New registration system

I've updated the registration process. It is hopefully simpler for those registering and managing things. The code behind the scenes was a bit of a nightmare to maintain so everything needed tidying up, it's now much more structured and maintainable. Allied to this I've ported over the schedule calculator from my personal site and integrated it with the registration process.

The calculator http://bobgrahamclub.org.uk/index.php?page=calculator is available whether you have registered or not. It's a simplified version of that on my personal site - there's only one schedule you can apply to the round and you can't select different stop times for each individual road crossing but apart from that it's the same. Beneath the data entry form is the resulting schedule table, this updates in real time as you change start date/time, schedule, direction. There are some extra features in the form that I'll explain in a minute.

The same form is used by the registration, management and calculator pages but each only shows the options relevant for that particular usage or may display them as readonly. The web has moved on and things like data validation are now done by the browser so the code doing that is no longer needed. The original form was written at a time when various new data input types were being introduced but hadn't been settled on so I avoided them. Just as well - the datetime input type came and went and is now datetime-local. In addition to the data entry items alo appearing in the form are a graphical representation of the phase of the moon and a bar that shows the light status (daylight, sunset, dark, sunrise) for the values selected. Finally the numbers and starting time of anyone registered for the day selected is also displayed. These update in real time, well almost - you either need to refresh the form or page or move to one of the other pages with the form.

Firstly when you go to the registration page http://bobgrahamclub.org.uk/index.php?page=registration you are presented with fewer options. The first is for extended rounds, I'll be looking at integrating this in due course. The next two are for migrating an existing registration into the new process and synchronising things across devices. The last option is to register.

Looking at the last item first (!) If you have played around with the calculator and saved a start date/time etc. then those values will pre-populate the form and all that's needed are your name, gender and email. The form won't let you submit until everything is valid. The confirmation email is no longer sent, this occasionally failed to get through which would cause some consternation from the registree. Instead the form shows the individual registration ID at the top, this can be copied and used on different devices which is where item 3 on the registration page comes in.

If you've registered on one machine but need to sort things on another then selecting option 3 and pasting in your registration ID will set up a new machine with your details. Similarly if you've already registered then option 2 lets you use your existing registration ID in the same way. The two machines don't synchronise in real time but if you change and save details on one machine then reloading on the other will offer you the option to pull in those new details.

Once registered (or synchronised a device) there is a new link - "Manage your registration". This page has three parts:

1. attempt management
2. ratifying a success
3. notifying a failed attempt

All should be self-explanatory. The ratification page is no longer part of the main menu but resides here.

Also different is that you now register with the system just once. If you don't succeed and plan an attempt next year then changing the start date to a new year will automatically register that attempt.

If you register with a different set of details to that saved in the calculator then both the calculator and manage forms offer you the choice of which one to use in that particular form. By default the calculator uses that saved through that form and similarly for the manage form defaults to its data.

I've created a help file/work through document at http://bobgrahamclub.org.uk/assets/r...tion-help.docx