umpires tutorial
Ok, so as I am not passing over the torch I have decided to write a little tutorial to any future Umpires. I have made this unhidden for now so that anyone who fancies a gander at the inner working of assassins can do so. Also if ANYONE has any questions then please use the chat box below; hopefully if I've missed anything important you might remind me.
Please keep in mind that I am trying to give as much info as possible. This might make things sound allot more confusing than they actually are. In general all you have to do is look at what I have done before and copy/paste into it.
This is currently being worked on, some of it is acting more like a note for me rather than anything helpful to anyone else at this point in time.
Please keep in mind that I am trying to give as much info as possible. This might make things sound allot more confusing than they actually are. In general all you have to do is look at what I have done before and copy/paste into it.
This is currently being worked on, some of it is acting more like a note for me rather than anything helpful to anyone else at this point in time.
accounts and docs you will need info for
- Bubbl.us
- google docs
- all player data
- previous games sheets (make template)
- HTML/Kudos doc
- mail chimp
- twitter
- ... that google social thing I never use
- chatango
- Jotforms
- Assassins folder from past games
Setting up
Jotforms
When a player signs up you will receive their info via email. This is done using something called Jotforms since the forms provided by Weebly don't offer all the required features.
Jotforms is pretty simple to set up. Again it is another drag and drop site where you just drop the fields you need in order to update a form. Jotforms can be accessed via www.jotforms.com. Should an signup emails accidentally get deleted then their can be retrieved from there.
You add jotforms to Weebly simply by clicking "export" on the jotforms site and copying the html text into a Weebly drag and drop html box.
Jotforms is pretty simple to set up. Again it is another drag and drop site where you just drop the fields you need in order to update a form. Jotforms can be accessed via www.jotforms.com. Should an signup emails accidentally get deleted then their can be retrieved from there.
You add jotforms to Weebly simply by clicking "export" on the jotforms site and copying the html text into a Weebly drag and drop html box.
bubbl.us
OPTIONAL STEP
www.bubbl.us is simply a link to the online flow chart builder that is really easy to use. I usually use this when first working out who initially should get what writs.
Originally I would use this the who way through the game since there were less players at that point. Now it is better to switch later on to using the spreadsheets.
www.bubbl.us is simply a link to the online flow chart builder that is really easy to use. I usually use this when first working out who initially should get what writs.
Originally I would use this the who way through the game since there were less players at that point. Now it is better to switch later on to using the spreadsheets.
When usin bubbl.us I would simple copy the details of each player into a separate bubble. i.e. : -
Pydonym
Full Name
address
course/work
Once I have every players details in a new bubble I would duplicate them and give each set a different colour (this makes them easier to sort later).
I would then create a set of players pseudonymous and attach the three writs to them.
When sorting out the writs I normally try and give each player one writ than to close, one that is mid distance, and one that lives far away. This can be done by generally grouping the players into clusters, and then picking a writ from each cluster. If you want to get clever there is an option in google maps which allows you to import a spreadsheet to physically show up on a map, and then organise people from there.
Pydonym
Full Name
address
course/work
Once I have every players details in a new bubble I would duplicate them and give each set a different colour (this makes them easier to sort later).
I would then create a set of players pseudonymous and attach the three writs to them.
When sorting out the writs I normally try and give each player one writ than to close, one that is mid distance, and one that lives far away. This can be done by generally grouping the players into clusters, and then picking a writ from each cluster. If you want to get clever there is an option in google maps which allows you to import a spreadsheet to physically show up on a map, and then organise people from there.
spreadsheets
Once you have finished pissing around with bubbles (or if you skipped that step) you can use a google docs spreadsheet to store all of the players information.
I have put allot of effort in during game 6 to try and make the spreadsheets as easy to manage as possible. I would suggest that you just clone the sheets from game 6 and change the info inside them. Make sure you don't delete the formulas.
I have put allot of effort in during game 6 to try and make the spreadsheets as easy to manage as possible. I would suggest that you just clone the sheets from game 6 and change the info inside them. Make sure you don't delete the formulas.
Ok, these spreadsheets look allot scarier than they actually are. The pseudonym, name and last name parts are self explanatory. The kudos is a record of any Kudos a player might have, but is regulated by a different sheet (don't edit it on this sheet). The items keep track of any items the players have. Remember that any Kudos or items a player has will be carried over from the previous game, so you need to check if any returning players have any.
The writs are where you copy and past the writs that a player has. This should be in a format that is easily understood since mailchimp will take that cell and attach it to the players writ emails.
Skipping the powers section (since that was game 6 specific) there is a section called "update writs". These should all be "0" except if someone's writs have changed. Changing this cell to a 1 will mean they automatically receive a email message containing their new writs.
The "kill message" is similar to the "update writs" message, however it sends a message letting players know they have been killed. This was not used in game 6 since I only added it at the end, I suggest that it is used in future games though.
The "alive" column keeps track of who is alive or not. If a player is alive they are set as 1, of they are dead they are set as 0. For the sake of keeping track of police I set police as 0.5 and thugs as -0.5. These sections should change colour depending on the numbers you put in. (green = alive, red = dead, blue = police, yellow = thug).
The final three sections seem complex however they are simply there to check for errors. If at any point any of then turn red or orange you know that you've got a problem.
The writs are where you copy and past the writs that a player has. This should be in a format that is easily understood since mailchimp will take that cell and attach it to the players writ emails.
Skipping the powers section (since that was game 6 specific) there is a section called "update writs". These should all be "0" except if someone's writs have changed. Changing this cell to a 1 will mean they automatically receive a email message containing their new writs.
The "kill message" is similar to the "update writs" message, however it sends a message letting players know they have been killed. This was not used in game 6 since I only added it at the end, I suggest that it is used in future games though.
The "alive" column keeps track of who is alive or not. If a player is alive they are set as 1, of they are dead they are set as 0. For the sake of keeping track of police I set police as 0.5 and thugs as -0.5. These sections should change colour depending on the numbers you put in. (green = alive, red = dead, blue = police, yellow = thug).
The final three sections seem complex however they are simply there to check for errors. If at any point any of then turn red or orange you know that you've got a problem.
- The "self error" tells you if you have added a someone as their own writ.
- The "count error" means that if a player appears more than three times (since there should only be three writs of them) it turns red. If there are less than three it turns orange. If you happen to see this turn red, the first thing you should do is check if another one has turned orange and just duplicate one of them over it.
- The double writ turns red of the player is given two of the same writs.
Scary formulas! (optional read)
These are the formulas for the testing columns. It will help you if you want to create a new error check, or if it keeps throwing up a false positive. I wouldn't worry too much about understand these.
Self error
=if(iserr(search(B3,J3&K3&L3)),0,1)
This basically translates to "If B3 (the column for first names) is within J3, K3, or L3 (the columns for writs) show a 0, otherwise show a 1.".
This is going on the assumption that no other writ will have the same first name. If this is the case you will likely have a false positive. If you wish to change this to Surnames would would change the part that says "B3" to "C3".
This is going on the assumption that no other writ will have the same first name. If this is the case you will likely have a false positive. If you wish to change this to Surnames would would change the part that says "B3" to "C3".
Count Error
=COUNTIF( arrayformula(ISNUMBER(search(C3,J:L))),TRUE)
This basically says "count how many times C3 (the surname) occurs within columns J to L. If it is three the cell changes to green, more than three is red, two or one is orange, and less than 0 is black (because the player is likely dead).
Double writ error
=if(iserr(search(K2,J2&L2)),if(iserr(search(J2,K2&L2))
,if(iserr(search(L2,K2&J2)),0,1),1),1)
This one seems more complex but it really isn't. It is basically the same formula repeated three times, once for each writ column.
Basically it is saying that if K2 is within J2 or L2, if K2 is in J2 or L2, or if L2 is within J2 or K2 then show a 1, otherwise show a 0. It is basically checking that two cells are not the same in those three rows.
Basically it is saying that if K2 is within J2 or L2, if K2 is in J2 or L2, or if L2 is within J2 or K2 then show a 1, otherwise show a 0. It is basically checking that two cells are not the same in those three rows.
Setting up mailchimp campaigns
Mailchimp is a website which allows you to schedule HTML emails to a range of people from a spreadsheet.
The first thing you have to do is create a "list". This is done by clicking "lists", then "create list".
You are then given a simple form.
Don't tick any of the notification boxes, but tick the "pick format" box.
Once that is done all you need to do is import your spreadsheet.
Your spreadsheet should appear on the next page. You will need to go through each of your columns and select a title for each of them (preferably the same as the ones in your spreadsheet). These are important since they will be used as meta tags later.
... and then you're done. All the basics should be set up in order to start the game!
The first thing you have to do is create a "list". This is done by clicking "lists", then "create list".
You are then given a simple form.
- The "list name" should be the name of the game e.g. "Game 7".
- "From Name" should be "The Umpire".
- "Reply to" should be "[email protected]".
- Annoyingly it required you to add an address (I've just got my old one), you can put this as anything you want.
Don't tick any of the notification boxes, but tick the "pick format" box.
Once that is done all you need to do is import your spreadsheet.
- You do this by clicking the cog symbol next to the list and click "import".
- You then click "google docs".
- You then select the name of your spreadsheet for this game, and worksheet 1.
- If you are updating the sheet you need to tick "auto-update my existing lists.
Your spreadsheet should appear on the next page. You will need to go through each of your columns and select a title for each of them (preferably the same as the ones in your spreadsheet). These are important since they will be used as meta tags later.
... and then you're done. All the basics should be set up in order to start the game!
GAME start
Scheduling an mass email
Mass emails are pretty simple once you have mailchimp set up. All you have to do is import the spreadsheets in the same way you did when setting up mailchimp (on the assumption that the sheets have been updated). Then duplicate a previous email by clicking "replicate" under the campaigns menu.
From there you can select the receipts. In most cases this will be people with "update writs" set as 1, but it can be anything.
Edit the design of the email to what you want it to say. Remember that you can use mergetags so that information is automatically added from the spreadsheets. e.g. putting *|EMAIL|* will write the email of the player receiving that mail.
It is important that you update the text based message by clicking "import from html" otherwise you risk sending the unedited version of the message out.
From there you can select the receipts. In most cases this will be people with "update writs" set as 1, but it can be anything.
Edit the design of the email to what you want it to say. Remember that you can use mergetags so that information is automatically added from the spreadsheets. e.g. putting *|EMAIL|* will write the email of the player receiving that mail.
It is important that you update the text based message by clicking "import from html" otherwise you risk sending the unedited version of the message out.
Updating the website
The website works simply by using drag and drop boxes. Anything that you can't do via drag and drop can be used by dragging a HTML box and making it manually. This is the case for most things on the site.
Before the game begins you should create a countdown click for the start of the game. The html for it is already in a box on the top of the main page, you can find it by hovering your mouse over the page. Simply remove the "<!--" "-->" parts from the html and it will become visible. Then change the title and time.
Before the game begins you should create a countdown click for the start of the game. The html for it is already in a box on the top of the main page, you can find it by hovering your mouse over the page. Simply remove the "<!--" "-->" parts from the html and it will become visible. Then change the title and time.
Most other elements in the site are pretty similar and can just be copy and pasted from previous games.
When enough players have signed up you should add them to the scores for that week similarly to other games. I would suggest just copying the whole page from the last game (via Pages) and then just edit the html for the new avatars and names. Before the game starts you should remember to update : -
When enough players have signed up you should add them to the scores for that week similarly to other games. I would suggest just copying the whole page from the last game (via Pages) and then just edit the html for the new avatars and names. Before the game starts you should remember to update : -
- The countdown clock
- The players avatars under their scores
- Create a page for the weekly events
Basic HTML
<!-- hide test -->
<br>Break</br>
<a><img src="*image url*"
'border:Border sizepx solid #000000'
alt="* alternate text*
"width="image width" height="image height"></a>
<br>Break</br>
<a><img src="*image url*"
'border:Border sizepx solid #000000'
alt="* alternate text*
"width="image width" height="image height"></a>
Social Networking
Etiquette and telling people to fuck off!
Remember that you can't make everyone happy, and some people will get upset about your decisions. In the situation that people are being dicks it is important to tell them to FUCK OFF!
You're the Umpire, you make the rules.
You're the Umpire, you make the rules.