Category: Subscription Features

By Posted on Posted in 2005 PDRS, Calculators, PDRater, Subscription Features, Technobabble, Website Updates, Workers Compensation Resources No Comments Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

Calculator Performance Issue: It has come to my attention that some users are having problems with the “Body Part” code finder.  This problem apparently occurs when you click on the “Body Part” button and just see a spinning blue “waiting” disc instead of a list of body parts.

Temporary Fix: Even though the Body Part code search function does not work for some users, the rating functions still appears to work just fine.  If you know the Body Part code, you should be able to enter it manually in the box provided.  If you are performing a 2005 schedule rating, please use the full 8 digit body part code.

Permanent Solution: I am working on a fix for this problem and will update this website as soon as I am able.  I cannot be sure, but I suspect that the problem is being caused, in part, by the recent increase in the popularity of this website. ((Yay, popularity!  Boo, problems!))

To all paid-subscription users:

I value your business and appreciate your patience.  If this problem persists, I will create a second website exclusively for your use.

In the meantime, if you’re having problems with the calculators, however small, please e-mail through the Contact Us link at the top.  The more information I have about the problem, the better able I will be to diagnose and fix it.

Thank you again for your patience.

Sincerely,

Jay Shergill

By Posted on Posted in 1997 PDRS, 2005 PDRS, Calculators, Combined Values Chart, Javascript, Multiple Disabilities Table, PDRater, Permanent Partial Disability, Subscription Features, Technobabble, Website Updates, Workers Compensation Resources No Comments Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Not a new calculator
Not a new calculator

Last week, at the request of a paid subscriber, I added a new permanent disability rating calculator feature. ((Old calculator photo courtesy of ansik.))  ((New calculator photo courtesy of dan taylor.)) Prior users had asked about incorporating an automatic dollar value of permanent disability or “money chart”  For the reasons I described in that prior post, I just couldn’t think of a good way to incorporate an automatic calculation of the monetary value of permenant disability.

New Paid Subscriber Feature

New Calculator
New Calculator

Once I added this feature, I realized there were at least two more instances when an automatic calculation of dollar value of permanent disability might come in very handy: when calculating the Multiple Disabilities Table ((1997 Permanent Disability Rating Schedule)) or Combined Value Chart ((2005 Permanent Disability Rating Schedule)) values from combining one or more permanent disability ratings.

Now, when a paid subscriber calculates the CVC or MDT of multiple ratings, the calculated combined rating is fed to the dollar value of permanent disability calculator and the dollar value calculated.

By Posted on Posted in 1997 PDRS, 2005 PDRS, Calculators, CSS, Downloads, Free, PDRater, Permanent Partial Disability, Subscription Features, Technobabble, Website Updates, Workers Compensation Resources No Comments Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,
Running Puppy
This puppy has nothing to do with this post whatsoever.

Last Friday I announced some “website tweaks.”  Since then a paid subscriber ((As opposed to a free subscriber)) reiterated a feature request. ((Thanks Marc!)) As a paid subscriber, he is able to calculate an unlimited number of ratings so that they all show up on a single page.  Basically, he wanted to be able to see the dollar value for a particular permanent partial disability percentage at the same time as a rating.

This isn’t the first time I’ve wrestled with the problems in creating such a feature.  There are several problems with incorporating this feature into the calculator’s page.

  1. The rating calculator and the dollar value of permanent disability calculators cannot be open at the same time.
  2. The rating calculator does not require the date of injury, just the age of the injured worker.  Without the date of injury, the website cannot properly display the dollar value of a permanent partial disability percentage.
  3. When a paid subscriber has performed more than one rating calculation on a page, the website cannot decide which rating string to convert into the equivalent number of dollars.

This exact feature had been suggested by other users in the past. ((And even some competitors!!!))  My original thinking was that trying to accommodate this feature request would involve too many unknown variables.  After giving the matter some more thought, here’s what I’ve come up with:

  • Paid subscribers benefit from improved print formatting. Basically, I’ve created a special file that changes the way the calculator page looks when a paid subscriber is printing.  ((The special file is actually just some CSS to optimize page for printing.))  Paid subscribers benefit from having the calculator page streamlined specifically for printing.
  • Paid subscribers can have more than one calculator open at a time. This one feature probably addresses 90% of this user’s concerns.  If you’re able to keep both calculators open at the same time, it should be easy to perform a rating and then turn the percentage into a dollar value.
  • Paid subscribers receive automatic calculations of dollar value of ratings. When a paid subscriber performs a rating calculation, the “Dollar Value of Permanent Disability” calculator automatically opens and the dollar value of the rating is automatically calculated.  The user will still have to adjust calculation to account for the year of the injury.  However, this is probably the most elegant solution to this issue.

By Posted on Posted in AJAX, Free, Javascript, MySQL, Open Source, PDRater, PHP, Subscription Features, Technobabble No Comments Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I recently gave a brief overview of my permanent disability and workers’ compensation benefit calculators. In that post I wrote a little bit about how my online benefits calculators work. Since then I’ve posted about my use of javascript, PHP, and AJAX in creating these permanent disability and permanent impairment calculators.

As I mentioned in the prior post in this series, my first few versions of this website and its workers’ compensation calculators did not use MySQL.  The initial versions of this site only saved information – which meant I only had to use PHP to open a file on the server, add an extra line of information, and then close the file.  This had several problems:

  1. Once my website became more popular, it was not uncommon to have more than one user online.  That meant the server tried to open the file – but couldn’t since it was already open.  This caused the program to freak out.
  2. In order to view just a little bit of information, I had to download the entire file.  This got crazy pretty quickly.
  3. Each time the file got larger, it would take slightly longer to open, append with more information, and close.

MySQL is an incredible tool for storing, organizing, and retrieving a large amount of data.   Like PHP, it is also open-source.  This means it is:

  • Well supported.  There are lots of online resources and books to help you learn.
  • Secure.  Lots of people spend a lot of time thinking of ways to prevent security vulnerabilities.
  • Customizable.  You can configure or even rewrite it, if you wish.
  • Interoperability.  You can save it to just about any format – including MS Excel spreadsheets.
  • Free.  Unlike Oracle or any of the MS alternatives, it is totally free.

So, why did I avoid MySQL?  I didn’t want to have to learn a whole new programming language.  I had to learn how to set up a database, tables within the database, how to search for information in a table, how to put information into a table, and how to change information which was already in a table.  There was a lot of trial and error.  I ended up doing some pretty cool things in the process of learning this language.  Some examples:

  • Teaching others some of the basics of MySQL
  • Writing a program for cataloging books
  • Writing several programs which performed various calculations to track invoices, billings, etc
  • Setting up several blogs/websites

The end result of learning this language is a more interactive website.  One of the last incarnations of this site was a version that would show different color schemes, advertisers, and messages depending upon the user.  All of this was made possible by large amounts of data stored in MySQL.

Thus ends my technical overview of my workers’ compensation permanent disability calculators!  If you have any questions, please feel free to email me or leave a comment below!

By Posted on Posted in Author, Free, Links, PDRater, Subscription Features, Website Updates No Comments Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Today PDRater.com is one year old! You can click on the images below to see what this site used to look like.

PDRater.com circa July 23, 2007
Circa July 23, 2007

The very first version of this website was launched on July 23, 2007.

On a whim I looked up what else has happened on July 23. Birthdays: Martin Gore of Depeche Mode, Raymond Chandler mystery writer, Woody Harrelson, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, and Slash of Guns N’ Roses.

Thank you wikipedia!

This first version of PDRater.com only calculated old and new schedule ratings and generated reports. Pretty ugly, I know. At this point I was just trying to put together something that would work.

PDRater.com circa September 17, 2007
Circa September 17, 2007

I updated the entire website on September 17, 2007. I’m sure other important things happened on this date too.

This version of the website offered MDT (multiple disabilities table) calculators, CVC (combined value chart) calculators, lists of work restrictions, and a life expectancy calculator.

This was the first time that I offered a subscription version with additional features.

This is also the first version that had any kind of advertising. I started off with the ubiquitious Google Adsense you see everywhere. Then I put up ads from an independent certified impairment rating specialist SnapRater.com and a court reporter Janet Lombardi & Associates.

PDRater.com circa January 1, 2008
PDRater.com circa January 1, 2008

I spent WAY too much time developing the version of this site launched on January 1, 2008.

This version included a date calculator, temporary disability rate calculator, wage loss / total partial disability calculator, life expectancy calculator, life pension calculator, average weekly wage calculator, simple interest calculator, and permanent total disability calculator.

My goal was to offer more California workers’ compensation calculators than anyone else anywhere on the internet – and do it for free. I’m fairly certain that there is no other single source that has more calculators than you’ll find here.

PDRater.com circa July 6, 2008
PDRater.com circa July 6, 2008

The version of the website you’re now viewing was launched on July 6, 2008. I had been fiddling with WordPress as a website/blog platform for several months before this but didn’t switch over the main site until July 6.

Using WordPress as a website platform for these calculators has allowed me to focus on providing better content (links, downloads, self-indulgent blog posts) and on the calculators themselves.

When I launched this latest version, I took out all of the advertising so that I could focus on making the website look better.

That said, July 23, 2008 was a totally unrealistic and overly optimistic target date for totally revamped calculators. I really don’t know what I was thinking.