[sfr]

At the end of the round the TALK TO in MESSAGES should be cleared back to TABLE. a PRIVATE MESSAGE during game locks to PRIVATE until corrected when you enter next round.
The bottom MESSAGE changes back but the right side stays on PRIVATE which means I have to click to correct. Slows things down.. It also seems to jam up and I have to click more than once to get back to TABLE.
actually the MESSAGE SPACE SHOULD BE CLEARED BACK TO TABLE after PRIVATE MESSAGE SENT.
When I hit the ALERT key the space comes up but you have to click to explain the ALERT. The Space should come up and be able to type in description without clicking the space to type the info.

[pescetom]

sfr, on 2021-May-04, 06:50, said:

When I hit the ALERT key the space comes up but you have to click to explain the ALERT. The Space should come up and be able to type in description without clicking the space to type the info.

And more in general, it should be intuitive how to Alert and Explain a call at the time it is made. I find that the explanation I enter tends to disappear for some reason. so I end up just alerting and then adding the explanation after the call is made (undoubtedly I am doing something wrong, but the fact that I do suggests the interface is not helping).

[barmar]

I recommend that instead of changing the destination in the chat line, you click on the player you want to talk to and use the chat line in the popup.

[barmar]

pescetom, on 2021-May-04, 08:50, said:

And more in general, it should be intuitive how to Alert and Explain a call at the time it is made. I find that the explanation I enter tends to disappear for some reason. so I end up just alerting and then adding the explanation after the call is made (undoubtedly I am doing something wrong, but the fact that I do suggests the interface is not helping).

Type in the explanation field, click on the Alert button, then select your bid. That's all there is to it. I've never had an explanation disappear when I did this.

[pescetom]

barmar, on 2021-May-08, 09:15, said:

Type in the explanation field, click on the Alert button, then select your bid. That's all there is to it. I've never had an explanation disappear when I did this.

Thanks.
That's not an order which would come to my mind, which may explain things.
Maybe what I do "wrong" is to select my bid, click on the Alert button and then type in the explanation field?
I'll try to take note and see.

[sfi]

It's better practice to explain it first so the next player has correct information when they start considering their action. You might not have time to explain your call if they bid quickly, and that can be problematic.

[pescetom]

sfi, on 2021-May-08, 16:29, said:

It's better practice to explain it first so the next player has correct information when they start considering their action. You might not have time to explain your call if they bid quickly, and that can be problematic.

Sure. It also detracts from my own concentration having to rapidly (re)type the explanation, it's a nuisance all round.

I did try it once in the order barmar suggested, no joy- I still got a call alerted but with no explanation. Will try again next time I play.

[mycroft]

"1" "12-14" "NT". Doesn't Alert it (no red box) but nobody seems to care, they get the explanation just fine. I guess "1" "12-14" "Alert" "NT" would do what BarMar is suggesting.

Doubles and passes with explanation work the same way, just skip the first step.

[barmar]

pescetom, on 2021-May-08, 12:24, said:

Thanks.
That's not an order which would come to my mind, which may explain things.
Maybe what I do "wrong" is to select my bid, click on the Alert button and then type in the explanation field?
I'll try to take note and see.

Once you finish selecting your bid, the bidding box goes away. How are you clicking on the Alert button at that point?

Except for the 1-click calls Pass/Double/Redouble, you can also do the alerting between selecting the level and denomination.

[pescetom]

barmar, on 2021-May-10, 10:13, said:

Once you finish selecting your bid, the bidding box goes away. How are you clicking on the Alert button at that point?

Except for the 1-click calls Pass/Double/Redouble, you can also do the alerting between selecting the level and denomination.

Thanks.
I just played a TCR and tried to focus on how I was interacting with the interface.
Yes you're right of course that once one selects a bid all else is lost (select a call, explain it and then drag it to the table would be more intuitive).
FWIW I didn't manage to make an explanation in 6 boards, of course the 30s time stress of TCR and the need to invent more or less justified explanations did not help.
I tried Alert - "explanation" - call, the explanation disappeared.
I tried the (less intuitive) "explanation" - Alert - call, still the explanation disappeared.
Will try again later in a slower paced tournament.

[smerriman]

pescetom, on 2021-May-10, 13:15, said:

I just played a TCR..
.. of course the 30s time stress of TCR and the need to invent more or less justified explanations did not help.

By TCR do you mean Free Automated Fun? Those tournaments "require" you to play GIB's system (though most people don't do it anyway); all bids by every player are automatically alerted to be the robot definitions, so you can't override them.

(At least, that's how I remember them working; I haven't played one for years, since they're completely random, so I may be wrong).

[pescetom]

smerriman, on 2021-May-10, 14:38, said:

By TCR do you mean Free Automated Fun? Those tournaments "require" you to play GIB's system (though most people don't do it anyway); all bids by every player are automatically alerted to be the robot definitions, so you can't override them.

Quite right of course (it would be nice to disable Alert when it is not possible to use it, but that's another issue).

But I tried again in a later and normal pairs tournament.
After "explanation" - Alert, once I selected Level the explanation disappeared.
I also tried Alert - Level - "explanation" - Denomination as mentioned by Barmar, but once I selected Denomination the explanation disappeared.
Clicking on a call already made and inserting "explanation" worked as always.

[smerriman]

Well, I'm stumped then. For me, anything that is typed into the description box at any time before completing the bid goes through fine. (Whether or not you click alert just alters whether it has an additional red ring around it.)

So I don't think it's anything you are doing wrong process-wise; perhaps an issue with your device.

[pescetom]

smerriman, on 2021-May-10, 17:20, said:

So I don't think it's anything you are doing wrong process-wise; perhaps an issue with your device.

It's a fairly normal device, an old but decent i5 laptop with Windows 10 and chrome, Logitech wireless mouse (Synaptic touch pad disabled). Probably the only unusual thing is that the physical keyboard is Italian layout and the primary input language English USA, but Windows handles that well and I doubt it is related.

[mycroft]

do you have BBOAlert or anything like that installed? It could be overriding with the "saved" explanation. Only thing I can think of - I've been doing what I said to do for decades without issue.

[pescetom]

mycroft, on 2021-May-11, 09:11, said:

do you have BBOAlert or anything like that installed? It could be overriding with the "saved" explanation. Only thing I can think of - I've been doing what I said to do for decades without issue.

YES. Thanks, that may well be it. I have it installed but am not using it because coding all the alerts was unjustified work for me. Will try disabling it, or disinstalling it if necessary.

[Update]: that was indeed it, BBOAlert was sulking because unused. I removed it and now things work as expected. Sorry to all for the time taken here.

[0 carbon]

pescetom, on 2021-May-11, 10:18, said:

YES. Thanks, that may well be it. I have it installed but am not using it because coding all the alerts was unjustified work for me. Will try disabling it, or disinstalling it if necessary.

[Update]: that was indeed it, BBOAlert was sulking because unused. I removed it and now things work as expected. Sorry to all for the time taken here.

FWIW, with BBOalert, always turn on "confirm bid". While you can do lots of setup, if you usually play the same system, alerts will accumulate over time and be self-correcting.