The Feature Selection Game

Action URL

The action URL of the form at the bottom of features.html points to /cgi-bin/features.perl on the same web server. Depending on how your web server is configured, you may need to change this URL. (Consult your web server administrator if you need help with this.)

Survey Name

There's a hidden input field named survey in the form at the bottom of features.html. Replace the value of that field with a name that identifies your survey. The value you put here will appear on every line in the flat file that records responses to your survey. This means you can have multiple surveys that get logged to the same file, and you'll be able to filter the contents of that file based on the value of the survey field.

Footer

You'll need to edit the contact link at the bottom of the page. As downloaded, the contact address is you@your.org and the subject of email sent using that link is PLACE_YOUR_SURVEY_IDENTIFIER_HERE.

Other Customization

In addition to changing the action URL, survey name, and footer as described above, you're free to edit features.html in any other way you wish. Indiscriminate changes, however, are likely to break the page. Guidelines for editing features.html are as follows:

• The number and denominations of bills at the left on the game board can be changed by deleting or duplicating the divs with class="dojoDndItem money". If you modify those divs, or create new divs of your own, make sure every div has the dojoDndItem class and a data attribute whose value follows the pattern:

{amount:XX, src:'YY', spentSrc:'ZZ'}

where XX is the denomination of the bill, YY is the URL of an image that represents a bill that hasn't been spent (allocated to a feature) yet, and ZZ is the URL of an image that represents a bill that has been spent. The images directory provided with the game board has images for 5-, 10-, and 20-dollar bills. You may replace them, or add to them, as you wish.

• In addition to the description of each feature, the number of features can also be changed to suit your needs. The important points to keep in mind when doing so are:
1. Every feature consists of two sibling divs. The first produces the box that's visible on the page at all times and contains a brief description of the feature and the total dollars allocated to the feature. The second div contains a fuller description of the feature that appears when the cursor hovers over the box. If you remove a feature, remove both divs; if you add a feature, add both divs.
2. If you add a feature, be sure to include all the attributes you see on the existing divs.
3. When you're finished adding or removing divs, make sure the id, jsId, and connectId attributes of every pair of divs end with the same number. For example, the first feature is represented by a div with id="feature1" and jsId="monopoly.features.1" that's followed by a div with connectId="feature1". Also make sure the features are numbered consecutively, starting with 1, with no missing numbers. The JavaScript that makes the game work depends on feature divs having ids "feature1", "feature2", to "featureX", where X is the number of features. If this isn't the case, the JavaScript will break.
4. When you're finished adding or removing divs, add or remove hidden inputs in the form at the bottom of the page so there's one input for every feature, with a name that matches the feature's id.
• Columns can be added or removed by adding or removing divs with class="oneColumn" containing feature divs (pairs of divs, as explained above), as desired.
• Do not, under any circumstances, edit the JavaScript on the page. Unless you are quite sure of what you're doing, you will most certainly break the page.

Step 2: Customizing features.perl

The script provided with this download—features.perl—is a minimal script that saves survey responses and redirects users to a "Thank You" page of your choice. If you need something more functional, you'll have to consult a Perl developer. In many cases, however, this script is all you'll need.

Perl

The first line in features.perl says it expects Perl to be installed at /usr/bin/perl on your web server. If it's installed somewhere else, you'll have to change this line. (Consult your web server administrator if you have any questions about this.)

Log File

The location of the log file to which you want survey responses appended appears as the value of PATH_TO_LOG_FILE in features.perl. Change that value to whatever is appropriate in your case. (Consult your web server administrator if you have any questions about this.)

Thank You Page

The page to which you want users redirected after they submit a survey response appears as the value of URL_OF_THANK_YOU_PAGE in features.perl. Change that value to whatever is approprivate in your case. (Consult your web server administrator if you have any questions about this.)

Step 3: Putting features.html Where It Belongs

You can put features.html anywhere users can access it from their web browsers. The only thing to remember is that everything in the htdocs directory must accompany features.html. This includes:

• blank.html, which is needed for the JavaScript on features.html to function properly; and,
• The images directory, which contains the images of money used on the page.

Step 4: Putting features.perl Where It Belongs