New Scoring Software

The Club currently uses the "BridgeTab" app on the tablets. It is proprietary, and there is a license fee of $15 per year per tablet. We license for 18 tablets. Our licenses expire on 18 September.

Based on technical advice the Committee has decided not to renew these licences and to move instead to "BridgePal". This is a free open source app, and is the one used at Paraparaumu.

Indeed, we are now the only Compass club in New Zealand still using BridgeTab.

Although from a player perspective, BridgeTab is a bit visually nicer and simpler, the 2 apps provide pretty much the same functions.

Our changeover to BridgePal is currently planned to take place on Tuesday 9 September.

We are making this change because it will be the required app when there is a new version of Compass which is expected in a few months, and because it will save the Club about $300 per year.

This is what the tablet screen will look like when the app is started:



After you enter the table, the entry screens are fairly self-explanatory but we will have people on hand to help with any problems.

We may have some glitches to start with until players and directors get used to it so please be patient if we do.

Digital Seniors

This may be of interest.

If you would like to know more, please contact Sally Weatherley.

NZBridge Website Update

STOP PRESS

We have had an update from NZB and it seems that the roll back to the old website has been successful and we are once again able to access the site.

 
The only outstanding issue is around tournament entries made since last Thursday. If you have entered any tournament, please check you are in fact registered. If you are not, please contact the Club hosting the tournament.

It is expected to have the old website fully up and running before the weekend.

I previously advised (here) that the new NZBridge website had gone live.

This morning NZBridge have told us that they are experiencing serious issues with the new site including loss of a number of functions such as tournament entry management, membership management and congress entries.

As a result, the decision has been taken to wind things back to the old website. This will enable the new one to be worked on (offline) and tested properly before going live.  There is no time frame for this.

The rollback will take place today (Thursday) during which time there will be no website access.

The site will be restored to where it was as of Thursday morning last week.  You may need to log in with your former passwords to access the site. 

The NZBridge Secretary (email: Secretary@nzbridge.co.nz) can reset members' passwords for the old site (please don't request this unless absolutely necessary - the poor man has enough on his plate as it is).

Please note that, for a short time, results will not be uploaded to either our website or the NZBridge website from last Thursday.  This will include any masterpoints changes.

How do I know when "Hugh's News" is updated?

I've been asked this question quite a lot. The simplest - and recommended - method is to follow the blog using the "follow" button in the right hand sidebar:

Just press the button and hey presto!

For the more technically minded, some further options are summarised here.

If you would like help, or if it doesn't work, please get in touch.

Internet Update

  Web Working Group

The working group I mentioned in my "Updating the Website" post on 25 February has now had its first meeting.  I attended as the Committee's representative.

The group (consisting of Judi Vernau, Sally Weatherley and Shelley Ross) will be taking on three broad strands of work:

• Updating and modernising the Club website to serve as the "base" source of information for our members, the wider bridge community and the general public
• Developing the "Hugh's News" blog as the primary source of "transient" information of interest to our members
• Examining the development of a (currently dormant) Facebook page as an "outwards facing" presence where we can advertise and publicise the club in a social media setting

Judi Vernau has kindly agreed to act as convenor for the group, which will be meeting again in around a month.  I'll update you on progress as it's made.

Webmaster

Shelley Ross stands down today as the club's webmaster after four years in the role.  I would like sincerely to thank her for her expertise and hard work in keeping the site current and relevant during that period and, in particular, to acknowledge with appreciation her willingness to remain involved with the working group and contribute to its ongoing work.

I am delighted that Sally Weatherley has agreed to take over the role of webmaster.  Sally will take over following her overseas travels in April.  In the meantime Judi Vernau has kindly agreed to hold the fort.

Sites of Interest

There are a number of links to external web sites in the right sidebar under the heading "Useful Links". 

These include:

• NZ Bridge Home and News (the latter includes a series of articles entitled "Daily Bridge in New Zealand")
• Wellington Regional Bridge
• Bridge Base Online
• a link to the New Zealand-wide results page on the main Compass site.

A couple of these links are experimental on my part - I'll update them if they don't work correctly.

Welcome to Hugh's News

Hello everyone,

This blog is my first attempt to provide a new way of keeping you up to date with the goings on at our Club.

I plan to update this whenever something of interest crops up, so that you don't have to wait for a monthly newsletter for your information (don't worry - there'll still be a monthly newsletter for those who prefer to get their news that way).

If you think I should include something, or if you want to comment on any of the posts on this blog, please let me know by either using the contact form in the sidebar, or by email at lukos90@gmail.com, or just give me a call on 0273549570.  I'd love to hear from you at any (reasonable!) time.

Updating our Website

A small team (consisting of Judi Vernau, Sally Weatherley and Shelley Ross) has recently been set up to look at updating and modernising our website.  If there's anything you would like to see on the new site, please let the team know.