TargetTalk

I don't understand why USA Shooting just doesn't hire a professional and get the website done right. Its to important to leave to an amateur or to give it to someone as a side job. How many iterations of the webpage have failed, its time for USA Shooting to enter the big leagues and hire a professional.

It might be more expensive but a well done webpage can be a source of revenue. It gives USA Shooting increased visibility opening the possibility for future revenue streams through advertising.

Its time USA Shooting gets serious and hire a professional to design a functioning and secure webpage.

First off all of you shooting your mouth off about the website should find out what is going on before you start voicing your opinion. You could always call Najasila Campbell, Public Relations Manager.

At the recent RMC, Najasla told me the new site will be up soon. A professional website developer is working on the website and the one you viewed was a interm site because of the corrupted origional site.

You will notice that the current site is now down. I suspect it is because the new one is being installed.

Just be patient
TM

Thomas Monto wrote:First off all of you shooting your mouth off about the website should find out what is going on before you start voicing your opinion.
TM

With all do respect we do know what is going on. USA Shooting can't build and maintain a decent web presence. This has been going on for a long time and it is a frustrating situation. We have voiced our opinion to USA Shooting and they have promised to respond with an improved website. We'll see if the latest incarnation of the website is up to the task.

I find it amazing that they say it's been hacked twice recently. If that's they case, they have a very poor ISP hosting their site. Do even the best site get hacked sometimes? Sure, but it's darned rare these days.

And before someone spouts off how do I know what I'm talking about, I've been a Webmaster of a major Web site since 2000. The ISP we use has never had a minute of downtime nor have we ever been hacked in over 6 years.

Please excuse the sarcasm. This has been going on far too long.

Hey Thomas, have you seen this great new web site. Just as broken as the last one.

They had great ideas and wonderful aspirations. The deadline for release was November, then December, Then February, now someday(???). The content went from usable, to kudgy, to dysfunctional, to gone, to dysfunctional. Professional development? Not on your life bud. Real WEB developers develop off-line, test, then release a working product. This effort doesn't just have bugs, it just plain doesn't work. And it appears that the original maintainers forgot about backups or they could have restored an older working version and done a few updates while they figured out how to make their ideas work.

I really liked the way they were going to let us submit match results real time. It would end the lost results problem they have had in recent years. Unfortunately it wont matter much longer as I can't even download a PDF of a renewal form so that I can keep organizing competitions. But hey, they have this cool online thing that doesn't work.

And yes I have again written to Lindsay, Wanda, and the media dude... not that it will fix anything any faster than they are going already.

I'm sure glad I don't have their job!

Larry

Thomas Monto wrote:First off all of you shooting your mouth off about the website should find out what is going on before you start voicing your opinion. You could always call Najasila Campbell, Public Relations Manager.

At the recent RMC, Najasla told me the new site will be up soon. A professional website developer is working on the website and the one you viewed was a interm site because of the corrupted origional site.

You will notice that the current site is now down. I suspect it is because the new one is being installed.

Just be patient
TM

I for one have attempted to e-mail her several times with absolutely no replies! And I'm not about to jump on a plane and fly to Colorado Springs to ask questions like you were able to! The frustration has arose because of the total lack of response from USAS.

Fred,

I followed your advice in trying to register on the new USAS website.


The site tells me it recognizes my DOB and then says it wants to email me a password. Then it tells me it cant do that because, "We dont have an email addresss for you on file" And then - the site does not provide you with ANY WAY to enter an email address!!!


Have you figured out how to get the USAS website to email you a password??

I would prefer not calling USAS unless its a last resort.


Thanks

Anonymous wrote:Fred,
I followed your advice in trying to register on the new USAS website.
The site tells me it recognizes my DOB and then says it wants to email me a password. Then it tells me it cant do that because, "We dont have an email addresss for you on file" And then - the site does not provide you with ANY WAY to enter an email address!!!
Have you figured out how to get the USAS website to email you a password??
I would prefer not calling USAS unless its a last resort.

I had to call :-(

From my earlier post:

"Some tips to those who want to try:
-call 1 719 866 4670 and make sure they have your birthday and email
-when entering your member #, do not enter the leading zero(s)"

I have tried to go back a few times, but always get an 'under construction' notice. USAS have gone/are going down the wrong road. They should have kept the earlier, kludgy, site up and running while developing and testing the new site. And I mean testing it properly. The login procedures I found were impossible. And why make it a restricted site? I can roam around the NRA site at will. I'm glad that our PTO match season doesn't start up again till the Fall. Hopefully the site will be up and running by then.

[quote=" I'm glad that our PTO match season doesn't start up again till the Fall. Hopefully the site will be up and running by then.[/quote]

I've always admired your eternal optimism Fred even in the face of horrific odds. :->>>

This past Thursday, I was finally able to successfully navigate the new USAS site, and I even renewed my membership through it. I sure hope my credit card info, etc. is handled properly by USAS. With all the problems they've had with the site, I am uneasy about that. Anyway, I will give them credit where credit is due. It was cool to renew my membership and print my own new card.

One area, though, still in serious need of attention is the part that shows upcoming local matches. I know of several clubs that have submitted matches for sanctioning in my area and not a single match is listed on their site. This is a huge disservice to club shooters who are trying to find out where to shoot.

Stan

IPshooter wrote:I know of several clubs that have submitted matches for sanctioning in my area and not a single match is listed on their site. This is a huge disservice to club shooters who are trying to find out where to shoot.

Exactly, USA Shooting is failing its members, athletes and the sport with its putrid attempts at designing and maintaining a website. It has been an ongoing problem that has not been fixed. There are professional web design companies out there. Its a worthy investment.

I for one would not trust any of my personal information on the site. How many times has it been hacked? I'm sure USA Shooting's information safeguards are non-existent. Obviously there are huge problems if the website is continually hacked and brought down.

"One area, though, still in serious need of attention is the part that shows upcoming local matches. I know of several clubs that have submitted matches for sanctioning in my area and not a single match is listed on their site. This is a huge disservice to club shooters who are trying to find out where to shoot."

If there is interest, I would be glad to list air rifle and/or air pistol match announcements on AirgunInfo.com. To contact me, go to http://www.airguninfo.com and click on the "email AirgunInfo" button in the lower right corner.

Bill Clarke

I tried logging into the website this morning (entered my USAS number) and got this (!!!!):

There is a problem with this website's security certificate.


The security certificate presented by this website was not issued by a trusted certificate authority.

Security certificate problems may indicate an attempt to fool you or intercept any data you send to the server.
We recommend that you close this webpage and do not continue to this website.
Click here to close this webpage.
Continue to this website (not recommended).
More information

What in the world is USA Shooting doing or not doing????? Are they using a cheap inexperienced person to attempt to construct a new website????? Isn't there anyone out there with any competence to get the website up and running without bugs????? I surely would not trust entering any information in the website, if and when it ever gets up running. Maybe and hopefully they are reading these posts - they won't answer any e-mails.

Shame on you USAS - you have failed miserably at such a simple task!

Aloha fellow frustrated USAS members,

I was able to successfully register my daughter online for USAS Nationals and for the Spring Selection Match several days ago. I was the first to register. I noticed that the online price would not come up in the caculation of the fees for payment. The charges were computed based on the higher "mailed in" entry cost and then the junior discount was applied.

I went ahead and paid anyway and pointed out by phone the problem to USAS. I hope they have fixed it. USAS indicated that they would process a refund for me for the difference. When you register online please check your charges and if the problem is not yet fixed, contact USAS.

The working gateway web site to get to the registration online is www.usas.hangastar.com . Yes, the web site security certificate is expired, but clicking to go ahead anyway gets you through to the site.
Have your USAS member number, birthdate and e-mail address that is or was on file with USAS (or call as per the previous post) handy and DEFINITELY do NOT enter leading zeros in your number.

Once you get through with the registration preliminaries (involves going back to your e-mail twice, once for a password, and once later to "authorize" your account), you will find that you can view, print, and download match schedules, register for matches online, view upcoming events, and even view other competitors who have registered for the matches. You are also able to upload a photo of your choice for your USAS membership card and then print the card once the photo has been approved. You may also upload other photos.

One last note, after you register for a major match, your registration is "Pending" status until you print out forms to sign and mail back to USAS (which kind of defeats the purpose of registering online).

In the case of the Ft. Benning matches, the forms are a summary of your registration and match fees charges, and the FT. Benning waiver for bringing firearms on base. The first time I tried to print out the forms, I had trouble getting to the proper window and had to exit the site and go back into the site to view the registration where I was able to click a link and get to the window to print out the forms. The second registration worked correctly and took me straight to the forms window at the end of the registration process.

Hope this info helps you know what to expect and be able to navigate the process a little more smoothly.

RangeMom

I was frustrated trying to join via the USA Shooting website, and finally called them. They suggested I go to USAShooting.com rather than USAShooting.org. Going to the .com site did make a difference. I didn't get the "don't trust this site" message, and managed to register without a hitch.

I renewed my membership via the old website last year and was seriously dismayed to find out (at a selection match, no less) that my membership had expired. I was definately not in the system. The only thing that got me into the match (and yes, I was previously registered) was producing my membership card.
Kinda scary going to Ga. and being one piece of paper away from not competing. Goes back to the lack of communication in USAShooting and a lack of proper technological know-how.
Why does it seem so bad lately (the last year) and just seems to be getting worse?
Hard enough to shoot 10's as it is!

Tom Amlie wrote:I was frustrated trying to join via the USA Shooting website, and finally called them. They suggested I go to USAShooting.com rather than USAShooting.org. Going to the .com site did make a difference. I didn't get the "don't trust this site" message, and managed to register without a hitch.

I tried that. Both sites have the certificate error. Both sites refuse to log me in. I received a snail mail answer to my email to them. They said nothing about getting the blasted thing to work. They will let me renew by mail if I send them a $5 penalty for not using their busted web site. It looks like I may be able to sign up as a new member if I use internet exploder. Too bad Mac and Linux users, and wondoz people that don'r like having their computers ransacked.

Larry

Anonymous wrote:I tried logging into the website this morning (entered my USAS number) and got this (!!!!):

There is a problem with this website's security certificate.


The security certificate presented by this website was not issued by a trusted certificate authority.

Security certificate problems may indicate an attempt to fool you or intercept any data you send to the server.
We recommend that you close this webpage and do not continue to this website.
Click here to close this webpage.
Continue to this website (not recommended).
More information

What in the world is USA Shooting doing or not doing????? Are they using a cheap inexperienced person to attempt to construct a new website????? Isn't there anyone out there with any competence to get the website up and running without bugs????? I surely would not trust entering any information in the website, if and when it ever gets up running. Maybe and hopefully they are reading these posts - they won't answer any e-mails.

Shame on you USAS - you have failed miserably at such a simple task!

I get the same message when I go on the PayPal web site, and they're handling many millions of dollars in transactions every week. I think there must be some sort of a conflict between eBay (the new owners of PayPal) and Microsoft. I just ignore the warning.

Tom Amlie wrote:I was frustrated trying to join via the USA Shooting website, and finally called them. They suggested I go to USAShooting.com rather than USAShooting.org. Going to the .com site did make a difference. I didn't get the "don't trust this site" message, and managed to register without a hitch.

Actually, I changed two variables (browser and .org vs. .com) when logging on, so perhaps I drew the wrong conclusion.

At home, using an older version of "Internet Exporer", I get the "bad site" message.
At work, using Mozilla Firefox, I get the same.
At work, using a newer version of IE, it works. I just happened to be using a newer version of IE when I went to the .com site.

It seems unduly common that when someone "upgrades" their web-site older browsers run into trouble accessing it.

Anonymous wrote:
It seems unduly common that when someone "upgrades" their web-site older browsers run into trouble accessing it.

Which is exactly why their Webmaster has to be careful with what they're doing. You have to understand who the typical visitor is to your site and then build it to support that type of visitor.

Many people are still running older operating systems, such as Windows 98, because there's not enough reason to make the change to a newer OS. If your current browser and application software are keeping you happy, why go through all the aggravation and expense to change your OS and then have to upgrade many of your applications? Not to mention additional hardware upgrades.

Wow-wee Web sites are great for kids who want to be entertained. But, if you want to have a Web site that gets your points across in a manner that makes your visitors happy, wow-wee isn't really necessary.