August 14, 2021
Did you know?
We allow “ghost members” in our Squash Players App. π»π»π»
The early feedback we got from some members is that they didn’t want to be required by the app to get another person to become a member before being allowed to record results against them.
We listened, and came up with the concept of a ghost member, or ghost user, if you prefer.
Users of the app create opponents (ghost members) “on the fly”, and can immediately start recording results against them, i.e. for their own personal record keeping.
Normally, result validation is required between two members. A result recorded by one member cannot reach “approved” status until their opponent has confirmed that the result is correct.
But, when one member is a ghost, validation is obviously not possible! Therefore no result validation is required between a member and a ghost member, and such results cannot be added to ladders/leaderboards.
Note that if a ghost member later becomes a member (or perhaps is already a member), then it’s not reasonable or practical for us to attempt to marry-up the historical results that might have been recorded against them. This is in part because the new member would be required to remember all those historical results for the purpose of the validation. Too hard!
In summary, the system undeniably works better when results are being recorded between two members. But we respect the rights of ghost members, and the members who wish to create them.
Photo credit: Stefano Pollio on Unsplash.