About
The Scratch Block Library started out when Scratch was older than the version 2.0. Back then, the Scratch user Sparks ran the forum. Scratch did not have block definitions, so blocks were made by editing the scratch source, and other blocks in BYOB and Panther mods. This entire library is fully archived here. Many of the pictures are gone, so it isn't exactly how it was before.
The old Scratch Block Library certainly made history. People were frantically going in and out, suggesting blocks and using blocks as well. Sparks's burden was acknowledged in the creation of this one. However, the block library sadly didn't last forever. In the transition from Scratch 1.4 to 2.0, every last block was invalidated for the new Scratch, but still existed for Scratch 1.4. The Block Library finally caved in when people began using the new Scratch. Sparks decided to stop working on it because continuing it meant starting over. For a while, Scratch was doomed to never see a custom block again. After some time, however, Scratch adapted BYOB's method for creating blocks, by combining several blocks into a single block with simple parameters that condensed one purpose into an easy-to-read block. Pretty soon, I decided I could take up on the Block Library and start publishing block definitions. That is how the all-new Scratch Block Library was born. |
The Block Library was a barren place with the sound of cold wind rushing through, not a peep. It wasn't this way for long. Soon enough, people came to the forum and started posting blocks. More and more blocks flooded in at a rapidly jerked rate and I was overwhelming myself with adding them to the library. The process wasn't all that easy: Build the script, take a screenshot, crop the picture, convert it, upload it, repeat process for the block itself, download script, upload script as a file, write a description of the block. Back then, I was completely unaware of the tools out there that made the process much simpler.
A Scratch user, blob8108, is well respected for his part in sustaining the Block Library's life. He created tools that allowed to cut most of the process of putting blocks on the website away. You can find the tool here, a lifesaver for me. I could easily take scripts from people's projects and put them on the website. Of course, I credited them on the website as well, and only took scripts that people suggested for me. |
Eventually, I had a lot of things on my chest to take care of, and the Block Library barely had room. Soon, the library was crippled and became a desolate place once again. For a very long time, the Block Library had no existence but a few archives.
After a long, LONG period of time, I took up on the library again. I trashed the old one and started anew with a better website. After all of that time I had learned some important factors in making a website. I believe that this website was built better than the old one, and is more appealing to the eye. The giant logo the previous website had didn't really seem to work with the theme. Plus, I figured out how to get the website to appear in google searches. So here we are, in our current stage of the Block Library. As of now, barely anyone has seen it and almost nobody has commented about it. Please, if you see this, give us your suggestions! They can be posted on our forum here, or you can contact me directly here. |