About ComStar Historical Archives
The ComStar Historical Archives project is a fan-based encyclopedia to the Classic BattleTech/MechWarrior universe (hereafter referred to simply as BattleTech). All entries in the encyclopedia are researched and written by the fans. It's our way of giving something back to the BattleTech community while at the same time establishing a premier resource for those interested in learning more about this fascinating universe.
Production Notes
This website was built using the web standards XHTML and CSS. This allows for cleaner markup, less data to be downloaded, and easier changes. However, it also means that some sacrifices had to be made, specifically supporting older browsers. As such, Netscape 4.x is unsupported. Note that this does not mean that if you use such a browser you can't see these pages; you can. What you won't see, however, are the styles applied with CSS. You will still be able to utilize the full extent of this site.
Other browsers, while supporting CSS to some extent, may have problems with certain aspects of the site. Versions of Internet Explorer before IE6, for instance, get the box model wrong. As a result, while every effort has been made to ensure a consistent look across supported browsers, there may be minor differences that do not detract from the site as a whole.
This site also uses PHP and MySQL to generate the pages and store the necessary data. All entries and much of the other information that makes up the site are stored as XML files, which are transformed into XHTML using a series of XSL stylesheets as applied by PHP.
Future Plans
Never one to rest on my laurels, I have some plans for things I'd like to add to the ComStar Historical Archives. How long it will take me is anyone's guess, but hopefully not long. Some of these items should come along quite soon, as I have already planned for them and in some cases have even already implemented them, though they haven't been released to the public yet.
Anyway, here is the list of coming or potential improvements/additions:
- searchable chronology and customizable date range views
- possibly allow visitor comments on entries
- multiple authorship of entries
- print media stylesheet
Linking to Us
If you have a website and want to link to the ComStar Historical Archives, here are a couple of images you can use.
WizKids LLC has sole ownership of the names, logo, artwork, marks, photographs, sounds, audio, video and/or any proprietary material used in connection with the game Classic BattleTech. WizKids, LLC has granted permission to The ComStar Historical Archives to use such names, logos, artwork, marks and/or any written materials for promotional and informational purposes on its website but does not endorse, and is not affiliated with, The ComStar Historical Archives in any official capacity whatsoever.
