Chessy Web Pages

Submitted by DrDave on Tue, 21/09/2010 - 00:27

How to produce chessy web pages... a review of systems.
[Really only interested in freeware...]

System and web link	Features	Nitpicks
PalView	Hard to think of anything this can't do: static diagrams,inline games, pop-up games, problems that you can have a few goes at before seeing the solution, etc etc. Example on this site: http://exeterchessclub.org.uk/content/friendly-match	It's a bit of a hop skip and jump to get it to produce web pages, let alone Drupal pages Some of the code is a bit whiskery e.g. custom coding for IE4 Would be good to get visual feedback of successful piece selection when attempting puzzles (e.g. square changes colour) I never cracked getting static diagrams to format properly on this site
Chessboard renderer	Diagrams only, but worked first time Once that is, that I hit on the right syntax, e.g. [ chessboard ] 4rrk1/1bqn1pbp/pp1p1np1/4p3/P3PP1Q/2NB1N2/1PPB2PP/4RR1K [ / chessboard ] (without spaces) Example on this site: http://exeterchessclub.org.uk/content/do-chessplayers-think Native Drupal Module (cheers from crowd)	Need to tone down that green for this site!
PGN4web	Works directly from PGN inline (ideal!) or a stored PGN file, does diagrams or play-through games. Examples on this site: http://exeterchessclub.org.uk/content/oops Test page: Simon vs. Dave http://exeterchessclub.org.uk/content/play-through-pgn-collections http://exeterchessclub.org.uk/content/canon	No variation support [marked as high priority on home page] Not easy to incorporate several whole games in one web page Not yet cracked making anything but the simplest pages with it using Drupal (it either mangles the layout [BBCODE] or it mangles your PGN headers [XBBCODE+]
ChessFlash	Flash-based (duh) Can work off-site Code is pretty filthy to look at but it does take proper PGN inline Example on this site: http://exeterchessclub.org.uk/content/test-chess-flash-viewer	Rather slow to load, and really not suitable for handouts with lots of games (although they do supply a widget to display only on demand)
PGNtoJS	Does what it says on the tin	Original site is down
ChessTheatre	Flash-based from DGT untried Example on this site:	looks a bit small and muddy
LT-Pgn-Viewer	Pretty good and flexible	Gives away the answers to problems in the URL, can't see how to get around that.
MyChessViewer c/o www.MyChess.com	Looks good, puzzles, diagrams and games (Java) Example on this site: http://exeterchessclub.org.uk/content/test-mychessviewer-game-display	?? [Not yet working]
Montreux	Looks good, puzzles, diagrams and games (Java) "Many, many other useful and useless configuration options" Example on this site: http://exeterchessclub.org.uk/content/test-montreux-game-display	[Still exploring options!]