TargetTalk

USAS should have made their changes in phases. That way they could have kept all their basic functions working until they were replaced.

funtoz wrote: They will let me renew by mail if I send them a $5 penalty for not using their busted web site.

Larry

Thats great...USA Shooting creates a webpage that doesn't work and then penalizes its members for not using it. What is going on with this organization.

With all the security issues with the site I would not trust USA Shooting with any of my personal information. How many times has the site been hacked? More than once.

Its time for USA Shooting to give up and start over. The website is a total failure. It is frustrating its members, alienating people who want to shoot in matches and doing nothing to promote the sport. If anything the website is damaging USA Shooting's image. It makes USA Shooting look like a Mickey Mouse organization and not the governing body of the Olympic shooting sports.

Please hire a web design firm who knows what they are doing. Its worth it to spend some money and stop trying to do it on the cheap. It has obviously failed.

Eddie Nah wrote:Its time for USA Shooting to give up and start over. The website is a total failure. It is frustrating its members, alienating people who want to shoot in matches and doing nothing to promote the sport.

Completely out of left field, but what would you want to see from/on/in the ISSF governing body website? I mean, assume a new design, a blank sheet, what features would you want?

Sparks wrote: Completely out of left field, but what would you want to see from/on/in the ISSF governing body website? I mean, assume a new design, a blank sheet, what features would you want?

Let's start with what they've got on their web-site. As far as I can tell, they've got your membership information, the national rankings, an (I assume) incomplete list of upcoming matches, and a list of past matches going back 6+ years. The list of upcoming matches is sorted not so much by "current" verus "future" as by whether or not online registration is available. The earliest "current" match is early April, while there are a few "future" matches on 3/10/07. It seems painfully odd that the most complete information set they have (the list of past matches) is also the seemingly least useful.

If there's more content somewhere on the site please let me know! Maybe I've missed it.

In terms of what I would like to see as content......
1. An open site. Having anything other than personal membership information password protected is absurd. It irritates existing members and discourages prospective members.
2. Coaching/training/equipment info? On-line store?
3. Updated match schdule, sortable by date, state, and discipline;
4. List of afffiliated clubs with contact info., sortable by name, state, discipline(s);
5. Archive of match results, sortable.
6. Records/rankings
7. News and archive (coaching, results, things-to-know, etc.).

I know they're a small organization, and I also know that they can't be rolling in $ unless they've got some invisible means of support. However, if we assume that they've got the above mentioned information already stored in computer files then it shouldn't be that difficult to load it onto their web-site. If nothing else, links to Word or Excel files for club and match lists would be a start.

Tom Amlie

I agree with Tom that an open site is a must. Having to sign in and register is ridiculous, it deters people from using the site.

In addition to what was mentioned above I'd like to see timely match results, with pictures. I'm a fan of the sport and enjoy seeing how USA Shooting athletes are performing. I miss the biographies page. The outside world needs to know who our shooters are.

I'd like to see a site that is media friendly and can explain the sport to outsiders. Maybe a FAQ page.

The national rankings should be featured.

USA Shooting should use to site to generate revenue by selling advertisements to the shooting/Olympic industry and re-establish the online store.

USA Fencing does a nice job on their site and I'm sure it didn't cost them much money (http://www.usfencing.org)

Suggestions:

For God's sake dont require us to download an entire .PDF file just to glance at scores or national rankings. Not everyone has a high speed connection or the time to wait for this unnecessary download via a dial up connection.

Make the download an option - NOT a requirement.


I also agree with Tom - sort the upcoming matches in a way that makes sense to a shooter who is LOOKING for the information Sort the match schedule entries in every rational way possible so that they can actually be found without having to call USAS. There is nothing more irritating to call USAS only to be told , "Oh, you didnt look under the extra special super selection match schedule, did you?"



Kudos to you Tom for turning this discussion into a suggestion box. Now we just gotta hope USAS is listening.

How about it USAS - can you hear us now???

Anonymous wrote:Suggestions:

For God's sake dont require us to download an entire .PDF file just to glance at scores or national rankings. Not everyone has a high speed connection or the time to wait for this unnecessary download via a dial up connection.

Make the download an option - NOT a requirement.


I also agree with Tom - sort the upcoming matches in a way that makes sense to a shooter who is LOOKING for the information Sort the match schedule entries in every rational way possible so that they can actually be found without having to call USAS. There is nothing more irritating to call USAS only to be told , "Oh, you didnt look under the extra special super selection match schedule, did you?"



Kudos to you Tom for turning this discussion into a suggestion box. Now we just gotta hope USAS is listening.

How about it USAS - can you hear us now???

Just a question but have you guys raised this stuff with them rather than on a site that really has nothing to do with them? Beleive me I feel your pain our national governing body isn't all that hot and until a few months ago the news on their web site was their 2003 christmas hours.

Richard H wrote:Just a question but have you guys raised this stuff with them rather than on a site that really has nothing to do with them?

Actually I was asking because I run the Irish NGB's website and I was looking for ideas. But the idea that USAS wouldn't hear of this page doesn't quite tally with what I've seen of how NGBs react to boards like these, at least over here.

Richard H wrote: Just a question but have you guys raised this stuff with them rather than on a site that really has nothing to do with them? Beleive me I feel your pain our national governing body isn't all that hot and until a few months ago the news on their web site was their 2003 christmas hours.

Considering they aren't apparently answering their inquiry emails, how can we expect that they would listen to suggestions?

Anonymous wrote: Kudos to you Tom for turning this discussion into a suggestion box.

"Suggestion box" proposal was made by Sparks.

Richard H wrote:Just a question but have you guys raised this stuff with them rather than on a site that really has nothing to do with them? Beleive me I feel your pain our national governing body isn't all that hot and until a few months ago the news on their web site was their 2003 christmas hours.

Wow, that's faint praise -- but I'll take it anyways. Maybe I'll ask Robert to kick you in the shins at the next Lakeshore match....

I'd love some help running the SFC website, but no one's stepped forward yet, and there are only so many volunteer hours in the day.

Jason

Jason wrote:

Richard H wrote:Just a question but have you guys raised this stuff with them rather than on a site that really has nothing to do with them? Beleive me I feel your pain our national governing body isn't all that hot and until a few months ago the news on their web site was their 2003 christmas hours.

Wow, that's faint praise -- but I'll take it anyways. Maybe I'll ask Robert to kick you in the shins at the next Lakeshore match....

I'd love some help running the SFC website, but no one's stepped forward yet, and there are only so many volunteer hours in the day.

Jason

Its better than its ever been, at least the Christmas hours from 2003 are gone. and there is some news on it. Why don't they ask for assistance on the site. PM me or email me if there is some assistance that I can be of I'd be more than willing.

As someone who has been very critical of USA Shooting's web page I must compliment them on their coverage of the Junior Olympics. The results were posted in a timely fashion, we got to see great pictures from the matches, and there were follow-up articles. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come.

I visited with Gary Anderson several and asked why unproductives were kept on the roster, Gary mentioned that they all had lawyers. I saw the same problem tear the modern penthalon program apart. As Shakespear once said "First we kill all the lawyers" [my words, not Garys'] Good Shooting Bill Horton

2650 Plus wrote:I visited with Gary Anderson several and asked why unproductives were kept on the roster, Gary mentioned that they all had lawyers.

I really and truly hope you are kidding, or that Gary Anderson was trying to deflect the question. This ties in with the thread regarding the MG2 and our overly litigious society. The last thing USAS (or any shooting organization) needs is the threat of a lawsuit.

BTW, and back to the original topic - The USAS website is vastly improved of late. Cerdit (and support) where credit (and support) is due.

It has improved alot since I was last on it, however it is far from user freindly and I believe it could be improved. I find the above comments a little disturbing as I have in the past shot with and against individuals on the team. I hope it is not true.

It is also my opinion that the site should be more open and informative. The reason people dont know about shooting sports is because they still, years later are not promoted well. I have competed, and been interested in them for years and I have a hard time finding info on them.

I guess we need to promote our sport and we need to promote it to more than just shooters and I believe you can only do that through open info....Sorry for the multiple string post.


Erik

Wish our NGB website was as good as that...
http://www.nsra.co.uk

They said someone was working to improve it back in February...still looks the same...urgh. People have even offered to set up a basic Mambo site for them as well (they do the basics, which would still be better than what exists now, and then extra modules could be added as and when). Whats more, they've offered to do it FOR FREE! The NSRA turned them down. Still asking myself - Why?

I dunno what USAS looked like when it started/how much it's improved since the start of this thread, and of course, I don't know how much I don't see because I'm not a member, and of course, from the sounds of it, people have had major grief trying to get into the members area, but even just the open access stuff ain't bad compared to ours...

I have to give USA Shooting a lot of credit. I think they took our complaints seriously and make an effort to improve the website. Its much improved but still could use some work. As previously mentioned there isn't a whole lot of information on the site. USA Shooting still needs to promote its athletes better. Currently most of the athlete bios are empty. The new site is off to good start lets hope USA Shooting continues to improve it.