Virtual War Documentation $Date: 2005/09/02 17:25:49 $

 

 


1.0 Introduction

Virtual War is a PHP/MySQL script that generates an interactive record of clan (or club) matches and scrims.
It features an integrated suite of user information screens and a separate but connected administration interface that allows for the establishment of separate group and individual access permissions.

A War can mean a match, a less formal scheduled scrim, or team practice (remember shirts vs. skins?).

2.0 Requirements

We recommend the latest stable versions.

3.0 User Interface

The user interface is comprised of four sections: Wars, Next Actions, Calendar, and Member.
You navigate the user interface by using the QuickJump located at the top right of the screen.
Make a selection from the drop-down menu and press Go. The user interface is used to:

  • Access all previously entered VWar data
  • Join or Challenge the VWar host clan.
  • Allow members to sign-up or sign-off an upcoming match.
3.1 Wars

View information on all the previously entered wars, view/add comments and view screenshots. This screen also provides a link to Join or Challenge the VWar host clan. This is the Default view.

  1. Clicking the Opponent will give you their contact information>
  2. Clicking the Details icon to the right will give you details on the particular match as well as links to all available screenshots. At the bottom of the page will be any other wars played against that particular opponent.
  3. Clicking Comments will let you view any match comments as well as add your own. It is like a mini match forum.
3.2 Next Actions

Here you can view all upcoming wars AND sign-up for them.

  1. They will be listed in chronologically, all on one page.
  2. At the bottom of each listing is a link for you to sign-up or sign-off. By clicking sign-up you add your name to the list of available players or you may sign-up as unavailable. By clicking sign-off you remove your name from the list entirely.
3.3 Members

View all member information (including Birthdays)

3.4 Calendar

This provides a very handy calendar output with links to all Wars as well as Calendar Events (such as LAN parties, Birthdays, Member absences, etc)

  1. By clicking on List View to the top-right, it will show only those days in the calendar month that have entries.
  2. At the bottom of the calendar you may select the month that you want to view.
  3. It is worth nothing that entered wars that are previous to the current date and time will not display any information until they have been finished (see section 4.2)
3.5 Statistics

Gives general VWAR statistics.

4. Admin Interface

This is the cool part. Here you get to add info to database tables regarding your opponents, wars, profile etc. This interface aims to be fairly intuitive. In this section I hope to clarify some areas where there might be some confusion.

  • To use the admin area you must be logged-in.
  • The admin area of your VWar will be located  at: http://myPathToVwar/admin/
  • All functions available to you will be listed in the left hand panel.
    You may or may not have been granted the privileges to perform any of the actions listed below.

4.1 Add a War

In order for you to add a new war, certain information needs to be present. Check to see if your opponent is listed by clicking Modify Opponent. Remember there may be multiple pages of opponents already listed. If your opponent is not listed you must first click Add Opponent.

  1. Enter the short name; the clan tag e.g. {LLC}
  2. Enter the Long Name e.g. Laurelhurst LAN Club
  3. It is a good idea to enter MINIMALLY a homepage and/or email address, though please feel free to be more complete as it is way cooler to have a more complete database. This only needs to be done once. Thereafter the clan will be available in the opponents list.
  4. Press Add This Opponent.

If the server that you are to play on is not listed when you click Modify Server, then you must click  Add Server. It is convenient to add a server called "Meet on TeamSpeak" or some other voice chat for when the server info is not yet known.

  1. Name the server. (I like to use the tag of the clan that runs the server). E.g. {LLC} Infil Server
  2. Enter the IP in the IP:port format (e.g 216.183.109.45:20110)
    It is very important to have the port number as many server admins run their servers on custom ports (20110 or whatever).

Add the war. Click Add War.

  1. Fill in all * red-starred fields and any additional info you may want to add.
  2. Time is 24 hour military style. 7:15 pm = 19:15
  3. Add the server password.
  4. Add 1 at least location (map) for each side we play.
    (Unfortunately this is a shortcoming of the screenshots area. You can only add 1 screen shot per location. So, if we are going to play offence and defense on jor1 then there should be 2 locations of jor1. After adding the first a second field will appear.

That should be it. Click Add This War. Now go Sign-up for the match!

4.2 Finish a War

When a war is completed and the results are final, the war needs to be finished before the results will be viewable.

  1. Click on Modify War then on Finish War.
  2. Enter the scores for the first and second rounds or whatever is pertinent to the war.
  3. Final result by location should be left to 'No'.
  4. Add the player's names.
  5. Public report should be left to 'Yes'.
  6. Make any match reports or add them later as comments.
  7. Click on Finish This War.

4.3 Add a Calendar Event

Use this for LANs, vacation announcements ...

  1. Click Add Event under the Cash/Calendar area.
  2. Add the details.

4.4 Maintain a Cash balance

VWar can be used to maintain a cash balance for your clan. This is a helpful feature when trying to track who has ponied up for monthly server dues. It allows members with the proper permissions to view, edit, or add to the clan 'financial statements'.

  1. Click on the Add Cash link and enter an amount.

4.5 Automatic Backup

VWar backup your database automatically on every specified day.
If available the files are automatically compressed to save disk space.

The backups are saved in the backup folder in your main vwar directory.
This folder is protected by htaccess. So only members with the specified rights can access this folder.
You will find all settings for Automatic Backup on the settings page.

  1. Enable "Can access Backup Folder" for the specified accessgroup
  2. Open the "General Settings" page and click on "Configure Access"
  3. Select the member which can access the backup folder and click on "Modify"
  4. All selected members now become a mail with the username and password.
    A new field is now available in the members profile.

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Virtual War Documentation v1.1
main content by Theo from LaurelhurstLAN Club