IPSC Canada Match Calendar
- Thread starter hungrybeagle
- Start date
Hahaha, so what's going to happen? People are going to enter the MD5 of the passwords, to get their accounts created??? A 32 digits hex number? No? Of course not... (and if you think that'll work, sorry, that's totally unrealistic based on my experience so far - maybe your experience is different). So what will happen?... Ahhh... so they'll enter their userid and password, then I will convert that to md5, and then say "yeah or nah"... But if the md5 matches, then I now HAVE the userid and password, don't I?? So what's the point of the MD5...
Well, if you going to be logging them, sure... However it is possible to write few lines of the JavaScript in the browser or use a built-in Digest auth, so your web site only get the md5, so it is doable... But I see that you are not interested.
Anyhow, sorry, but we are moving sooo far away from the basics, this discussion isn't really on point anymore. I'm just waiting for someone to start talking about a single sign-on system, between all the ipsc websites in Canada
That would be a good thing too. There is also other options like OpenId, which would just piggy-back to the province web sites for verification.
I know and it is doable, but finding all those web sites and then scrapping them (some created in FrontPage) is a royal pain, not to mention that some may not even publish the match calendar (like IPSC Quebec web site). So, I would like to try first other way around... In other words, if we'll have all match information in one place and one format (Google or a custom match calendar) it would be easier to post it on any web site. So, this way MD would have to enter it only once...
Okay, I need to weigh in, here...
A Unified Calendar:
Does there really need to be one? Maybe not. We've gotten along fine without one, but sometimes we need to be forward thinking and look at ways to enhance service to our members. Omen's self squadding system is a prime example. It's not just change for change's sake, but a look into the future. I'll be honest, I steal a lot of my ideas from USPSA, like their online stats, classification lookups and a user editable calendar. Note: USPSA doesn't post ALL of their matches on their calendar either. They just post the major ones. Having said that, it's possible to have every match in a single database, so why not? I was planning a trip to San Jose later this year, and thought, "Hey, I'm going to be in the area, why not see if there's even a Level I match sometime". You know how hard it is to find out if there's a match on in the area? I think a single calendar is a pretty good idea in the long run.
Why a custom calendar?
Good question, and maybe I'm just too anal retentive. We have WinMSS when an Excel spreadsheet would work just as well. When we added the IPSCBC Calendar to our website, some of things we were looking for were (1) integrated into the webpage (which could have been done with Google Calendar) (2) user editable so that new matches could be added on the fly, or modifications made to the match data (which could also be done with Google Calendar)
I created a custom calendar for the IPSCBC website for a number of reasons:
1. Consistent format. Once the data is there, it's presented in the same way all the time
2. Format specific to IPSC. A google calendar is fine for showing events, but with a custom calendar, you can do things like sort by province, choose only level 2 or 3 matches, or even search for matches in a specific club. Links to the club website, online registration/squadding, results, and match copies are all in the same space, because the layout is formatted by the calendar. One weakness of a system like Google Calendar is that when you add "more details", the layout is dependent upon the individual that typed in the data.
Screen Scraping
It wouldn't be too hard to do this. The real reason for making a calendar user editable, however, is to allow clubs to add/edit links to their match copies, results, registration etc. There still needs to be a club/zone rep that can make those changes and allowing them to change another user's data is possible, but never a good idea.
Who will edit multiple calendars?
Maybe a generic looking calendar needs to be created that can be included as an iframe into other websites. That way an organization can embed it into their own website and maintain the look/feel of their website. It can show up on multiple websites, but has only 1 central IPSC Canada database. Heck, I could even make it so that all the search options for other clubs/provinces are disabled and it looks like the calendar is specific for that club.
A Unified Calendar:
Does there really need to be one? Maybe not. We've gotten along fine without one, but sometimes we need to be forward thinking and look at ways to enhance service to our members. Omen's self squadding system is a prime example. It's not just change for change's sake, but a look into the future. I'll be honest, I steal a lot of my ideas from USPSA, like their online stats, classification lookups and a user editable calendar. Note: USPSA doesn't post ALL of their matches on their calendar either. They just post the major ones. Having said that, it's possible to have every match in a single database, so why not? I was planning a trip to San Jose later this year, and thought, "Hey, I'm going to be in the area, why not see if there's even a Level I match sometime". You know how hard it is to find out if there's a match on in the area? I think a single calendar is a pretty good idea in the long run.
Why a custom calendar?
Good question, and maybe I'm just too anal retentive. We have WinMSS when an Excel spreadsheet would work just as well. When we added the IPSCBC Calendar to our website, some of things we were looking for were (1) integrated into the webpage (which could have been done with Google Calendar) (2) user editable so that new matches could be added on the fly, or modifications made to the match data (which could also be done with Google Calendar)
I created a custom calendar for the IPSCBC website for a number of reasons:
1. Consistent format. Once the data is there, it's presented in the same way all the time
2. Format specific to IPSC. A google calendar is fine for showing events, but with a custom calendar, you can do things like sort by province, choose only level 2 or 3 matches, or even search for matches in a specific club. Links to the club website, online registration/squadding, results, and match copies are all in the same space, because the layout is formatted by the calendar. One weakness of a system like Google Calendar is that when you add "more details", the layout is dependent upon the individual that typed in the data.
Screen Scraping
It wouldn't be too hard to do this. The real reason for making a calendar user editable, however, is to allow clubs to add/edit links to their match copies, results, registration etc. There still needs to be a club/zone rep that can make those changes and allowing them to change another user's data is possible, but never a good idea.
Who will edit multiple calendars?
Maybe a generic looking calendar needs to be created that can be included as an iframe into other websites. That way an organization can embed it into their own website and maintain the look/feel of their website. It can show up on multiple websites, but has only 1 central IPSC Canada database. Heck, I could even make it so that all the search options for other clubs/provinces are disabled and it looks like the calendar is specific for that club.
hungrybeagle, have you though of using Google calendar as a backend and have a custom application running on top of it? That would allow to enter the data in a strict format, as well as search and slice the available events...
I guess if it will turn out your way, omen would have to fetch the match information from your calendar to help MDs to avoid duplicating their work.
I guess if it will turn out your way, omen would have to fetch the match information from your calendar to help MDs to avoid duplicating their work.
Ugh..
I dunno, that kind of sounds like needing to present something in Japanese, but wanting to store it in German, so you make a translator to sit between the two.
Easier to get the Japanese, save it as Japanese, and recall it as Japanese.
You're thinking in terms of if someone created a match using Omen's system, that it should automatically make an addition to an IPSC Calendar, or vice versa?
I dunno, that kind of sounds like needing to present something in Japanese, but wanting to store it in German, so you make a translator to sit between the two.
Easier to get the Japanese, save it as Japanese, and recall it as Japanese.
You're thinking in terms of if someone created a match using Omen's system, that it should automatically make an addition to an IPSC Calendar, or vice versa?
Well, technically match could be entered to omen's system in advance and stay "closed" there. At this point there is enough information to post it as a calendar entry. Then later match will be open for registration, etc... All omen need is to have one page that would show upcoming and opened matches (say, all existing matches for next 2 monts + all opened matches) and another page that would show all matches (i.e. the calendar). If you look at the Ontario region in omen's system there is already matches entered util December 2010, so he certainly have the data to show as a calendar... I suggested that before, but omen doesn't seem to interested in looking at something like that.
It would be trivial for me to open an HTTP API for HB to get info re matches, BUT I think we might run into the difference between what is possible technically, and what is realistic within the culture and environment that the system has to work in...
In the early days of my system MDs would create matches for the whole year, and even leave then open right away, so it was awesome - you could book your slots months in advance to plan your schedule.. but of course a lot of people with no more than a vague interest in the match would fill up slots, and pull out 1-2 days before the match, thus pissing off the MDs... So now it's rare to see matches open up more than a couple of weeks before... Yes, I know, match records COULD be created months in advance, and just kept closed... But will they? Some MDs do that, but I know some don't like/do that... Personally I think it would be dangerous to build a system on an assumption re how people will use another system, without any real way to demand or enforce that behaviour...
Now, like I said, I really like what HB is talking about, and I don't mean to sound defeatist, I just want to help (a) manage expectations, and (b) share some of my experiences trying to get my system used/adopted, during the first 1-1.5 years (it's great now, people love it, everyone tells me how great it is, BUT it was NOT easy going at the start - if it wasn't for a handful of MDs who just say "#### it, I want to try it", it might have never gotten off the ground)...
In the early days of my system MDs would create matches for the whole year, and even leave then open right away, so it was awesome - you could book your slots months in advance to plan your schedule.. but of course a lot of people with no more than a vague interest in the match would fill up slots, and pull out 1-2 days before the match, thus pissing off the MDs... So now it's rare to see matches open up more than a couple of weeks before... Yes, I know, match records COULD be created months in advance, and just kept closed... But will they? Some MDs do that, but I know some don't like/do that... Personally I think it would be dangerous to build a system on an assumption re how people will use another system, without any real way to demand or enforce that behaviour...
Now, like I said, I really like what HB is talking about, and I don't mean to sound defeatist, I just want to help (a) manage expectations, and (b) share some of my experiences trying to get my system used/adopted, during the first 1-1.5 years (it's great now, people love it, everyone tells me how great it is, BUT it was NOT easy going at the start - if it wasn't for a handful of MDs who just say "#### it, I want to try it", it might have never gotten off the ground)...
omen, actually that could be another opportunity for you to get more users. Imagine that someone used system just to post match into a "public match calendar". They may stop at that, but at that point for some it would be pretty simple to go ahead and enable the squadding for already entered match.
