just in case anyone else is having the same problem. i wasn't able to upload the game to borogove publicly (got an error message), but it did work privately. from glancing through intfiction.org this has been an issue before.
One way to make a game playable online is to upload it to anywhere where you can get a URL to the game file that works from anywhere, and use https://iplayif.com/ to launch the game. The URL you then get in your browser can be used to launch the game for anyone
