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Webchess 2

WebChess 2.0.2

After trying many scripts I was going to use the first version of WebChess that is open code in order to reestablish Chess in our Community, but dreaded having to code in a rating system. Also, WebChess has not progressed in over two years. I was refereed to a version by "Benjamw" where he added in a rating system and more and named it: WebChess 2.0.2.

Review

In the current version it is difficult to setup, although admittedly he does mention no install file was included. If I did not have PHP/MySQL knowledge I would not have been able to set it up, perhaps he will add that later. The inital layout is dark and the font very small but he does have options and I do plan to explore that later.

Bugs

There are some things that need fixing that I had to comment out or configure to work around, for instance:

1. The script requires access to a PGN directory that is not included in the install. I created one manually.

2. When a new User joins there seems to be a script that sends a 'welcome' message to the user via a table that does not exist:
login.inc.php

3. In the actual install instructions you are told to install one SQL even though there are two and the second one is needed as there are references to the "Talk" table.

4. Although an Admin name is asked for in the configuration there is no 'place' for Admin or login info for Admin unless that is derived from player ID = 1 but I have not checked.

I have not explored more yet, but will most definitely be going with this version.

I was also pleasantly surprised to see he had FEN code included! This is something that I will be integrating into the Community as we will use the Threads to Discuss games.

Webchess

Name: Benjam
Country:

Comments: It seems you found workaround solutions to all my missing instructions, which is good. The instructions were created and then things changed without updating the instructions, so you'll have to forgive me on those.

As for the admin stuff... if you'll note in the players table (both of them), there is a field for `is_admin`; set this field to '1' to mark this person as an admin. If they are marked as an admin in the `players` table then that setting takes precedence over the `wc_wc_players` table.

Once that field is marked on a player, then that will enable the 'Admin' tab in the main menu. Once there, you can perform basic game administration.

Rather off topic, but...
If you find legitimate bugs, please report them in the appropriate github bug tracker [..] as I do not frequent other site's forums looking for bug reports. Also know that I do this in my spare time, which is increasingly sparse, so feel free to report the bugs, and if someone wants to take a stab at fixing said bug, that would be appreciated.

Thanks, and enjoy the game!

Webchess 2 Reviews RPG & Card Board

Thank you for taking the time to answer. I did not register on that site because no one has said anything about your version, indeed I might have even looked over it before and saw nothing about it and moved pass. You might find a greater audience and input from here actually, especially when we start implementing it in the site - there will be a whole Membership reporting bugs if any.

Strange, you don't have a table named with this what is it for?

Also what is the difference between 'talk' and 'talk_glue'?

Webchess

Name: Benjam
Country:

Comments: So, just to let you know, the version you downloaded from [..] is a newer version that is in a state of change that seems to have made it unusable as it is. There is an older, more stable version available [..] Give that version a try. It should be easier to work with.

Webchess

Well, that is not too nice to know after spending time on it. I will just make it do for now, it was mostly the FEN and Ranking system that I needed, all the other bells and whistles I disabled like: chat, messaging and so forth. I did notice that the 'unstable' version just uses .GIF files and does not recognize .PNG on the chess board so I removed the .PNG folders. Everything else seems to work well although I have not done full testing yet with a player.

Things to consider for the future...

One thing I do see that can be abused is the "Wake-up" option. Someone can keep pressing that endlessly annoying both Exim and the end user. I disabled that as well.

The other thing is if a game ends because someone did not make a move then the person at fault should have points deducted from their ranking.

A clock system will be nice to ensure my earlier point is encouraged, for instance you do not make a move within 'x' hours you forfeit the game and lose.