The Power of Linking blog - jacksonj04

Behind Mod DB v4 is a new system, which we're very proud of. We call it the Linking system, and its sole purpose is to connect things together in a more logical way.

Prior to v4, the only way you could say what any piece of content was about was by adding a single number to the editing form; a game number for a mod, or a mod number for a news article. When developing this new version we decided to implement something we'd been debating for over a year, and Linking is the result.

You can now link anything to anything, and trust Mod DB to work out how those are connected. If you're making a mod for Half-Life 2, make sure you add a link to Half-Life 2. Mod DB will realise this, and instantly also make the connection with Source. Now, anybody looking at the news for Source will also see your mod's news in there.

If that's not enough, you can take it further still. Our new Groups feature means that you can build a group of people who you develop mods with, and fine tune their permissions in one place. Now, if you make a new mod, game or even engine then Mod DB will be able to work out what's going on and connect the dots for you, all with a single link from whatever you're creating to your group. The mod will be added to everybody's profile, files they release can be connected to themselves, the group, the mod, the game it's on and more. Alternatively, if you're part of a community of graphic artists and want to show off, just upload an image to your own profile. A couple of links later, and it's being shown off to everybody in that community, as well as anybody who chooses to view your profile.

We encourage everybody to get stuck in to Linking and start connecting the pieces of Mod DB in new ways. All the old 'connections' of images to mods, mods to games and so on will all be there to give you an idea, and our own in-house content team are busy filling in some of the more popular connections, including some of the big Groups and Engines. However, as always, it's the community who power the site. If you find there's a company, a group, an engine or a game missing just go ahead and add it!

If you're lost and confused, there are always the staff members around to help you. Go hunt them down on the forums or our IRC channel (# Mod DB on GameSurge), or alternatively drop me a comment on this blog posting and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.

Have fun!