[READ THIS] New website, new features.

[Chris__M]

Welcome to the new Posh Games website. Not all the changes are cosmetic:

• I have removed the "Other Event" and "Session Archive" categories, for a simpler layout. The "Session Archive" was only a dumping ground for old Sessions, and I don't think anyone ever read them. Non-game session events can now be posted to the Session Planner, using the Event drop-down box to mark it as "Other Event".
• Although I have imported all the posts from the old site for "Posh Talk" and "Rules and Variants", I haven't retained the posts in the "Helpdesk" area, as I don't want to confuse people with old posts about the old site. Feel free to ask questions.
• I have also not copied any of the old "Session Planner" entries, as it made the upgrade so much easier - in fact previous attempts at upgrading had been stalled at how to import the old posts into the new format. We are starting with a clean slate.
• Originally, I created a "Test Forum" for testing, but that is now deleted. You can test and experiment using the "Test Event" category. This is currently set to the default, so if you want to post a real event, you will need to use the drop-down box and select "Game Session". After people have had a chance to play, I will make "Game Session" the default again.
• In both calendars (sidebar and main calendar) Game Sessions will be in blue, Other Events will be in green and Test Events are currently in red.

To post a new session to the "Session Planner" (or "Test Forum"), it works like this:

1. Go to the forum, and click on "New Topic".
2. Enter a subject line. As before, this is clearer if you type <game session name> @ <venue> - like "Twilight Imperium @ Market Deeping" or "Tuesday Evening @ The Brewery Tap".
3. If you need to change the event tyoe, use the drop-down box. This currently defaults to Test Event, but will eventually default to Game Session.
4. Pick a date. At the moment, this uses a separate dropdown box for Day, Month, Year. If I can make this slicker later, I will.
5. Enter details of the session, as usual - time, games being played, any limit of attendees - anything relevant.
6. Click Submit. A new box will appear, headed Attending. Fill out the form and click Enter - even if you are hosting; it does not assume the person scheduling is attending.

Other folk can reply as before, but they will also see the Attending list. So if they plan to go, they should also use that to tell the host (even if they have already said so in their reply. This is because it keeps a tally - Attending: ( Yes / No / Don't Know ): 3 / 0 / 0 - as people enter their attendance.

It isn't really necessary to answer "no" or "don't know", but the option is there should people want it. In particular, if you say "yes", and then change your mind, please come back and say "no", so people know you are not coming.

All of this can be tried out in the "Test Forum". But please put "Test" somewhere in the subject, as they still appear on the calendar. Periodically, I will purge the Test Forum, and remove it when folk have the hang of things.

The details of the sessions will appear both in the sidebar and the forum calendar, with the number attending in [brackets]

Any questions, feel free to ask, here or in "Helpdesk".

[Chris__M]

Some more info.

Posts displayed in the Session Planner are no longer sorted by the date of the session. They instead use the normal forum sort - in order of the date of the latest reply. This means that topics being discussed will bubble up to the top, and not be buried.

This change should not be a problem, because if you want to see sessions by date, there is the calendar (see the icon on the right, in the header) and also the "Upcoming Sessions" sidebar on the right, both of which are in date order. Note that the number in brackets is the total number of people who have said they are attending, and if you hover your mouse over it, it lists the people who have said they are attending.

This change also means we can use the built in sort control, so if you want to see the forum sorted in another way - by original post date, or by number of replies - you can with a click of a button.

Mobile users will note that I am not displaying the games in the mobile version of the website (which are only decoration, really), and "Upcoming Sessions" is at the foot of the page, rather than in a sidebar. I think this makes the website even easier to use with a phone than previously.

[Chris__M]

Oh, and an often requested feature. You can now private message multiple recipients.