keeping track of bag tags?

[Tim]

If you guys want a link to that somewhere on the site, just let me know, if I'm to do it. And in fact I'm adjusting the navigation t his weekend on the site anyway, so let me know by Friday for extreme efficiency!

I kinda think that with the amount of crap people try to pull on our forum, joining process, etc. that this spreadsheet will quickly turn ugly (since I can for example swap 2 names really easily just to be a jerk, or give you a special nickname if I don't like you, or always give myself tag 1), if you left it completely open to everyone. .

That was my only reason for suggesting that editing your own field, if you're doing it, is better done through a login system. Additionally you can auto-timestamp it to show that 'last updated' field as well (well, you can do that with Google spreadsheet too I guess).

Anyway, I don't have a lot of time, I do think using a database would be better both on security and on display aesthetics, but I don't really want to dig up any new projects right now for myself either.

Just let me know if you want that linked somewhere on the site, and where. I don't think you can have a Google Spreadsheet itself embedded in your site...can you? In other words it would be an external link just somewhere in the navigation right?

[doublejack]

Thanks, Tim!

The spreadsheet is currently wide open — anyone can change anything anytime without even logging in to their Google account. I agree, that's probably too open to leave (the link) up on the site.

I can easily set it up so people have to at least sign up with their Google account, and it's also easy to revert to previous versions — so if someone goes in and acts the fool, anyone can undo it. (File > Revision History ...) Community policing, etc.

A database on the site, with date-stamping and log-in control would probably be best, but depending on the work involved we could continue to use the Google spreadsheet as a stop-gap until something better can be devised, in the process learning what works, what doesn't and what other features we might want.

IMHO, putting a link to the spreadsheet on the front page would be too tempting for random yahoos, but maybe a link on the Members page? Or, we could just email the link to the email list or create an easy-to-remember link and pass it via word-of-mouth...

O.k., I'll stop over-thinking it now.

[ross]

Folks -- I think the google site is fine. Let's not make more work for ourselves. In any case not everyone will participate in this nor does anyone really have the time to work on this. So what if we get a few jokers, right?

[zen]

We should add a section for "Stolen bag tags" on that spreadsheet. Some loser stole 3 of mine at the practice basket. Probably someone that had a rough childhood, so I forgive them. They probably knew that's the only way they'd get them.

[bizzle]

I made some updates to the spreadsheet, there's a new sherriff in town....

[Stick]

Can someone put the link somewhere easy accessable? So we don't have to scroll thru a bunch of posts. If it already is easy to find tell me where it is cause sometimes I can be a moron.

[zen]

What's the link? Is it the "test" one in this string as it's final spot? I can put a link somewhere in the header if you confirm what link to use for it. If anyone thinks it should be linked to the main site pages too, let me know. Might be a week or so until I can get to this though.

[Tim]

I put an external link (opens in new window) at the top on the same rows as the Board Index, etc. "SFDGC Bag Tags".

[k3vIn]

that worked great.
hopefully people won't be knuckleheads and screw with other people's names etc...

thanks!

[Stick]

Thanks for installing the easy to find link.

[doublejack]

Here are the tag holders we know about after Sunday's weekly (3/8/09):



(If you're squeamish about having your name or tag listed, let me know an I'll revise. Email me at bill.emmack via Gmail.)

[Tim]

If it helps prevent people screwing with it, and you guys wanted this, I can put that link to only show up if you're logged in, also. It wouldn't (by default) log who did what, but would prevent anyone that doesn't have an account from viewing/editing it.

[PeterT]

It might be a good idea to add a date field to the spreadsheet, showing the date the tag was acquired or the date the tag field was updated. That way if two conflicting tag numbers appear, the more recent date would clarify who really holds the tag. This problem might occur if some one updates their tag number, but the person they traded tags with has not updated their number yet.

Also, the image of the spreadsheet that Bill posted yesterday already does not match the numbers on the linked spreadsheet, so in this case, how would we know which one is current? Of course, I assume the live spreadsheet is the current one, but dates might help.

Just a thought.

[Stick]

Several bag tags changed hands this morning and people changed the spreadsheet. The spreadsheet should always be the most accurate. We can't edit someones post. If tags are played regularly instead of being hoarded then the list should change daily.

[doublejack]

I guess my thinking was that if I took Booth's #1 tag from him (shush, now, let me dream), and I got to the spreadsheet before he did, I'd probably update both his tag number and mine.

Until proven wrong, I'd like to believe everyone will support the spirit of the thing and keep the spreadsheet updated and accurate. If we need to, we can restrict access to it — but maybe we won't need to.

As for adding dates to the spreadsheet, I like the idea of being able to look back and easily see how the tags moved around during the year, but ultimately it adds a lot of unnecessary "noise" to the data. I think this is probably a case where simpler is better.

E.g., here's how the DeLa club did their spreadsheet last year:

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key= ... Izkl7VwmPQ

A lot of that data is kind of interesting to see, but you can see they only kept it up for a few months, and I'd guess that's mostly because it wasn't easy enough to update it.

I'll create a dedicated thread, though, and we can try to grab a screenshot every week or so, like I did above, showing the current state of affairs with the date prominently displayed.