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Why is BZstats called "BZstats"? Is the name BZstats unique? Why are some terms not translated into my language of choice but are instead still English? In what way is the site organized? What is the myBZstats section? The same server (Name:Port) seems to show up multiple times with different IDs and sometimes one of the multiple incarnations is depicted as online at one time, then offline at a later time. But I am sure the server was online all the time. Why? How are players identified? Is it possible to directly link to a server just using name and port? Is it possible to directly link to individual players even if I just want to refer to them by name? Can there be inconsistencies in the information displayed? Can I help with the site in some way? Why is BZstats called "BZstats"? The name is formed from BZFlag and stats (which is short
for "statistics"). Is the name BZstats unique? No. Prior to this site a tool called "BZStats" already existed. It was created by Michel de Bree to generate numerical data and diagrams for BZFlag. Because development of this tool had come to a halt and because of lack of alternatives, I decided to use that name (with a tiny modification in spelling). I don't think there is an immediate danger of mistaking one for the other, so I think it is alright. In case of complaints I can change the name within seconds, though ;o) Why are some terms not translated into my language of choice but are instead still English? There are terms as team names, game styles, names of flags etc. which
in my opinion should not be translated because they belong to the game as
they are (in English) and translating them would just cause confusion. In what way is the site organized? On the coarse level, the site is structured into sections which refer
to server, player and league-related informtion, respectively
(Servers, Players, Leagues).
Those sections are interlinked, though, because they share data from
the database. The other sections are totally independent. Within each
section there usually are subsections which are accessible via a submenu. What is the myBZstats section? In this section the user can set personal preferences regarding
the style, the language, font sizes and more. Because the majority
of settings is only available to registered users, please refer to
FAQs - Login for further information. The same server (Name:Port) seems to show up multiple times with different IDs and sometimes one of the multiple incarnations is depicted as online at one time, then offline at a later time. But I am sure the server was online all the time. Why? This is a result of identifying servers not only by name and port, but
by name, port, description, protocol version, game style and further
configuration (number of players, ricochet, jumping, ...). Servers
which change their configuration over time (e.g. because of automatic
map rotation), each of the server incarnations is handled as a unique server. How are players identified? Currently this is based solely on the player's callsign. If it will be
possible in the future to also query the globally unique bzID, this will
be used instead for registered players (with a fallback to callsign). Is it possible to directly link to a server just using name and port? Yes. To do this, use the base path and append the parameters "name" and "port". The least-recently-seen server will be used then. Example: http://bzstats.strayer.de/servers/stats/?name=upgrade-your-client-at.bzflag.org&port=5155 Is it possible to directly link to individual players even if I just want to refer to them by name? Yes. To do this, use the base path and append the parameter "name". Example: http://bzstats.strayer.de/players/stats/?name=Tim+Riker Can there be inconsistencies in the information displayed? Sadly, yes. One possible cause is that the update of basic data in the database takes about 5 seconds. Furthermore, to reduce response times on the web page, some tables are used as caches. And last, but not least, it is possible that one of my scripts is faulty. If you encounter such a problem, please tell me about it. Can I help with the site in some way? Actually you can, yes. Money is particularly popular (and as rare as goblins riding unicorns and overtaking Santa Claus who himself is busy banning the Easter bunny from utilizing the help of elves to hide Easter eggs). If you really happen to have too much of it, donate it to the BZFlag project or contact me in which case I will find a fast and easy way. :D If you speak a language which is not supported yet or if you want to improve an existing translation, please contact me to receive the existing language files and you can then work on them as you like and send them back to me. After a short evaluation I will incorporate them into the web page. You can also submit source code, in particular scripts written in Perl, PHP or Ruby which can deliver some BZFlag-related data. This data can include data derived from the actual BZFlag source code (as in the section BZinfo) or something completely different. Pointing out errors in the data or on the web site as well as changes to the set of match servers is always helpful. Last, but not least, you can also just use this site and maybe link to it on your own web pages. I am always glad about having more users :o) |