Software for managing BB leagues online

[tomtamboers]

I can see lots of BB league web sites where coaches can create teams, and keep track of matches and player development. And I don't mean the fancy online or PBeM stuff like FUMBBL's, but simple management of a real life league.
'Cause since we're starting a league ourselves, I was wondering if there is some sort of common code base going 'round in the community, or a cooperation between webmasters? A sourceforge project maybe? I google'd around, but couldn't find anything like this.

Seems like an awful waste to have every club develop its own code, since most of the functionality and the database design are very likely to be the same across all league managing web sites. Only the user interface would differ.

Anyways, does anyone have some pointers to preferably a PHP/mySQL solution? Not that I'm just leeching - I'd be willing to participate in any ongoing project as well.

Offering to do my share,

tom

[DoubleSkulls]

I think there are a couple of semi-open source projects around.

If you want I can provide you with all the source to the ECBBL's website (PHP & MySQL). PM me and give me your email address and I'll zip it up and send it to you.

[tomtamboers]

thanks! PM sent

[Morg]

Look at the Nuffle project - http://sourceforge.net/projects/nuffle.

Open source, php, mySQL.

[Deathwing]

There's always the option of joining the NAF and using the STARS/QUILT system, works fine for our tt league.

[Morg]

Deathwing, could you please explain or give me a pointer? What is this STARS/QUILT thing?

[BadMrMojo]

I'm working on a lightweight PHP/MySQL league manager. (I have started this several times but I actually have a decent start this time and I think I may actually finish it, rather than the first several times I began coding).

There's currently a developmental version up on my site. Check the feature list for stuff I intend to add as I get free time. Right now I've got the basic site architecture done and you can add your own custom races and positions. Actually making teams is next up on the list, followed by adding matches and then team management.

Don't mind the simple design. That's all in a single .css file and that can be easily changed. Additionally, I'll be going through the code and commenting everything wherever possible so that anyone with some PHP experience should be able to adapt some of the "rules" (like when and how players skill up and overriding winnings tables, for example) which are coded into the site.

Basically I just wanted a way to allow people to try their own things. It has long been a pet peeve of mine when people make feature requests that sound more like feature demands. It's the ones which are patently contrary to the stated goals of <whatever> project that really get to me. I've always said that those who want to try some really drastic changes should do it themselves... and this is my attempt to help them do so.

Once I get things working, I'm intending to run 2 leagues with it to show off some options. One LRB compliant and one drastically modified.

Naturally, I had to come up with a name. I call the package T.O.B.Y. - This Online Bloodbowl's Yours.

[Darkson]

Naturally, I had to come up with a name. I call the package T.O.B.Y. - This Online Bloodbowl's Yours.

[DoubleSkulls]

Well between us we've been over the same PHP/MySQL thing a few times.

I'd strongly suggest that anyone really interested in working on it throw themselves behind one project or another so we don't get as much duplication of effort.

At the moment I have a lot of other projects to play around with so I'm only doing maintence on the ECBBL website - and I'm very unlikely to spend a significant amount of time on it in the near future.

Since the nuffle project has already done it, and having a cursory glance over their code etc - I'd recomned joining that Open Source effort and trying to get something really really good together.

[Ziggi Abschuss]

Hi!
Good work BadMrMojo. Your League manager is starting to shape nicely.

We have been using BBWM aka nuffle for one season in our league (the 2nd is just staring) and it has worked pretty well for us. Our resident PHP guru has made some modifications on the code but not much.

But since his time is very limited and the BBWM code is a bit hard to tweak by a noob (its not really clear nor well commented IMHO), I have been looking into different league modules for postnuke or xoops (or any other content management system (CMS). Have not yet found any that would work the way I would like, but if someone with the skills could convert BBWM to either CMS that would be really great. Since the NAF site has been made with postnuke, I would also like to get my hands on the STARS/QUILT source code. I guess that won't happen (haven't asked them nicely though, so they might).

Any comments or ideas there to go with this?

Ziggi

[Morg]

I totally agree with ianwilliams.

BadMrMojo, all the stuff you mentioned is already integrated in the nuffle project. I understand that your own project is always your dearest, but it would be nice to see some collective work at one project. Maybe you would like to contribute to it?

The nuffle code simply needs a tweak here and there to function with the current LRB. Besides the code has to be updated and commented . There are futher issues which need to be resolved in the future (localization, error messages, transactions in general and support of other league formats aka open leagues).

I am currently working on simple security fix and a teamvalue plugin. If I get the time this weekend I will try to submit the updated team rosters to the project.

[BadMrMojo]

I've actually been looking at Nuffle and I was thinking about trying to write up a few modules to parse JBB results and also to output JBB-compliant rosters with the "print" option. I'm all about open source and sharing code and the idea of actually having a project on Sourceforge that I could contribute to makes me giddy with geeky glee. Also, alliterative.

The thing is, the first two times I messed with it, I couldn't get it working. I consider myself to be a reasonably saavy mammal (on a good day, at least) and it took me three tries to figure out how to install the proper PEAR modules manually (you have to remove the version numbers from the folders!).

My end goal was a much lighter weight project. I want to be able to release the source code and allow someone to put it on their server, run a config script to set up the database and go. It's a similar project, but with a different focus. I primarily intended it for people wanting to test their own rosters and house rules, so I was trying to make as much of the code easily tweakable as possible.

That said, I've been rethinking things and considering trying to find a way to package up the lightest-possible version of Nuffle for the simplest possible installation possible. Just upload it, configure your settings and go. I don't think I can do that with Nuffle, however. The PEAR modules are probably (I don't even know for certain) a huge security risk unless it is properly set up and that requires more effort than the people I'm trying to help out (basically, whiners who want things their way and complain ad nauseum about how things should work their way - hence the catch acronym) just aren't going to put in that sort of brainpower to get it working, I think.

It's like making a newsletter for the Colorblindess Acceptance Association with red text on a green background.

[Morg]

I agree that it takes a bit of work to make nuffle work (it took me a long time, too), especially if you want to run it in safe_mode and with open_basedir restrictions.

Actually I can't tell if the PEAR modules are really worth the effort, but in a normal hosted situation your provider should install them for you. Hm, did you ever try replacing the pear functions with simple ones? -> nuffle-light: This could solve the installation problems.

About the security risk: could you please give me a pointer which you are talking about? The obvious ones are the manifold usages of untested global variables.

I like your light-weight approach but unfortunately I am now stuck with nuffle for my league.

[BadMrMojo]

...Hm, did you ever try replacing the pear functions with simple ones? -> nuffle-light: This could solve the installation problems.

{ edit:I just figured out what you're saying. Need coffee. Yeah, I was thinking of checking with both the Nuffle and Pear licenses and seeing if it is ok to release a nuffle-light package with everything you need. }

About the security risk: could you please give me a pointer which you are talking about? The obvious ones are the manifold usages of untested global variables.

This could well be an assumption on my behalf but the manual installation instructions for PEAR modules seem rather adamant about not having the actual files in a publicly accessible directory. Considering they're chock full of authentication and database scripts, it seems quite reasonable to me that you would NOT want these in a location where someone could access them freely. If someone figured out that you were running Nuffle and managed to guess at where you were stashing your PEAR functions, they could presumably write a php script and include('http://yourserver.com/PEAR/db/); and that would be a baaaad thing.

I like your light-weight approach but unfortunately I am now stuck with nuffle for my league.

Well, I wouldn't say unfortunately. Nuffle does a lot more than I ever intend to do. I'm not complaining about it in the least - simply trying to promote an alternative with a different target audience.

Also, Nuffle has the small advantage of being written by developers who know what they're doing in addition to actually being done.

[Morg]

Nuffle is open source. As long as you give testimony to them you can do almost everything with it. The removal of the PEAR code seems worth looking into it.

You are right about the PEAR modules. Having them in a public accessible area is not recommended.

Wish you fun coding