From Chat Rooms to Chapter One
Weekly Web Dev Update
This week, my thought process has been... chaotic, to say the least. I built a chat room here on Wisedocks. It’s functional, sure, but the overhead is ridiculous because I cobbled it together with my existing knowledge. It was more of a “let’s see if I can do this” project. Right now, it checks for updates every two seconds, which is easily the dumbest way possible to run a chat room. But hey, I built it that way because I knew how.
Next step: open sockets. It’s a much more efficient approach. The catch? I promised myself I wouldn’t use any libraries when developing this site. So now I’m stuck at a crossroads. Do I break my rule and use a library to make the chat room functional, or do I dive headfirst into learning raw sockets and figure out how to implement them without leaving the door wide open for hackers?
The chat room idea actually stems from FartDump.com. That site gets 30 to 50 visitors a day, and while not everyone submits secrets, a decent number do. I think a simple chat room there could do well. The problem is, do I really want to sink that much effort into it? Probably not. It might end up on the back burner—or tossed on the ever-growing pile of half-finished projects I’ve abandoned.
Honestly, I might just cave and grab a pre-made chat script to modify. There are tons of open-source options out there. And since my “no libraries” rule only applies to Wisedocks, not FartDump, what’s the harm? Rules are meant to be bent, right?
Let's Write A Book
I’ve wanted to write a book since I was a kid. I’ve started several but lost interest every time. That’s just how I am. That’s why I started the short stories category here—it lets me scratch the writing itch without the long-term commitment. But deep down, I still want to write an actual book.
I also love building websites, and I’m a sucker for nostalgia. This week, I thought, “Why not combine those?” I even tried scratching that itch by redesigning Echo Chamber Effect to look like a vintage site. It helped a bit, but not enough.
Then it hit me: I also love steampunk. So why not merge everything? This week, I started writing a steampunk book right here on Wisedocks. The plan? Keep it simple. The entire book will live on a single page so I can focus on the story instead of overcomplicating things with bells and whistles. I’ve even written a couple of chapters already. Will this end in disaster? Probably. But hey, it’s started.
If you’ve made it this far, congrats—you’ve stumbled across the only link to the book currently on the site. Unless the search engines picked it up, in which case, hi! You can check it out here.
The story takes place in a steampunk world set in an alternate Victorian era universe. I won’t spoil anything because, let’s be honest, the plot will probably change a dozen times before I’m done. But feel free to dive in and see if I can hold your attention.
Want To Change Your Password?
So, here’s the thing: I hand-built everything on this website, including user authentication, registration, and all the other bits and bobs. True to my nature, none of it is completely finished. For example, you can register on Wisedocks, but there’s no real reason to. My grand plan is to eventually have a chat room for registered users and maybe even allow comments on blog posts (I think… still debating that one). But all of that’s been gathering dust on the back burner.
Right now, there are two user roles: owners and regular users. Owners get admin panel access, and regular users will eventually have free rein over the frontend. I’ll probably add a moderator role someday—for when comments or the chat room inevitably attract chaos.
Fun fact: I have multiple accounts to test different roles. While working on the chat room scripts this week, I tried logging into my regular user account… and completely blanked on the password. Not a huge deal, right? Wrong. I hadn’t built a way to reset passwords yet. Classic me.
Since I hash passwords for security, manually changing it in the database wasn’t an option. I could’ve used a tool to hash a new password and pasted it in, but instead, I took a detour from the chat project to build a basic password reset system. Now, there’s a form on the login page that sends you a reset link. It’s not fancy, but it works. Progress!
Weekly Wrap-Up
It doesn’t feel like I got much done this week, but looking back, I tackled a lot: squashed several bugs, built the book page (and wrote a few chapters), and got a chat room working—sort of. I can’t show it off yet because without open sockets, the refresh rate would be a nightmare for even a handful of users.
Next week, I’d like to focus on the book. But knowing me, I’ll probably change my mind and dive back into the chat project. Who knows? Maybe I’ll even finish one of these projects someday. Stay tuned.