UPDATE review of ipsc-matches.net signup system - policies/etc

Cool, let's see what happens :)

There was some maintenance over the past couple of hours (failed hard drive, I think), it's back up now.
 
omen, would it be possible to show match information, such as level, match fee, number of rounds and number of stages at the match squad signup page? It would be really handy there. Thanks.
 
Hey,

you mean the information that's shown on the previous page, in the match list table? Uhm, I'm not a huge fan of data duplication, and I think that info like that is more "appropriate" next to a match entry in a match list, rather than on the squad list for that match, if I had to choose only one, so I'm probably not going to do that...
 
Normally it is called master -> details. I would agree with you, if match list were visible with selected match when match squads are shown.

Now when I selected a match and went from the list page to the squads list, I already forgot what the round count and number of stages is for this match. So, I have to go back and when I do that I can't tell which match I just looked at. More over quite often the site making me to login again. :(

Oh, for the same reason, it would be handy to show what time/squad shooter is signed for in the match list too. So, it would be easier to plan the trips and see if there is any conflicts.

Hope it makes sense to you.
 
euxx said:
Normally it is called master -> details. I would agree with you, if match list were visible with selected match when match squads are shown.

Now when I selected a match and went from the list page to the squads list, I already forgot what the round count and number of stages is for this match. So, I have to go back and when I do that I can't tell which match I just looked at. More over quite often the site making me to login again. :(

Oh, for the same reason, it would be handy to show what time/squad shooter is signed for in the match list too. So, it would be easier to plan the trips and see if there is any conflicts.

Hope it makes sense to you.
Click to expand...

Would you like him to come to your house and pack your bag for you too?! :slap:
 
Whew... I should check my mail more often :) I just updated the system with the new userid and password, for Ontario... (case sensitive, as in the letter I got from Rachel).
 
It's a clean, efficient, and immensely useful application. I can access it just fine with my Blackberry, as well as desktops.
 
omen, could you please do a minor tweak for the login page and move the Login button under password entry field. This way it would be more convenient to login from a mobile devices without scrolling. Thanks
 
Hey

Whatever the problem was last night at vex, the support people seem to have fixed it, and I see users have been logging in since around 9am this morning... So we're back online :)

Re moving the login button - hmmm.... You know what? Maybe I'll put together a very stripped down version of the site, for mobile access... Let me think about that for a bit (little busy right now)...
 
cou:

Please note the follow, guys:


(this thread is for information distribution, I'll start another thread with these contents, for actual discussion). Please don't flame here, do it in the other thread.



Hey all,

There's going to be a change how matches are opened for signup, coming up in the next couple/few/several weeks.

At the moment, the match administrators can open matches at any time, and within an hour an email goes out to everyone, informing them that the signup is open, and people signup as and when they can.

This is going to change. Let me be the first to say that I realize and admit that what I am doing here is going backwards, technologically, but this system is about IPSC shooting, not about using the latest techie gadgets and how to exploit them.

The point is to make sure that people with the latest and greatest electronic toys don't have a priority signup advantage over those who are stuck at work during the days, and might not have access to email or web.

I have no interest in trying to hunt down and close every loophole and every advantage those with IT/Web smarts have over "regular" users when it comes to creating means and tools to make it easier for them to signup (hell, I've done it myself, on the USPSA signup website), but there are some major ones I think I can address.

Matches will all be opened for sign up at a specific time (currently thinking 10PM EST), and several hours earlier (currently thinking 5PM EST) an email will be sent out, telling people which (if any) matches will be coming available that evening. Then at 10pm, everyone can come in and try and signup.

Yes, this will still mean that it'll be first-come-first-serve, yes, I expect that the system will greatly slow down during those times.

I also expect that the great rush of people coming in to signup at the same time will mean it'll be more difficult for people to arrange to squad together.

I also expect that some people will try to signup for a squad only to be told it's already full (between the time they saw the opening and clicked on submit, someone else took that spot).

Those are all aspects of a busy website, where the demand is greater than the supply. If 200 people want to signup for a match with 50 slots, well, 150 people will be disappointed, and that's got nothing to do with ipsc-matches.net ; what I am doing here, having chatted with both shooters and match administrators, is leveling the playing field, and removing (some of) the advantage of those with email and web access 24/7, re ipsc match signup.

One advice I can offer to those signing up is this: when coming in, at 10pm, with everyone, if there is a slot available, just click on the "Join this squad" button right away - don't waste time changing the division and the PF drop down boxes!! ONCE you are IN the squad, you can update those, without risking losing your slot. If you try to set that before you join, those 3 seconds give someone else the time to jump into that slot ahead of you...

In fact, I'll probably add a default division and default PF to the user profile, so it'll always default to that anyway (current it just defaults to Open/Major, just the way it sorts internally).

The way the signup page looks might change, I might remove the join-the-squad buttons until the match is actually open for signup. So you'll be able to hit refresh after 10pm, see the page, and join whatever squads you want.

Just thinking ahead, I think I'll see how it'll work for the first few ones, and work on fixing any bugs/issues/etc...

let me say this: the first few times we do this, YES, It will be FRUSTRATING for everyone trying to get in at the same time.... Maybe this won't work, maybe we'll crash the webserver, who knows, but I've heard that there are ipsc shooters who are leaving the sport because they can never signup for matches - by the time they get home in the evening, all the matches which opened during the day are already full. At least here, everyone will have the same level of frustration and (dis)advantage :)

Cheers,
 
Maybe you thought of it already, it would be great when signup to the squad failed because it is already full then automatically add competitor to the waiting list without additional confirmation or at least ask confirmation after adding to the waiting list, i.e. better remove later then fail to add, if you know what I mean. Thanks.
 
Something completely different...

I just witnessed someone showing up with a handgun at the shotgun match. So, it would be handy to have a match type (handgun, shotgun, rifle, 3gun) and proper divisions declared for these matches upon signup.

For IPSC shotgun matches divisions are Open, Modified, Standard and Standard Manual.

For IPSC rifle - Semi Auto Open, Semi Auto Standard, Manual Action Open, Manual Action Standard.

Thanks
 
Hey guys,

I think it's safe to say that the hosting service I'm using (vex.net) has been experiencing a few problems lately (I just saw that there is yet another problem today, affecting logins).

I try to sit ontop of them as much as I can (basically they seem to make changes/updates, and EVERY f**kING TIME they so, SOMEthing breaks. Then I get to be their tester, my s**t breaks, I email them, then look around, and fix it...

So, there is virtually nothing I can do to prevent such issues from popping up (this has been going on for years, I've asked them repeatedly to let me know in advnce of ANY changes they want to make, so I can be on hand to quickly verify things, but they just don't do it).

I guess this is an example of you get what you pay for. They are affordable enough to let me keep this site running as a free service, it's set up, it's working (I don't have the time to migrate it to another service, like Google, which might be free, but which would require a re-write).

So I apologize for any inconvenience, and know that as soon as I know there is a problem, I let them know, and work with them to fix it.

But all means, email me once you see a problem, just know that if I get 15 people emailing me the same msg, I won't reply to all of them - so don't think I'm ignoring you, if you email me with an error, I'm just working on it...

Thanks!

Damian

P.s. this thread is for info distribution, I'll ask you to put comments/discussions/etc in the other , non-sticky thread - thanks!
 
(I just asked for this to be emailed out to the IPSC Ont members; I don't even have access to my DB of shooters, so I can't email it out myself).


Dear Fellow IPSC shooters:

It has been my pleasure to develop and maintain the online match signup for everyone for several years. I've heard a lot of great feedback from everyone, every last bit fully appreciated.

The hosting service I am/have been using (vex.net) has experienced some serious troubles in the very recent past, and I suspect the end of ipsc-matches.net is upon us. None of my websites are online, THEY are not online, emails sent to their support email address bounce back.. I seem to have no way to reach them. Unfortunately this means that I don't even have a copy of the code for our website, even if I was to try and re-host it somewhere else, I DON'T HAVE THE PROGRAM!

I waited for few/several days, to see if they would come back online, if there would be some messages from them, but nothing.

I am forced to conclude that they are permanently offline, and, unfortunately, this means that so is ipsc-matches.net...

This is definitely NOT how I wanted to end the website (or end it at all), but this is what was forced onto me (and thus onto you too).

So, as much as I hate saying this, the match organizers will need to find an alternate match signup mechanism. I know there are other IPSC Ont members who are very computer savy, maybe they can quickly put something similar (or better) in place. I, at this point in my life, no longer have the time to dedicate to such an exercise...

Thank you very much for your patronage over the years, and I wish you all the best of luck in your competitions!

Cheers,

Damian
 
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