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Usage Guide

A complete walkthrough of every PockerDeck feature.

Creating a room

  1. Open the app (e.g. http://localhost:8000).
  2. Optionally configure the session before creating:
    • Estimation Type — pick Story Points, T-shirt, Hours, or Custom, then add/remove cards as needed.
    • Backlog Items — add the stories you plan to estimate (up to 50).
  3. Click + Create Room.
    You are redirected to a new room with a unique 8-character code. You become the Admin automatically.
  4. Share the URL or the room code with your team via 📋 Copy Link.

Joining a room

Two ways to join:

Method Steps
Direct URL Open the shared link — the app takes you straight to the room.
Room code On the home page, enter the code in the "Join with a code" field and press Join → or Enter.

When you land on the room page for the first time, you are prompted to enter your display name and pick a role.

Roles

Role Who Permissions
Admin Room creator Everything: vote, reveal, new round, edit story, manage backlog, kick users, rename users
Participant Anyone who joins as a participant Vote, reveal, start new round, edit story
Viewer Anyone who joins as a viewer Watch only — no voting or actions

Info

The Admin role is assigned automatically to the room creator and cannot be chosen at join time. If the Admin leaves, the next available Participant is promoted automatically.

Admin-only actions on participant cards:

  • ✏️ Rename — change a user's display name.
  • ✕ Kick — remove a user from the room.

Voting

Once you have entered the room:

  1. Optionally read the Story field if the host has set a task description.
  2. Click any card from the card grid to cast your vote.

Vote privacy

Your vote value is kept hidden from others until the host reveals cards. Other participants only see a ✓ (voted) or … (not voted yet) badge next to your name.

You can change your vote at any time before the reveal — just click a different card.

Setting a story description

Any participant can type a description of the current story/task in the Story text field and press Enter (or click outside). The text is broadcast to everyone in the room instantly.

Tracking progress

The progress indicator below the story field shows how many participants have voted:

3 of 5 voted

Revealing votes

Click Reveal to show everyone's votes simultaneously. Once revealed:

  • Each participant card displays the actual vote value.
  • The Results panel appears at the bottom showing:
  • Average (rounded to one decimal place, excluding ? and 30+ votes)
  • Lowest vote
  • Highest vote

Tip

Only numeric values (3, 6, 9 … 30) are included in the average calculation. ? and 30+ are shown but excluded.

Starting a new round

After revealing, click New Round to:

  • Clear all votes
  • Reset the revealed state
  • Keep the current participants and story description

Everyone's card selection is cleared and the voting panel returns.
The active backlog item stays selected so the team can vote on it again if needed.

Backlog

If backlog items were added when the room was created, a Backlog panel appears at the top of the room.

Item state Appearance Admin action
Pending Normal row Vote on this button to make it active
Active Highlighted with ▶ Voting badge ✓ Mark Done button to complete it
Done Greyed out with strikethrough —

Tip

Selecting a backlog item automatically fills the Story field for all participants.

Connection status

A small badge in the top-right corner of the room shows your current connection state:

Badge Meaning
🟢 Connected WebSocket is live
🔴 Disconnected — reconnecting… Temporary drop; the client retries automatically every 2.5 s

If the room no longer exists on the server (e.g. after a restart), you are redirected to the home page with an alert.

Keyboard shortcuts

Shortcut Action
Enter in name field Confirm display name
Enter in story field Save story description
Enter in card input Add card value (create room page)