More updates to the Bingo Card Generator

[magibrain]

Hallo, all! I'm the one who's been coding the Bingo Card Generator over at http://an.owomoyela.net/fun/bingo_generator , and I thought I'd drop in and let you know of some new features.

• A longstanding bug with the Aarne-Thompson Fairytale Classifications list has been resolved, meaning that now you can use that list in conjunction with other lists, and it will select values from the whole Aarne-Thompson list and not just the first 852 or so.
• Background color, text color, and border color are now all customizable, with a popup color picker. You should be able to specify any color you'd like for any of these values, and if all the JavaScript is working correctly, you'll be able to see how it looks in an example square before selecting it.
• You can now generate 3x3 and 7x7 cards.

I'm hoping to add in an option to toggle the free space on and off soon, as well as adding 2x2, 4x4, and 6x6 generators. (The even square generators, for reasons having to do with code architecture, need the free space toggle to be implemented before they can be added in.)

Anyway, let me know if you see anything going wildly wrong! And if there are features you'd really like to see, let me know. I can't promise to implement them all, but I know that people may begin using this in ways I didn't anticipate, and it's be cool to support those uses as much as is practical. :)

–magi

[Update] Just added in some center-space customization!

Comments

Thank you!

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> A longstanding bug with the Aarne-Thompson Fairytale Classifications list has been resolved <<

Awesome. I love that reference book.

>> Background color, text color, and border color are now all customizable, with a popup color picker. <<

Yay! I'm sorry that I didn't get around to mentioning this update. It's Poetry Fishbowl week and I've been busy.

>> You can now generate 3x3 and 7x7 cards. <<

W00T! This will be really useful. I have updated the description to reflect these new features.

>> I'm hoping to add in an option to toggle the free space on and off soon, as well as 2x2, 4x4, and 6x6 generators. (The even square generators, for reasons having to do with code architecture, need the free space toggle to be implemented before they can be added in.) <<

That makes sense, given that even-numbered grids don't have a center space.

Thanks again for all your hard work. This tool is really useful! So far I've used it to make a public card for Bingo Valentines and at least one person is planning to use that.

[carriemac]

Thanks so much! Especially for the 3x3 cards. <3

[clare_dragonfly]

This is awesome! Thanks for doing so much work (and thanks again for fixing the Aarne-Thompson bug). I am looking forward to being able to toggle the free space off and on--I am just not a fan of free spaces.

[lightbird]

Thank you so much for all your hard work on this!

Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith]

I love the "wild card" space, which is how this is usually treated in creative bingo. You can put anything in that square, or according to some fests, pick any prompt from their list. It's not typically a square that doesn't have to be filled, the way it's sometimes played in gambling or educational bingo games.

On that note, a three-way option among "free space," "wild card," or "normal prompt" as the center square would be helpful.

Re: Hmm...

[clare_dragonfly]

Well, call it a free space or a wild card, I don't care for it ;) I don't want to have to pick my own prompt, especially since there is very rarely a prompt I like more than others. If a prompt doesn't come externally, it is not really a prompt for me. (Much like deadlines. I have to find some way to externalize them or I won't hit them--but if they're external, I'm pretty good at hitting them.)

So far in my bingo card use, I think the only time I've used a wild card was for kink_bingo, and I'm not sure I posted it. I like the challenge of prompts. If they're not a challenge, I tend to look for something else. That's also why I've had my current origfic_bingo card for more than two years--the prompts don't grab me with a challenge. Actually, most of my bingo cards don't grab me with challenges, but once I'm finished with my current novel project, I'm planning on requesting prompts to go with bingo cards the way aldersprig has.

Re: Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Well, call it a free space or a wild card, I don't care for it ;) I don't want to have to pick my own prompt, especially since there is very rarely a prompt I like more than others. <<

That's fine, and it's why I suggested "normal prompt" as an option.

Me, I like the wild card square because it lets me either A) pick a prompt I love, or B) showcase a poem I love by choosing a prompt to match it.

>> I like the challenge of prompts. If they're not a challenge, I tend to look for something else. <<

I like prompts of different challenge levels. cottoncandy_bingo, genprompt_bingo, and origfic_bingo are favorites because they're easy to write. I can rack up lots of activity quickly there, and practice is good. Conversely I love hc_bingo for its plotty prompts. ladiesbingo has been the most challenging, because I have to fit the prompts with a dual-female-lead series or else make something new, so that pushes the envelope for me. There's not a lot that does anymore, so that's valuable. Plus it makes more woman-centered literature, which is much needed.

>> Actually, most of my bingo cards don't grab me with challenges, but once I'm finished with my current novel project, I'm planning on requesting prompts to go with bingo cards the way aldersprig has. <<

Good idea. I've had my author bingo card for a while and it's fun to do.

You might also want to check out the "death," "desperate situations," and "end of the world" prompt lists on the Bingo Card Generator. Those have some grittier, plottier prompts compared to the lighter ones of the general prompt lists.

[unsettledink]

Awesome! Thank you for the work you've put into this.

[vexed_wench]

Thanks so much for all the work you put into the generator. As soon as I clear off a few things I want to grab a card or two.

Re: Hmm...

[magibrain]

[On that note, a three-way option among "free space," "wild card," or "normal prompt" as the center square would be helpful.]

Done one better! There's now a four-way choice, which allows you to go with "FREE SPACE", "WILD CARD", a normal prompt, or user-specified text.

Re: Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith]

This is so awesome!

By the way, I sent you a donation via our household PayPal account.

Re: Hmm...

[magibrain]

Yes! I received it! Thank you very much :).

[thisbluespirit]

This is beautiful!

Incidentally, I have an intention to run a mini-bingo challenge on an apocalyptic theme (hopefully) soonish, so would it be okay to use this to generate the 3x3 cards for it? It's just perfect for what I want, especially as it'll be just a small random fest. (Also, as it'll be a one-off thing, I can donate my list a apocalyptic prompts for general use post fest. Er, if people want a list of apocalyptic threats!!) With credit to you, of course.

But either way, this is just brilliant, and thanks!

Okay...

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> Incidentally, I have an intention to run a mini-bingo challenge on an apocalyptic theme (hopefully) soonish, <<

That sounds like fun. Might you be open to running that in this community, maybe in March? I'd love to have an array of periodic fests/challenges on different topics run by different people.

>> so would it be okay to use this to generate the 3x3 cards for it? <<

I'm fine with it, as community moderator.

>> It's just perfect for what I want, especially as it'll be just a small random fest. <<

Yay!

>> (Also, as it'll be a one-off thing, I can donate my list a apocalyptic prompts for general use post fest. Er, if people want a list of apocalyptic threats!!) With credit to you, of course. <<

So far, the generator has lists of Desperate Situations and End of the World prompts. I recommend that you check those against your prompt list, and if there's minimal overlap, submit your list to be added. It's also possible to paste your own list into the blank box, or mix-and-match prompt lists. You can even edit the results appearing in the box.

[magibrain]

Of course! This can be used to generate bingos for whatever you'd like, whether it's personal use, a small one-off fest, or a huge ongoing challenge. :) I want this to be an open resource for all sorts of creative work.

[thisbluespirit]

Thank you! ♥

I did have someone offer to help with a generator when we first discussed the idea, ages ago, but I tried this - pasted in my list of prompts, and it was just beautifully simple, so why reinvent the wheel? It's a lovely resource - thanks for sharing it. :-)

Re: Okay...

[thisbluespirit]

I'm afraid I really don't know quite what I'm doing with it yet! I'd just started poking around at it again, wondering about running it possibly soon (ish), and making a little comm for it - and then spotted the generator had been updated! So I'm a little too nebulous to commit to anything, but I'll certainly say here when it's running, and link back to here from there, at any rate. It was something I came up with my flist last Sept, and I need to sort some things out with people first as well.

I'd managed not to notice that you already had an apocalyptic list. It's not the same as mine, but there is inevitable overlap on the End of the World list, if in different phrasing, so I'd imagine you won't want mine for it as well! (Once I'm done, or if I give up the idea, you are welcome to it, should you want it, though.)

Anyway, thank you! :-)

Re: Okay...

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> I'm afraid I really don't know quite what I'm doing with it yet! <<

That's okay. Take your time and think things out.

>> So I'm a little too nebulous to commit to anything, but I'll certainly say here when it's running, and link back to here from there, at any rate. <<

Okay, great. If you make it a separate community, we can make them affiliates, should that appeal to you.

>> I'd managed not to notice that you already had an apocalyptic list. It's not the same as mine, but there is inevitable overlap on the End of the World list, if in different phrasing, so I'd imagine you won't want mine for it as well! <<

Thinking about it, End of the World is really just a list of disasters; and Desperate Situations isn't limited to post-apocalyptic stuff. It might be cool to have a list of post-apocalyptic motifs, like: road warriors, mutants on the loose, ruined city, you blew it up, two men enter - one man leaves, etc. So if you have prompts that don't overlap, that could make a new list.

Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Playing around with the prompt lists made me wonder something. How do lists of different lengths interact with each other? Some lists are very long, while others are shorter. My suspicion is that long lists may wind up putting more prompts into a card where several lists are merged.

Might there be a way to toggle between "merge all lists and select randomly" (which will weight toward longer lists) or "take similar amounts from each list" (which will balance lists)? It would probably have to be restricted by numbers; frex, you could do 2 lists with 12 prompts from each, or 4 lists with 6, etc.

Re: Okay...

[thisbluespirit]

Okay, great. If you make it a separate community, we can make them affiliates, should that appeal to you.

Oh, certainly. As I said, I'm a little nebulous, but if and when I do run it (and hopefully it will work out!), I shall definitely do that, and let you know. :-)

The prompt list I have is quite similar to the End of the World list, but with different phrasing, and some other options (I don't think the EotW has any more fantasy-ish type ones, which mine does). But when I do run it, the list of prompts'll be up and you can see. As I said, I'll happily donate them, but I think they probably do overlap quite a bit with yours already.

Re: Hmm...

[magibrain]

Now, that's an interesting idea. Yeah; currently, every individual option in the list is weighted equally, which means that sub-lists with more individual options end up with greater weight. (This is why anything generated with the Aarne-Thompson list will probably end up mostly Aarne-Thompson; with over 2000 items in it, it's hard for anything else to compete.) It seems like there should be a way to select randomized sub-lists from the selected lists as they're loaded in – it'd just take some heavy listing on the JavaScript side of things, as by the time the processing hits the server side (which is where I'm accustomed to doing the heavy lifting), there's no attached information to indicate which specific prompts came from what source.

So, the implementation would probably be to have a "Include a maximum of x prompts from each selected list" box, and when it was selected, it would go through a process where:

* It looked at all of the selected lists
* It retrieved the data for each list, broke it up into an array of values, and selected a randomized set of up to x options
* It loaded those into the editor view.

Which seems possible, if potentially processing-heavy. And it would probably not be terribly kind to people who wanted to edit the items included on each list before limiting them; that is, selecting a maximum of x prompts would have to select them from the entire list, not any subset of the list, unless I wanted to hugely redo the code architecture.

Still, it's an idea I can play around with.

Re: Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> And it would probably not be terribly kind to people who wanted to edit the items included on each list before limiting them; that is, selecting a maximum of x prompts would have to select them from the entire list, not any subset of the list, unless I wanted to hugely redo the code architecture. <<

I think the most efficient way would be to edit the list *after* trimming it. Say you pick 4 lists. The program cuts them all down to 10 prompts. You edit out 4 you don't want. Then you push the button and get a card.

Having a toggle on/off for the weighting feature would give people a choice. So if the editing is harder to do, or impossible, with the Equalize Weight option on, people still have the unequal option if they want to edit the lists a lot.

>> Still, it's an idea I can play around with. <<

Yay! I can usually frame my ideas in computer concepts. I am less good at guessing what is doable at this level of technology, let alone what is easy.

Re: Okay...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Fair enough.

Yes, my End of the World list is mainly mundane stuff with a few science fiction motifs thrown in. A more speculative list might be fun.

I need to see about making an event calendar for this community.

Re: Okay...

[thisbluespirit]

I don't have pecked to death by ducks, though! ;-D

Re: Okay...

[ysabetwordsmith]

That's for situations when a large number of almost-powerless people or things bring down a mighty foe. Like when kobolds kill your 87-level paladin by sitting on him and hitting him with rocks.