Ajax

Add some AJAX to the MyGames page to update the game status every minute or two. If you need help in including it or are too busy...give me a shout I will gladly jump in and help add some functionality.

Originally posted by Riaan
give me a shout I will gladly jump in and help add some functionality.

hahahahaha, as If Russ and Chrismo would let somebody else tweak with the code that affects paying customers...

I'm sure they appreciate the offer though.

Originally posted by tmetzler
hahahahaha, as If Russ and Chrismo would let somebody else tweak with the code that affects paying customers...

I'm sure they appreciate the offer though.

Boet...

That's really being shortsighted! How do you think most open source systems get to where they are...ever heard of contributions? What on earth would it do to paying customers if there are contributions in terms of site development to make their experience so much better. If anything it would attracked more people and make the whole experience seem more realtime....

Anyways...Great site with a ton of functionality...well done dudes!

Originally posted by Riaan
Boet...

That's really being shortsighted! How do you think most open source systems get to where they are...ever heard of contributions? What on earth would it do to paying customers if there are contributions in terms of site development to make their experience so much better. If anything it would attracked more people and make the whole experience seem more realtime....

Anyways...Great site with a ton of functionality...well done dudes!

Here is a site with a lot of user written scripts...
http://members.shaw.ca/ouroboros/RHP/

I don't know what AJAX is, but if it involves full page refreshes, then the site admin don't want anything like that, due to strain on the server.

D

"Ajax (programming)
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Ajax, shorthand for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, is a web development technique for creating interactive web applications. The intent is to make web pages feel more responsive by exchanging small amounts of data with the server behind the scenes, so that the entire web page does not have to be reloaded each time the user makes a change. This is meant to increase the web page's interactivity, speed, and usability."

The idea is this...
When you look at the "My Games" screen you have a list of active games you are playing. In order for you to see if anybody has made a move ie. if it's your turn then you have to "Refresh" the page. This not only retrieves the status of your games, but does a reload on the whole page.

Introducing AJAX, the system will refresh just the status of each game and leave the rest of the page alone. This will not put extra load on the server...infact it will reduce the load on the server drastically, because users will not have to refresh the page all the time 🙂 It can work sorta like a chat session where you can see what happens without having to send a request to a server manually....

Originally posted by Riaan
Boet...

That's really being shortsighted! How do you think most open source systems get to where they are...ever heard of contributions? What on earth would it do to paying customers if there are contributions in terms of site development to make their experience so much better. If anything it would attracked more people and make the whole experience seem more realtime....

Anyways...Great site with a ton of functionality...well done dudes!

It is not being shortsighted. RHP is a commercial enterprise, letting other people work with the code adds a whole lot of work/hassle to the admins.

1. They would have to fully document to you how it works.
2. The system is very dynamic as it is, making one little change could potential f-up the whole system.
3. Whats to stop you from taking all their hard-work and code and stealing it? A civil-suit? I'm quite positive they have no plans to release all their code as open-source to let anybody else run a similar game site. The main asset to RHP (barring existing membership) is their platform and code. Their is no good reason for them to make it open-source.
4. The admins know how the site was programmed and are in a much better position to make changes than anybody else coming wanting to contribute.

I know all about open-source, RHP is not a very good candidate for it; at least not from a business perspective.

This is coming from somebody that has developed, maintained and led teams of programmers on many projects involving millions of lines of code. It is NOT easy just to have somebody come into the group and start contributing immediately. There is a great deal of time involved in training and documentation.

But hey, If I'm wrong and Russ wants to start letting amateurs start poking around the code and adding features, SIGN ME UP. I'd love to get a look at the data model.

Edit: Just to add, A much better suggestion rather than opening up all the code for those with a desire to add features is for Russ to work on the RSS feeds and web services, so that he can provide restricted access to the data and let those with an interest develop their own applications. This is on the eventual todo list. I've even bumped the thread in the Developers forum on this topic.

You guys are not understanding what I am saying. I have been a developer for 15 years and know all about protecting what you've got.

I am DEFINATELY not suggesting that the system should be opened up. This thread merely started because I am tired of refreshing my browser to see if my oponent has moved 🙂 I havn't been playing on RHP for long and just think that although it is an amazing site, there are some very simple things that can be done to woosh it up.

My offer to help comes from an honest perspective. Not to steal etc. But yeah I agree, from their point of view, whats to say one guy is more trustworthy than the next huh.

ps. The main reason why AJAX will fit in nicely is to reduce server holdup because of status change client side....

Originally posted by Riaan
You guys are not understanding what I am saying. I have been a developer for 15 years and know all about protecting what you've got.

I am DEFINATELY not suggesting that the system should be opened up. This thread merely started because I am tired of refreshing my browser to see if my oponent has moved 🙂 I havn't been playing on RHP for long and just think ...[text shortened]... hy AJAX will fit in nicely is to reduce server holdup because of status change client side....

We are in agreement, it would be nice to get some ajax integrated. I was just saying that the likelihood of them letting an outside developer work on it were almost nill in my opinion. But then again, I don't represent RHP.

For your particular need, there is already an outside application that monitors your games for you. I'm sure a link to it is somewhere in this forum. Maybe somebody else can point you to it.

Originally posted by Riaan
This thread merely started because I am tired of refreshing my browser to see if my oponent has moved 🙂

You can use an email client along with email receipt notifier to tell you when your opponent has moved.

D

Thanks...

Hehe...maybe if I can manage to get my rating up from a deadbeat and become a paid member, I can start asking for changes...Maybe I should start there.

Riann:

http://www.redhotpawn.com/beta/agentlauncher.php
or
http://www.chessatwork.com/beta/agentlauncher.php
or
whatever domain you use/beta/agentlauncher.php

Originally posted by Riaan
This thread merely started because I am tired of refreshing my browser to see if my oponent has moved 🙂

i don't mean this in a negative way, but if you only have 6 games don't bother refreshing your browser to often, you could be sitting there for days

Originally posted by Riaan
This thread merely started because I am tired of refreshing my browser to see if my oponent has moved 🙂
[...]
ps. The main reason why AJAX will fit in nicely is to reduce server holdup because of status change client side....

See this thread for something which will be less bandwidth than refreshing your browser:

http://www.redhotpawn.com/board/showthread.php?threadid=46596

I don't see how ajax or anything else can be less bandwidth than waiting for an email. Even a small amount of bandwidth, frequently accessed from the client side, times lots of users adds up.

Gezza

Originally posted by tmetzler
....The system is very dynamic as it is, making one little change could potential f-up the whole system.
.....This is coming from somebody that has developed, maintained and led teams of programmers on many projects involving millions of lines of code........

hey - do you work for Microsoft 😉