bearmum Posted December 8, 2003 Report Share Posted December 8, 2003 On another string (can't remember where :-[) a suggestion was made it would be a good idea if one ASKS before sitting at a table DUH ??? Normally before I have had time to look at the profile sombody has hopped in ahead of me ::) The other gripe I have is IF the owner of the table says "permission required to play" I can't even ASK the person I am trying to partner if THEY would like to play with me >:( I Feel that maybe a SPECIFIC person at table ought to be able to check "permission to play with ME" button and have the decision to accept or reject a person trying to sit as partner :D Mind you I could be missing something in the software -- I DO find the 'help' not much help at all :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inquiry Posted December 10, 2003 Report Share Posted December 10, 2003 Mind you I could be missing something in the software -- I DO find the 'help' not much help at all B) I am sorry to hear that you find the online help not to be much help. It was designed and modified by a "volunteer". I find it quite useful, and when you realize that of the tens of thousands of BBO members, few have probably even clicked on it. Certainly it is not totally extensive, and it certainly would not include things you can not do (like specifically stating that each player does not have a right to accept/reject some one from joining as their parnter, only the table host can put that requirement into place. And certainly not all features of the software are encoded into the help system. The help system gets modified from time to time, and as good as I think it is now, no doubt it will get better and better as users (such as you) point out areas where the help system is deficient. The deficiency is caused by a number of issues, 1) the software is changing (note Uday's recent post about new tournments...someone will have to describe these changes in the help file, 2) people point out deficiencies (need more on table permission options). Let me give one example. I started a post about teaching old dogs new tricks in which I told of a method to get a text file of all the hands you bid and played on line. The volutneer who works on the help file emailed me and said that was cool and he was going to add it to the help file. This needs to be a community effort. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRG Posted December 10, 2003 Report Share Posted December 10, 2003 Mind you I could be missing something in the software -- I DO find the 'help' not much help at all :P I am sorry to hear that you find the online help not to be much help. It was designed and modified by a "volunteer". I find it quite useful, and when you realize that of the tens of thousands of BBO members, few have probably even clicked on it. Certainly it is not totally extensive, and it certainly would not include things you can not do (like specifically stating that each player does not have a right to accept/reject some one from joining as their parnter, only the table host can put that requirement into place. And certainly not all features of the software are encoded into the help system. The help system gets modified from time to time, and as good as I think it is now, no doubt it will get better and better as users (such as you) point out areas where the help system is deficient. The deficiency is caused by a number of issues, 1) the software is changing (note Uday's recent post about new tournments...someone will have to describe these changes in the help file, 2) people point out deficiencies (need more on table permission options). Let me give one example. I started a post about teaching old dogs new tricks in which I told of a method to get a text file of all the hands you bid and played on line. The volutneer who works on the help file emailed me and said that was cool and he was going to add it to the help file. This needs to be a community effort. Ben Thanks Ben. I've tried to encourage feedback about the Online Help, but I've not wanted to make a big deal of it. So I have kept the soliciting to a note in the Help itself and responding when someone mentions something about the Help (as long as I notice the post). Perhaps what I should do is ask Skrshawk if we can set up a specific BB Forum about the Online Help (I could be the moderator). That way I could post polls, announce updated versions, and maybe get some constructive feedback. The only reason I am reluctant is that I've wanted to remain behind the scenes and not detract from Fred and Uday's publicity. I believe they deserve all the credit for BBO (along with Sheri, of course). Let me know what you think. I'd appreciate your opinion. I did respond by BB Forum's e-mail to the posting and asked for feedback. In that e-mail I mentioned I thought the greatest weakness was in the area of Tournaments. This is because I have only played in a few and I don't host or direct tournaments. I have asked a couple of people to make me a director for the sole purpose of taking screen snapshots and working through score adjustments, etc. However, this has not happened yet. The other item I would love to have some feedback on is: how easy or difficult is navigation? Can you find "stuff" you are looking for? In particular, I thought having an Index was a good idea, but it is quite painful to update and is getting quite large. I don't mind doing it, but if it is not really useful, the effort could be put into other aspects of the Help. I will be away visting our children over Christmas and New Years (Dec. 15 - Jan 8). Perhaps when I get back it will be time to put some more concentrated effort into the Help. Fred had said he was going to send me a preview of the new client, but that has not happened -- I assume he has simply been too busy. Again, thanks for your even-handed posting -- much appreciated. John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inquiry Posted December 10, 2003 Report Share Posted December 10, 2003 Well, the cat is completely out of the bag... it is our resident expert, John, who has made the online help what it is today. He deserves the roses and darts I guess, but no darts from me... just roses for a job well done... John, your idea for a forum group is sound, but maybe what we should do instead of a special main screen forum, is we should create a "stay current" topic underneath the "suggestion for BBO Software" discussion group entitled "suggested improvements for Help system" or the like. The stay current means it will always be at the top of the discussion list when people open it. The disadvantage is that you can not run polls underneath this stay resident topic like you could do if you had your main screen heading. But polls are time limited anyway, so you might just run polls from time to time outside the suggestion topic. I guess if you get a lot of suggestions, the topic could run multiple pages, but then that would be a good thing I think. Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uday Posted December 10, 2003 Report Share Posted December 10, 2003 The new client is not ready even for a limited preview; you'll get a copy the moment it is, John - perhaps in about 5 days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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