ITC weirdness

[Heidi]

Sorry Heidi....I was typing while you posted....if you don't want this old list from the Cabelas site, I'll delete it....let me know. Or you are a mod....you could delete it???? Whatever works for people, but that page of places to go is priceless....thanks.

No problem Boo...I appreciate it! I have it saved but am working on updating it and will post that page later Sunday. I was trying to put together a list with all updated links and I'm removing any bad links and any pages where there won't be updates this year (i.e. Ramy's site and others). It's taken a little time because I've been emailing some people for information.

[dilli]

Sorry about this folks .. one more rant post (last one I hope) about the horrendous navigations and content problems folks are encountering on the official Irod website that none of the TPTB are replying to.. this is what I just posted on their official Irod forums under Race Talk> Past Archived Race Stats thread. Don't know if it will do any good or not, but I gave it my best shot to bring it to their attention without getting banned.

No PTB have responded yet to address resolution of this critical archived stats problem
OK .. Let's try another tactic to point out the MAJOR problems I'm talking about

For demonstration purposes .. an example of the incredible archived race stats problem of which I speak

Here is the convoluted dance each Iditarod fan currently goes thru to get to the 'just one click away' compelling merged archived race stats content (preferably accurate stats content) : Folks following along .. fasten your bungee cords .. it's quite a tango

1. From the Official Iditarod Race home page .. quickly click cancel on the repetitive, annoying Iditarod Insider promo video pop du jour or else the II promo pop up will pop up again while you are looking for the next crumb in the trail to get you to the archived race stats content you want to find.

2. Quickly click the slate blue "Learn About" button on the site navigation bar.

3. Look to the right. See a list entitled "Learn About the Iditarod"

4. From the list, hold your cursor over "Past Race Archives". Click it. This will bring you to the Iditarod Race Archives Page.

5. See Musher and Checkpoint Data by Race Year box. Click on the little green down arrow. Select and left click on 2006.

6. You will now be presented with another set of choices to get to the specific archived content you are trying to find .. Race Years, Mushers and Select a Checkpoint.

7. OK .. let's say I am trying to find the checkpoint and the total rest time where Karen Ramstead and her fabulous Sibes took their 24 hour mandatory in 2006.

8. Click yet again on Select a Musher. You now have to scroll thru a long list .. don't bother looking for "Ramstead" .. You need to look for "Karen" then "Ramstead" and click on her name.

9. Karen's 2006 race stats sheet will load. Scroll down looking on the far right for the 1st box with a checkmark indicating the checkpoint where Karen took her Mandatory 24 .. OK .. we discover the checkmark indicates Karen took her mandatory 24 in Takotna.

10. We see Karen's arrival date/ time into the Takotna checkpoint was 03/08/2006 at 23:28:00 (that's 11:28 PM March 8th for confused folks trying to follow this)
Karen's departure date/time from Takotna was 03/10/2006 at 00:01:00 (that's 12:01 AM March 10th)

HOWEVER .. the stats page lists Karen's total rest time in Takotna as 0 h(ours) 33m(inutes) when in fact she rested in Takotna for a rest time total of 24 h(ours) 33 m(inutes).

This is one example of many nightmare stats errors in the merged ITC archived stats data transfers that Iditarod fans are going to encounter trying to find the 'one click away' compelling (in)accurate content the folks in charge of the merger of website content promised us.

11. Sigh. OK .. let's try an alternative method to *quickly* find the correct archives stats we are trying to find ...
click on the back arrow. This brings us back to the 1st Iditarod Race Archives page again. 2006 is still listed in the Race Years selection box. You click again .. and nothing happens.

12.
You then have to click on the green arrow *again*.

Then you have to select and click on either a) a different year or b) select a checkpoint again

and then select 2006 *again* to get back to the Musher and Checkpoint Data by Race Year ( we're still trying to find Karen's 2006 stats to find the correct info where she took her mandatory 24 and how long she rested at that checkpoint) (got any hair left?) Proceed with caution ..

13, For yucks, this time we decide to try to find Karen's stats at the Takotna checkpoint using the Select a Checkpoint feature ..
Click again on the little green down arrow
Select and click on Takotna
Scroll down the musher list stats in Takotna until we find Karen is in #46 position.

12. On this alternative stats sheet for Karen, we see Karen arrived into Takotna on 03/08/2006 at 23:28:00 and left on 03/10/2006 at 00:01:00. Now the stats rest time total says Karen 'was in Takotna for 12h(ours) 33m(inutes) when in fact she was in Takotna for a total of 24h(ours) 33m(inutes)

13. Now imagine every single person seeking FAST access to desired accurate archived Iditarod race stats information, and the utter frustration each person feels having to go through this ridiculous obstacle course dance every single time to find and get the archived stats for every single musher running in the 2006 Iditarod.

This problematic situation needs to be addressed and remedied ASAP by TPTB in charge of designing quick accurate access to the compelling merged content we were promised we would have by race time.

T minus 5 days til race start .. clock' s a-ticking .. please fix this mess immediately.
Thank you.

[tilstede]

DIlli, you've got an answer from Iditarod staff, but I'm not sure if it implies any practical consequences. As expected

Dilli, thanks for the feedback.

On the Insider promo that runs on the home page, wait for it to load -- then click one of the buttons (sign up, already an insider, skip promo). Based on your selection, it will disable the promo so it doesn't load every time you look at the page. We will also see about modifying the behavior of the "cancel" button.

A previous post recognized correctly that all race times are posted on a 24-hour clock -- thus, there are no AM/PM designations.

On your other points related to race stat archives (first/last name, calculating the 12/24 rests correctly, improving the usability of the system), we'll see what we can do. Some changes may be easy, some more complicated. We'll post here with what modifications we're going to be able to make in the next few days.

[dilli]

we'll see what we can do

And how many years have we been hearing this same insipid reply about stats problems?



Spirit: ..... HOOLEY!

*Stumbles off to place icepack on swollen forehead from repeatedly bashing head on computer desk in frustration.*

[Heidi]

[Moderator hat on]

The moderators have received a complaint and I'm going to post it here for all to see (with the author's permission). The purpose of this is NOT to start an argument, but to remind everyone that not everyone feels the same as you or I. I don't know that things have gotten out of hand and I feel we have a right to voice our opinions, but I want to remind everyone to try and stay as civil as possible. Also, keep in mind that we don't want to cast a bad light on BSSD.

"I've been following this forum (and the former Cabela's forum) for a few years. I had hoped that the new one would take a more positive tone, but I see the general bi***ing about the ITC continues unabated. I understand that people get frustrated when things don't work the way they want -- and there are a hundred things that could be better about how the Trail Committee connects fans with the race. Their lack of communication notwithstanding, I'd bet the ITC has a thousand things to improve on their own list, and given enough time and money (not to mention manpower), they would do them all. I chose this post to "report," but I could have picked any number of them -- the generally snotty tone with regards to the ITC, the Iditarod website, the Insider service, Stan Hooley himself ... They sure seem to flirt with violating the first three items on your "forum guidelines." Normally I can just ignore the snide comments, but it's getting on my nerves -- and definitely detracts from my enjoyment of the race and what (I continue to hope) would be a positive online-community experience. I wonder how these posts make Iditarod staff, volunteers, mushers, musher families, etc feel? P.S. I almost posted this as a message on the board but then wondered if I was just going to get chewed up by the same people who complain about everything else. However, if you want to quote it in making a moderator post about civility and cutting the vitriol out of what otherwise could be constructive criticisms, that would be fine."

Thank you for your comment. Okay, folks, let's be cool...

[Moderator hat off]

Heidi says: I'm very sorry if I offended you. While I can't promise I won't complain, I'll try not to be snide about it.

[MotorWerk]

Well, it looks like we've stepped on quite a few toes. What can I say? I am, of course, sorry if anyone feels stomped on.

Regarding the "inaccessibility" of the stats at ITC - if no-one complains they won't know what to fix.

[tilstede]

Ditto.

[Moose]

Sorry. Didn't mean to offend anyone. Just trying to poke a little fun at what is a frustrating situation for all--the fans and no doubt the ITC as well. But your point is made and understood, and I apologize.

[Breeze]

I am on a dial-up connection and also have " issues" with going thru the front door of the iditarod.com site. The promo/intro basically WON"T finish loading, so I can't get anywhere.

I did have a link in my favorites from MANY weeks ago when I was hunting around trying to put my fingers on WHERE I would find information I was accustomed to finding on Cabela's site, once Cabela's went dark.

Lo and behold, this link is now my Back Door past the glitz and glam.

http://www.iditarod.com/learn/iditarodtrail.html

It does solve the first of my frustrations, which was finding a way to access ANY part of the Official Site Content beyond the Marketing aspect.

Breeze

[klmobile]

I ordered a Calender from ITC site...Autographed by Lance!
It arrived in 2 days
If they can't get anything else right, they sure know how to ship fast!!
kl