OpenForge Catalog Alpha 2 is up!
Added 2025-03-20 14:57:44 +0000 UTCI'm going to be doing two releases today for the catalog. One for the code changes, and the other for data.
The first release was very successful, and I got a lot of good feedback. Rather than add the next big feature set I decided to use this month to refine the experience for the model search, and there's a bunch of new goodies:
First off I have a some changes related to URLs. The system had no way of sharing a model or a set of tag that you found inside the system. Well, now you can get a deeplink to a set of tags or directly to a specific model. This should make sharing and communicating parts and builds much easier.
Next, there's some new features related to the tag search itself. First and foremost, the results are now sorted by name. I know this seems trivial, but given the underlying database and the flexibility it enables, this was some non trivial sql voodoo to make that work and be performant. I've also added a clear tags button to reset the tags. Finally and this is my favorite of these features, when looking at a model, you can now find related models with some links that will switch up your tags to help you locate similar models with different textures, sizes, or connection options.
Lastly, we added some links out, giving you direct access to the wiki, patreon, and to file bugs directly against specific models. The issues link can be used to report tag problems, or problems with the model itself.
There are a few other bug fixes, not worth detailing.
All in all I'm super excited with this refinement of the alpha. I think the site is now WAY more usable. Let me know what you think!
Comments
This is my first time looking at the catalog. I am not sure if it is a brand new thing, or it is brand new features that are being released. However, I love the ability to search for things, however my feedback is that there is a learning curve to use regarding the lingo. I have zero idea what any of the tags mean. s2w? s-system? a? b? c? A tooltip with an explanation would be amazing.
Cassie Thompson
2025-05-02 22:21:52 +0000 UTCIs there going to be a text search option in the future? Hopefully fuzzy search? I'm a front-end dev that moonlights as a UX guy, happy to help if needed in any way.
captsio
2025-03-27 13:12:59 +0000 UTC