Break out of the frame | Updated June 2, 2005 | Get the frame back
If these don't answer your question, or you want to argue a point in them, by all means write to me -- I'm always happy to get email about the site. If I'm very busy it may take some time to answer, but I will reply.
Why do you use so many frames?
Are you ever going to add images to the site?
Why doesn't the search engine bring up any results for me?
Why does it take you so long to update?
If I send you my theory about why something happened, will you put it up?
Where's the Stargate SG-1 info?
Where's the Stargate Infinity info?
Do you have spoilers? Do you have behind-the-scenes info? Can you ask TPTB something for me?
Why isn't there actor info on the site?
Why isn't there RPG info on the site?
Is it really okay to email you, or will I just be bothering you?
Can I copy part/all of your site to put up on my own site? I'm doing one about X, and you've got everything I need.
Why do you use so many frames?
How can I keep the left navbar when I break out of a frame?
Are you ever going to add images to the site?
Why doesn't the search engine bring up any results for me?
Do you have something like rdanderson.com's Lexicon, where I can just look for a specific term and go straight to that listing?
Q. Why do you use so many frames?
I know how annoying frames can be on lower-resolution screens, and I stayed away from them as long as I could. But there's so much information on the site that eventually, it was the only way I could think of to keep the information manageable. The frames I have are comfortably usable for resolutions at 800x600 and up, which accounts for most of the visitors to the site. For those on lower resolutions or who just find moving around in frames to be obnoxious, every page has a link at the top that will break it out of the frame(s) it's in, and every page has a navigation table at the bottom so that if you've lost the larger site frame and its drop-down navigation menu, you can still get around. That's the best compromise I can come up with.
Q. How can I keep the left navbar when I break out of a frame? I wanted a direct link, but I still want to be able to move around in the page easily.
Once you break out of the site frame, go into your address bar and delete " main" -- so " http://www.stargatehandbook.org/sga/sheppardmain.html" would become " http://www.stargatehandbook.org/sga/sheppard.html" .
There's one page where that won't work -- Continuity. On that one, make the address " ...continuity.html" and you'll be fine.
Q. Are you ever going to add images to the site?
Yes. It's going to be a slow process, though, because I'm planning on being fairly completist about that, as well. I finally have a screen-capture setup that works, so I'm planning on grabbing images one season at a time, adding them to the site in full-season batches.
These will not be screen-capture galleries -- they'll be included as links in various entries to provide a visual aid (e.g., for people, for various bits of technology, for various geographic locations).
The images will open in popup windows. I realize that's annoying in many ways, but it's better than bloating the various pages with images that not everyone will want to see, and it's better than forcing people off the page they're reading just to look at a picture.
Since I think information is more important than pictures for the site's purposes, though, the screen-capping and Photoshopping will take a back seat to my regular note-taking and updating.
Q. Why doesn't the search engine bring up any results for me?
If you're searching for information about a new or recent episode, it's possible I haven't gotten to it yet. Check the front page or updates page to see what episode I have listed in the " contains spoilers through" line.
The most likely reason, though, is that you're not spelling the word the same way I spelled it. It's a common problem, especially with some of the alien terms and unfamiliar names. Your best bet is to check the Site Index, which is a list of all the major terms on the site, linked back to the main entry about them.
Q. Do you have something like rdanderson.com's Lexicon, where I can just look for a specific term and go straight to that listing?
Absolutely. It's the Site Index, which is a listing of every major term on the site, linked back to its main entry. Some entries are listed multiple times under different alphabetical headings, to make them easier to find (for instance, all SG teams are listed under S for " SG-#" , and T for " Teams, SGC" ).
Why does it take you so long to update?
What's with you and the gate chevrons lighting up?
If I send you my theory about why something happened, will you put it up?
Q. Why does it take you so long to update?
I do apologize for how long it sometimes takes -- I'm sure it's frustrating. It certainly is for me. But I have RL commitments, and gathering the amount of information I do for the site takes a lot of time. There are weeks when I simply can't work on the site, and if that happens for a couple of weeks in a row, I can find myself three or more episodes behind very easily. At that point, it's a matter of playing catch-up. I generally need to be able to put aside at least a couple of complete weekends, or a week of vacation, to get caught up, especially while episodes are airing. This isn't helped by SciFi's decision to run the episode in 10-12 ep blocks, with no breaks within that -- once I fall behind, I'm screwed.
In situations where I need to rework parts of the site (such as the revamp to include Atlantis), things fall even further behind, since I can only do one thing at a time.
I do try not to be more than a month behind at any given point, although I don't always succeed.
Would it help if I sent you information about episodes?
Although I very much appreciate such offers, no, I'm afraid it wouldn't help. I would still need to doublecheck everything, and to go through the episodes as carefully as ever to catch anything that was missed (which is not a slam -- I find things that I missed as well, all the time!). Also, for half the season most of the fandom is ahead of me -- I don't download episodes to watch in advance of the US airings. And I can't abide spoilers, so people honestly trying to help out by sending me information about episodes I haven't seen yet are actually going to be destroying much of my enjoyment in the show.
But if you see something on the existing site that seems wrong, I'd love to hear about it! Several times a year I do a massive cleanup on all the things that I and other people have spotted as problems, from typos to missing/incorrect information, and any help there is much appreciated.
Q. What is it with you being pissy about the gate chevrons lighting up one by one? It happens all the time on the show, so it must be right.
Ordinarily, I'm all for canon being canon. But in this case, they screw up. Worse, they don't screw up consistently, so there's no way to even just grit my teeth and accept that the physics in the SG world don't make sense. Sometimes they do it right, often they do it wrong.
The explanation that Daniel gave way back in first season SG-1, of the DHD basically doing the equivalent of dialing a phone, is the most logical analogy. Actually, even more logical than that is the idea of a cell phone making a call.
When you punch in numbers on a cell phone, they just sit there, not doing anything, until you hit send. Once you hit send, the entire number is transmitted and the signal is sent along to the correct receiving phone, which rings. The person on the other end doesn't hear each beep as you hit each number before the ring, they just hear the final ringtone.
It should be exactly the same for the stargate system: each symbol is like a number on a phone's keypad, and the orange center of the DHD is the " send" key (on Earth's dialing computer, the " send" key is basically the point of origin being locked). Until that entire address is sent through the system to the correct receiver, nothing should go through.
For the receiving stargate's chevrons to light up one by one as the sending gate is being dialed, each signal would have to be sent through the entire stargate system -- meaning that every single stargate whose address starts with the first symbol will light up on the first chevron, and with each additional chevron, some gates will continue to light up while others drop out as they stop sharing the particular combination, until finally only the correct one connects. It's insane. (Think about your phone beeping at you all day long, as people start to dial numbers that turn out not to be yours.)
The receiving stargate's chevrons should all light up at once just before the wormhole engages, when it receives the full signal. Anything else is just plain wrong, no matter how often they show it happening the incorrect way.
(I'll change my tune about this if they start showing gates lighting up randomly with one to six symbols, but never completely connecting, on a regular basis, to prove that in fact each symbol is being sent individually, of course.)
Q. If I send you my theory about why something happened, will you put it up?
Probably not. I put up some of my own theories about things (marked as personal speculation), but I can back those up with my reasons if someone writes to ask me about them. I can't back up other people's theories.
I'm always happy to hear them, though -- and who knows, if you convince me, maybe it'll go up after all. < g>
Where's the Stargate SG-1 info?
What SG-1 eps would you suggest for background?
Where's the Stargate Infinity info?
Do you have spoilers? Behind-the-scenes info? Can you ask TPTB something for me?
Why isn't there actor info on the site?
Why isn't there RPG info on the site?
Q. Where's the Stargate SG-1 info?
There's some Stargate SG-1 info scattered around the site, where it was particularly relevant to SGA, but for the most part, you should look on my Stargate SG1 site. (Clicking that link will take you out of this SGA site completely and into the SG1 site.)
Q. I never watched SG-1, but want a little more background on the universe/characters -- what SG-1 eps would you suggest?
With the caveat that I'm obviously mainly in favor of watching the entire series, preferably in order, I'd say that this list should cover it for SGA fans. I realize this looks long, but it's cut down from more than 175 eps total, and is tracing several arcs: the Ancients, the Ascendants, the stargate system (so you know what McKay knows), McKay, and Weir.
Stargate the movie (to see how it all started)
s1: Children of the Gods (ditto, plus info on how the stargates work-- ignore the sometimes weak/cringy pilot-ep writing)
s1: The Torment of Tantalus (first hint of the Ancients)
s1: Solitudes (how stargates work)
s2: The Fifth Race (key ep -- first dealings with what the Ancient left behind)
s2: A Matter of Time (how stargates work)
s2: Serpent's Song (how stargates work/things you can do with them)
s2: 1969 (how stargates work)
s3: Learning Curve (first instance of naquadah generators)
s3: A Hundred Days (how stargates work)
s3: New Ground (first portable naquadah generator)
s3: Maternal Instinct (key ep -- Ascendants)
s4: Window of Opportunity (Ancients, background on some of their history and tech)
s4: Watergate (how stargates work)
s4: Absolute Power
not vital --it has some stuff about Ascended powers, but is more about Daniel of SG1 than the Ascendants. Watch if you're being completist about all Ancient/Ascendant info, otherwise skip
s4: Exodus (fun things you can do with stargates)
s5: Ascension (key ep -- Ascendants)
s5: Red Sky (how stargates work)
s5: 48 Hours (key ep - McKay's first appearance, how stargates work)
s5: Meridian (key ep -- ascension)
s6: Redemption, part 1 (key ep -- McKay, Ancient tech, things you can do with stargates)
s6: Redemption, part 2 (key ep -- McKay, Ancient tech, things you can do with stargates)
s6: Frozen (Ancients, Ancient plague)
s6: Abyss (Ascendants)
s6: Sight Unseen (Ancient technology)
s6: Paradise Lost (Ancient technology)
s6: Metamorphosis (Ancient technology -- at least, probably Ancient)
s6: The Changeling (Ascendants)
s6: Full Circle (Ascendants, Ancients, Lost City)
s7: Fallen (Ancients/Ascendants, Lost City)
s7: Homecoming (Ancients/Ascendants, Lost City)
s7: Evolution part 1 (Ancient technology)
s7: Evolution part 2 (Ancient technology)
s7: Chimera (Ancients, Lost City)
s7: The Lost City, part 1 (key ep -- Weir, Ancients, Lost City)
s7: The Lost City, part 2 (key ep -- Weir, Ancients, Lost City)
s8: New Order, part 1 (key ep -- Ancients, Weir)
s8: New Order, part 2 (key ep -- Ancients, Weir)
In the SG1 universe, more information has been discovered about the Ascendants since then, but as of the end of first season, the people on Atlantis are unaware of it.
Q. Where's the Stargate Infinity info?
There isn't any, and there won't be. Sorry, but the cartoon did absolutely nothing for me, and I had no interest in watching it, much less obsessing over its details. I don't consider it a part of the Stargate universe.
Q. Do you have spoilers? Do you have behind-the-scenes info? Can you ask TPTB something for me?
No, no, and no. Sorry! I don't do spoilers, at all, and I have much less information about what's going on behind the scenes than almost anyone else in the fandom. (This is deliberate -- I do not want to know, so please don't email to be helpful and fill me in!)
I also have less contact with TPTB than the rest of the fandom -- I don't go to actor cons, and I don't attend online chats or read the newsgroups where they occasionally post. I have never, to my knowledge, been in contact of any sort with anyone connected to the show -- cast, crew, or lunch-deliverers. No one. I can't help you get your script read (no one can, other than an agent), I can't change the direction of the show, I can't pass along complaints.
Your best bet is one of the SciFi chats, or the newsgroup. Some of TPTB really do read/post there, from what I hear from friends who frequent it.
Q. Why isn't there actor info on the site?
Because it's a site about the show's canon, not the actors. There are lots of actor-specific sites -- try Google to find them.
Q. Why isn't there RPG info on the site?
Because it's a site about the show's canon, not about RPGs for the show. If you're running an RPG and are using this site as a reference, cool. But I'm not a gamer, and I don't tend to track some things that are important to gaming. Sorry! I also don't include information from RPGs, official or otherwise -- they have their own reference works, and don't apply outside their own specific game universe.
Q. Is it really okay to email you, or will I be bothering you if I do?
It's really okay. I love hearing from people, whether they have good, bad, or indifferent things to say about the site. Hearing that the site is helpful for people makes my day, but I'm just as happy to get mail pointing out typos, errors, or omissions.
I answer most site-related email in batches, as I get the time, so don't worry if you send something pointing out a problem and don't get answered immediately. It's not that I'm pissed off -- I never get pissed off at being told things like that, at least not if the person writing is reasonably polite about it. I'm just busy a lot of the time.
I do have one exception, though: people making demands. Suggestions are very welcome, but I'm not getting paid to do any of this, and an email that consists of " do this, change that, do this other thing" is going to be ignored.
Q. Why did it take you four months to answer my email? My friend wrote to you and you answered her the same day!
When I answer email depends on a lot of factors: how busy I am, how focused on Stargate I am right at the moment I see your email, and how much effort needs to go into the reply are the three biggest ones.
If my real life or other obligations are taking up most of my time, or if I'm currently fannishly focused on something other than Stargate canon (hey, it happens occasionally!), I put aside any site-related email until I have time for it. This is fairly common -- I tend to answer site email in batches as I get the time.
If the email asks questions that I want to go back and check episodes for before I reply, I wait until I have time to check.
If the email has suggestions for the site, I often hold off on replying until I can add them (or delete something that needs deleting), to make sure that I don't reply and then accidentally forget to make whatever change is needed.
So, yes -- some people get answers the same day, some people wind up waiting a few weeks, and in really busy RL times, a few months. But I do eventually answer everything (except demands).
Q. I know you said you don't like spoilers, but you *have* heard about X, right? I mean, everyone knows about *that*. So that's okay to mention, right?
No. And if you tell me, I will very probably go off on you, because it makes me incredibly angry to be spoiled. Spoilers ruin the show for me. I love this show. I want to be able to enjoy it.
I don't care how tiny the spoiler is. I don't care how huge it is. I don't want to know about it. Not casting, not plot points, nothing. Not even " brace yourself" or " oh, you're going to love what's coming up!" Nothing.
If the episode it's in hasn't aired in the United States, I don't know about it, and I don't want to know. I don't care if it's been on the cover of a dozen magazines, or talked about in televised interviews/online chats, or has been available for download for three months, or has been analyzed in excruciating detail on 37 huge lists and 600 LiveJournals -- I am insanely good at avoiding all of those things. I don't even watch previews/commercials or read TiVo descriptions. If it hasn't aired in an episode on SciFi, I haven't seen it, and I don't know about it. Don't tell me.
Man, touchy, much?
Yes, I am. I'm touchy because no matter how hard I try -- and I try very, very hard -- to stay unspoiled, including basically isolating myself from the entire fandom (lists, livejournal, fanfic, cons, you name it, I avoid it), people still spoil me every single year for things that I don't want to know about. I'm getting to the point where I feel almost like I have to gafiate from fandom entirely, including fandoms other than Stargate, just to be able to enjoy watching the show.
I would very much like to get through an entire year where the show itself, as it airs, was how I found out what was happening on the show. I want to be excited and surprised and happy and sad as it happens. I don't want those emotions to be diluted by days, weeks, months of prior knowledge. I know that this is basically unheard of in a Stargate fan, but there it is.
Don't write to me with anything that hasn't already aired in the US. Seriously.
Can I copy part/all of your site to put up on my own site?
Can I get notified when the site is updated?
Q. Can I copy part/all of your site to put up on my own site? I'm doing one about X, and you've got everything I need.
No. I'm sorry, but no.
I put in huge amounts of time and effort on this site, and I really don't want it copied elsewhere. If you're building a site about a particular subject and you need big chunks of my site to create it -- you're not creating a site. You're just taking mine and putting your name on it, and you're going to piss me off, and then things will get ugly. Do us both a favor, and just put up a link pointing visitors to your site here.
If you're trying to create something that will bring readers to your own site, trust me -- it'll be better if you put the work in yourself, because then you'll know what's there, and it will reflect you. You're more than welcome to look at mine to see what you think you'll need and what you won't, and to mutter things like " yeah, but if she'd organized it *this* way, it would be much more useful" and to use that as your jumping-off point, but from that point, put it together yourself.
In fact, that's how my site got started. There were some fabulous SG1 sites out there, but none of them organized the information the way I wanted it. Everything was broken out by episode, and I wanted things broken out by subject -- character, etc. So I looked at all of them to see what information they had that was the sort of thing I was interested in, and what information I wasn't interested in, and figured out a different organizational method that would work better for me. Then I sat down and started taking notes on episodes. Without those other sites as a springboard, I don't know if I ever would have thought to do this.
Q. Can I get notified when the site is updated? It's a pain checking back all the time when all I want is the new stuff.
Sure!
The site has an update-announcement list on Yahoo Groups. You can join by going to the list's webpage at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sg_handbook/ and clicking on the " Join this list" button. It's a low-volume (1-3 posts a month, usually), no-chatter list.
DON'T use the email-command version, if you know it -- for whatever reason, Yahoo started eating emailed subscription commands.
If you prefer to find out via Livejournal, I also post update announcements there, at http://www.livejournal.com/users/sg_handbook/ .
Both the list and the LJ are specifically for site updates, and won't be cluttered with anything else.
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This is purely a fan site, owned and maintained by one person. I have no connection to any of the owners, cast, or crew of the movie Stargate or the television series Stargate SG-1 or Stargate Atlantis, and am making no profit from this site. All canon information is taken directly from the episodes or movie; all speculation and editorial comments are my own unless otherwise noted. The information itself (e.g., the Wraith devour life force) is free to be used anywhere. The way that information is presented here (my phrasing, my formatting, etc.) belongs to me. Do not republish or redistribute my work, in whole or in part, without my express permission. This site and its contents ©2000-2006. All rights reserved. |