How to zip up your campaign if the Developers ask for it.

NOTE: This information is now in the FG Wiki.


This comes up pretty frequently, so I thought I would make a post about how to go about providing a copy of your campaign if the Developers ask for it.

Mods: feel free to incorporate this into any instructional type posts if you wish.

Instructions for Windows below, see next posts for macOS and Linux.

First open Fantasy Grounds Unity to the launcher screen (do not start or join a campaign).

Click on the folder icon in the upper left corner of the FG window.
https://i.imgur.com/aTPX1pe.png

This will open a window in your Windows Explorer. This folder is typically referred to as the Fantasy Grounds DATA folder (as opposed to the PROGRAM folder where the executable resides). This folder contains all of the Data FG uses (Campaigns, Modules, Extensions, etc.).

Inside this folder will be a series of sub folders.
https://i.imgur.com/mgSfBTH.png

There is a campaigns folder in the screen shot.

Open that up, and you will see a list of your existing campaigns.
https://i.imgur.com/gOKCb9e.png

From there in Windows, right-click the campaign folder, and choose Send to>Compressed (zipped) Folder and Windows will automatically zip the folder and contents up for you.
https://i.imgur.com/j7CKByQ.png

You will have a new file with the name of the folder and a file name extension of .zip (in Windows you may not see the file name extension, you have to turn on the visibility to see file name extensions). The file icon will look like a folder with a zipper on it.
https://i.imgur.com/13Xhq3p.png

Press enter to accept the filename, or change it if you wish.

From there, you will need to post that to the forums (attach the file to your post).
https://i.imgur.com/j9PMFyu.png

However, if your campaign is too large for the forums, use a service like Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud Drive, OneDrive, etc. to post the file. Make sure when sharing the file in any of those services to set it to allow anonymous access, otherwise the devs won't be able to get the file.

The process to zip up a campaign in macOS is largely similar.

First open Fantasy Grounds Unity to the launcher screen (do not start or join a campaign).

Click on the folder icon in the upper left corner of the FG window.
https://i.imgur.com/TUhYoIm.png

This will open a Finder window to the FG Data folder.
https://i.imgur.com/1wAugw5.png

Open the Campaigns folder

From there, locate your campaign, Control+Click on the folder to bring up the menu. Select Compress <"Your Campaign Name">.
https://i.imgur.com/slJEUge.png

You will have a new file with the name of the folder and a file name extension of .zip. The file icon will look like a file with a zipper on it.
https://i.imgur.com/IV7ddDy.png

Control+Click and rename if desired.

From there, you will need to post that to the forums (attach the file to your post).
https://i.imgur.com/j9PMFyu.png

However, if your campaign is too large for the forums, use a service like Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud Drive, OneDrive, etc. to post the file. Make sure when sharing the file in any of those services to set it to allow anonymous access, otherwise the devs won't be able to get the file.

Here is how to zip up your campaign in Ubuntu 20.04.2.0.

NOTE: If you have a different distribution of Linux, go to your favorite search engine and search: Zip files <your distribution name>.

Click on the Folder icon in the upper left corner.
https://i.imgur.com/UkQRC8h.png

This will open the Files app to the FG data folder.
https://i.imgur.com/KQoVaI3.png


Open the Campaigns folder

From there, locate your campaign, Right-Click on the folder to bring up the menu. Select Compress...
https://i.imgur.com/xYXqczq.png

Enter a Name, and I would recommend the .zip extension, since that is compatible with most OSes.
https://i.imgur.com/YtxzcmE.png

You will have a file with a zipper on it.
https://i.imgur.com/1T26mWS.png


If you wish to be fancy, you can use a Terminal window as well.

Navigate to the ./smiteworks/fgdata/campaigns folder.
Type zip <destination file name> <Your Campaign Name>.
NOTE: In my example, it is necessary to escape the spaces with the \ character. If you have spaces, it will be necessary to escape them as well.
https://i.imgur.com/wOWFT9C.png

As with other OSes, you will need to post that to the forums (attach the file to your post).
https://i.imgur.com/j9PMFyu.png

However, if your campaign is too large for the forums, use a service like Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud Drive, OneDrive, etc. to post the file. Make sure when sharing the file in any of those services to set it to allow anonymous access, otherwise the devs won't be able to get the file.

I should point out, that people who are working on content they do not want publicly shared are not going to be very willing to do this. It makes perfect sense that the Dev team would want and need to have access to a campaign folder to help diagnose issues. But to ask us to post that file in a public forum, or in a public drive with anonymous permissions, is really very poor security practice. People like to protect their IP.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Elohir

I should point out, that people who are working on content they do not want publicly shared are not going to be very willing to do this. It makes perfect sense that the Dev team would want and need to have access to a campaign folder to help diagnose issues. But to ask us to post that file in a public forum, or in a public drive with anonymous permissions, is really very poor security practice. People like to protect their IP.

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This is not really the place to discuss this. This post was made with the implicit understanding that it was informational only.

That being said, Moon Wizard has mentioned multiple times that the email address (support@) is a mailing list, not a mail box. So, only giving sharing permissions to that email address will prevent support from getting the files and actually helping anyone that needs it.

If people are concerned about the anonymous access, use the support portal to upload the file there.

Actually, pointing out that the portal allows a more secure means of transferring said data is very useful information to clarify in this thread.

Sorry if you felt my post was out of context, but must respectfully disagree. It should be noted there are more secure options than simply granting anonymous permissions or explaining why it is needed. My post was not offensive, but simply pointed out a security concern which also should be considered in context, and was not.

Not a great way to encourage forum participation.

Added: Just to be clear, the information you shared is helpful and appreciated. But would suggest you don't discourage people from posting helpful information just because there is a disagreement in where it belongs. And if there is, it would be helpful to point out where it would be more appropriate to share.

Suffice to say, I do not appreciate an informative thread being hijacked by anyone getting up on their soap box.


Especially if you want to be on a soap box about security and privacy while continuing to use the public internet.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Elohir

Actually, pointing out that the portal allows a more secure means of transferring said data is very useful information to clarify in this thread.

Sorry if you felt my post was out of context, but must respectfully disagree. It should be noted there are more secure options than simply granting anonymous permissions or explaining why it is needed. My post was not offensive, but simply pointed out a security concern which also should be considered in context, and was not.

Not a great way to encourage forum participation.

Added: Just to be clear, the information you shared is helpful and appreciated. But would suggest you don't discourage people from posting helpful information just because there is a disagreement in where it belongs. And if there is, it would be helpful to point out where it would be more appropriate to share.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sulimo

Suffice to say, I do not appreciate an informative thread being hijacked by anyone getting up on their soap box.


Especially if you want to be on a soap box about security and privacy while continuing to use the public internet.

---

No more please. Agree to disagree.