental or malicious. I'm not a coder at all so maybe that's not as hard as I assume but I would think by that stage he probably may as well have done it himself?

[ElementalInsanity]

Those are some good points rascal. I personally don’t know about coding so I’m not sure how hard it would be or what would need to be done. I just think of sites like FR that have regular updates and additions, Eldemore that had some additions and is being redone now, or a RP forum that got its start from here on CS that had a lot of volunteers code some forum things. So I guess from an outside view I would hope it would be easier to have some volunteers so Nick wouldn’t have to worry about all that.

[Aziraphale]

I totally support this idea.
As for the coding part that some people addressed - of course I can only speak for myself in this case, but in my experience working with code that someone else wrote can be actually easier and faster than writing it yourself and working in a team can be (but not necessarily has to be) way more efficient as you can ask other people for help if you are stuck at some point. To me, code comments are also crucial to understand someone else's code, but even without comments it's possible to familiarize yourself with it.
I think the fixing part could also be done by extra coders as new code usually involves testing it on another server before uploading the final version to the main website. If there are any error messages on the testing server the extra coder can try to fix the problem themself, and if they don't have a solution to the problem they could ask another extra coder for help.
Coding everything by yourself takes time, and with a website as big as chicken smoothie I think it's somewhat necessary to have extra coders to keep it alive.
I also think looking for volunteers is a good idea. Maybe they could also get a free slot for a custom pet like the other CS helpers?

[ElementalInsanity]

@above, thank you for that! It’s super interesting reading that from someone who does code. I myself don’t so I’m really glad to get someone discussing on here that does!