ACC Website Update

[Crane]

Yes, I have to log in every time I leave and come back to the website... no matter how many times I check :keep me logged in." But, I assume the Administrators know me and simply want to make my life a little tougher... You, I'm not sure of...

[Richard]

Each time we have had a change it has not been for the better for me in my little part of the WWW world. I am experiencing the same frustration as Crane. Glad my membership is not due till April. I do like the idea of renewing on line and I should have adjusted to the "improved" site by then.

[Gordon Kumpuris]

At least you guys can get the new site to load. I've done everything I know to do (cleared browsing history, shut completely down, rebooted, refreshed) and I still get the 'Under Construction" page while on my work PC. At home it comes up. Must be something about the site my ISP does not like.

[Crane]

Or, and more likely, they don't like you, too!!

Let's give the folks volunteering their time and work a big hand, since without them NONE of this would work!!! (sound of hands clapping!)

[Lupe]

Thanks Larry - appreciate it.

I can assure you none of the changes were intended to make anyone's life more frustrating! Apparently an unintended consequence of how the message board is now hosted is causing this issue. I know I personally don't have the tech savvy to figure it out but we'll see if we can find someone to look into it.

Actually the reason for the changes is that the new site will actually greatly REDUCE the amount of time needed by ACC volunteers in terms of managing our large member database (650+ member households!), editing and keeping the website up to date, keeping members informed about club events and activities, and managing registration and payment for club events and clinics, etc.. Less time, frustration and headaches for our volunteers in the future...more time for us to do what we really enjoy which is paddling!!!

Thank you all again for your patience as we work through our inevitable "growing pains" with the new site.

And as for Gordon's work computer...I have no idea. But I'm sure your IT department would be happy to look into why you can't see updated versions of your favorite sites while at work!

[jermdog]

This new "better" site is hard to navigate and annoys me greatly. I'm glad that it's easier on volunteers though. I wonder how long it will take for the work navigating around this thing to pass in quantity the amount of work the volunteers had to do. I'll guess 3 more days.

[okieboater]

Come on gents - get with the future, it is almost 2010!!!!!!

When I logged on the first time, everything worked and it continues to work.

Course I am on Windows 7 and FireFox, maybe that is the difference.

Seriously, get one of your I/T buds at work to take a look at your setup.
That is unless they have been outsourced overseas.

Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year to boot!!!

[Cowper]

We're always looking for more volunteers...

(but be forewarned - we're already getting waaaay more than we're paying for with the current crop)

[RomanLA]

I'm guessing you just need to update the cookie path. It probably wouldn't hurt to give it a new name too. I have web design experience, if y'all need some help.

[jermdog]

The future is now! And annoying. I'm just saying it takes longer to get around here than it used to. One click links are now 3 pages away. I know it's not that bad, but I just like the old style better. That being said, I'll probably get used to this one and like it just fine. Toodles.

[Lupe]

I'm guessing you just need to update the cookie path. It probably wouldn't hurt to give it a new name too. I have web design experience, if y'all need some help.

Roman - that would be awesome! PM sent. If you can help us troubleshoot this issue and get it fixed it would be fantastic! And apparently a lot of folks who like to stay logged in to the message board will be very grateful as well!

Comments and suggestions are welcome. Contact Heather Huckeba or me.

Amos started this thread saying comments and suggestions are welcome...and they really are. But we can't really respond unless we know what specifically is "hard to navigate" or what "annoys you greatly" - be specific!

Jermdog - which pages on the website do you like to visit most often and which do you think are hard to find? What pages do you find takes 3 clicks that used to take just 1? If you can be specific, we might just be able to address your concern, especially if we see that lots of other people share the same feeling. It would also help to know what browser you are using, in case you are getting a different experience.

PayPal Status Update: PayPal FINALLY agrees the glitch is on their end not ours, but unfortunately they still haven't fixed it. We're at their mercy at this point...hopefully they will fix it soon. In the meantime you can use PayPal as long as you pay with either a PayPal balance or funds from a bank account, but no credit cards, or you can choose to pay "manual/offline" and you'll get an invoice that you can send with a check. I will announce once PayPal finally resolves this...hopefully soon.


Cheers

[Michele Jackson]

I too would prefer to stay logged on to the message board. However it is just a minor inconvenience to log in every day; takes about five seconds I think.

I was the Membership Chair for three years. It's a "pain in the butt" position. If this website update makes your job easier, then I'm certainly not going to complain about it.

Thanks for all you do!

[Lupe]

I was the Membership Chair for three years.

And girl - I can't believe you lasted that long! WAY too much work! :shock:

The new system will GREATLY reduce the pain in the butt factor, but it really doesn't benefit just the Membership Chair.

Our old website was very hard to edit or update, and so much as I'm glad (but surprised!) to hear folks reminiscing about the "good ol site" the fact is, much of the info on the old site was badly out of date. Very few of us had the skills to manage the site and so it was rather neglected. The new site is very user-friendly on the back end, so we no longer need a super web-savvy or html-programming type to volunteer to make changes or updates.

Also, the volunteers who manage our major events each year: whitewater school, rec school, intro clinic (when we have it) - a huge amount of time is spent trying to manage payments and registration and it's always been quite a daunting task and lots of headaches. The new software is going to really help to make that aspect of event management much easier...less headaches for our volunteers and probably for our clinic participants as well.

Face it, ACC volunteers are really just a bunch of paddlers! We know and care about paddling! We support the club, but we want to be out on the water as much as possible! The new website will hopefully make for a lot less work for the volunteers so they can concentrate on the "good stuff" more and not all the behind the scene detail stuff.

And like Cowper said earlier though: we always could use more volunteers!

[Stan]

Come on guys - lighten up!!!!

I am no computer guru. Probaby "barely functional" is an apt description. But I decided to try to get into the 21st century and decided to renew my membership through PayPal using a credit card. Well I had problems. And after repeated tries I contacted "Lupe" and asked her for help. That's when I found out about the glitch. So what did I do????? I thought "OK, I'll wait until I get an All Clear and will try again later." In the great scheme of things, adapting to the new ACC website is no big deal!!!!!!!

I am secretary/treasurer of the Pulaski Chapter of the Ozark Society. I have first hand experience in dealing with memberships and dues. That's why I decided to renew through PayPal because I figured it would be easier for the membership chair.

ACC is a big organization. It takes dedicated volunteers to keep it functioning. I for one appreciate their work.

"Stan" (AKA Margaret Bartelt)

[Louiscov]

Come on guys - lighten up!!!!



ACC is a big organization. It takes dedicated volunteers to keep it functioning. I for one appreciate their work.

"Stan" (AKA Margaret Bartelt)

+1 !!! Quality, quality, quality!! THE BEST!