ECF Grading Database web page

[Adam Raoof]

the grading database now appears at

http://www.englishchess.org.uk/grading/database/

rather than

http://www.ecfgrading.org.uk/

this has several problems; firstly you can't directly and simply link to a player's record, like this

http://ratings.fide.com/card.phtml?event=425753

you have to do this (via http://www.hendonchessclub.com/rapidpla ... s-received)

http://www.englishchess.org.uk/ecfgradi ... ef=224790C

which is unwieldy, and you can't get back to the front page of the database from this or any page

and more importantly, the frame based approach means that this site is impossible to use properly on a phone or tablet.

Is there any chance that we could host the database on the original site, which was bought and paid for by the ECF for just such a purpose?

[Christopher Kreuzer]

and more importantly, the frame based approach means that this site is impossible to use properly on a phone or tablet.

+1

I noticed this some time ago, and thought it was just because I was using a rather old phone (LG-S310 apparently), but if this approach makes it difficult for a wide range of phones to access the site, then can some fix please be considered?

[John Upham]

What is hilarious is the huge amount of white space that appears under the output from the grading web site that is framed into the ECF main site!

Perform a successful player or club lookup and witness the size of the scroll bar on the RHS.

This problem is not the fault of WP nor the ECF Web Manager by any means.

Some time ago there was a desire to shunt all ECF related web content via the main domain.

I believe the rationale was to increase the likelihood of advertising, banners, marketing etc being located on the site.

I'm clear that this goal has been realised but possibly the DoMM will be able to provide detail.

The ECF coaching web site was closed down as a consequence and now contains less information that it did when it was stand alone.

[Ian Thompson]

the frame based approach means that this site is impossible to use properly on a phone or tablet.

I can't see any difference between the way the site works on my tablet compared to my PC. What can you do on a PC that you can't do on a tablet?

[Mick Norris]

the grading database now appears at

http://www.englishchess.org.uk/grading/database/

rather than

http://www.ecfgrading.org.uk/

this has several problems; firstly you can't directly and simply link to a player's record, like this

http://ratings.fide.com/card.phtml?event=425753

You can actually, but you have to find the small print "Link to this page" and click on it
http://www.ecfgrading.org.uk/new/menu.p ... ile=player

[David Sedgwick]

the grading database now appears at

http://www.englishchess.org.uk/grading/database/

rather than

http://www.ecfgrading.org.uk/

this has several problems; firstly you can't directly and simply link to a player's record, like this

http://ratings.fide.com/card.phtml?event=425753

you have to do this (via http://www.hendonchessclub.com/rapidpla ... s-received)

http://www.englishchess.org.uk/ecfgradi ... ef=224790C

which is unwieldy, and you can't get back to the front page of the database from this or any page

and more importantly, the frame based approach means that this site is impossible to use properly on a phone or tablet.

Is there any chance that we could host the database on the original site, which was bought and paid for by the ECF for just such a purpose?

It's a long time since I found either a player's ECF grade or his/her FIDE rating by going through the ECF site.

You can find both quickly and easily via the look-up facility at the foot of John Saunders's links page at http://www.saund.co.uk/chesslinks.html.

[John Upham]

Here is the underlying JS code:

<form action="http://ratings.fide.com/seek.phtml" method="get" name="form1" target="_blank" id="form1">
<p>Look up FIDE Rating [player's surname]
<input name="name" type="text" id="name" size="25" />
<input name="idcode" type="hidden" value="" />
<input name="offset" type="hidden" value="0" />
</p>
</form>
<form action="http://englishchess.org.uk/ecfgrading.o ... /glist.php" method="get" name="form2" target="_blank" id="form2">
<p>Look up ECF Grade [player's surname]&nbsp;&nbsp;
<input name="find" type="text" id="seek" size="25" />
<input name="font" type="hidden" value="12px" />
</p>
</form>

[MSoszynski]

While we're at it...

On the left we have:

The ECF
Grading
Database
July 2013 List
Revision 2 : 26/09/2013

Whereas on the right we have:

July 2013 Grading List
published 26.07.2013. Revised 25.08.13, 28.08.13

This is the September revision of the July 2013 list.

Not all those dates can be right, can they?

[Greg Breed]

Perhaps during any revisions they could change the graphs into line graphs rather than bar graphs like the FIDE site, which seems much more natural for tracking progression.

[Adam Raoof]

Was there any feedback from the AGM about this topic?

The site is still hard to use on an iPhone, and the 'effective grade' information has disappeared from the information provided, which make it hard to calculate your own grade when you have a number of ungraded opponents (especially tricky for juniors).

[David Sedgwick]

Was there any feedback from the AGM about this topic?

I'm sorry; I neglected to report back to you on this.

Alex Holowczak said that he was not willing to revert to using the previous website. I'll leave him to explain his reasons, if he so wishes.

[Angus French]

Was there any feedback from the AGM about this topic?

I'm sorry; I neglected to report back to you on this.

Alex Holowczak said that he was not willing to revert to using the previous website. I'll leave him to explain his reasons, if he so wishes.

A little more information is available from the ECF News page on the SCCU website:

Online grading database. Someone asked why this has been moved to a new environment, incorporated in the main ECF website, which prevents it from working in the way it was designed to. Someone at the top table said something about commercial reasons. Make what you will of that, but the losses in functionality are real. The Director's circulated report had, in fact, alluded to them and said the problem was being addressed (though it did not say how). "Could it be addressed by moving the database back to its native environment?" Home Director: "No, the grading webmaster can't do this." He must have misunderstood the question, for his answer was simply untrue. The top table confirmed as much when prompted. The grading webmaster can do it tomorrow, and the gain in functionality would be immediate. Council was given to understand that it will not be done.

I agree with you, Adam, about the missing grade estimates.

I'm also a little concerned about the decision to redevelop the underlying software. Is this going to be necessary every time there's a change of Grading Website Officer?

[Adam Raoof]

I note that the database now has a separate field for membership status - well done!

[Sean Hewitt]

I note that the database now has a separate field for membership status - well done!

Indeed, although it would be even better if it displayed the correct membership category for all players. Just a bug I'm sure, but one I hope they will correct soon. I raised it with the appropriate directors this morning.

[Steve Rooney]

I note that the database now has a separate field for membership status - well done!

I noticed that yesterday and wasn't sure whether it was new or not, but well done, seconded.

It's certainly easier for checking our congress entries since everything is in one place - the membership spreadsheet has the reference numbers, but not the grade so this is ideal.

(Shropshire congress entries now over 80, by the way. Room for plenty more though.)