Also, that’s why there is that Exchange Rates Currency Converter on the right of the page (it helps to convert Euros in US Dollars).

It’s been a while since I got the overwhelming to change the site, so over course, that is what this is all about. New look to the main site, slightly new look to the forum, and new functionality for now and more to come later.  Let’s see if I can remember all the changes.

1. New layout for main site with new graphics, including rotating header graphic (each time you refresh the page, the banner should change (right now there are only two options: Men’s team and Women’s team, but more will come).  Also, the page will display as wide as your browser window is open, which means less scrolling for those with wide screens. I am also redoing the pages (right hand column).
2. No more comments/logging in on the main site. To reduce my constant deletion of “fake” users, I decided to remove all ability to create users and/or leave comments. All comments will be left in the forum now (more to come on that). However, you will still receive those emails each time I post new stuff. I have added all the previously registered users to the “subscription” list which means you get those updates. New people to the site to subscribe by entering their email address in the “Subscribe For Updates” section in the right hand column. You can remove your email address by entering yours and clicking Unsubscribe.
3. I still have more content to add and change, but I think I was able to get all the previous content moved over successfully. If you don’t see something there that you did before, let me know.
4. To comment on content now, you go to the forums and do it. There is a section where all the the new posts will be automatically added (updates every 60 minutes so if you don’t see it right away, give it some time and it should show up) so all you have to do is log in and post away. Your user names and passwords haven’t changed so that functionality is still the same.
5. For the most part, the forum  is the same, but I changed a couple of categories and changed the “look” just a bit. My big push to redo the sites was the forum because the database for it was tweaked to the point that I couldn’t update it anymore with new features or security fixes. So, I started from scratch and once I got everything updated, I was able to move over the old content. Many of you have already gone through that with me before so not really a big deal. If something isn’t working right, let me know.

I will continue to add things to both the site and forum, but the main stuff is there again for you all to enjoy. Remember, if you don’t see something you would like to see, let me know.

PJ

So, aside from that whoops, I have just added a new feature that I am excited about: I have now made it and automatic process for those insightful and thought-provoking posts that HardballHock does on his blog (http://hardballhockey.blogspot.com/) to be posted on this site. Now, there is a slight lag because my website is scheduled to look to his blog once a day, but you can be sure that within a day’s time, you will see the post.

And for now, I have turned off the automatic email sent to you when a new post does come up (that was my whoops from before – not disabling that) but I can change the setting if those of you out there would like to receive them automatically, much like you are receiving this.

That’s all for now.

And, not to be out done, especially in a position that I think the pressure was really on, our Men took care of business when business needed to be taken care of. Due to a bad run of luck at the Men’s last World A Championships, Team USA was relegated to the World B Championships, with the hopes of placing and making it back to A’s. At this point, I would have to say the pressure was on, especially since we do have a high expectation for our team. Well, much like the ladies, our boys took care of business when business needed to be taken care of. And, oh yes, they did it in convincing fashion, by going undefeated and taking home the gold medal. And, from the sound of things, even though the team didn’t have much time to train together, they played as a team and their record demonstrated that. A special congrats goes out to Brian Stallman, who I was told by more than one person, was the best player at the tournament. I know that I went on record criticizing how he made the team (not that he isn’t our most talented goalie, but that he wasn’t able to make it to all the qualifying camps), so I believe even more pressure was on his shoulders to not only play well, but help our squad get back to A’s. He didn’t fail at all. In fact, one comment that I heard was that if he were in the opposing net, the story may have been different. That’s not a slight on our floor players, it’s just a tribute to how well he played. Throw in the team work on the floor, and the guidance from a highly qualified coaching staff, and back to the A’s we come.

So, again to both squads, excellent work. You definitely made us all very proud.

And now to the request:

I am thinking about putting together a highlight reel of the most exciting goals scored in our sport. I know there are videos out there, from around the world, that show just what can be done with our stick and ball. The reason I want to put this together is that I frequent sites where users publish links to website about topics they find interesting, and the users can comment on those articles. I occasionally see posts about the NHL and hockey and how amazing or great these shots are, referring to a youtube video or something like that. I want to be able to comment saying, if you think that was amazing, you should check these out, and then post a link to a video that highlights all the creativity and finesse that our sport has.

So, what I need from you are links to videos that have creative shots. If it’s already a highlight reel, then that’s all I need. If it’s full game footage, if you could provide me with the minute mark where the shot occurs, I would appreciate it. That would just save me the research time.

Now, I have about zero experience with video editing, so it won’t be all that, but I figure it’s a way to highlight our sport, and present it to people in the form that they all love to see, goal scoring!

If you have a link or two, please email it to me, or add it to the comments on this post. My email is now pj@usarinkhockey.com. Thanks for the help.

So, how many of you are scratching your heads already? The easiest way to describe it is to just do it. Browse to the site from your phone and see what I mean. Initial screen is nothing but text, from which you can click on any of the posts to see the whole post, including graphics that may have been included in it.

None the less, I think it’s a nice add on, and I’m sure at least one or two of you out there will agree.

It looks like I have fixed the registration process through the forum so it works as it is supposed to again. You can register in either location and be added to both.

You can also view your profile in the forum, as well as send Private Messages to other users.

Seems like a lot of things were broken that I may have actually fixed. Crossing fingers though.

PJ

So, I am sorry to keep changing things, but it was recently discovered that the ability to register via the forum had been broken. This created a lot of problems for new people trying to register and post in the forum. It might have even turned a couple of them away.

A little background info is that the “plugin” or “bridge” that I used to connect the database that runs the main site and the database that runs the forum broke, but only in one direction. If you went to the main site and tried to register, it worked like a charm and you were automatically registered, with the same username and password, in the forum. Unfortunately, the converse of that no longer worked. If you tried to register in the forum, you received either an error page, or the ability to type the “code” to register. You know, the “code” (captcha) that is used on just about every website that makes you type letters that appear in a box to continue. I also believe (didn’t fully test this part) but if you edited your profile info in the forum, it didn’t change it for your profile on the main website. Needless to say, this was not good.

So, I did the mad scramble yesterday to try to resolve the issue. First, the “plugin” that is used to connect the forum to the main site is no longer being developed, which means if I have a problem with it, and I did, there would be no support to fix it. Basically, I had to stop using it. The good news, as stated before, is that the “plugin” that connects the website to the forum still worked, so I go a little creative.

I have now made it that if you click to “Register” in the forum, it re-directs you back to the main site to register there. Additionally, if you clicked to edit or view your “Profile” in the forum, it re-directed you back to the main site’s profile section. This way, it forces everybody back to the main site to do any registering or editing of your profile. Note that, when your are re-directed, you may see a screen that states the “main template” can’t be loaded. Just ignore that. The page will change automatically within seconds.

But of course there is more. Since I enabled this yesterday, I thought I was all good. Not entirely. Turns out the registration process of the main site is easily done by Spammers or Spam-Bots (computer programs that look for registration fields on website and automatically create a new (fake) account), so when I checked everything out this morning, there were already 5 new spammer accounts created. That caused me to up the complexity of the registration process. You are now required to fill in a couple of bits of info, as well as fill out one of those “code” (captcha) areas. This doesn’t effect those of you who are already registered, but I thought it was worth mentioning none the less.

So, in a nut shell, everything should be working again and you are now aware of the slight changes that I have made to a couple of areas.

On another topic: I also recently realized that the automatic subscription to notifications (emails automatically sent when I post something) wasn’t turned on and I had missed about 3-7 members with this feature. If you receive and email about this post, as well as all other posts, then you don’t have to worry about this. If you are a registered member of the site and you don’t get emails from it when I make a post, then you need to log into the site, click to go into your profile, click the Subscriptions link, and select to be notified when any category is updated with a new post. Save those settings and your are all good. Confused? Not to worry. Shoot me an email and I can explain with more detail.

Keep the posts and comments coming and we will talk with you all later.

PJ

So, again, thanks to all of those who posted their support in me doing this. The major advantage to this process is that you will now be able to contribute on the main site as well as the forum. You all already know how to contribute on the forum, but logging into the main site will give you the ability to leave comments on each post. Additionally, I can grant access to certain users to post their own articles (hardballhock comes to mind). A lot of times, people send me info to post. Now I can make it so that person can post it themselves for everybody to see.

Now, make sure you log in and update your personal information in your profile (add websites, ICQ number, change password, etc.).

Stay tuned.