Started work: 21st March
This tool will display the existing schedule for the horse/jockey in question, and provide "smart booking" options based on the existing schedule. Also, rather than orienting the travel on the departure time, it will be the reverse, predicting the departure time based on the desired arrival time.
Updates
- All "display" work on this page is now done, including javascript functionality.
- If there are future travel requirements for the horse being viewed, it should automatically set the travel to be a destination/time/date that is sensible
- Adjusting Continent/region/track should automatically adjust options available
- Changing the arrival date to be sometime today should set a minimum arrival time that is achievable, changing to a later date should free up all times.
- Setting a Smart Booking should set all default values and quote the flight for you.
Update 8th April
- Booking Travel, getting quotes, and "smart travel" should all be working properly now
- Please report any errors ;-)
How this works
I'll create new blog posts with each item I start working on, which will be great places for you to post your feedback about those pages and features.
But, for features that I haven't started working on, or any issues that don't really relate to any particular page, it's probably best for people to place their comments and feedback here. Cheers!
General Testing Procedures
- When a bug has been mentioned as being "fixed", you'll probably need to do a full refresh to get all the new code (ie click the refresh button at the top of the page, not the small window).
- If there's been a fix to the overall layout of the page, you might need to empty your cache as well as refresh
- If there's been a fix to the colour/negative layouts, you will definitely need to empty your cache as well as refresh. These layouts will definitely not be updated with just a basic refresh.
- If you encounter a problem, please try to give as much feedback about the problem as possible. Include details of:
- the page you were on;
- the action you tried to take(ie clicked whatever link, clicked refresh etc)
- the result you saw. Sometimes exact wording of errors is important to help debug
- any other information that you have on hand. For example, if you use "Firebug", maybe you can copy/paste results from the "console"
Purpose of this Blog
The purpose of this Blog is to document the advances in the TK Redevelopment, and provide a central hub for people to ask questions and keep up to date with progress.
If we can all get in the habit of commenting and reporting and reading this blog, then we'll streamline development immeasurably!
Accessing the Development Environment
- Login to Track King as per normal
- View one of your horses
- Amend the URL (web address)...
Immediately after "www.trackking.org", insert "/hairboylabs/redesign"
so that the URL looks something like:
www.TrackKing.org/hairboylabs/redesign/horse.php?hid=....
- You're away!
- PLEASE remember that the new version is hush-hush. I'd appreciate you asking me before you post details and screenshots etc to any other TK players. The last thing I want is to have to deal with an uproar in TK about the new design or some other decision at the same time as I'm building it lol!
Progress so far
I've now started keeping an up-to-date list of pages/functions that should be functional. Please refer to that Post (dated April 8th) for details.
***Window Caching Explained
PHP code, as in original Track King, builds the entire page and sends it to your computer every time you click a new link. This is quite "expensive" on the server resources.
In the TK Redevelopment, I've designed a system which keeps the "framework" of the page intact and loads only the essence of each page. It also then retains those pages in your computers memory (artificially cached) so that if you open a link that you've previously viewed, it will simply pull up the old version, and not need to contact the server at all! This will clearly reduce load on the server hugely, especially at peak times.
It should also greatly reduce the need for tabbed browsing, because you can store your favourites as hot links and quickly switch between windows to get information on the go. Tiled display mode will also assist in this, especially for mobile devices.
As a consequence, each "window" has a "last refresh" counter in the top corner. This enables you to quickly decide whether the content is up-to-date, and allows you to manually refresh when you feel necessary.
Many updates that happen, such as training, vets, servicing, and gelding, will push their updates into the cached windows, meaning that data will generally be up to date.
So, when testing the system, please keep an eye on how this performs and report any instances where an update hasn't flowed into another window as you'd have expected. Not all cases can be fixed, but it's good to have them reported so that I can make those assessments.
