Database or Spreadsheet solution?

[TheKurse]

Heyoo! I'm having an issue with a project that's running me in circles every time I approach it (a case of too much information). I have a lore project with 20+ years worth of content (specifically character information) that I and affiliated participants would like to be able to access in a streamline manner. It's personal, not commercial, so nobody's going to be putting out money for it. Thankfully only two people need to be able to have the ability to edit it. Basically what I'm looking for are full character profile sheets (images displayed as well) that can link to eachother and index pages (alphabetical and generational) based on lineage and relationships.

 

OpenOffice/LibreOffice spreadsheets with hyperlinking between a single index sheet and the individual character sheets, then between those character sheets worked passably for a year or two. However, as time goes on, relationships are gained and lost as the lore evolves, bloodlines expanded and more characters are introduced to the setting overall (topping 110+ now), the current method has become an absolute editing nightmare. Primarily because to make changes to any character, ANY and all sheets that include that one character have to be manually edited and re-linked. Exponential growth at its finest. It's now a massive time sink that has all but gone stagnant due to the fact that nobody wants to put that ridiculous amount of time in anymore.

 

I'm looking into completely (or nearly) redesigning the approach and possibly just moving to a different medium. I've looked at databasing, but it seems quite complex, time intensive and it's looking like there aren't many great free AiO solutions out there. Looking at OpenOffice/LibreOffice's Base program, it comes off as a massive can of worms that I'm not even sure can entirely do what I need it to do visually. It seems like overkill. I'm being told elsewhere that spreadsheets can't do what I'm looking to do; that it's just above their capability. Coding up a website as another method of database also seems like grand overkill (not to mention the time sink). I'm also not going to rely on a web based cloud database (like WorldAnvil) due to the fact that the data is at the mercy of another entity (plus potential costs), and I want the ability for myself and the other person who will be maintaining this to be able to edit a local copy.

In summary? Whatever solutions needs to be able to:
1. Have stylized profile boards/sheets with both text and images.
2. Be able to link between those sheets and index boards.
3. Preferably be easy to edit in the case that those relationships change.
4. Be editable as a local copy offline.
5. If cost is involved it needs to be low, one-time and no cost for participants to view and navigate the project results.

6. Preferably be relatively user friendly and easy to learn due to time constraints (and that I'll have to teach the other editor).

All of that in mind: Suggestions on what might do the deed and where should I focus my time? Can advanced spreadsheet functions do the task, or is something crazy like databasing required? Thanks for any responses ahead of time!

[Avocado Diaboli]

I feel like you're probably best off looking at something like personal wikis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_wiki

Seems like the most straightforward solution for something like this. There's a reason pretty much every media property has a fan wiki to track stuff like this, it's the most fitting format.

[TheKurse]

18 hours ago, Avocado Diaboli said:

I feel like you're probably best off looking at something like personal wikis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_wiki

Seems like the most straightforward solution for something like this. There's a reason pretty much every media property has a fan wiki to track stuff like this, it's the most fitting format.

That's an idea I hadn't considered. Unless there's something I'm missing, however, wikipedia is web hosted and  based. We need a local solution.

[LogicalDrm]

2 hours ago, TheKurse said:

That's an idea I hadn't considered. Unless there's something I'm missing, however, wikipedia is web hosted and  based. We need a local solution.

Any website can be run and operated purely locally. They are just html and css files after all. All you need is web browser to open them. That said, there are also desktop software for that, it seems.

 

I was going to suggest Power Bi. Which, while being Microsoft software, is free for personal use and can utilize many kinds of files as base for its reports (characters sheets etc.). It has bit steep learning curve though, so I think finding wiki software suitable could be better way.