new SSA web site

On Wednesday, March 31, 2021 at 3:18:31 PM UTC-4, Moshe Braner wrote:
The "new web site" is live, and it is very slow to load, and I can't
find anything... Where did the state records go?

And when I tried to login it made me spend much time training Google's
AI via a "Captcha" - I hate those things with a white-hot passion!

And then it rejected my password. (I haven't typed it in in years as my
browser remembered it.) For each attempt it wanted a new Captcha. Then
I clicked on "lost password". That too wanted a Captcha. Then it said
my "username" (6 digits) is not valid. Neither is my email (another
captcha).

I may never login to SSA again!
Heck, you're doing better than me, I don't even see where to log in!? Why couldn't this wait until Winter?

I can't seem to get the tracker to work.

The email I received said:

“ In the meantime members will not be able to log in to the site, please do not attempt to log in.�

*sigh*

First it went live in a broken state with a bad SSL certificate.

Now its live with only partial functionality.

And it looks like old functionality is being preserved on a secondary server that the new one calls out to (opening a popup or frame to access).

*AND* those of us trying to manage contests were left in the lurch as to the location of the tool for that (hint: If you had it bookmarked, replace the first part with "members.ssa.org")

*AND* even if you do figure out how to access the tool, it doesn't appear that updates made in the Contest Management tool are actually reflected on the contest calendar (which itself doesn't appear to be listing all of the events/contests).

It certainly seems like this new website is primarily a marketing effort to provide extra appeal to the public/uninformed; and a bunch of member functionality is being left in the dust or is not being redeveloped/updated simultaneously.

Finally, its *QUITE* goofy to tell people that you're testing your new website and that it will go LIVE in a few days - after it has already gone live! The definition of "going live" means making it publicly visible/available, folks. There are PLENTY of ways to test out a new site's functionality without exposing it to the public...

FWIW, I do like the new look & feel, and the responsive design looks nicer on a phone/tablet for sure. It just could've been handled so much better.

--Noel, who's been inspired to log onto RAS for the first time in 6 years by this mess

P.S. Yes I know its easy to throw stones when one hasn't been involved in the work - but there are a LOT of us soaring pilots who are in technology who could've helped or advised or offered resources... This is a very amateur-hour rollout that was totally avoidable.

On Wednesday, March 31, 2021 at 6:57:37 PM UTC-4, noel.wade wrote:
*sigh*

No contest scores, anywhere. sigh, indeed.

Starting home page is WAY too busy with all the background video.

When I registered the "ssa.org" domain back in 1993, never thought it would come to this....

And for those of us stuck with slow internet access, it's a huge time waster. Loads like it was being carved into stone tablets.

On Thursday, April 1, 2021 at 7:33:06 AM UTC-7, Mark Mocho wrote:
And for those of us stuck with slow internet access, it's a huge time waster. Loads like it was being carved into stone tablets.

My understanding is that a photojournalist/graphic-designer type person was bought in to make it. From a marketing/aesthetic standpoint its prettier than our old site, and it _does_ look and work better on phones/tablets than the old site.

But yes I am led to believe that the new front page is a Wordpress-based site with lots of plugins and components; which are all naturally going to slow the thing down. :-(

In defense of the SSA Board, we do have a fair number of older members who are not super tech-savvy so I understand why they might have felt that reaching out to the membership about this would invite a backlash before it even began...

However it is *also* true that we have a fair amount of tech-savvy members; many of whom have programmed successful websites, run complex technology projects, and understand how to develop systems that are maintainable and low-cost over the long-term (for example: did we leverage any relationships that soaring pilots have with tech companies to land cheap/free licenses and resources? I know that there is at least 1 soaring connection to the founder of Wordpress. And I myself have helped our local soaring club obtain cheap/free Office365 and Azure licenses that MS is offering to any nonprofit these days. The SSA could use those licenses & credits to keep website hosting and maintenance costs way down - as MS is on a big push to expand is nonprofit programs).

There are some real obvious "misses" here that a small group of technology professionals could have helped avoid.

--Noel

On 4/1/2021 10:04 AM, Guy Byars wrote:
On Wednesday, March 31, 2021 at 6:57:37 PM UTC-4, noel.wade wrote:
*sigh*

No contest scores, anywhere. sigh, indeed.

Starting home page is WAY too busy with all the background video.

When I registered the "ssa.org" domain back in 1993, never thought it would come to this....


FWIW, I really dislike anything on a web page that "moves" without my
asking it to. E.g., videos, or even slideshows. (And audio.) As a
casual visitor it would drive me away.

Also, the home page as it is now takes "forever" to load with my slowish
connection. That too drives me away.

My advice is to keep videos and such on other pages, behind clearly
labeled links.

If this stays as it is, I'll have to bookmark some less busy entry point
to avoid the home page. Too bad I'll miss whatever announcements will
be on the home page.

I also wonder why the state records info is now (apparently) hidden
behind the login wall. Those shouldn't be secrets withheld from the
public. On the contrary, they should be touted as examples of what can
be achieved flying sailplanes. In the old format, this section showed
very little info on the actual record flights - there should be a
(static) image showing a (small) map of the flight path along with
prominent landmarks the general public can recognize. Since the
record-keeper carefully looks over the flight log, generating such an
image would be a small extra step. (And I'm amazed so many old records
were listed without even the glider type!)