Business Analyst Jeroen Posted June 22, 2020 Business Analyst Share Posted June 22, 2020 Title Multifunctional Events System Description Events play a big role in the TruckersMP community, but to date we are dependent on third parties such as ets2c, trucky, and the forum for the provision of information. As this is not an optimal way for working because the information is scattered over different locations, I thought it may be beneficial to create an Events system on the website. To my surprise, I could not find a single suggestion that mentions the desire for such a system, so I will do it today. This will be a separate page on the website and will host various features for VTCs, event organizers, and the community. By using the Events System, players will be able to create, manage, and host their events and all upcoming events will be shown in a list. By browsing through the list, people can find information about the event that they want to attend without having to go to a third party website or a Discord server. For an in-depth overview of all the features that I had in mind when writing up this idea, please check the spoiler below. These features would be nice to have in my opinion, but are not all necessary to have a functioning Events System. Spoiler Design of the Events page When clicking on the Events page you will see a similar page as the VTC page. I’m not a designer, so others may have better ideas how to make this page look good, but I thought of the following: On top of the page a slider that shows events on a random basis. Information that should be visible are the title of the event, the organizer, and the date and time when the event will be run. There should also be a link to a separate page that shows all information of the event (this separate page will be explained in more detail later); Below that there should be general information about events and a link to the Knowledge Base articles that explain how the Events system works and how the process of requesting a dedicated event server works. There should also be a search option to find events and a button to request a dedicated event server; Next, there will be a list of featured events. Featured events will be events that are run by verified VTCs (as an additional perk to being verified), verified event organizers (more about this will be explained later), TruckersMP partners, and the TruckersMP team; Preferably, the featured list is limited to a certain amount (like 4) and will be designed with a banner to stand out more; Then a list of upcoming events will be listed, preferably limited by a certain amount such as 10-25 results per page. This list will show the basic information about the event such as the title, date and time, organizer, on which game it will be run, number of current attendees, and a checkbox/icon that mentions whether the event will be run on a dedicated event server. On the right there should be a button that links to the event page that shows all information about the event (more about this will be explained later). Events should persist in the list as long as they are active. They will only disappear as soon as the event has been concluded to allow people to find the information while the event is still running; On the bottom of the page we could add a few stats, such as how many events have been created since the launch of the Events system, how many attendees these events have had combined, how many verified organizers there are, etc.). Event organization At this time, individual players need to create an event on available services such as ets2c to allow people to sign up and also requesting dedicated event servers can be done by one person at a time, even though events are mostly run by a body of people. VTCs should be able to give their Event Managers the ability to create events on behalf of their VTC, but I thought it may also be beneficial for non-VTC groups such as the RLC Event Team, Harmony Convoys, and the TruckersFM Street Team to have control over their event page as a collective rather than only one person and that everyone with the right permission within the group can edit their assets. This means that groups should be able to create a VTC-like body that allows them to have their own page for general information and e.g. an application system for their event team. Within the group, the owner will be able to give other members roles with permissions. An example of such a role could be Event Manager. Permissions would include stuff like the ability to create dedicated event server request on behalf of the group and the ability to edit the information on the page of an event. This does not only look more professional, but it will also give all members that run an event the ability to control their assets (as long as they have the right permissions). For instance, Harmony Convoys is run by four managers. Within the VTC-like body, they will all be able to submit and edit event information and submit dedicated server requests on behalf of ‘Harmony Convoys’ and edit the details simultaneously. In the proposed Events system, individuals will still be able to create their own events and submit dedicated event server requests, but they will not possess any perks. The groups can apply for these perks, though. For example, I think it would be a good idea to give verified VTCs and verified event organizers priority to dedicated event servers, meaning that when multiple events are held on the same time and date, the verified groups will receive the server over non-verified groups. To get verified, groups will need to meet requirements that the TruckersMP Event Management and/or Community Management will have to compose. Requirements for verification could be: A minimum amount of team members that can run the event; A minimum amount of events that are run on a frequent basis (such as at least one monthly); Being partner of TruckersMP (for TruckersFM); Proof of at least five previously held events that had over 100 attendees. The perks of being a verified event organizer could be: Being featured on the Events page and receiving the attention that they deserve; Priority when requesting dedicated event servers (which allows them to claim slots over non-verified groups and individuals). Event pages At this moment, people have to create a topic on the forum to provide the details about their event. With the launch of the Events system it would be possible to create your own event page. This page is already available to people that are granted an event server and you can access it through the calendar on the Event Request page (https://truckersmp.com/event-request). This page should show all the information that you could need, such as a banner of the event, general event information, server settings, temporary rules, the event organizer, and information whether a dedicated server has been requested and its status (not requested, pending, denied, accepted). Upon creating a new event, the organizer will also have the ability to make their event private. This will prevent the event from showing up in the ‘Upcoming events’ list on the Events page and can be used when the event is private or too early to announce publicly. When trying to view the event page as an unauthorized person, they will be met with an error that says that they can’t view that page due to insufficient permissions. It should also be mandatory that event server requests can only be submitted after an event page has been created by the organizer, to make sure that all information is there for potential attendees. On the event page there should be an option to sign up for the event, for example by selecting one of the attendance options: I will attend, Maybe. People will sign up to the event with their TruckersMP ID. This will allow Event Managers to quickly assess the amount of attendees when an event request has been submitted and completely eliminates the need of third party websites such as ets2c and trucky. Once an event has started, this feature will lock so that people are no longer able to increase/decrease attendance data (to prevent fraud). The process of requesting and approval of temporary rules will also change. At this moment, when an event server has been granted, event organizers post the temporary rules that they requested on their event page, but these are not the confirmed ones and thus not always valid if Game Management does not approve them during the process. The temporary rules that are confirmed are posted on the forum by Game Management (https://forum.truckersmp.com/index.php?/topic/14237-temporary-rules-valid-during-an-event-or-a-convoy/). To prevent information from scattering on various locations, it would be better to have valid and confirmed information in one location: on the event page. In the Events system, event organizers will NOT post the temporary rules on their event page anymore, but should only submit it through the event server request form. Game Management will then review them and edit, approve, or deny them. If they are edited or approved, Game Management will then post them on the event page instead of on the forum. Only Game Management should have the permissions to edit the temporary rules section on that page, nobody else. This will fully eliminate the need of the temporary rules page on the forum and the rules will be easily accessible for anyone that wants to read them (such as attendees or game moderators that will be present during the event). It will also ease the workload for Game Management as they don’t have to post and format the general event information in the forum topic anymore (such as the title, organizer, dates, etc.) as that information is already present on the event page; they will only have to copy-paste the approved temporary rules on the designated event page. Example images Not everything that I have mentioned above is shown in the example images below (see spoilers) because I either couldn't manufacture it or because I don't know how to properly design it, but the general idea should be visible. Link to the Events page on the homepage The Events page will be accessible through the “Events” button in the menu on the website: Spoiler Design of the Events page The Events page, based on the proposal above, would look something like this (see spoiler). The information for the featured events will become visible when hovering your cursor over the banner. Currently, the names of the VTCs are shown below because I used the VTC page to edit the page, but this could be changed to the title of the event. The example of the upcoming events list consists only 5 events on the image, but could favorably be extended to a higher number. There will also need to be a page counter below that list to scroll through all upcoming events that have been created in the system. Logically, the events on top of the list are either currently active or will start soon, or in other words, in a chronological order of time. Spoiler How does an event page look like? Every event has its own page where it posts all the information attendees may need. When the event organizer has also requested an event server and it has been granted, then the server settings become visible in the top right. If the event is not on an event server, then the server settings section should not be visible. Under Attendance people will be able to let the organizers know that they are planning to come to the event. A number will show how many people will attend. Maybe a list of all attendees can also be implemented (similar to a VTC members list, but then without ranks such as driver. It would only show the names of people who signed up). Under Event information the organizer should describe what the event is about and provide general information and links (e.g. to a Discord server or to a fundraiser). Under Route they will be able to include a link to a picture, that then will automatically be converted as in the example. Under Temporary rules Game Management will post the rules that have been approved. If there are no temporary rules, there should be a default text such as “N/A” or “There are no temporary rules for this event. The official TruckersMP rules are applicable.” In order to make sure the correct temporary rules are posted on the page, event organizers will not be able to edit the temporary rules, only Game Management can. Spoiler Why should it be added? Increase community engagement; Integration of features and more importantly, centralization of event information in one system; Improve recognition for (both VTC and non-VTC) event organizers that stand out and provide qualitative events on a frequent basis, but also improve recognition for events that have no access to dedicated event servers; Ability for VTCs and event organizers to keep track of their events and manage them collectively. They also no longer will need to post various chunks of information on different locations, but instead gather and manage it all on one page; Slightly improve workflow for Event Management regarding event server requests as they don’t have to check third party content anymore; Improve workflow for Game Management regarding publication of temporary rules (will also improve clarity on which temporary rules are effective on an event server for attendees and game moderators); Potentially favorable for Community Management as they will be able to easily confirm whether a VTC or event organizer has met the requirements regarding the organization of events to become verified by reviewing their event history; A private Events system will improve user-friendliness and accessibility to activities within our community as not all users may be able or be willing to use third party services. They will also no longer need to search the forum for event information, but can access it all by viewing the event page instead. I'm not a developer, but I don't believe this idea would be technically problematic. It is basically a reworked version of the VTC system that already exists, apart from a few changes. I'd also like to thank the management from Harmony Convoys for allowing me to use their name and logo as an example. 2 12 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tfmpillow Posted June 22, 2020 Share Posted June 22, 2020 /Moved to Website Suggestions tfmpillow | Retired Team Member Rules | Recruitment | Support | Feedback | Meet the Team | Guides | Suggestions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 Hi there, This suggestion has been accepted and complete! Check out our Event System at https://truckersmp.com/events. // Accepted yo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 /Moved to Done yo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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