Online Community Power Rankings

[Clarissimus]

LATEST UPDATE:
9/26 You can now mouse over any unit name (either on the rankings page or when editing your personal ratings) to see a picture of the card in question. Standard deviation was added to the table next to GPA. You can see the Top Ten units from the homepage and sort the Rankings page by unit name, GPA, or standard deviation (the faction, class, name sort is still the default), and any combination of those criteria can be bookmarked. Also I added a nice background texture, that plain white screen was getting hard to look at

www.swpowerrankings.com

You don't have to register to view the cumulative results but you do have to register* to input your votes. The advantage of this is that if you change your mind about a unit you can change your vote later on.

I'm not doing anything like checking IPs so we're pretty much on the honor system that no one is going to be a jerk and create 25 accounts just to bump up the rating of his favorite unit.

Feedback is welcome, just keep in mind that I'm a web design newbie and I spent most of the time wrangling with the PHP, SQL, and JavaScript behind the scenes.

*IMPORTANT NOTE: I have almost no security measures whatsoever. Please don't use a password that you use anywhere else.

[Marroking1]

I put in my input. How do you get to see others Results. Or are you working on that.

All and all it looks Good but Bare but sometimes Simple is better. Good Job.

[Clarissimus]

How do you get to see others Results. Or are you working on that.

Click on "View Current Rankings" from the homepage.

[IkimashoZ]

Hi Clarissimus,

Really cool idea! I like the concept.

It's not terribly difficult to add basic password security for passwords you will store in a MySQL database. Here's some example code that you may find helpful:

should be available everywhere:
define('MY_SALT', 'somerandomstringoflettersandnumbers0123456789');

on registration:
$username = '';
if (isset($_REQUEST['username']) {
$username = $_REQUEST['username'];
}

$password = '';
if (isset($_REQUEST['password']) {
$password = $_REQUEST['password'];
}

$encryptedPassword = crypt($password, MY_SALT);
$mysqlDatabase->executeQuery('INSERT INTO users (username, password) VALUES ("'.$username.'", "'.$encryptedPassword.'")');

on login:
$username = '';
if (isset($_REQUEST['username']) {
$username = $_REQUEST['username'];
}

$password = '';
if (isset($_REQUEST['password']) {
$password = $_REQUEST['password'];
}

$encryptedPassword = $mysqlDatabase->executeQuery('SELECT password FROM users WHERE username = "'.$username.'"');

if (crypt($password, MY_SALT) == $encryptedPassword) {
... log user in ...
} else {
... display to user that login failed ...
}

Some other things to think about if you try to implement this:
1) What do you do if a user tries to create an account with the same username as another user who already has an account?
2) How should you handle the situation where a user enters no name or no password?

Also, it's helpful for many people if you use <input type="password"> for password text fields.

I'd be happy to field questions about PHP or MySQL. You can respond here or PM me.

[Clarissimus]

Okay, I've got all the commons for all current factions up (including reinforcements & mercenaries). I think I'll have time to do the heroes tomorrow.


IkimashoZ, thanks for the PHP/MySQL help! I'll look into that security stuff and I'll be sure to shoot you a PM if I get stuck in the future.

Some other things to think about if you try to implement this:
1) What do you do if a user tries to create an account with the same username as another user who already has an account?
2) How should you handle the situation where a user enters no name or no password?

#1 I already took care of.

EDIT: #2 just patched, entering a blank username no longer incorrectly shows a successful login message.

Also, it's helpful for many people if you use <input type="password"> for password text fields.

I have mixed feelings about this one because I dislike being unable to see what I put in my password field. Did I use the completely wrong password or did I just make a typo? Hard to say.

Now I usually don't use computers in public places so I can see why other people might feel differently.

[PePe QuiCoSE]

Good post IkimashoZ . Needless to say, great initiative Clarissimus!

You could do tables in the rankings so as to have all the results aligned and easier to read. And do the password field please, it has built in browser security, the custom is that if you want to read what you type you first type it in a different place (ie, notepad) and then copy paste it. edit: also you have the remember password thingy.

edit: you might want to go a bit easier on the color background to make it easier to read. Or change the letter color to something it contrast with it, for example the TO and PE are a bit tough on the eyes.
Also i found it a bit funny that the rankings is a bit misleadings for common, there are commons you build a lot and still are awesome when you play them. Well, the FK units are not that great but i always build them almost no matter what, but that it's not representative.

[Killer Lawnmower]

Very cool. I just created an account and put a bunch of my rankings on there. I didn't put Cloaks or Jungle Elves because I dont think I've used them enough.

[Clarissimus]

Just finished adding voting and viewing for all the champions. So every SW unit currently available is now present.

[KCU Master 2007]

Awesome, just put in my own rankings. seemed to be in the standard view for the most part.

[Sauam]

This is sweet, I just voted on unit that I played and played well enough to know, I suggest everyone only vote when they truly understand the unit (or at least go back to re-vote)

Here is my suggestion so far: For the ranking of C. I believe it should read "I use this unit half the time and build it the other half" or "This unit is used according to the current gameplay and are average on the battlefield", instead of the current wording which make it seem to sound like a D ranking, especially with the wording of "I usually build it". If C is the middle rank, it should reflect that... I just think as the wording as of now, lot of voter are voting B as their "middle" rank

Anyways, this is great stuff, I like knowing what people think of each unit and perhaps make me reconsider the way how I see each unit

edit: also perhaps rank B should also read "This unit is pretty good, I usually save this unit in hand and once play it usually are affective on the battlefield"

edit #2: I know this come without saying... but I just feel the description on each ranking is not really right... it should focus on how each unit affect the gameplay rather then "do I build" or "how often I build/not-build such unit" as FK's unit such as Reaper is a B to me but as per the description it is a rank C because I never raw cast it... This is also true on Cloak's common as they often gets build but you want at least one of each common on the battlefield

edit #3 (my bad...): Rank F sound little too harsh as I dont believe no unit are never use, but rather how affective when played... as I feel lot more unit should fall along the rank D and F but as per wording now, no one is voting unit as rank F except Vg's Raechel. There is too many rank B right now I feel, many unit really dont deserve that rank