ladder dev forum
v0.9.0 progress
Submitted by matt on Mon, 10/08/2009 - 21:03Version 0.9 is approaching a release. The ground up object-oriented rewrite I planned is taking a very long time and I realise could be years before I have sufficient time to do it. Therefore I decided to produce an interim release with a mixture of old code and the new framework. This does away with the comical need to have an ever expanding .htaccess file (the one on sports-ladder.net is now about 7MB!) and sets in place a modular system to allow user submitted pages and functions to be added. These are called 'extensions'. There is also the structure to allow themes and templates to display content. The software is something of a bodge as it must allow old style php 'pages' to operate alongside the new extension based function. Version 1 will see the old 'pages' phased out.
There are also a considerable number of bugfixes as well as features most commonly requested by ladder admins.
A demo version can be viewed here: http://sports-ladder.net/demo
Some screenshots of the new admin features can be seen here: http://sourceforge.net/project/screenshots.php?group_id=127465
Sourcecode can be viewed/downloaded on sourceforge subversion and is stable: http://squash-ladd-php.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/squash-ladd-php/
Please note that an official release package is some way off as I am relying on some external libraries which I am modifying and I haven't yet sought permission to distribute these libraries.
Changes (version 0.9.0)
New: Software installer - just complete form for automatic installation
New: Player details (including ELO score) can be edited by ladder admins
New: Players can add match comments
New: Shoutbox style 'ladder talk' page to improve communications between players
New: 5 upload slots per ladder for admins to upload customised images
New: Start of support for multilingual ladders (Dutch, German, Danish, Spanish and Swedish language packs currently available, French planned)
New: Site admin can log in across all ladders
New: A short .htaccess file redirects all traffic through index.php (faster and simpler)
New: Support for community submitted 'extensions' to add new pages and functionality
New: Support for themes started
New: Reset ladder contents and start again (admin)
New: Permanently delete ladder (admin)
New: Choose multiple user types e.g. standard, editor, admin, owner (admin)
New: Unicode UTF-8 support
Improved: Password security
Improved: References to squash removed to make ladders more generic
Improved: Ladder installer more robust
Improved: Player management screen for admins
Improved: Emails sent out from admin selectable domain
Improved: Ladder localisation settings
Improved: Select timezone (attempts automatic daylight saving)
Fixed: Multiple deleted players being renamed the same
Fixed: 1st ranked player no longer punished for inactivity
Fixed: Multiple miscellaneous bugfixes
Removed: Database backup (advise 3rd party tool)
Planned: Admin emails sent out to all admins.
Please use the issue tracker to report bugs and make enhancement requests
Submitted by matt on Sat, 13/09/2008 - 23:23Please post any bug reports or enhancement requests / ideas for new features in the issues tracker which is now on sourceforge:
User Manual
Submitted by matt on Fri, 15/08/2008 - 21:02A new user manual for versions of the ladder up to 1.x.x has been added. This covers both the end use of the ladder plus a technical manual.
Your help adding content and keeping it up to date is much appreciated.
The books are here: http://www.deepblue.uk.net/site/book
v0.8.2 is now ready for testing & download
Submitted by matt on Tue, 21/02/2006 - 17:54The latest version is available for testing. It can be downloaded here: http://www.deepblue.uk.net/site/node/1/release
It includes...
User management - change ladder rankings, delete players, 'break' players, send new password
Cooling off period - prevent rechallenges between the same 2 players within a certain time frame
Inactivity period - players are automatically dropped x places if they haven't recorded a result within y days
v0.8.1 source is ready for testing
Submitted by matt on Thu, 02/02/2006 - 00:58Please contact me if you'd like to trial it.
Matt
New ladder development forum
Submitted by matt on Mon, 30/01/2006 - 22:45There have been a number of offers of help over recent weeks from people whose expertise far exceeds mine I'm sure. There is now a specific forum for the 'hardcore' development of the squash ladder and so the new forum is called 'ladder dev'. All posters on this dev forum should register before posting.
There are a few streams of development that might be hived off to different people to contribute to. If you have skills in either design or database/php programming and would be willing to join an active development group please drop in to the forum and introduce yourself or email me via the contact form top right.
Of particular interest to me is the possibility of getting away from the static HTML tables design and going full out CSS (style sheets). This would allow great flexibility in theming ladders and would streamline the coding. The coding also needs to be overhauled and standardised as does the documentation. I am looking forward to seeing what might develop!