Overview
 

phpChess is divided into two main areas:

a) Administration of the phpChess server

b) Main Chess area

The Admin area is designed to help the owner / host of the phpChess area to ensure things are running the way he/she wants them to run. This includes Billing, Newsletters and more

The Main Area is where people play the game. Log-in is required, and after that you are looking in essence at a cockpit that includes everything you need to have fun with chess on the web.

phpChess Server Administration
Log in requires a separate username and password which is decided during installation. The admin area is the nerve centre of the server and allows for the following customisation:

1. Tournament Setup: A one stop shopping centre for all tournament types. It allows for the scheduling of different tournament types, including round robin and Swiss. It also allows for the timing of the games and the managing of the invite list. Even more important it allows for members of one phpchess server to play against other members of a different phpChess server (using import and export player functionality). This allows clubs or schools to have matches against one another online. Tournaments can also be proposed by members, and either approved or cancelled.
    

2. Newsletter: A wysiwyg (what you see is what you get) editor, which allows you to create stylish newsletters for your members. It is very intuitive, and allows you to even edit the html source directly. The editor is copyright TinyMCE (see online help for further details).
    

3. Play Handling: Here you can manage all aspects of your phpChess server members. Including manually accepting new members (can be turned off), Disabling players (important for limited guest members, or for banning undesirable visitors). This area also handles the import and export of other phpChess server members for example for tournament purposes.
    

4. Billing: phpChess is a complete solution, allowing for billing of members. This useful for collecting club fees, and via paypal includes the ability to accept credit cards. You can view new and old bills, create special offer redemption codes, including support for multi redemption codes. Redemption codes are useful for bringing new players in, who can try things out for a while for free, even though billing is enabled.
    

5. Messaging: There are 3 types of messages that are available to the administrator: Front News (first page text), Tip of the day (Items that people should look at, like the latest Grand Master lecture), and Server Messages (Notices, that due to maintenance the server might be down for an hour on Sunday).
    

6. Server Management: Here you enter your preferences for the server. Do you want billing to take place, or should your server be free to your members? Should users be approved manually, or should this process be automatic? Should players be able to request tournaments? What should the e-mail for billing look like (templates). You can also select language settings from here, as well as the look of your phpChess server (Skinning). Skinning is easy, since phpChess has a separate directory for all visual elements including the style sheet. This excellent design allows any phpChess server owner to create the skin of their liking easily. More information can be found on the phpchess site (http://www.phpchess.net)
    

phpChess Main chess area
The main playing area is in the directory you installed phpChess under, and can not be the route directory. It is where players decide how they want to use your phpChess server, and what they like and dislike. The following areas and functionalities are available to the players:

1. Prior to log on: This is the area where new users can be requested, your initial site news can be read, and where you can see which players have recently signed up to the server. Players can also request a resending of the password here, should they have forgotten it. This is an automated process, and is not only secure but also convenient for the admin.
    

2. Standard options: once logged in a number of options are immediately available on the left hand side. these include:
   
   - the players game statistics of wins, draws and losses.
   - a link to Java Chess (offline chess against the computer),
   - PGN viewer (look at pgn notation games, can also be used for fen),
   - a general FAQ (Frequently asked questions),
   - Tournament Game lists (list of tournament games that are scheduled),
   - A list of new messages (moves, challenges and comments),
   - List of private games (icon idicates if it is player's move),
   - Top 10 ranked players,
   - Tournament Invite List, Tip of the day (set by admin) and
   - a list of newest members.
   
   The main area in the middle shows the current state of play in one easy view (Games, Tournament games, Messages, Challanges, and any server messages set by the admin.)
    

3. Message Centre: This area is for all messaging on the server, and somewhat akin to e-mail. Players can view and send messages from here, see if new moves have been made on games, and it allows players to store messages as well. The message centre is using unique numbers for games which identify not only the game, but also the players, the private messages sent, the status, the position and other elements.
    

4. View Game: This allows for players to view/ replay past games, or games that are currently going on. It is entertaining to see other players games, but this area is also useful for sample games, lessons and special feature games, viewable at the players convenience.
    

5. Find Player: Allows for alphabetic searching of the player database. Once a player has been identified, the option to challenge the player is automatically given
    

6. Buddy List: The buddy list is useful for players to stick to their favourite players. They are quicker to find, especially on large servers, and can be used also to manage clubs within a server.
    

7. Statistics: A visual representation of the player profile. It shows graphically in a bar chart the wins, losses and draws. You can also find here information on the players attributes (real name, Location, age, Self Rating, Comment/ Motto and their favourite chess player. This information, including a photo/ avatar is only visible, if maintained by the player (not mandatory)
    

8. Configuration: This area allows for the user to customize the following preference settings:
   
   - Chess board colours
   - Buddy List Entries (assign players to the buddy list)
   - Password change
   - Picture/ Avatar displayed (can be disabled through folder setting)
   - Personal Information maintenance (see 7)
   - Challenge Notification (e-mail sent for every move? every challenge?)

We think that this functionality should get any chess site started. Have fun! There are additional capabilities hidden inside the server, such as rude language suppression and more. If you feel that phpChess is lacking something fundamental please mail us . We loved to hear from you with creative suggestion at
support@phpchess.net.