The move to PHP was completed in September 2022 and everything is running so much better. During the changeover there were live races on both servers so to save confusion I ran the old server as balloonrace.com and the new as balloonrace.net. Now the move is complete both domains point to the new server.
The upgrade brings the below improvements.
Shopping Cart
We now have a visual shopping cart when buying multiple balloons without the need for logging in (no password required). An email is sent with a link for those who want to pay later or forget their usernames. To make this possible we had to remove the PayPal facility which involves leaving our site to pay over at PayPal (PayPal was also getting expensive at 39p for a £3 sale).
Unique Links for all pages
You can now link directly to any part of your race. Examples below for your homepage, sales page, full leaderboard or balloons in flight:
https://www.balloonrace.net/beta
https://www.balloonrace.net/beta/registerballoon
https://www.balloonrace.net/beta/leaderboard
https://www.balloonrace.net/beta/islandcontent
The previous ASP server only allowed a unique link to your homepage which with a typo would divert to our demo race.
Faster Admin Updates
The admin area now updates faster and allows you to stay logged in for longer without automatically kicking you out. You can now set any start or finish time by the hour. The old server would always default back to midday but now anytime of day is possible for start or finish.
Full Control of Balloons & Ducks
When administering the balloons and ducks you now have full control over active and inactive participants. The previous ASP server would override your selection if it thought payment had cleared. Always take care when editing balloons whilst sales are live as you can save over new cleared purchases or the latest race movement.
2 Movements Per Hour
The balloons (& ducks) now move twice every hour at 25 & 55 minutes past. The algorithm maintains a close finish right up to the end and we have some logic to avoid 1st & 2nd place landing on the same distance when the race ends.
Easy CSV Upload
It’s so much easier to upload a CSV as the server accepts duplicate emails. This happens when 1 person buys 5 balloons with the same email address. The old system would only accept 1 balloon from the CSV – but now all 5 are accepted. You only need to use the CSV upload if you are selling balloons from your own website or offering free entry and need to add a large quantity of balloonists.
Emoji Fixed
The system now maintains the emojis even after multiple saves and edits, rather than converting them to ????? as before.
Everything is now working stronger, faster and better than before. I no longer receive emails from those who have forgotten their balloon names (because of the new email notifications), payments though stripe work seamlessley and you can still upload your own sales by CSV or manually.