World Cup Racecards Wysiwyg Or Traditional

[manchesterpaul]

Ok preparing myself for human nature in which 98% will rapidly make a post if they disagree and probably 2% will make a reply if they are happy with something lol. Positive or negative is absolutely fine and much appreciated even if negative. I will though take note of the immense increase in downloads of the MIniMax racecards year on year for the World Cup but sincerely appreciate any comments even if negative. Non-constructive attacking posts (aka get a life) will be like water off a duck's back lol.

 

I know for sure i am absolutely stunned at the thousands upon thousands that have downloaded the MIniMax racecards and increasing with every meeting of the World Cup. PLEASE NOTE I AM CERTAIN THAT FOR WHATEVER REASON EVERY OTHER RACECARD PROVIDER HAS EXPERIENCED THE EXACT SAME INCREASE THIS YEAR. THIS IS NOT A CHILDISH WHO HAS MOST DOWNLOADS WAR. FOR FLIPS SAKE SURELY EVEN THIS FORUM CAN'T STOOP THAT LOW HEE HEE. I AM SURE YOU HAVE ALL HAD MASSIVE INCREASES THIS YEAR MEETING UPON MEETING.

 

I recently had to make a hasty early post to ease up the load on the servers when racecards were not available ahead of meetings - no teams declared - and got a load of criticism for posting in advance of a meeting (even though i have done for several years purely to preempt requests for racecards i was always going to provide).

 

Ok, just interested in opinions on the specific format i use for the World Cup meetings in the VISUAL LAYOUT OF 'WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET', AS OPPOSED TO TRADITIONAL VERSION.

 

Once one takes a few minutes to adjust from the traditional layout the fact that the racecard lines up with what you see visually on the screen really does make things far smoother. I've received - LITERALLY AND ABSOLUTELY NO EXAGGERATION - thousands of emails* approving the format. I never knew that many speedway fans were about lol. So heartened and delighted that from so many countries speedway fans are abundant. The number of downloads greatly in the extreme exceed the number of visits to the racecards threads, i presume most fans bookmark the single page for the racecards in the knowledge that all racecards will be there.

 

*(lol toooooo funny....apologies for that sentence it got messed up in midst of cutting and pasting to correct typo's and rewording. Don't think the BBC get that many emails in a day and i certainly couldn't bear to read more than a dozen hee hee)

 

I notice that SportoweFakte also employs this format. Pearson and Co seem to have pointedly begun referring to 'riders across the gate' in their pre-race introductions during the World Cup and starting from the inside gate. Have they always done that in total contradiction to the graphics on the screen or have i just latched on to it during the World Cup?. I know they do have their favourites in all aspects of speedway.

 

However, the graphics (in a western civilization of the brain reading from left to right) AND the camera angles be it from the front shot or the behind the fence view, show Riders as per the MIniMax racecard displayed as on TV screen and graphics, outside to in, left to right, G4, G3, G2, G1.

 

Additionally, in contradiction to their pre-race comments they always, as do most speedway people in the world, in commentary during the race AND every other aspect refer to the (for league matches and individual meetings) 'red' if on the inside gate as the inside and the 'yellow' gate if on the outside as the 'outside'. Obviously the same applies when in alternate line-up for league matches. Therefore, that automatically transfers to the format i use for the World Cup, albeit red does not have the inside gate every race.

 

I fill in the 3210 then speedily by colour add to the team totals on the right, this then just leaves the 3210 order of the heat to be entered into the team grid, speeded up by the colour coordination.

Edited July 14, 2012 by manchesterpaul

[bill361808]

I've been supporting Speedway since the early 60s and have always 'read' the riders from gate 1 to 4. I appreciate your race cards and the time you spend making them available to us all. As a user of them, the listing of riders from outside to inside gates is, to me, slightly off-putting.

Please keep up the good work

 

Bill

[ABS]

I prefer the traditional race card, reading 1-4, inside gate to outside gate. I use racecards for in-play betting and had to cross refer your race card to an alternative for the first World Cup Event. Gate positions are something I always take into account when betting and when you're rushing in between races, it's easy to get it wrong, as I did. In truth, I gave up for the second event and just used the alternative

[manchesterpaul]

I've been supporting Speedway since the early 60s and have always 'read' the riders from gate 1 to 4. I appreciate your race cards and the time you spend making them available to us all. As a user of them, the listing of riders from outside to inside gates is, to me, slightly off-putting.

Please keep up the good work

 

Bill

 

Thank you for your input much appreciated. I certainly can appreciate how any change to a long-standing tradition/usage would initially undoubtedly be off-putting. However, i would suggest that after a little familiarity one would realize the benefit of WYSIWYG. One merely glances down at the racecard and looks up at the screen and, as i mentioned in the Western world we read from left to right, one's eyes and racecard synchronize perfectly. There is no having to 'remember' or juggle tiny characters from a racecard and align them with the riders.

 

Hopefully next year i will have more time available and produce two versions for the World Cup racecards. Both will incorporate the distinctive and specific 'MiniMax' formatting features but i will do one in the red, blue, white, yellow 'come what may' traditional layout too. However this year with myself being very busy i had to give preference to the WYSIWYG format that was much requested.

 

Just caught sight of 'ABS' response, ok hopefully the latter of the two versions will put you back on track next year. Good luck with betting go kill 'em bookies

 

Regarding the changeover from what is ingrained into a speedway fan from birth! i'll do TWO versions next year. One can't reinvent the wheel overnight lol.

 

Two things i would make note of is that firstly what is likely the largest website for visitors in the world of speedway - SportoweFakte - also use my format, and secondly the download numbers and requests for this WYSIWYG format has been off the charts. However, i will do the familiar version next year too. Incidentally, no worries the SGP and Swedish Leage racecards will stay traditional.

Edited July 14, 2012 by manchesterpaul

[SCB]

Thing is, in a race they're not in gate order are they? They can be in any order so in that spilt second in a race to see who's out in yellow for Team GB you want to glance at the card, not have to remember what gate he started in.

 

When filling in a programme I go red, blue, white, yellow. Not gate 1, gate 2, gate 3, gate 4 as by the end of the race I don't know what gate the riders started in.

 

And you have had 2000+ emails praising the new format?! :/

Edited July 14, 2012 by SCB

[Gambo]

Thing is, in a race they're not in gate order are they? They can be in any order so in that spilt second in a race to see who's out in yellow for Team GB you want to glance at the card, not have to remember what gate he started in.

 

When filling in a programme I go red, blue, white, yellow. Not gate 1, gate 2, gate 3, gate 4 as by the end of the race I don't know what gate the riders started in.

 

Totally agree there SCB, it is the easiest and quickest way of logging results indeed. All the KanDysoft (both the official and publicly available) spreadsheets use this method (input R,B,W or Y) for filling in race results, and the majority automatically show gate stats.

Edited July 14, 2012 by Gambo

[pandorum]

I download your card for SWC and took a meeting to get used to the gate positions in your new format but don't find any problem now I have gotten it in my mind.

But must admit I use the red, blue, white, yellow for league racing and am not that concerned as to what gate people are in.

 

So in answer to your question I don't really mind

Edited July 14, 2012 by pandorum

[manchesterpaul]

Thing is, in a race they're not in gate order are they? They can be in any order so in that spilt second in a race to see who's out in yellow for Team GB you want to glance at the card, not have to remember what gate he started in.

 

When filling in a programme I go red, blue, white, yellow. Not gate 1, gate 2, gate 3, gate 4 as by the end of the race I don't know what gate the riders started in.

 

And you have had 2000+ emails praising the new format?! :/

 

Lol noooooooo Apologies that's me cutting and pasting to remove typo's and rewording. I was replying elsewhere before and that's got messed up, i'll sort it later. Only just gettng home just in time for the meeting.

 

Totally agree there SCB, it is the easiest and quickest way of logging results indeed. All the KanDysoft (both the official and publicly available) spreadsheets use this method (input R,B,W or Y) for filling in race results, and the majority automatically show gate stats.

 

All the other MiniMax racecards use the traditional method and as i say i'll make two versions avaialable for next year. As much as anything i suppose i was trying a further step in providing something different to make for more variety to suit varying tastes. Whilst not 2,000 lol i have had many requests for the visually matching outside to in.

 

 

Anyway thanks all for interesting insight and views on the format.

[Team Man]

Thank you Paul I found your card the easiest to see and follow, have used it throughout, I looked at all the others and chose yours.

 

Thank you again.

[Ghostwalker]

personally i prefer the "cross-word type" of racecard, with the riders listed to the left (vertically) and the heat numbers listed

at the top (horizontally), with the heat's riders marked by squares.

Edited July 15, 2012 by Ghostwalker

[manchesterpaul]

Don't want to unduly prolong a discussion on racecards lol. Yep even i struggle to summon up enough enthusiasm to read such a thread. But just a couple of longggg quickies and a genuine question i'm puzzled by before we let it die a death.

 

Got to admit i am interested in opinions on what i mention below. Black Sabbath famous song wail and riff coming into mind now of 'Oh God Nooooooooooo' as i think i am jeopardizing my chances of prizing Jessica Alba away from her beloved because i risk coming across as an equivalent of a Philatelist or Ferroequinologist. Hey i hope Google and Wikipedia give me a commission on the number of searches about to be made on the latter term lol.

 

Totally agree there SCB, it is the easiest and quickest way of logging results indeed. All the KanDysoft (both the official and publicly available) spreadsheets use this method (input R,B,W or Y) for filling in race results, and the majority automatically show gate stats.

 

As i've mentioned all the other MiniMax racecards also go down the traditional route. I resumed the visual 'wysiwyg' format for the World Cup based on the number of requests i received for it to be reinstated and also for reasons mentioned earlier. However, as i had planned to do this year but didn't have the time, next year i will be issuing the 'traditional' layout as well. Obviously, with the specific/unique formatting of the MiniMax cards.

 

I'm very puzzled by your comment of 'the majority automatically show gate stats'. Presuming we are talking about printable racecards and not spreadsheet software, forget 'most'!, i've not seen any other than mine include that feature.

 

At the start of each SGP season i have a look at all the other cards i can find and see if any have copied the features unique to my cards - and YES indeed some have (as have a few other forms of media). But i've not seen any taking on the gate stats unless they've done it mid-season???

 

One thing i would like to make clear, as far as i am concerned the more 'different' cards the merrier, which is why i don't do the grid format. What on earth is the point of producing several cards using the same format??? I gain nothing at all from the cards they are totally free, i get no personal fame as they are issued under a forum pen name. Zilch advertising or personal reference etc. I so am not a Facebook type person.

 

I just offer a different type of card with unique formatting that i consider to be very beneficial on the traditional ones (see explanation on my racecard page - won't bore you with it here). There is no contest as to whose is the best. I hope we are all successful in appealing to fans who want what we offer in the various layouts.

 

I download your card for SWC and took a meeting to get used to the gate positions in your new format but don't find any problem now I have gotten it in my mind.

But must admit I use the red, blue, white, yellow for league racing and am not that concerned as to what gate people are in.

 

So in answer to your question I don't really mind FPRIVATE "TYPE=PICT;ALT= "

 

Thank you Paul I found your card the easiest to see and follow, have used it throughout, I looked at all the others and chose yours.

 

Thank you again.

 

It is very, very hard to change people away from something they are used to and have used for years. However, i really can't stress enough how after a couple of meetings the 'What You See Is What You Get' speeds up programme filling and has a solidly positive impact on watching the riders go into the first bend. I'm not going to bore myself let alone others by going into several reasons why. Like i mentioned before no less a site/publication than SportoFaktwe have also latched onto this. I appreciate how at first try the dfference throws one off, but, wow it does work very well indeed. As ever, i put it out there as a different racecard to add to the splendid variety of cards.

 

Final thing, not a criticism merely an out and out question as i'm puzzled. I've always referred to my SGP racecard as having a 'traditional' grid for the riders scorechart. By that i mean it's a 'traditional' lol, single block not split into bits across the top of a page or in a grid fashion without any heat sections. Please note no criticisms here at all. Now let me expand....

 

1.

As a child i used to watch speedway at Belle Vue at the old Hyde Road track (aka if Carlsberg made speedway tracks in those days they would have made Hyde Road) and every individual meeting i ever attended the programme had the same grid layout that i use.

 

2.

I left speedway behind when Hyde Rad closed down and it went over to the American 'toy' type track at the Greyhound stadium. I had my interest rekindled some near 30 years later when i saw the sport on Sky tv.

 

3.

It was only when witnessing my first SGP and looking for a programme that for the first time ever i saw this 'grid' style racecard in use. I think it may have been used on the continent before the UK?

 

So surely this grid style is NOT 'traditional' and my single grid block is? Again no prizes or plaudits to be gained just bemused at the reference to the 'new-fangled' lol grid style as being traditional.

Edited July 17, 2012 by manchesterpaul