It seems from this thread that there a number of us searching for ways to get at fixture information stored on the BOF fixtures database so that this information can be integrated into club (and other) web sites.
The PDA approach utilised by oo_wrong_way in his solution is, I believe, also the same as that used by Angry Haggis. I wonder how many other webmasters are developing solutions based around the PDA route.
The problem, as Haggis found to his cost earlier in the year, is that BOF "enhance" their software and change things without giving notice, So all of a sudden our lovingly crafted solutions stop working.
Is it not time for us to have a more formalised, and supported, BOF data feed. The PDA list was never conceived to be used in this way. As technical gadgets move on I wouldn't want to bet against BOF dropping the PDA list because the didn't think anyone was still using it.
In the long run Paul's RSS feed approach is probably the safer option as it utilises an industry standard way of feeding data.
Anyone else out there trying to solve the same problem ? Probably useful if we exchange ideas and feed them back to BOF.
Searching for events
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Re: Searching for events
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Clive Coles - brown
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Re: Searching for events
As another webmaster (CHIG) can I echo the time consuming nature of maintaining an event page. A BOF API would be a great timesaver, allowing focus on other developments!
I have tried out Paul's feeds on one of our website pages http://chig.org.uk/results-fixtures/
(though not the main event fixtures/results page just yet)
I'll pass on some feedback to our fixtures secretary at our next committee meeting re the content of our BOF events listings.
The "scraping" solution illustrated provides the content I'd hope to include in a fixtures page.
I have given BOF feedback re an event feed when Ed Nicholas came along to one of our committee meetings. Maybe I'll follow this up with an email too.
I have tried out Paul's feeds on one of our website pages http://chig.org.uk/results-fixtures/
(though not the main event fixtures/results page just yet)
I'll pass on some feedback to our fixtures secretary at our next committee meeting re the content of our BOF events listings.
The "scraping" solution illustrated provides the content I'd hope to include in a fixtures page.
I have given BOF feedback re an event feed when Ed Nicholas came along to one of our committee meetings. Maybe I'll follow this up with an email too.
Webmaster, Chigwell & Epping Forest Orienteering Club
- alanbrett
- yellow
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Re: Searching for events
Clive - very prophetic!
The PDA listing lost its link to the event page in the last couple of days. This could be in response to the requested fix to the links. Now both the Venue and the Grid Ref columns link to Streetmap. It seems to have affected Ollie's map and has put a halt to my efforts to create a flexible RSS feed.
The BOF event map now no longer has links to the fixture details page. Hopefully this is work in progress!
Does anyone have a good contact route to the website developers?
Clive Coles wrote:The problem, as Haggis found to his cost earlier in the year, is that BOF "enhance" their software and change things without giving notice, So all of a sudden our lovingly crafted solutions stop working.
The PDA listing lost its link to the event page in the last couple of days. This could be in response to the requested fix to the links. Now both the Venue and the Grid Ref columns link to Streetmap. It seems to have affected Ollie's map and has put a halt to my efforts to create a flexible RSS feed.
The BOF event map now no longer has links to the fixture details page. Hopefully this is work in progress!
Does anyone have a good contact route to the website developers?
We built a club entry system so you don't have to! racesignup.co.uk
- oo_wrong_way
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Re: Searching for events
Sods law applies ~ when you craft something useful the plug gets pulled.
It looks as if BOF web developers are in bug fixing mode ~ frankly something that was long overdue as the hyperlinks on the PDA feed were not working as intended.
The PDA was conceived as a way of getting the Event Diary data onto the small hand held screen. They should always have been in line with each other ~ the advantage of the PDA was that it cut out all the unnecessary bits and bobs like banners & logos. But, with the evolution of systems in the rewrite last spring the Diary and PDA became out of step ~ this now seems to have been resolved.
There is possibly some better news for those of you who are developing add on solutions. Last week I received the following feedback from BOF
I don't therefore expect any more development on the fixtures front now that they have fixed the bugs.
So what we now have is probably what we have to live with.
i will be amazed if BOF allow anyone (other than themselves or the chosen) anywhere near their developers. They are trying to curtail costs and move on. But, you can always try asking.
I have always been rebuffed when ever I suggested that BOF should provide a properly supported fixture data download facility so that club web page developers could feed such data into their own solutions. BOF just didn't want to know. They seem to believe that orienteers should look to the BOF offering to find out what they want to know.
It looks as if BOF web developers are in bug fixing mode ~ frankly something that was long overdue as the hyperlinks on the PDA feed were not working as intended.
The PDA was conceived as a way of getting the Event Diary data onto the small hand held screen. They should always have been in line with each other ~ the advantage of the PDA was that it cut out all the unnecessary bits and bobs like banners & logos. But, with the evolution of systems in the rewrite last spring the Diary and PDA became out of step ~ this now seems to have been resolved.
There is possibly some better news for those of you who are developing add on solutions. Last week I received the following feedback from BOF
As you are aware, last year we spent a considerable amount of resource updating the Fixtures System (with input and support from Fixtures Group) and therefore during 2012, IT resource will be spent supporting other programme areas, with the exception of minor updates/bug corrections. It is therefore unlikely that any changes will be made this year.
I don't therefore expect any more development on the fixtures front now that they have fixed the bugs.
So what we now have is probably what we have to live with.
i will be amazed if BOF allow anyone (other than themselves or the chosen) anywhere near their developers. They are trying to curtail costs and move on. But, you can always try asking.
I have always been rebuffed when ever I suggested that BOF should provide a properly supported fixture data download facility so that club web page developers could feed such data into their own solutions. BOF just didn't want to know. They seem to believe that orienteers should look to the BOF offering to find out what they want to know.
http://www.savesandlingsforest.co.uk ~ campaigning to keep and extend our Public Forests. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-Our ... 4598610817
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Clive Coles - brown
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Re: Searching for events
Clive Coles wrote:i will be amazed if BOF allow anyone (other than themselves or the chosen) anywhere near their developers. They are trying to curtail costs and move on. But, you can always try asking.
I have always been rebuffed when ever I suggested that BOF should provide a properly supported fixture data download facility so that club web page developers could feed such data into their own solutions. BOF just didn't want to know. They seem to believe that orienteers should look to the BOF offering to find out what they want to know.
I think you may be right on both counts.
A full API is what is wanted by some of us, but with money being tight I guess it's hard to decide what is more important.
But the good news is that you can now restrict the level in the url request and just get events of a certain level as well as club and association.
- Code: Select all
http://www.britishorienteering.org.uk/fixturesfeed.php?assoc=soa&club=ecko&level=b
- Paul Frost
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Re: Searching for events
oo_wrong_way wrote:Clive - very prophetic!Clive Coles wrote:The problem, as Haggis found to his cost earlier in the year, is that BOF "enhance" their software and change things without giving notice, So all of a sudden our lovingly crafted solutions stop working.
The PDA listing lost its link to the event page in the last couple of days. This could be in response to the requested fix to the links. Now both the Venue and the Grid Ref columns link to Streetmap. It seems to have affected Ollie's map and has put a halt to my efforts to create a flexible RSS feed.
My fixtures map - http://sloweb.org.uk/ollie/map/ - is now working again, I have updated the code to reflect the latest changes on the PDA list.
Stop talking, start running.
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Angry Haggis - blue
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Re: Searching for events
Hi oo_wrong_way
I've been playing around with your version of the BO events listing with a view to adding it to our club website to let people bring up a more targeted listing. Thanks for putting the time in to develop it!
After circulating a few possible formulations around our club committee, a few people have said they'd like to see a listing of local events only - ie our club events and neighbouring clubs only, without the national and international events. While this may seem a bit League of Gentlemen, the thinking is that there are a lot of people around who will travel short distances to events, but they're not obsessed by orienteering enough to drive halfway across the country so won't be interested in level A events unless they are in the local area. Strange attitude I know but it takes all sorts.
So, would it be possible to include an option in the URL to deselect level A events that fall outside the region or club(s) listed?
I've been playing around with your version of the BO events listing with a view to adding it to our club website to let people bring up a more targeted listing. Thanks for putting the time in to develop it!
After circulating a few possible formulations around our club committee, a few people have said they'd like to see a listing of local events only - ie our club events and neighbouring clubs only, without the national and international events. While this may seem a bit League of Gentlemen, the thinking is that there are a lot of people around who will travel short distances to events, but they're not obsessed by orienteering enough to drive halfway across the country so won't be interested in level A events unless they are in the local area. Strange attitude I know but it takes all sorts.
So, would it be possible to include an option in the URL to deselect level A events that fall outside the region or club(s) listed?
- swat
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Re: Searching for events
Good news. The BO website people have added back the link to the fixture details and now it shows against the event name. If I remember rightly it used to be part of the venue. Linking from the event name is a good change.
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- oo_wrong_way
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Re: Searching for events
Hi Swat
Yes of course, that sounds like a reasonable change to make. It always was my intention to make the listing as flexible as possible whilst not relying necessarily on the event/activity having an accurate grid reference.
Now that I have received some feedback on the idea, the next stage of development will be to improve the flexibility of the url parameters and that will be followed by a simple front-end form to allow users to make their selections.
Yes of course, that sounds like a reasonable change to make. It always was my intention to make the listing as flexible as possible whilst not relying necessarily on the event/activity having an accurate grid reference.
Now that I have received some feedback on the idea, the next stage of development will be to improve the flexibility of the url parameters and that will be followed by a simple front-end form to allow users to make their selections.
We built a club entry system so you don't have to! racesignup.co.uk
- oo_wrong_way
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Re: Searching for events
Thanks oo_!
- swat
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Re: Searching for events
Warning - this post contains technical content. Read at your own risk!
Now that the BO website event listings are looking better, I have completed the next phase of developing a flexible event list. This is still in development so no guarantees on availability - and it is and probably always will be - dependant on the BO event listings both in terms of content and format.
I would welcome any feedback and ideas for improvement.
Here is an example of a working event list that is suitable for SOC members:
oevents.info/eventlist/?days=30&int=all&myclub=soc&a=all&b=swoa,seoa&c=nwo,slow,go&d=scoa,wim,sarum,wsx,so,sn&display=table
Picking the url apart:
oevents.info/eventlist/ - a new website address for the service
?days=30 - show events for the next 30 days. Change 30 to suit.
&int=all - show all International events that are registered on the BO list, including those outside of the UK. An alternative is &int=uk which will restrict the listing of International events to those who show an organising region on the BO list. By leaving out this parameter the only International events that will display are those that come within the scope of your list by virtue of the other parameters.
&myclub=soc - show all events and activities for SOC and, in the table display, make them distinctive (red background)
&a=all - show events down to and including Level A for all UK regions. You can specify regions and clubs here so &a=yhoa,clok would return International and Level A events in the YHOA region and those where CLOK is the organising club.
&b=swoa,seoa - show events down to and including Level B for the SWOA and SEOA regions. Clubs and regions can be specified. &b=all will list all Level B events, UK wide.
&c=nwo,slow,go - show events down to and including Level C for NWO, SLOW and GO clubs. Regions can be specified. &c=all for all UK Level C events
&d=scoa,wim,sarum,wsx,so,sn - show events down to and including Level D for the SCOA region and WIM, SARUM, WSX, SO and SN clubs. This example shows that it is valid to mix region and club initials in these lists.
&display=table - show events in a table. Replace table with list - &display=list - to produce a list of events that displays more easily in small areas of a website/newsletter and on mobile devices.
You do not have to specify all parameters. This works:
oevents.info/eventlist/?days=90&myclub=soc&c=scoa
and shows a table of events for the next 90 days that includes all SOC events and activities and all International, A, B & C level events in the SCOA region.
And one parameter that needs a small mention is:
&activity=wim - shows all events and activities for WIM. Note that &activity=all is not valid.
Feel free to use as you like. I would appreciate some feedback. Also please avoid posting on a website (as an iFrame or similar) where it will be displayed by every visitor even if they have no interest in the event listing. If you are not sure about what this means then please ask me. In general terms it is OK to construct a link using the rules above suitable for your club and posting that link on your website.
Next stage in the development is a form to allow you to specify your filter without needing to understand all of the above. Other ideas are a similar service for results and formatting as an RSS or news feed as an option.
Now that the BO website event listings are looking better, I have completed the next phase of developing a flexible event list. This is still in development so no guarantees on availability - and it is and probably always will be - dependant on the BO event listings both in terms of content and format.
I would welcome any feedback and ideas for improvement.
Here is an example of a working event list that is suitable for SOC members:
oevents.info/eventlist/?days=30&int=all&myclub=soc&a=all&b=swoa,seoa&c=nwo,slow,go&d=scoa,wim,sarum,wsx,so,sn&display=table
Picking the url apart:
oevents.info/eventlist/ - a new website address for the service
?days=30 - show events for the next 30 days. Change 30 to suit.
&int=all - show all International events that are registered on the BO list, including those outside of the UK. An alternative is &int=uk which will restrict the listing of International events to those who show an organising region on the BO list. By leaving out this parameter the only International events that will display are those that come within the scope of your list by virtue of the other parameters.
&myclub=soc - show all events and activities for SOC and, in the table display, make them distinctive (red background)
&a=all - show events down to and including Level A for all UK regions. You can specify regions and clubs here so &a=yhoa,clok would return International and Level A events in the YHOA region and those where CLOK is the organising club.
&b=swoa,seoa - show events down to and including Level B for the SWOA and SEOA regions. Clubs and regions can be specified. &b=all will list all Level B events, UK wide.
&c=nwo,slow,go - show events down to and including Level C for NWO, SLOW and GO clubs. Regions can be specified. &c=all for all UK Level C events
&d=scoa,wim,sarum,wsx,so,sn - show events down to and including Level D for the SCOA region and WIM, SARUM, WSX, SO and SN clubs. This example shows that it is valid to mix region and club initials in these lists.
&display=table - show events in a table. Replace table with list - &display=list - to produce a list of events that displays more easily in small areas of a website/newsletter and on mobile devices.
You do not have to specify all parameters. This works:
oevents.info/eventlist/?days=90&myclub=soc&c=scoa
and shows a table of events for the next 90 days that includes all SOC events and activities and all International, A, B & C level events in the SCOA region.
And one parameter that needs a small mention is:
&activity=wim - shows all events and activities for WIM. Note that &activity=all is not valid.
Feel free to use as you like. I would appreciate some feedback. Also please avoid posting on a website (as an iFrame or similar) where it will be displayed by every visitor even if they have no interest in the event listing. If you are not sure about what this means then please ask me. In general terms it is OK to construct a link using the rules above suitable for your club and posting that link on your website.
Next stage in the development is a form to allow you to specify your filter without needing to understand all of the above. Other ideas are a similar service for results and formatting as an RSS or news feed as an option.
We built a club entry system so you don't have to! racesignup.co.uk
- oo_wrong_way
- orange
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Re: Searching for events
Just two quick thoughts
1) When you his the back to list option from the BOF details screen it in fact displays the BOF PDA listing rather than the filtered listing thay you came from. Would be more helpful if you returned to your list as you may want to dig up details of another of your selected events
2) like the use of colour to highlight your club events. Just another idea ~ could we utilise different colour to highlight events in your region. Then the out of region events "really worth travelling to" will standout against the events in your region.
1) When you his the back to list option from the BOF details screen it in fact displays the BOF PDA listing rather than the filtered listing thay you came from. Would be more helpful if you returned to your list as you may want to dig up details of another of your selected events
2) like the use of colour to highlight your club events. Just another idea ~ could we utilise different colour to highlight events in your region. Then the out of region events "really worth travelling to" will standout against the events in your region.
http://www.savesandlingsforest.co.uk ~ campaigning to keep and extend our Public Forests. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Save-Our ... 4598610817
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Clive Coles - brown
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Re: Searching for events
I like the options available but it seems crazy the route that the data is going through.
British Orienteering publish it as an HTML table
You scrape it and convert it to data fields
You publish it as an HTML table
If you then provide an RSS feed of it as well
I'll parse that feed and use it to create an HTML table in the format I want.
The event data needs to be available as an API from the source data held by British Orienteering. Then we can all choose whatever format we want to present the information in, a Google map with pins, a table, a list, sorted by, filtered by etc. without all the processing and error prone scraping of HTML.
British Orienteering publish it as an HTML table
You scrape it and convert it to data fields
You publish it as an HTML table
If you then provide an RSS feed of it as well
I'll parse that feed and use it to create an HTML table in the format I want.
The event data needs to be available as an API from the source data held by British Orienteering. Then we can all choose whatever format we want to present the information in, a Google map with pins, a table, a list, sorted by, filtered by etc. without all the processing and error prone scraping of HTML.
- Paul Frost
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Re: Searching for events
If that happens there must be an error somewhere as CLOK is not a YHOA club!oo_wrong_way wrote:&a=all - show events down to and including Level A for all UK regions. You can specify regions and clubs here so &a=yhoa,clok would return International and Level A events in the YHOA region and those where CLOK is the organising club.
Simon Firth - ESOC
Comments on Nopesport are my own
Comments on Nopesport are my own
- smf
- green
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Re: Searching for events
smf wrote:If that happens there must be an error somewhere as CLOK is not a YHOA club!oo_wrong_way wrote:&a=all - show events down to and including Level A for all UK regions. You can specify regions and clubs here so &a=yhoa,clok would return International and Level A events in the YHOA region and those where CLOK is the organising club.
Er no -- it is a logical OR not a logical AND, and the narrative explains that, despite the
use of the "and" in the explanation
- MIE
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