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== Administrator Documentation==
This page discusses some features of BOARD18 that are only
available to "admin" [or "author"] level players. When a new
instance of BOARD18 is created, the first player that is
regestered via the signon page becomes an "admin" level player.
Over time, other players may be changed to "admin" or "author" level.
But this can only be done by an "admin" level player.


BOARD18 does not [yet] have any packaging or auto install facilities.
An "admin" level player can be refered to as an Administrator.<br>
<br>
An "author" level player can, of course, be refered to as an Author.
If you wish to install BOARD18 on a server, you will have to follow these manual instructions.
<p style="color: Green">To install BOARD18 you must have shell access to a server environment that is running Apache with PHP version 5.3 or later and MySQL version 5.5 or later.</p>
Follow the instructions in [[How_To_Create_a_BOARD18_WEB_Site|this How To document]] to download BOARD18 and install it on your server.
<br>
Follow the instructions in [[How_To_Update_a_BOARD18_WEB_Site|this How To document]] to update an existing BOARD18 website on your server.
<br>  
The following developer guidelines may be of interest to you.


{{:Developer.Guidelines}}
==The Administration Page==
[[File:AdminUtil.png|frame]]
Selecting '''Administration''' on the '''Menu''' of
the '''Main''' page will bring up the Administration page. This page will always
contain the '''Player Profile''' form which is described in the
BOARD18 Players Guide. But for Administrators and Authors it will
also contain some links in the left hand portion of the page. These links
can be used to access the pages described below.
 
Each of these pages provides
administrative access to BOARD18 data stored in the database. Thus an Administrator
has the ability to directly maintain these database tables.
 
Administrators will see four such links as shown on the illustration to the near right.
Authors will see only one such link as shown on the illustration to the far right.
 
==The Manage Players Page==
This page facilitates the administration of players.
It contains an ordered table of all players. For each player it shows
the player's name, Email address, level and activity.
The table is paginated with an index in the left section of the page.
The menu on this page includes an option to send a broadcast
Email to all players.
 
Clicking on a Player ID will cause a window to open. This window contains
a form which can be used to change any of the fields in the record for
that player. The form also contains a button for sending a email to that
specific player.
 
The left section of the screen contains a list of all of the games associated
with this player. Active games appear in green. Inactive games appear in red.
Clicking on a game transfers to the form for that game.
 
==The Manage Games Page==
This page facilitates the administration of games.
It contains an ordered table of all games. For each game it shows
the game name, the game box name, The start and activity dates,
the game status and the number of players in the game.
The table is paginated with an index in the left section of the page.
 
Clicking on a Game ID will cause a window to open. This window contains
a form which can be used to change certain of the fields in the record for
that game. The form also contains a button that can be used to access the
form for the game box that the game is using.
 
Below this form is a list of all of the players associated
with this game.
Clicking on a player Login transfers to the form for that player.
 
==The Manage Boxes Page==
This page facilitates the administration of game boxes.
It contains an ordered table of all game boxes. For each game box it shows
the box name, the box version, the creation and activity dates,
the game box status and the number of games using the game box.
The table is paginated with an index in the left section of the page.
 
Clicking on a Box ID will cause a window to open. This window contains
a form which can be used to change certain of the fields in the record for
that game box.
 
Below this form is a list of all of the games that are using
this game box.
Clicking on a Game ID transfers to the form for that game.
 
==The Load Game Box Page==
This page facilitates the uploading of game boxes to BOARD18.
It can be used either to upload a new game box or to update an existing game box.
This page can be accessed by both "admin" and "author" level players.
 
This page is fully documented on this WIKI at [[BOARD18 Author's Guide]].
 
==Batch Utilities==
In addition to the BOARD18 pages described above, there also
exists a number of batch utilities that can be of use to
BOARD18 administrators. Many of these utilities are documented
in this WIKI. The '''utilities''' directory, which is part of
the BOARD18 download, contains these utilities and also some
supporting files for them.
 
===Creating a BOARD18 Web Site===
The '''board18db.txt''' file is used when creating the database 
for a new BOARD18 web site. This process is documented on the
[[How To Create a BOARD18 WEB Site]] page. This How To document
also explains how to initialize the three BOARD18 configuration files.   
 
===Updating a BOARD18 Web Site===
The '''BOARD18update''' and the '''control.sh''' files are used
when updating an existing BOARD18 web site. This process is
documented on the [[How To Update a BOARD18 WEB Site]] page.
 
===Mass Loading Game Boxes to a BOARD18 Web Site===
The Load Game Box page, described above, can be used to load game
boxes, one by one, into the BOARD18 database. But this can become
tedious when many game boxes have to be loaded at once. In this
case, the '''massLoadBoxes.php''' utility may be more convenient.
This utility is documented in the second part of the
[[How To Load Board18 Game Boxes]] page.
 
===Other Files in the Utility Directory ===
There are quite a few other files in the '''utility''' directory.
You can find out more about them in other parts of this WIKI. They
are of more interest to developers and testers of the BOARD18 code
base. A list of them can be found in the '''README.txt''' file in
the '''utility''' directory.

Revision as of 14:27, 29 March 2017

This page discusses some features of BOARD18 that are only available to "admin" [or "author"] level players. When a new instance of BOARD18 is created, the first player that is regestered via the signon page becomes an "admin" level player. Over time, other players may be changed to "admin" or "author" level. But this can only be done by an "admin" level player.

An "admin" level player can be refered to as an Administrator.
An "author" level player can, of course, be refered to as an Author.

The Administration Page

AdminUtil.png

Selecting Administration on the Menu of the Main page will bring up the Administration page. This page will always contain the Player Profile form which is described in the BOARD18 Players Guide. But for Administrators and Authors it will also contain some links in the left hand portion of the page. These links can be used to access the pages described below.

Each of these pages provides administrative access to BOARD18 data stored in the database. Thus an Administrator has the ability to directly maintain these database tables.

Administrators will see four such links as shown on the illustration to the near right. Authors will see only one such link as shown on the illustration to the far right.

The Manage Players Page

This page facilitates the administration of players. It contains an ordered table of all players. For each player it shows the player's name, Email address, level and activity. The table is paginated with an index in the left section of the page. The menu on this page includes an option to send a broadcast Email to all players.

Clicking on a Player ID will cause a window to open. This window contains a form which can be used to change any of the fields in the record for that player. The form also contains a button for sending a email to that specific player.

The left section of the screen contains a list of all of the games associated with this player. Active games appear in green. Inactive games appear in red. Clicking on a game transfers to the form for that game.

The Manage Games Page

This page facilitates the administration of games. It contains an ordered table of all games. For each game it shows the game name, the game box name, The start and activity dates, the game status and the number of players in the game. The table is paginated with an index in the left section of the page.

Clicking on a Game ID will cause a window to open. This window contains a form which can be used to change certain of the fields in the record for that game. The form also contains a button that can be used to access the form for the game box that the game is using.

Below this form is a list of all of the players associated with this game. Clicking on a player Login transfers to the form for that player.

The Manage Boxes Page

This page facilitates the administration of game boxes. It contains an ordered table of all game boxes. For each game box it shows the box name, the box version, the creation and activity dates, the game box status and the number of games using the game box. The table is paginated with an index in the left section of the page.

Clicking on a Box ID will cause a window to open. This window contains a form which can be used to change certain of the fields in the record for that game box.

Below this form is a list of all of the games that are using this game box. Clicking on a Game ID transfers to the form for that game.

The Load Game Box Page

This page facilitates the uploading of game boxes to BOARD18. It can be used either to upload a new game box or to update an existing game box. This page can be accessed by both "admin" and "author" level players.

This page is fully documented on this WIKI at BOARD18 Author's Guide.

Batch Utilities

In addition to the BOARD18 pages described above, there also exists a number of batch utilities that can be of use to BOARD18 administrators. Many of these utilities are documented in this WIKI. The utilities directory, which is part of the BOARD18 download, contains these utilities and also some supporting files for them.

Creating a BOARD18 Web Site

The board18db.txt file is used when creating the database for a new BOARD18 web site. This process is documented on the How To Create a BOARD18 WEB Site page. This How To document also explains how to initialize the three BOARD18 configuration files.

Updating a BOARD18 Web Site

The BOARD18update and the control.sh files are used when updating an existing BOARD18 web site. This process is documented on the How To Update a BOARD18 WEB Site page.

Mass Loading Game Boxes to a BOARD18 Web Site

The Load Game Box page, described above, can be used to load game boxes, one by one, into the BOARD18 database. But this can become tedious when many game boxes have to be loaded at once. In this case, the massLoadBoxes.php utility may be more convenient. This utility is documented in the second part of the How To Load Board18 Game Boxes page.

Other Files in the Utility Directory

There are quite a few other files in the utility directory. You can find out more about them in other parts of this WIKI. They are of more interest to developers and testers of the BOARD18 code base. A list of them can be found in the README.txt file in the utility directory.