bgLog (pronounced "b-g-log") is a free-to-use backgammon diagramming utility. It does not play backgammon! bgLog gives backgammon content providers the ability to quickly and easily produce backgammon diagrams for print and web applications.

Main features:

• New User Interface and User Manual.
• Fully editable board - all colors and board settings are configurable and can be saved as themes.
• Theme manager - create and save mutiple themes/settings.
• Arrows can be placed manually (by selecting start/end points) or via move lists which can be pasted or constructed by hand.
• Save diagrams direct to your device in svg or png format.
• Drag/Drop IDs onto the diagram.
• Copy/Paste IDs, Themes and arrow movelists.
• Three different tray checker styles - flat, vertical or horizontal.
• Three different dice sizes.
• Doubling cube can be placed on bar or tray.
• Trays and tray borders can be hidden.
• Player names can be placed above/below the diagram.
• Isight pip count.
• Keyboard shortcuts.
• Collapsible menus.

bgLog has been used in books, websites, blogs, mobile apps and social media sites. Here is a list of notable bgLog projects, in roughly chronological order (many overlap):

•  Backgammon Funfair  • Book by Ray Kershaw • Originally published in May 2012, now in its third edition.
•  Position of the Day  • Blog by Chris Bray • 2013–Present.
•  Othello Backgammon Quizzes  • Website by Masanori Ichikawa • 2013–2023.
•  FlashBack  • Android/IOS App by Jermey Bagai • Published 2014.
•  Grant's Puzzles  • Blog by Grant Hoffman • 2014–Present.
•  Backgammon for Losers  • Book by Simon Hill • Published 2015.
•  Backgammon in the Wind  • Book by Chris Bray • Published 2016.
•  Bray's Learning Curve  • USBGF weekly column by Chris Bray • 2018–Present.
•  Opening Concepts  • Book by Michihito Kageyama • Published 2018.
•  Backgammon to Win  • Book (reprint from 2006) by Chris Bray • Published 2018.
•  The Backgammon Chronicles  • Books (two volumes) by Robert Wachtel • Published 2019.
•  The Times • Weekly newspaper column by Chris Bray • 2019–Present.
•  Backgammon - The Final Wind  • Book by Chris Bray • Published 2021.
•  Match Browser • The Match Browser is available in all Results sites including  WBGF ,  BMAB ,  UKBGF  and  ANZBGF  by Tony Lezard • 2022–Present.

bgLog started out as "GABBI" (Generate A Backgammon Board Interactively) in 2006. The version most users are familiar with was released in 2013 as bgLog. This new version of bgLog has been under development since 2014. Many people have contributed ideas and even code, along the way. Without these contributions, bgLog would probably have been abandoned many years ago. My thanks and acknowledgement to the following people for encouragement, ideas and most of all, patience:

Rick Ancheta, Jeremy Bagai, Nack Ballard, Chris Bray, Ilia Guzei, Simon Hill, Grant Hoffman, Masanori Ichikawa (Othello), Michy Kageyama, Ray Kershaw, Tony Lezard, Axel Reichert, Bob Wachtel, Paul Weaver.

Legends all, thank you.

Simon Woodhead, April 2023

• Placing checkers on the board:

If you have the XGID of the position, you can copy/paste it anywhere in the bglog window. It can also be drag/dropped onto the interactive diagram.

Left-click to add bottom player checkers, right-click to add top player checkers.
Clicking anywhere on a point will add the appropriate number of checkers.
Clicking above the point adds 5 checkers (or however many are available from the tray), eg to place 7 checkers, add 2 checkers then click above the point. To place 15 checkers, click above the point 3 times.
If more than 5 checkers are stacked on a point, a number will be shown on the topmost checker.

• Removing checkers:

To remove checkers, click under the point where the point numbers are. This action removes all checkers on the point. If you are changing the number of checkers on the point, click the level required, eg if there are 4 checkers on a point and you want 3 checkers, click the 3rd checker to remove the unwanted checker.

• Adding bar checkers:

Bar checkers are slightly different because they are placed on the side of the board where they will re-enter. If the cube is placed on the bar (see Board settings), they also have to avoid the cube.
To add a bar checker when the cube is placed on the bar, click anywhere on the bar except for the cube positions (top/centre/bottom). Left-click for bottom player checkers, right-click for top player checkers.
To add a bar checker when the cube is placed in the tray, left or right click anywhere on the bar.
Numbers will be shown on stacked bar checkers if required.

• Adding match information:

Note: ensure that Board settings are configured to Show cube, Show dice and Show score if necessary.

If dice aren't shown, click on the dice icon at the right of the top navigation bar. 6-6 will be displayed.
To change the dice values, click on each die to cycle through 1-6.

To set the cube, first click on the top or bottom cube positions. This will move the cube and set its value to 2. Click on the cube to change its value. Clicking on the centre cube position will reset the cube to the middle and set its value to 1 or 64.

Match length, scores and the Crawford flag can be set in the central section of the top navigation bar. If Match length is 0, indicating an unlimited game, player scores are disabled and the scores shown on the board are hidden.
Note that the Crawford button is only enabled when one of the player scores is at match point. The Crawford button will show a green background when it can be used.

Player names can also be set here. Player names appear above and below the diagram if "Show player names" is checked in Board settings. As these are text fields, any text can be displayed here.
Note that player names are not saved as part of the match information stored in the XGID. Player names are saved when creating bgLog themes. See the Managing Themes section of this manual for details.

• XGID:

Under the diagram, the current XGID is displayed:



To the right of the XGID is a clipboard button which will copy the XGID to the system clipboard. It can be pasted into XG or can be added to a text file or email or message.

Additional to the match settings described in the previous section, the top navigation bar provides a number of useful shortcuts:

The cog icon at the far left of the top navigation bar will be used for some system settings. Currently it does nothing.

Rotate button. The board is temporarily rotated to provide a view from the top player's perspective. The button shows an orange background when in effect. Click again to cancel. Loading a new position ID or a new theme will also reset rotation.

R         Resets the board to the empty position.

S         Sets the board to the start position.

Change direction of play - the home boards are swapped. Direction can also be changed with the 'd' key.

Swaps turn. The button color reflects the checker color of the player on roll. Turn can also be changed by selecting the Turn indicator on the board (if shown) or with the 't' key.

Swaps colors. Checker and dice colors are swapped.

Provides the Isight count for non-contact positions. The button shows a white background with blue eye when the count is available. Clicking the button will show the Isight count where the pip count is normally shown, with a green background and a border. Clicking the button again will revert to the normal pip count. For details of Isight and how the count is calculated, see
 Insights with Isight  (PDF) by Axel Reichert.

Dice button. Sets the dice to 6-6 - it is useful when working with a diagram where the dice are not yet set. Click on the dice to increase the die value. Selecting the button again will remove the dice.

Offers a double by placing the cube in the recipient's home board. If "Show cube arrow" is set in Board settings, two cubes are shown with a connecting arrow. The button has no effect if the recipient already owns the cube.

Save button. This button will save the current diagram as a .png file with default settings. To change the default settings, use the Save diagram menu. When this button is selected, depending on your device and the browser you use, you will be offered a file picker where you can choose the name of the file to save and the location. Some browsers will place it directly in the Downloads folder as a file named bglog_diagram.png, which is the default. See Saving diagrams in the next section for more information.

The 3-bar menu icon at the far right of the top navigation bar features a dropdown menu where it is possible to:
•    move between this manual and bgLog.
•    show the version of bgLog being used.
•    open a Contact form where you can provide feedback, report bugs, request enhancements or discuss your particular backgammon diagramming needs. The message area of the contact form has a resize handle at bottom left. Click anywhere to close the dialog.

Note: The side navigation bars can be collapsed via the small chevron located half way down the page (see diagram at the top of this section). This is useful if you are setting up positions on small screens or when you don't need the menus. The board will expand to fill most of the window. This version of bgLog is more responsive than the old version and should scale reasonably well on most devices.

The left navigation bar contains two menus:

Opening the Fixed themes menu displays the current system themes. These cannot be edited but can be used as a basis for a Custom theme. Click on a theme to load it.

The Custom themes list will show "No saved themes" unless you have saved a theme. Otherwise it will show your saved themes where you can load them, change their names, copy them to the clipboard (for sharing your themes across different devices and/or browsers) or delete them.

See the next topic Managing themes for more details.

Board settings and Board colors contain the settings that constitute a theme. These will be discussed in detail in the next section Managing themes.

Add arrows allows arrows to be added to the diagram. Arrows can be placed by selecting start and end points, or from a movelist. Details are provided in the Adding arrows section of this manual.

The Save diagram menu configures the Save settings for diagrams. The size of the diagram can be set in pixels or inches/centimetres. The format can be set to SVG or PNG. The resolution (DPI) can also be set. These settings are included in the theme, which allows different sized diagrams to be created for a common theme.

The default settings provided by bgLog are sufficient for most web applications. The Saving diagrams section of this manual provides more information and recommendations for print applications. The Save settings are saved as part of the theme, allowing different settings for a common theme.

Fixed themes are read-only themes supplied with bgLog. They can be used as is, or as the basis of a custom theme. Click on a fixed theme to load it.

Custom themes can be created and stored within the browser. They are persistent across browser sessions - closing the bgLog page does not delete custom themes. Custom themes are restricted to the device and browser being used. However, once a theme has been created it can be easily copied to a different device or browser. The procedure for this is described in Sharing below. Custom themes are listed in alphanumeric order.

• Loading

To load a theme, open the Fixed or Custom themes menu on the left of the screen and click on the theme. The current theme will be replaced with the selected theme.

• Renaming

Fixed themes cannot be renamed. Custom themes can be renamed by double-clicking the theme and entering a new name.
Note: because a single click loads the theme, it will be loaded when changing the name. Make sure any changes to the current theme are saved in a new theme before changing any theme name. Spaces are not allowed in theme names - spaces will be converted to underscores "_".

• Deleting

Custom themes can be deleted using the red button with a red cross. Fixed themes cannot be deleted.
Note: Deleting a custom theme cannot be undone!!

1. Open the Board settings menu on the right of the page and check or uncheck any settings desired.
2. Open the Board colors menu and adjust any element colors by clicking the color square, which opens a color picker:
   
   Drag the crosshair cursor around - the selected color will update the board. The color picker has a swatch underneath the spectrum that contains all the colors of the current theme, listed in the order they appear in the menu. The color squares in the swatch are selectable. This makes it easy to revert a color selection if needed. There are also two sliders to the right of the color picker. The first adjusts the darkness of the selected color. If the color you select doesn't appear as expected, try adjusting the darkness. The slider at the right edge adjusts opacity. With this slider you can create transparent checkers or dice or even the background (eg to use bgLog diagrams on a web page where you want to maintain the page background color).
   Terminology: "our" refers to the bottom player, "opp" (opponent) refers to the top player. "fill" is the color of the element, "stroke" is the outline.
3. When you're done editing, remember to save the settings...

To save a theme, open the Custom theme menu on the left. For a new theme, type the name and hit Enter. Theme names should be kept short. Spaces are converted to underscores in theme names. Theme names are displayed in alphanumeric order (numbers first, then letters). Tip: when developing a theme it is good practise to save it regularly as a simple number or letter that you increment for each save. This provides backups in case of mistakes. Once the theme is finalised, rename it to whatever you like and delete the backups.

To replace an existing theme, select the dropdown menu to the right of the New theme name input field. If there are saved custom themes, they will be shown. Select the theme to overwrite.

Note: This action cannot be undone. The previous theme will be overwritten with the current theme.

Because themes include settings as well as colors, it is easy to create themes with similar appearances but different Board or Save settings. For some diagrams you may, for example, want to hide the pip count, or change the Save diagram settings. The bgLog theme manager allows considerable flexibility with the way themes are managed.

bgLog themes can be shared. The themes are packaged as text strings and can be copied to your system clipboard the same way IDs are copied. It follows they can be pasted into bgLog in another browser, or pasted into an email to yourself or a friend, or pasted into a text file as a backup and/or for saving in a cloud device where you can access them anywhere.

To share a theme, open Custom themes then click on the clipboard icon between the theme name and the Delete button to copy it to your system clipboard. Themes can be copy/pasted into or out of bgLog.

1. Click on the Start button - it will turn green, indicatiing you are now in "arrows" mode.
2. On the diagram, click on the point where the arrow should start (available points are highlighted as you mouse over them). The Start button will turn orange with the text set to "End". Selecting the button again will cancel the operation.
3. On the diagram, click on the point where the arrow should end. The arrow will appear. Note that "Show arrows" must be checked in Board settings.
4. Repeat 2-3 for further arrows. A maximum of four arrows can be placed.
5. Important! When the arrows have been placed, select the Start button again to exit "arrows" mode. The button will turn white.

To remove all arrows, select the Reset button.

There are two ways to add arrows from a movelist:

1. A movelist can be pasted anywhere in the bgLog window. Invalid moves will be ignored. If the move is valid, arrows will appear and the move text will be shown in the "Move list" input field.
2. A movelist can be constructed by entering the move into the "Move list:" input field. Moves must be separated by spaces or commas. Press Enter to show the arrows.

Note: arrows will be placed taking into account the turn and the number of checkers currently on the start/end points.

If "Show cube arrow" is set in Board settings, positions that offer a double will show 2 cubes, the second being placed in the opponent's home board, showing the offered value. An arrow will connect the two cubes.

Note: The default bgLog settings for saving diagrams are sufficient for most uses - posting to websites, social media or blogs, or for documents you may want to create. There is a shortcut on the top navigation bar which will save the diagram with the default settings seen in the image to the right. For hard copy printing, higher resolutions are usually required - typically 600 DPI (Dots Per Inch).

A file name can be entered here. If none is entered, the file will be called bglog_diagram.png and saved in the Downloads folder on your device. If your browser supports a "file chooser" you will have the opportunity to change the folder where the image is saved. You can also change or add the file name in this dialog.

Inches or centimetres (cm) can be selected as the preferred measurement unit. Default is inches.

The physical width or height of the image can be adjusted precisely. As with pixel settings, width/height will remain in proportion.

PNG (Portable Network Graphics) are bitmap images, like a digital photo. SVGs (Scalable Vector Graphics) can be used on websites, but not posted to social media. SVG images are composed of mathematical descriptions of lines, circles and the other basic graphic elements that bgLog uses. SVG files are much smaller than their bitmap equivalents and will scale infinitely. SVGs can be placed inside PDF documents but are not supported in programs like Word. Most users will have no need for SVGs, but as SVG is the format used inside bgLog, the option to produce them is there if needed. PNG is set as the default format. Note that if SVG is selected, the size and resolution of the diagram cannot be set. SVGs are intended for use in responsive web sites where the diagram needs to be scaled without losing image quality.

Images are saved at 300 DPI by default. For hard copy diagrams, 600 DPI is recommended. bgLog allows values between 100 DPI and 1200 DPI. Note that the higher the resolution, the larger the file size. Note that DPI does not apply to SVG images and this setting will be disabled if SVG format is selected.

The "SAVE DIAGRAM" button saves the diagram to a file on your device with the settings shown. Most PC-based browsers will open a file picker allowing the choice of location and file name. Most mobile devices will place the file in the "Downloads" folder if there is one. If the file name is not set, it will be called "bglog_diagram.png".

If you are using MS word for your backgammon diagramming project, there are a number of issues to be aware of, especially if you are using a Mac. For now, please contact me for details.