DGSWishlist

    Keywords: Online Go

The following are features and requests DGS users dream of/hope can one day might be implemented on DragonGoServer. As DGS is Open Source, this page is an excellent ground for present as well as future developers seeking some new challenges.

Some wishes have been implemented on the [ext] development server, and are flagged with a [1]. These inputs will be removed from this page.

This page is not to report bugs, please use DGS's forum [ext] Dragon discussion for this.

Make sure you read DGS' own [ext] todo list first.

Please enter your comments at the bottom of the appropriate section. Don't worry too much about if it's in the right place - if it isn't, someone will move it there. If possible, provide a link to the associated thread in a DGS forum.

If unable to edit this page for any reason, use this link ([ext] http://www.dragongoserver.net/phorum/post.php?f=4) to post a suggestion on Dragon's forum, or send a message to one of following DGS users, who will be so kind to add your suggestion to this page:

Please provide a link to a thread in a forum if possible.

%[axd]: I propose to comment out lines that are not relevant, and clean out those comments from time to time.

Table of contents

Game Handling

% axd: I'd rather call this a workaround...

General Game Stuff

  • (like "add more time") - this is especially useful in the absence of vacation that works correctly.
  • Downgrade game from rated to unrated (agreement of both players).
  • chrisg: Tournaments - to get to know and play other players.
  • PStr: Standalone client - connect with server only for load/upload moves like email clients.
    • adammarquis: I wouldn't want the Dragon crew using up their time on this, but it sounds like a fun project for a programmer with some free time.
  • Rengo functionality - [ext] Pair Go
    • BenAxelrod: Be able to play on a Rengo team from your own account. (you would only get move notifications if it is your turn)
    • BenAxelrod: Your name will automatically be added to the SGF on every move you make. The personal game comments should not allow talk between the team members. The game message system should either be locked, or each message should persist for 4 moves so that everyone can see them.
    • BenAxelrod: Last 4 moves will be marked. See: [ext] highlight the N last moves
  • axd: [1] file names of downloads should have the game ID instead of the current date (see also [ext] Discussion)
  • Liso: ability to change color (useful in teaching games to show to student that position could be playable :)
  • BenAxelrod: More intuitive and easy flagging of game comments for public/private use. [ext] Discussion.

Ratings


Game Start, [ext] Invitations

General

  • option for mandatory use of standard Hoshi when inviting/waiting room (and server automatically assigns the moves)+-
  • it should be possible to [ext] move game invitation messages to a separate folder, for example when one cannot / does not want to accept immediately an invitation, but put it "in the fridge" to declutter the Status page (now, invitations stay in the Reply! folder, which is always visible).
  • Liso2: default preferences for inviting I like to have... (e.g. Fisher time 36h, 90 day, rated, not weekend clock, etc...) But I am not sure if it has to be opponent or user oriented :) (I prefer user who invite..., but probably opponent could have denied option - I mean automatically refuse invitation with main time less than 10 days, strength diff bigger than 1000 rating points, etc... )
  • see what changed when receiving (and maybe also when sending) an invitation Dispute.
  • possibility to specify number of games in invitations, default=1

Waiting room

  • dmwit: Option to demand a certain number of finished (rated) games
  • WillerZ: Option to demand challenging user has a real ranking, i.e. not (0%)
    • adammarquis: What would a "real rating" be? You could naturally arrive at 0% after even many games, there isn't anything special about that point except that you start there. Dmwit's solution would work, though, either as a user setting (let people with n+ rated games join) or as something complex like KGS's confidence algorithm.
    • dmwit: Even worse, players can easily start with a rating that is not 0% by entering, for example, a KGS rating and having DGS translate it for them.

Game End

  • axd: possibility to [ext] reject a win+: what's the point of winning games due to opponent time outs if it is obvious the opponent is not accessing the server any more?
  • chrisg: [ext] Resume won game (as unrated). Sometimes a game times out, and it would be interesting to see what would have happened.
  • Liso: (probably also during game) "button/link" to rematch. (I mean automatically generated invitation with same settings after click on "button/link")
  • mprice42: [ext] resign during opponent's turn
  • anon: to be able to reply to game results message with reply going to former opponent.

New fields/columns/links/buttons


Current game

% ** [uxs]: I implemented game notes, so they will probably be available at the next server update.
  • Liso: Game notes for observers only (hidden for players) useful for comments during game, applaus, question to community, etc...
  • [ext] to quickly find back comments, either/or/and
    • flag commented moves (e.g. by highlight, bold, underline, dunno...) in the move list;
    • [1] provide a link to generate a HTML page with all comments merged into a read-only chat-like page, and prefixed with a hyperlink to the move (possibly add a date and the originator).
  • axd: during a game, a link/button [ext] generates a variation submitted to the opponent as a new game invitation. to avoid misuse, possibly restrict to rated games so the new game counts as a separate result and people do not generate scores of useless games. this feature is not meant to be used to study variations (although it could be used for that).
  • button to turn coordinates on/off while viewing a game
  • axd: played stones on the goban hyperlink to the corresponding game position (similar as in the move list). this would allow another feature to work: when using custom stylesheets, custom 'visited link' colors allow to [ext] highlight points on the goban (URL history stored in the browser) when clicked but not submitted
  • [ext] tiptext show coordinates/move number if occupied/comments (and/or...)
  • [ext] animated stones
  • [ext] optional/conditional moves
    • possibility to propose a sequence
    • possibility to propose variations in a sequence
    • server takes over playing until sequence ends or opponent opts for an alternative move
    • opponent can/cannot (to be discussed) see the entire sequence (i.e. must submit his move before seeing the programmed answer)
% ** [jonathan] Multiple Moves: Allow users to enter sequences of moves. Similar to eBay's automatic bidding, your sequence of moves is revealed to your opponent only if they play a response included in your sequence. Being able to specify variations would be nice but not required -- even the ability to enter single threaded sequences would be useful.
  • [ext] preview of messages (e.g. to check if HTML markup works as expected)
  • jc: show game start time
  • option to [ext] switch colours with your opponent to show them how they might come from behind rather than resign
  • option to show the current game board without player info section
  • show the weekend clock setting

Status page

([ext] http://www.dragongoserver.net/status.php)

  • make the display of my user Status block on the Status page optional. this to make the [ext] running games window/list as small as possible.
  • [ext] jbrod: make the status block adjustable. for example i would like to undisplay my name (i know it by heart and it does not change too often) and see the number of running games here.
  • axd: make the message list accessible via a link that is only shown when there are messages waiting, this to make the status page as small as possible.
  • Frs: add a [ext] "remaing time" column (with sort option)
  • Frs: add an editable "priority" column (with sort option)
  • [ext] jbrod: possibility to sort games on status page
  • [ext] jbrod: observed games with new moves show up on status page +
  • arkuat: [1] [ext] "rated" column
  • RSS feed of the status page.
%axd: whenever possible, avoid discussions here, use the forum for this

Waiting room

([ext] http://www.dragongoserver.net/waiting_room.php)

  • Frs: user-defined default sort order (e.g. by rating)
  • Frs: option to hide unacceptable game offers (e.g. unsuitable rating, time limits, board size)

User info, profile, bio

([ext] http://www.dragongoserver.net/userinfo.php)

  • add user's timezone
  • a current handicap and komi indication (proper + conventional) is shown when browsing a user info
  • add a small free text field in the user info to give opponents an indication of availability (e.g. asleep, away, be right back...) the field should be a column in the running games and visible in the user info related pages.
  • profile-settable number of lines per screen listings (I'd like to have more lines per screenful for messages, search functions, running games, finished games...)
  • Liso:user info pictures -> possibility to add pictures to your homepage (or other web pages) like rattinggraph, for to indicate if u are open for matches, ... (or image "invite me" or "dont invite me in this moment", "on vacation", etc...)
  • Liso: possibility to set preferred number of games for change open for new games status automatically
  • Frs: additional and searchable "language" field (e.g. to find opponents who know the French language but live in Italy)
  • kea: [ext] matches versus you show the games you played against the browsed user
  • [ext] NPC: Activity histogram, that shows at which daytime the user usually makes moves. [ext] see here (item added by [ext] jbrod)
  • [ext] NPC: Data field that shows average moves per day and game of a user. [ext] see here (item added by [ext] jbrod)
  • show the basis of the initial rating (no reason to hide this, plus it justifies one's initial rating - see also [ext] http://www.dragongoserver.net/phorum/read.php?f=3&i=603&t=603
  • as the playing period info is available, on pages where the last user access time is printed
    • show whether the user is within his playing hours (to get a rough idea of currently available players); e.g. show "3.5 hours before sleep" (so he is eligible for playing), or "7 hours before wake up" (so probably he is asleep);
    • some flag/column/checkmark that shows if the user is (supposed to be) asleep/awake
  • some way to reorder fields in the bio page
  • weekend clock setting: rather undecided, see discussions <[ext] http://www.dragongoserver.net/phorum/read.php?f=4&i=3136&t=3136>
    • transfer the weekend clock property from game to player objects. players can choose to change their weekend clock setting anytime, game clocks will continue during weekends only when both player's weekend clock settings are ON.
    • additional restriction in waiting room games
  • mass download of one's finished games, as on KGS

Messages

([ext] http://www.dragongoserver.net/list_messages.php)

  • [1] possibility to mark all messages in a folder with one click or to move unmarked messages instead of marked ones (or possibility to invert/complement the current selection)
  • possibility to delete messages directly (a.k.a. without first moving then to the dustbin)
    • Rodival This will not be done, but the previous item helps.
  • [1] provide a link that generates the complete conversation of a message sequence in a single HTML page (so one does not have to use the "replied" link all the time to go back and find something written earlier)
%FAQ:* [jfc]: include messages that are sent with moves during a game as comments in the SGF record. It is really tedious to have to step through the game on DGS to find old messages!
%**[Rodival] A "SGF with owned comments" link is done. See the [development server|http://dragongoserver.sourceforge.net/].
%[axd]: BTW, please consider the request to generate an HTML page containing the conversation of a game - see an item under "Current game"
%**[gedh]: This part of the DGS FAQ might be of help: [How can I store text in SGF|http://www.dragongoserver.net/faq.php?read=t&cat=18#Entry75].

Dragon's users

([ext] http://www.dragongoserver.net/users.php)

  • Frs: search form, e.g. search users by rating, country etc.
  • Frs: alias links, e.g. ../users/rating/18k for users around 18 kyu or ../users/country/de for users from Germany (de)
  • hyperlink Running and Finished fields of each user to corresponding pages

Forum pages

([ext] http://www.dragongoserver.net/phorum/index.php)

  • search N days ago (not only multiples of 30) - replace the drop-down by a input, defaulted to 30 (0 = search all?)
  • some kind of notification when a reply is posted in a forum; observe messages. people do reply old messages.
  • filter for new messages only
  • filter for messages less than N days ago
  • reduce width of 'Topic' column (50% wasted space, due to author name and date fields sometimes using two lines)
  • forum overview page: put 'Last Post' in its own column to avoid the jaggy appearance; reduce width of forum name column to free up screen space
  • headers of flat view of a topic should contain the <new> indicator (if applicable), and the date/time of the message
  • replying in an old thread should keep the whole thread in its recent (new) position; currently, the New indicator sends the thread floating on top, but then the whole thread get sorted back somewhere deep in the thread list even when not applying "Mark All Read".
  • dmwit: replying in an old thread should mark it as read
  • dmwit: put a New indicator on the list of forums as well as the list of threads

Running games

([ext] http://www.dragongoserver.net/show_games.php?uid=1)

  • (also in Status page) remaining time column. note: this value will probably change all the time when it is the users turn to move. maybe replace this column by a projected end time (suggest "ends at yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm") when the user is at turn, and the true time remaining (which is then frozen) when the user is not at turn.
    • Rodival "ends at yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm" is a good idea but what about byo-yomi?
  • some indication for those games that I am also also observing ("observed?" column)
  • indication/column: opponent is on vacation
  • indication: who's next to play
  • [ext] jbrod: add my start rating column to the list of my running games.
  • [ext] Beckenbauer: How about enabling sorting of current games by country? (item added by [ext] jbrod)
  • axd: [ext] indication of expected play load based on running games (how often do a player needs to check DGS)

Finished games

([ext] http://www.dragongoserver.net/show_games.php?uid=1&finished=1)

  • axd: time information: use designated SGF properties to store time allotted (TM), time used by players (W/BL) (or time left at end of game) - if possible, show how much time the players consumed.
    • Rodival Two problems:
      1) All SGF timings are in second with no specifcation about the upper limit. Few months expressed in second give a big number that could disturb some SGF viewers. Do you have any info about that?
      2) How do you compute the time left with each byo-yomi type?
  • possibility to reply to opponent when game is finished.
  • [ext] jbrod: add my start/end rating column to the list of my finished games.

Observed games

([ext] http://www.dragongoserver.net/show_games.php?observe=t)

  • [ext] jbrod: observed games also in status list

Vacation

([ext] http://www.dragongoserver.net/edit_vacation.php)


General UI and Design Issues

  • option to deselect move confirmation: clicking a move automatically submits the move (and goes to next game?)
  • undo (propose as well as request)
  • column headers should not be significally wider than their content (e.g. H instead of "Handicap") to avoid lists requiring a lot of screen estate+
  • axd: [1] [ext] Wiki-like hyperlink substitution of references to DGS objects (users, games, moves, messages/threads), to avoid having to type the complete HTML syntax (error-prone and used often). example: <game_12345>, <user_3201>, <message_...>, <move_225> (or <game_12345_move_332> ?)
  • get rid of the <a href="">..</a> syntax, suggest < targetURL | name > instead, where 'name' is optional and the '|' is then used to separate name from targetURL. If targetURL is preceded by a '_' character, add the "target=_blank" tag.
    • Rodival Actually on Dragon, you have <http:...>. Use: "name:<targetURL>". This is nearly the same. [1] "target=_blank" is done on the [ext] development server.
%**[Rodival] accesskey are added on the [development server|http://dragongoserver.sourceforge.net/].
  • Make separate GUI for WAP devices
  • axd: to improve browsing listings (finished games, users, messages?), listings allow to jump to a specific page (now, there is only "next page","previous page" links); listing header shows number of records to have an idea of quantity; records are numbered (column can be hidden).
  • kiwipete: [1] for each page type, set focus to some appropriate text entry box (login, reply fields, waiting room, invite page...)
  • BenAxelrod: Provide a "heads up" display that uses the wasted screen region on the right. See my example at: [ext] http://www.gyoju.com/ben/headsup.jpg.
  • Redirection from index.php to status.php if you are already logged in

Sorting, ordering, grouping

general

  • pages containing the country flag should also have the timezone, to allow [ext] sorting on time zone
  • axd: sorting should be more intuitive, and unlimited (currently only 2 sortings are possible; a button should be provided to clear the sorting): each click on a column applies a further subsort (and not a main sort as is the case now); column headers show the sort order number if involved in the sorting.
  • axd: [ext] general table/list filtering mechanism: cells have a '+' (keep) and a '-' (exclude) link. in case of floats, '-' keeps everything lower than the value in the cell, '+' everything equal/above it. column headers additionally present an edittext to allow to enter simple constants (or regexps for strings) to keep/exclude data.

current games

(Status page; at the present, sorted on "first moved first" basis)

Possibility to order games by:

  • axd: players can manage a [ext] priority value for each of their ongoing games: an integer value (can be positive, zero or negative) that can be used to group games according to arbitrary user-defined categories (so this can act as a generic sorting mechanism). This prioritizes games (implemented as a priority queue) when using the "Submit and go to next game" button (highest priorities first), as well as when listing the running games. A default value of 0 will make the mechanism transparent for users that do not use it. Additionally, a separate page (link) presents the sorted list and allows to reorganize the current priorities of all running games (similar to the [ext] List of Watched Pages).
  • axd: [ext] remaining time
  • number of moves (to get rid of almost-finished games)
  • opponent's last access (to play more often with opponents that currently are on line)

finished games

  • sort finished games by score: (example) highest wins -> win by time -> win by resign -> jigo -> lose by resign -> lose by time -> worst losses. idea is to group games for further analysis.

users

  • axd: when sorting users by rating, discard the fractional part: this allows to group ratings, and specify additional criteria for further sorting.

Statistics

Not very useful, but fun for those who can't stop hyperjumping around (see also [ext] http://www.dragongoserver.net/phorum/read.php?f=4&i=1886&t=1886)

(See also the unofficial stats page at [ext] http://www.dragongoserver.net/statistics.php)

  • server stats
    • present, active, total number of users/games
    • number of running games per day for all players together
    • [ext] user clusters
  • user stats
    • ratings frequencies
    • user's opponent relative (+1, +2, etc.) rating frequencies (a "good" player should play with players above and below his rank)
    • number of running games per day (can be deduced from user's start/end dates of all current/finished games)
    • frequency of simultaneous games
    • nationality frequencies

To classify: stats about time-outs, resign


Public Team Accounts

  • Frs: use a user's current rating as the login password to switch to a DGS public team account

Yet to classify

(topics that do not fit under any of the previous headings)

  • [ext] Webservice interface for automatic play.
  • Ability to load a game from SGF. This would be useful for shape games and teaching from Go problems. See [ext] DGS discussion
  • Either a default preference (in user profile) for having the game comments stored in the SGF, or maybe radio buttons to paste in the tags. See [ext] DGS FAQ
  • Some sort of "leave Dragon" button. See [ext] here and [ext] here. This button would either resign all the user's current games, or place the fate of each game in the opponent's hands.
    • This button would eliminate some of the games that people start, and then let time out. It would not delete the person's dragon account.
    • Perhaps the server could send a message to all the opponents giving them the option to count the current game as a win, loss, or negate it entirely.
    • Allow the user to provide a message like: "I have to go on vacation for a year, but plan to be back."
  • An interface that would easily allow GTP supporting programs to play.

This is a copy of the living page "DGSWishlist" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2005 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.
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