USTA Mobile Access Website

cknobman · 08-15-2012, 10:54 AM

I have just published an early version (beta) of a mobile website which the intent of is to try and make the USTA Tennislink site a bit more usable on mobile devices (outside of iPhone since they get an official app).

The url is: http://ustamobileaccess.azurewebsites.net/ (when viewing in full browser keep in mind this was designed for a mobile device so it will not look very good on large screen).

Please check it out and keep in mind that it is a very early beta and may have some bugs. Also this is my very first mobile web site ever (I primarily code internal business apps and never before on a mobile device) so I am still learning some of the design aspects. I have only been able to test this on an HTC EVO running Android 2.3 and a iPhone 4s but on those 2 devices things seem to be running pretty smoothly.

I initially contacted the USTA about the possibilities of them producing an app for Android or Windows Phone but they responded that they had no time frame on producing one.
I then contacted them expressing my desire to make one for them and tried to get them to work with me. They declined saying they could not share any information with me and I would have to wait until they produced something internally.

So in my frustration I am slowly reverse engineering as much of their website as possible and trying to recreate it myself. Of course since they will not work with me there are quite a few things that I simply can not do such as: registering accounts, tournament entries, updating scores, or anything that involves saving data to their system.

What I can do (and have begun doing) is simplifying and replicating some of their search functionality as well as creating a way to save searches.

So this initial release contains the following:

Tournament Searches - simple and advanced
Player/Team searches
Ratings Search
Rankings Search
Saved Searches - This way you can easily save a tournament search or player history search without having to remember all the criteria. This was very frustrating for me as I play tournaments and I hated having to bookmark every tournament search since the USTA site had no way of saving it.

These functionalities are largely the exact same (except for saved as that is something I created new) as they would be on the main site except they are more friendly and lightweight for a mobile device. Once you actually execute the search your results will show in the full USTA website as if you had performed the search there.

I will continue to reverse engineer as much of the USTA Tennislink site I can and try to keep adding functionality. I am also open to any suggestions or ideas you might have as well so please let me know. At the footer of every page on the website there is an email address I have setup that will be listening for any bugs/suggestions.

Also, I fully intend on developing an Android and Windows Phone app after I have this mobile website completed. I decided to start with a website because I am a web developer (smaller learning curve) and it would be available to more people faster vs having to code separate apps for each platform (something I have never done before either).

One final note, the service hosting my website is something new as well so it may not be super high performance. If I(or you) notice that the site is simply getting slow from too much traffic then I will move it over to a better hosting service.

dizzlmcwizzl · 08-15-2012, 11:45 AM

I like it ... Much faster if you are looking for that type of info .....

I am sure you will get complaints from the USta though

cknobman · 08-15-2012, 11:56 AM

Thanks!

I would not be surprised if they complain but heck I tried to work with them and they blew me off.

If they get real pushy about it I will change what I have to in order to make them happy. I am going to hope they dont have a cow about it especially since they don't even offer something for the audience I am targeting.

cknobman · 08-16-2012, 07:38 AM

I have added Rankings Search to the list of functionality.

cknobman · 03-01-2013, 05:40 AM

I received a report from someone running Android 2.1 that the site is not working properly for them.

The report states that are going to "Player/Team Search" and entering their USTA # in and clicking "Search" but no results show.

I have tried this with 6 different USTA #s and they all work for me.

The report also claims that when they perform a name search they are shown a listing of matching names but clicking on a name takes them nowhere.

I cannot reproduce that error either.

If you experience anything like this please post back and let me know what platform you are running on.

Thanks!

J_R_B · 03-01-2013, 06:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cknobman

I received a report from someone running Android 2.1 that the site is not working properly for them.

The report states that are going to "Player/Team Search" and entering their USTA # in and clicking "Search" but no results show.

I have tried this with 6 different USTA #s and they all work for me.

The report also claims that when they perform a name search they are shown a listing of matching names but clicking on a name takes them nowhere.

I cannot reproduce that error either.

If you experience anything like this please post back and let me know what platform you are running on.

Thanks!

Works fine for me (iPhone).

gmatheis · 03-01-2013, 06:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cknobman

I received a report from someone running Android 2.1 that the site is not working properly for them.

The report states that are going to "Player/Team Search" and entering their USTA # in and clicking "Search" but no results show.

I have tried this with 6 different USTA #s and they all work for me.

The report also claims that when they perform a name search they are shown a listing of matching names but clicking on a name takes them nowhere.

I cannot reproduce that error either.

If you experience anything like this please post back and let me know what platform you are running on.

Thanks!

I just noticed that if you hit "return" after typing someone's name it does not do anything. Perhaps you need to tie that form and the sumbit button together .... maybe this is the problem ... not sure just guessing

cknobman · 03-01-2013, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gmatheis

I just noticed that if you hit "return" after typing someone's name it does not do anything. Perhaps you need to tie that form and the sumbit button together .... maybe this is the problem ... not sure just guessing

Ok I will work on fixing that. Thanks!

cknobman · 03-01-2013, 12:39 PM

Just deployed the fix.

Now if you hit enter it should automatically trigger the "Search" button to be clicked even if the button does not have focus.

Thanks for the find gmatheis!

jonnyjack · 03-01-2013, 01:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cknobman

Just deployed the fix.

Now if you hit enter it should automatically trigger the "Search" button to be clicked even if the button does not have focus.

Thanks for the find gmatheis!

Thanks for this page. Fast turnaround on the bug fix too, wish dev was always this fast!

Will play around with it more when I have time.

Angle Queen · 03-01-2013, 01:39 PM

Too cool, knobman. Even though I'm in the Dark Ages with my cell phone, my Samsung Tab 10.1 (running Android)...loves this app.

Is there a way to "download" the app/get an icon on my tablet? I'm, admittedly, a newb to all this mobile stuff.

Love, love the "disclaimer". Maybe USTA will get it.

sureshs · 03-01-2013, 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cknobman

I would not be surprised if they complain but heck I tried to work with them and they blew me off.

They might complain about the USTA logo you have on your web site.

cknobman · 03-04-2013, 06:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Angle Queen

Too cool, knobman. Even though I'm in the Dark Ages with my cell phone, my Samsung Tab 10.1 (running Android)...loves this app.

Is there a way to "download" the app/get an icon on my tablet? I'm, admittedly, a newb to all this mobile stuff.

Love, love the "disclaimer". Maybe USTA will get it.

The way to get an "icon" to make it look like an app is save the page as a bookmark.
Then go to your browsers bookmarks and find the bookmark you just saved and "press and hold" unitl a menu list of options pops up.
Choose the "Add shortcut to home" and android will place an icon on your home screen. The icon will look exactly like an app. The app icon will be the USTA with MA underneath it style symbol.

08-15-2012, 10:54 AM	#1
cknobman Hall Of Fame Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Saudi Arabia Posts: 4,677	USTA Mobile Access Website I have just published an early version (beta) of a mobile website which the intent of is to try and make the USTA Tennislink site a bit more usable on mobile devices (outside of iPhone since they get an official app). The url is: http://ustamobileaccess.azurewebsites.net/ (when viewing in full browser keep in mind this was designed for a mobile device so it will not look very good on large screen). Please check it out and keep in mind that it is a very early beta and may have some bugs. Also this is my very first mobile web site ever (I primarily code internal business apps and never before on a mobile device) so I am still learning some of the design aspects. I have only been able to test this on an HTC EVO running Android 2.3 and a iPhone 4s but on those 2 devices things seem to be running pretty smoothly. I initially contacted the USTA about the possibilities of them producing an app for Android or Windows Phone but they responded that they had no time frame on producing one. I then contacted them expressing my desire to make one for them and tried to get them to work with me. They declined saying they could not share any information with me and I would have to wait until they produced something internally. So in my frustration I am slowly reverse engineering as much of their website as possible and trying to recreate it myself. Of course since they will not work with me there are quite a few things that I simply can not do such as: registering accounts, tournament entries, updating scores, or anything that involves saving data to their system. What I can do (and have begun doing) is simplifying and replicating some of their search functionality as well as creating a way to save searches. So this initial release contains the following: Tournament Searches - simple and advanced Player/Team searches Ratings Search Rankings Search Saved Searches - This way you can easily save a tournament search or player history search without having to remember all the criteria. This was very frustrating for me as I play tournaments and I hated having to bookmark every tournament search since the USTA site had no way of saving it. These functionalities are largely the exact same (except for saved as that is something I created new) as they would be on the main site except they are more friendly and lightweight for a mobile device. Once you actually execute the search your results will show in the full USTA website as if you had performed the search there. I will continue to reverse engineer as much of the USTA Tennislink site I can and try to keep adding functionality. I am also open to any suggestions or ideas you might have as well so please let me know. At the footer of every page on the website there is an email address I have setup that will be listening for any bugs/suggestions. Also, I fully intend on developing an Android and Windows Phone app after I have this mobile website completed. I decided to start with a website because I am a web developer (smaller learning curve) and it would be available to more people faster vs having to code separate apps for each platform (something I have never done before either). One final note, the service hosting my website is something new as well so it may not be super high performance. If I(or you) notice that the site is simply getting slow from too much traffic then I will move it over to a better hosting service. __________________ Wilson 2012 Pro Tour BLX 16x20, very close to my Dunlop Bio 200 lite with more power. Donnay X-Hybrid a true hidden (and cheap) gem of a hybrid. Last edited by cknobman : 08-16-2012 at 07:38 AM.

08-15-2012, 11:45 AM	#2
dizzlmcwizzl Hall Of Fame Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: DE Posts: 1,707	I like it ... Much faster if you are looking for that type of info ..... I am sure you will get complaints from the USta though __________________ "You should be playing linebacker, not singles."

08-15-2012, 11:56 AM	#3
cknobman Hall Of Fame Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Saudi Arabia Posts: 4,677	Thanks! I would not be surprised if they complain but heck I tried to work with them and they blew me off. If they get real pushy about it I will change what I have to in order to make them happy. I am going to hope they dont have a cow about it especially since they don't even offer something for the audience I am targeting. __________________ Wilson 2012 Pro Tour BLX 16x20, very close to my Dunlop Bio 200 lite with more power. Donnay X-Hybrid a true hidden (and cheap) gem of a hybrid. Last edited by cknobman : 08-15-2012 at 12:05 PM.

08-16-2012, 07:38 AM	#4
cknobman Hall Of Fame Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Saudi Arabia Posts: 4,677	I have added Rankings Search to the list of functionality. __________________ Wilson 2012 Pro Tour BLX 16x20, very close to my Dunlop Bio 200 lite with more power. Donnay X-Hybrid a true hidden (and cheap) gem of a hybrid.

03-01-2013, 05:40 AM	#5
cknobman Hall Of Fame Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Saudi Arabia Posts: 4,677	I received a report from someone running Android 2.1 that the site is not working properly for them. The report states that are going to "Player/Team Search" and entering their USTA # in and clicking "Search" but no results show. I have tried this with 6 different USTA #s and they all work for me. The report also claims that when they perform a name search they are shown a listing of matching names but clicking on a name takes them nowhere. I cannot reproduce that error either. If you experience anything like this please post back and let me know what platform you are running on. Thanks! __________________ Wilson 2012 Pro Tour BLX 16x20, very close to my Dunlop Bio 200 lite with more power. Donnay X-Hybrid a true hidden (and cheap) gem of a hybrid.