PractiScore website results being upgraded - input welcome

[Ken N.]

We are about to redo/revamp the PractiScore results website, and will have a planning meeting tomorrow afternoon and Thu morning. Work will start on it on Monday. I'm devoting 3 engineers to this project so we get it done fast, and also so we can have it ready for changes coming in USPSA's website and activity workflow (which I'm not free to divulge, but which are significant and desirable).

Please share your wish list for results. Discuss as you like. We will make sure your ideas are considered in the planning, and we will post our final thoughts Friday.

If you'd prefer your ideas be private, feel fee to e-mail me at ken@niftybytes.om

Regards,

Ken N.

TY64062

[ZackJones]

On the individual scores page I'd like to see a pistol statistics summary like we have on the USPSA results page. See attached screen capture.

[Ken N.]

Zach… yep, that's gonna happen. Also gonna show it per stage. We'd also like to integrate in comparisons to the stage winner (division or overall) (or some arbitrarily viewer selected shooter), and some insights as to the value of a miss, D, and a point in time.

[cellguy030]

Are you looking at having a "club" results page, meaning i can see a list of all our matches at once?

[trp]

Be able to read results on the iPhone, I click on the line to read and it just deprecates all the lines, it just stays on the first page and the lines just keep getting farther apart?

[Ken N.]

Are you looking at having a "club" results page, meaning i can see a list of all our matches at once?

Yes. Each club will have a home page with their match results, their matches available for registration, as well as a way to sign up for notifications (via text or email). Each competitor will have their own page as well, with their results (where we have an identifying common thing (like uspsa #, 3gn#, phone, email or other) in the match db.

The searching will also be improved to find matches, competitors and clubs more readily.

[Ken N.]

Be able to read results on the iPhone, I click on the line to read and it just deprecates all the lines, it just stays on the first page and the lines just keep getting farther apart?

The view will adapt completely to mobile browsers. That's a 100% goal. Our stats show a significant % of views are from mobile, I presume at the range or lunches afterwards.

[Ken N.]

Be able to read results on the iPhone, I click on the line to read and it just deprecates all the lines, it just stays on the first page and the lines just keep getting farther apart?

The view will adapt completely to mobile browsers. That's a 100% goal. Our stats show a significant % of views are from mobile, I presume at the range or lunches afterwards.

Some of this will be addressed, as well, by a competitor oriented version of PractiScore we are designing. You will be able to synch in a non-editing (and no private data visible) way to see match results native on your phone. This will also include "what if" type scenario building for full lunch time discussion. The scenarios will be shareable via social media and email.

A lot of what I want to add, for competitors, comes from my own experiences watching competitors after the match, on FB, and at lunch.

We are also integrating video into the mix, so that for any given stage, associated videos will be available for that stage, and on the competitor page their stage videos will be available, and we will integrate, automatically, score summaries and analysis into the video when submitted.

You can call the next 3 months of PractiScore web development competitor oriented. I want to make competitors as happy with its utility as match directors/stats people are now.

Oh… and btw… the iOS update submitted yesterday for Apple's approval has full USPSA activity report submissions directly from PractiScore in it, obviating the need for ezWS. It is USPSA sanctioned.

Ken N.

Edited January 22, 2014 by Ken N.

[JFlowers]

Better Search. I know part of this is that some uploaders/clubs are not consistent in naming. It would be nice to have the ability to break down by Match Type (USPSA, IDPA, SC, 3 Gun, etc), Match level (Monthly/Major) and linked to Club Ids (like the USPSA ones NC01, SC03, etc).

Better formatting has been mentioned already.

[Ken N.]

Better Search. I know part of this is that some uploaders/clubs are not consistent in naming. It would be nice to have the ability to break down by Match Type (USPSA, IDPA, SC, 3 Gun, etc), Match level (Monthly/Major) and linked to Club Ids (like the USPSA ones NC01, SC03, etc).

Better formatting has been mentioned already.

Good call. Duly noted.

[jcwren]

Currently, the web page loads all the available matches, and then displays them in list, which can be filtered by typing in the box. This is annoying as hell

It would be preferable to display the most recent 20 or so matches, but use AJAX to search for specific matches with real-time updating.

Information should always be displayed newest to oldest when searching.

USPSA club IDs should be searchable (no idea what IDPA and others do, but I want to find all matches for GA01, regardless of how people typed the header).

Date formats should be ISO 8601, YYYY/MM/DD.

Not sure why Android and iOS PS uploads the actual HTML that gets displayed, but that should be eliminated. Only data should be uploaded, and the site should be responsible for presentation. This has been proven to be a problem where the Android version was not uploading something correctly, and 'View Individual Results' links are not available as of 1.2.11.

Matches with clearly illegal dates should be rejected when posting results. Why is there a match with a date of 2014/11/19?

Matches should be able to be flagged for review/deletion. There should be no "my test match" or "Qqq" type names. Match names that are all capital letters should result in immediate and permanent disbarring from USPSA and using the intarweb

In an ideal world, a competitor could create a PractiScore login. The competitor would have a profile, and allow filters to be specified so that when viewing results (and assuming they're logged in), they don't see IDPA, Steel Challenge, or whatever matches they don't care about. This could be a "Show me only" list or a "Don't show me" list. This could be refined to club code level, also. The profile would also allow them to specify the email address for when match scores are sent during a match, as some people may wish to send them to a different email address than what they use for their day-to-day email. A enable/disable should be provided for each notification type (email/SMS/carrier pigeon).

It would be nice if a competitor could pull a list of all matches they've competed in, along with basic statistics on each match (club, date, #stages, #rounds, finish within division, finish overall).

I'll bet I can come with a bunch more...

Edited January 22, 2014 by jcwren

[Ken N.]

Currently, the web page loads all the available matches, and then displays them in list, which can be filtered by typing in the box. This is annoying as hell

It would be preferable to display the most recent 20 or so matches, but use AJAX to search for specific matches with real-time updating.

> Yes. Concur. That's going to change to be organized by region, club, match type, shooter participation, so forth.

Information should always be displayed newest to oldest when searching.

USPSA club IDs should be searchable (no idea what IDPA and others do, but I want to find all matches for GA01, regardless of how people typed the header).

> Yes.

Date formats should be ISO 8601, YYYY/MM/DD.

> Okay, if it's ISO it MUST be important (-:

Not sure why Android and iOS PS uploads the actual HTML that gets displayed, but that should be eliminated. Only data should be uploaded, and the site should be responsible for presentation. This has been proven to be a problem where the Android version was not uploading something correctly, and 'View Individual Results' links are not available as of 1.2.11.

> that's changing, and it's necessary to do the mobile adaptation right. I don't want to implement a scoring engine up there (at least not yet), but results will be uploaded in a data format for formatting by the web based on what browser/device is looking at them.

Matches with clearly illegal dates should be rejected when posting results. Why is there a match with a date of 2014/11/19?

> yep.

Matches should be able to be flagged for review/deletion. There should be no "my test match" or "Qqq" type names. Match names that are all capital letters should result in immediate and permanent disbarring from USPSA and using the intarweb

> Well.... maybe not that far, but I get your drift. Match uploading will be moving to a more controlled manner, with club contacts. There will still be an "wide open" area, but it will be separate and primarily used for testing/evaluating (which is what most test matches are now).

In an ideal world, a competitor could create a PractiScore login. The competitor would have a profile, and allow filters to be specified so that when viewing results (and assuming they're logged in), they don't see IDPA, Steel Challenge, or whatever matches they don't care about. This could be a "Show me only" list or a "Don't show me" list. This could be refined to club code level, also. The profile would also allow them to specify the email address for when match scores are sent during a match, as some people may wish to send them to a different email address than what they use for their day-to-day email. A enable/disable should be provided for each notification type (email/SMS/carrier pigeon).

> yep, that's the plan.

It would be nice if a competitor could pull a list of all matches they've competed in, along with basic statistics on each match (club, date, #stages, #rounds, finish within division, finish overall).

I'll bet I can come with a bunch more...

> Keep them coming!!

[gose]

Working column sorting would be nice.

Being able to click a name in the overall/division/whatever aggregate list to see all the stage results for that person

Competitor split screen with stage results for two selected competitors next to each other.

[4T2]

From a club standpoint the following would be handy.

custom shooter fields for us to use as we see fit.

I.E. annual liability waiver on file checkbox.

(also an easy way for us to clear these in our db or set them to something specific ala import/batch)

[cellguy030]

A toggle or check box for match fee paid and the ability to have different fee rates for the same match ie member vs non member

[RadarTech]

How about a new app or means to pull sync all scores from stage PS devices to a central PS device on a time basis?

if we pulled all stage device scores every 5 min we could almost do away with any need paper backups..

EVEN configure it to have a variable timer.. IE 1 to 10 min..

Make this an Ipad app or a PC app like we have today to pull for ezwin exports...

Following this out maybe a scheduler for posting to Practiscore.com or USPSA...

thanks,

Jim

[RadarTech]

Ken---

how about SSO?? USPSA to practiscore login connection?

same login to PS.com and uspsa? if you are doing club contact upload restrictions there is likely to be a DB connection of somekind....

Why not connect the two for login?

[ziebart]

Ken, it sounds like its going to be awesome.

[Ken N.]

A toggle or check box for match fee paid and the ability to have different fee rates for the same match ie member vs non member

This is in there, in our match system. Including different costs, from comped/staff to full price. It isn't in the tablet, but in the web management side.

If you are asking for it direct in the app, we can look at that.

[Ken N.]

From a club standpoint the following would be handy.

custom shooter fields for us to use as we see fit.

I.E. annual liability waiver on file checkbox.

(also an easy way for us to clear these in our db or set them to something specific ala import/batch)

These are in there in the club management web side - any data you can think of you can capture, and match registration has a way to include your liability waiver (for instance we are using this at MG Nationals registrations).

Clearing… so that implies you are looking at it more from a club perspective than a match perspective. For instance my club does waivers once a year.

[Ken N.]

Ken---

how about SSO?? USPSA to practiscore login connection?

same login to PS.com and uspsa? if you are doing club contact upload restrictions there is likely to be a DB connection of somekind....

Why not connect the two for login?

USPSA, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram logins will all be ways to establish accounts/identiy on PractiScore.com .

Club uploads will be tied to club creation which will be confirmed. Once a club is created, that admin can make other admins, so forth. Club admin from the USPSA side will flow in. 3GN, should be same, IDPA not sure yet.

I'm actually in Burlington next week, with our web dev lead, to make all this click (as well as help them with some internal stuff they are working on).

Ken N.

[Ken N.]

How about a new app or means to pull sync all scores from stage PS devices to a central PS device on a time basis?

if we pulled all stage device scores every 5 min we could almost do away with any need paper backups..

EVEN configure it to have a variable timer.. IE 1 to 10 min..

Make this an Ipad app or a PC app like we have today to pull for ezwin exports...

Following this out maybe a scheduler for posting to Practiscore.com or USPSA...

thanks,

Jim

Jim,

Auto-syncing isn't terribly hard to do. We may just do it… but there are risks. I, as a stats officer, do certain things before I sync. PS shows changes that have been made, and if it doesn't look right, I don't synch. But we may do it, if just by popular demand. It could easily be a PractiScore device setup to synch every X minutes, or anytime a new pad shows up. It would require a secure network, to keep fluff off the system.

However, looking at the goal, of secure data without paper, I think our logging approach, where any score edit is logged locally and to the cloud, is much more secure and beneficial because we have a complete audit trail of scores, when they were changed, how they changed, and by what device. Also, with the cloud server then delivering the score to the shooters contact info via SMS or e-mail, they get a copy of the score themselves, with no risk of transcription error.

Now, of course, auto-synching on top of logging is perhaps the best of both, so we will discuss an auto-synching version tomorrow. But I don't view it as a data backup panacea, in that it can propagate garbage rapidly.

I'm super pleased to have discussions like this… in many way a system coming in assuming wifi coverage is not a luxury we had when planning PractiScore. Even for the upcoming MG Nats, or the recent Gator Classic, we still have to deal with sites that have no wifi at all, and often no cell coverage. The system still has to work then, or in a modern facility, in the case that wifi breaks.

Regards,

Ken N.

Edited January 23, 2014 by Ken N.

[JFlowers]

Ken,

Please keep in mind that many facilities may have an internal network but do not have Internet access. Since I work for one of the companies that is moving everything it sales its clients to the cloud, I always have to worry about how software will react if the cloud is not available.

And now I have noticed your last paragraph in the post above mine and see you are a step ahead.

Thanks

[RadarTech]

How about a new app or means to pull sync all scores from stage PS devices to a central PS device on a time basis?

if we pulled all stage device scores every 5 min we could almost do away with any need paper backups..

EVEN configure it to have a variable timer.. IE 1 to 10 min..

Make this an Ipad app or a PC app like we have today to pull for ezwin exports...

Following this out maybe a scheduler for posting to Practiscore.com or USPSA...

thanks,

Jim

Jim,

Auto-syncing isn't terribly hard to do. We may just do it… but there are risks. I, as a stats officer, do certain things before I sync. PS shows changes that have been made, and if it doesn't look right, I don't synch. But we may do it, if just by popular demand. It could easily be a PractiScore device setup to synch every X minutes, or anytime a new pad shows up. It would require a secure network, to keep fluff off the system.

However, looking at the goal, of secure data without paper, I think our logging approach, where any score edit is logged locally and to the cloud, is much more secure and beneficial because we have a complete audit trail of scores, when they were changed, how they changed, and by what device. Also, with the cloud server then delivering the score to the shooters contact info via SMS or e-mail, they get a copy of the score themselves, with no risk of transcription error.

Now, of course, auto-synching on top of logging is perhaps the best of both, so we will discuss an auto-synching version tomorrow. But I don't view it as a data backup panacea, in that it can propagate garbage rapidly.

I'm super pleased to have discussions like this… in many way a system coming in assuming wifi coverage is not a luxury we had when planning PractiScore. Even for the upcoming MG Nats, or the recent Gator Classic, we still have to deal with sites that have no wifi at all, and often no cell coverage. The system still has to work then, or in a modern facility, in the case that wifi breaks.

Regards,

Ken N.

Thanks Ken!

Yeah. My last match was planned to be a wifi enabled match... It didn't work out... PS still worked... Then synced with a wifi card providing the data sync... Still posted the match within 30 min of last shot!

[euxx]

USPSA, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram logins will all be ways to establish accounts/identiy on PractiScore.com .

I really hope you are using OAuth [1] for FB, Twitter and Instagram. Shouldn't be too hard to make USPSA to be an OAuth host too.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OAuth