[KuraFire]

Originally Posted by MetalGearMaster

here's one: what IS the hack tracking log

lol, jk. hmm..... does the hack tracking log literally TRACK changes made or do we do that ourselves. Also, what exactly does it automate?? I know that it automates the phrases and templates, but does it change templates that already exist (such as adding a small change to the postbit template) or do we do all those manually as well?

MGM out

The HTL does not actually perform any 'tracing' or 'tracking' tasks on your software - this is not only because it's much more complicated to make and perform and utilize, but also because many people may not want it (privacy, plus the majority prefers to do some things manually)

Any file- and template edits will have to be performed manually, but that's the only thing (in general - a hack may require you to make a new usergroup, for instance, but then, the hackmaker can automate that as well...)

What it automates:
the Install routine is 75% automatic, in that it automatically inserts the Hack phrases, templates and settings, as well as automatically runs queries and Custom PHP code for hacks (if they need that).
Additionally, the HTL automatically generates menu items for Hacks that have them (in the Admin CP, that is!), and on top of that it also automatically creates Template Groups for Hacks that come with many templates.
You can even specify for each single hack whether it should have the Menu links and/or Template groups to be automatically generated, though in the case of the menu links, if you don't let them be generated, you will not see them unless you edit admincp/index.php (but WHY would you do that when it's automated? )



@ sowen:

The HTL does not do automatic file- and template edits. A bit of research showed that the vast majority of hackers here does not like automated file/template edits. Manual edits were highly preferred, and so the HTL will let you (force you) to do file- and template modifications by hand. It does, however, make things easier for you - any File / template edit will be surrounded by Hack Identifier Lines, so that you can easily spot code that belongs to a Hack, when you read through files/templates that are modified. Also, the HTL makes a very simple, standard, clear distinction for modifications:

Add ABOVE
Add BELOW
REPLACE with

Instructions on what to do and where, are less likely to be confusing, this way.

And no, there is no Hack Rollback - this would be a lot of work to implement/create, and it's generally much easier to do yourself anyway