NARAM info?

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jflis

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So, what's the scoop with NARAM? Every link I've found so far, even on the NAR site, points me to NARAM 53... Is there a site up for this year?
 
Off topic-- Bruce, did you get my email regarding the mistakes on the Great Lakes Cup listing on the NAR site?

Pat
 
www.naram.org is now pointed to the new website. It needs to propagate thru the inter-webs. The my ISP dsn now have the correct address. If your isn't now, it should be shortly.

Pat, your issue should be fixed now.
 
www.naram.org is now pointed to the new website. It needs to propagate thru the inter-webs. The my ISP dsn now have the correct address. If your isn't now, it should be shortly.


[sigh] not to sound *too* snobbish, and I know it depends on volunteers from the host section, but does the NAR's premier national event have to suffer with a 1990's-style, 'looks like it was designed by a high school boy' website?


also, DUMP THE KEYWORDS!!!! Google will penalize the site because of it.
 
thanks for fixing my entry Bruce.

NAR is flush with cash after the BATF reimbursement. I think 'fixing' the website should be a major issue.

I got back into rocketry about 5-6 years ago and intially went to the website. It makes it look like a very amateurish organization and certainly can't be helping with recruitment.

The website should really be a portal for doing business with NAR. I know there was some sort of work done with membership renewal but I just got my Section renewal paperwork sent by regular mail. Certainly, there should be a much easier and inexpensive way to do that.
 
Pat,
I'm not talking about the nar.org site. While it has its operational issues, and could stand a redesign, it is a professionally designed site, and was a vast improvement over the site it replaced many years ago. I also understand that there are people currently redesigning that site, and it is not a trivial task.

I'm talking about the site that naram.org is currently pointing to, for the NARAM-54 event. I understand that local volunteers may not have web design experience, or may have special local requirements, but NAR should provide some style guidance to the local hosts to preserve and project its national image.

The following three things alone shout 'amateur' about the current NARAM site:
  • use of 'Comic Sans' font
  • black 'flashing stars' background
  • 'rocket, rocket, rocket, rocket, etc...' in the Meta Keywords element. Rather than helping, Google (and Bing and Yahoo) penalize such things in search rankings.

I don't point this out here in this public forum to embarrass the NARAM-54 web designer (otherwise, the site is fine, and is well-organized), but to advise *all* people in charge of their sections' web sites to avoid such things.
 
I may be mistaken, but I thought they either got $200K or at least have that much on hand. I had gotten that info from their BOD minutes at one time.
 
I may be mistaken, but I thought they either got $200K or at least have that much on hand. I had gotten that info from their BOD minutes at one time.

Mark's number matches my recollection -- Tripoli and NAR each ponied up several hundred thousand. But when it came time to file for compensation, the ATF successfully minimized what they could file for, and it came to somewhere around $35K for each.

-Kevin
 
Mark's number matches my recollection -- Tripoli and NAR each ponied up several hundred thousand. But when it came time to file for compensation, the ATF successfully minimized what they could file for, and it came to somewhere around $35K for each.

The summary can be found in Trip Barber's "State of the NAR August 2010" presentation:

https://www.nar.org/2010/08/state_of_the_nar_as_of_august.php

The section on ATF says "We got back $35K (10%) of our legal expenses from BATFE because the Court found them to have been “arbitrary & capricious”"
 
I think 'fixing' the website should be a major issue.


Me too and evidently the Board agrees. The text below is from the minutes of the last Board meeting. I'm going to assume that things are moving ahead rapidly because it makes me feel better thinking the existing website's days are numbered.



The Board discussed at length the issue of improving the NAR website’s structure, navigation, and appearance. They concluded that the current website approach, from technology to graphical appearance, was unfixable and that a complete replacement website should be developed. Bruce Canino has volunteered to lead the project to do this, and the Board expressed willingness to make a significant financial investment in development of the website if this turned out to be required. The Board developed the following overall guidelines to describe the desired attributes of the next-generation NAR website:
1. Uses web 2.0 technology, including compatibility with iPhones
2. Uses the structure of web pages developed in 2009 by the now-disestablished website redesign subcommittee
3. Has a members-only section
4. Uses the Neon headquarters database as the source of membership verification for the members-only section and of section information for the section listing
5. Permits editing of applicable sections of content by the volunteer responsible for that section\
6. Accepts transfer of current website content
7. Has more than one set of "master keys" so no single volunteer is the chokepoint in fixes or updates
8. Contains a search feature
9. Supports posting of videos
10. Recognizes user location and customizes displays based on that location
 
Thanks for the update on the nar.org website.

Now getting back on topic - this thread and the comment in post #6 above are in reguards to naram.org

I'm guessing it's too late to have that site rebuilt, but RoyAlt's comments are spot-on.

[sigh] not to sound *too* snobbish, and I know it depends on volunteers from the host section, but does the NAR's premier national event have to suffer with a 1990's-style, 'looks like it was designed by a high school boy' website?
 
Thanks for the update on the nar.org website.

Now getting back on topic - this thread and the comment in post #6 above are in reguards to naram.org

I'm guessing it's too late to have that site rebuilt, but RoyAlt's comments are spot-on.


I'm not horribly offended by it. It may not have a sophisticated look but everything is there and it works.

Unless the host club has someone skilled in web design it doesn't seem reasonable to expect something fancy.
 
As far as the NAR.ORG site goes, the list of items from the board meeting is all going into the new NAR.ORG website., hopefully around the July 2012 time frame.

As far at NARAM - 54 site, it is what it is. That is what the section came up with. If you asked 10 people what their opinion of the site was, you would get 15 different answers. There is a email address you can contact the section at on the main page [email protected]. Anyone truly offend by the website feel free to contact them and offer your services for free to fix it for them.
 
As far at NARAM - 54 site, it is what it is. That is what the section came up with. If you asked 10 people what their opinion of the site was, you would get 15 different answers.

More importantly, it's a short-term site, and it's serving the purpose.

Every year, the LDRS, NARAM, and NSL website change, depending on who's hosting, and the availability of someone within the host club to create and maintain a website.

-Kevin
 
As far as the NAR.ORG site goes, the list of items from the board meeting is all going into the new NAR.ORG website., hopefully around the July 2012 time frame.

As far at NARAM - 54 site, it is what it is. That is what the section came up with. If you asked 10 people what their opinion of the site was, you would get 15 different answers. There is a email address you can contact the section at on the main page [email protected]. Anyone truly offend by the website feel free to contact them and offer your services for free to fix it for them.

All I'm really saying boils down to the NAR ought to have some minimal standards on how a site that represents a national event looks, and should guide the host section on achieving those standards, while still allowing local expression.

If an individual section wants to have their own website that looks like it came from Tim Berners-Lee's machine in 1991, fine with me.
 
All I'm really saying boils down to the NAR ought to have some minimal standards on how a site that represents a national event looks, and should guide the host section on achieving those standards, while still allowing local expression.

Feel free to document what those minimal standards might be and how to they might be achieved, preferably with examples for each standard. I look forward to reading your document.
 
Feel free to document what those minimal standards might be and how to they might be achieved, preferably with examples for each standard. I look forward to reading your document.

Why do I feel like I just volunteered for something? :pc: :)
 
Trying to give constructive examples this time. I fully understand that host club volunteers are building the site. No ill will directed at anyone :D

Using google, I typed "nsl 2012" and got this link as my first choice https://www.marsclub.org/nsl2012/

Then I typed "ldrs 2012" and got this as the 3rd choice https://ldrs31.org/

I got similar results with Google finding red glare xii, and thunderstruck 2012.

I tried naram 2012 and naram 54 and got no links that take me to the correct site.

The link on the NAR home page takes me here.

One of the above posts did mention something about overuse of key words affecting Google and other search engines.

Then there is the spelling issue. "ned" and "onformation". I'm a really bad speller myself and I always proofread and spell check my work.

The wording on the event schedule page gave me the impression (at first) that A-D sport flying was only on the weekend. After I read it again I understand that additional A-D pads will be available for sport flying on the weekend. I wonder if that part could be written differently.

The overall design does look a bit dated.

Sorry if anything I said is/was misunderstood. No ill will intended.

Thanks for reading.

screen cap.jpg
 
All I'm really saying boils down to the NAR ought to have some minimal standards on how a site that represents a national event looks, and should guide the host section on achieving those standards, while still allowing local expression.

Instead of standards, how about a template? Or something like Joomla? That's what CMASS uses. Our webmaster has it set up so I can change the things I need to change without accidentally destroying the website. For NARAM all the menu items are going to be pretty much the same from year to year so the overall structure could stay the same and just the content would change.
 
Instead of standards, how about a template? Or something like Joomla? That's what CMASS uses. Our webmaster has it set up so I can change the things I need to change without accidentally destroying the website. For NARAM all the menu items are going to be pretty much the same from year to year so the overall structure could stay the same and just the content would change.

That's basically what I'm thinking, so that there won't be so much reinventing the wheel each year, similar to how the launch systems and contest systems and such are standardized. However, web fashions do change, especially in the last five years, and there should be a lot of design leeway for the local club.

I'm a WordPress guy, and I've already done some standardization on our regional launch website (https://www.gritslaunch.com) so that the same basic code has been used, but the design has changed for three different events with different needs.
 
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Not a lot of NARAM information in this thread!:mad:

Fortunately with Google Earth I was able to find a very nice Bed and Breakfast 10 miles from the NARAM 54 flying field on the Muskegon River.

Room is reserved already!:neener:
 
At the very least it would be nice if the naram site had the dates and location on the front page of the site.
 
Instead of standards, how about a template? Or something like Joomla?

For larger sites, Typo3 is a good choice if the webmaster is experienced. Having less experience, Joomla may be a good decision as well.

But BTW, does NAR actually has a webmaster? I tried to mail him a couple of weeks ago but never got a response...

Oliver
 
IMO the NARAM-54 website looks all right.

Not the greatest website I have ever seen, but I have seen many many much worse.

The Comic Sans font is a little informal, but there is good contrast with the background and the text is readable (often white text on dark background has readability issues, especially with serif fonts).

The 'twinkling starlight' background is not distracting (if the 'stars' were bigger or flashing faster, it would be).

Nobody except typography geeks really notice, know or care about that stuff anyway (I work in print publication and website design/maintenance, so I know). If the text is so unconventional as to degrade readability, you have a problem; if not, you don't.

This kind of website is basically a pass-fail proposition.

Does it accurately deliver the information which needs to be conveyed? (Pass)

Are there dead links? (Pass. Incomplete categories awaiting updates are clearly indicated)

Is there contact info so concerns may be addressed? (Pass)

Search engine accessibility needs to improve but from posts above apparently that is simply a matter of time.

As far as whether the NARAM-54 website presents a sufficiently glitzy appearance for "the public at large," I got a news flash: the overwhelming number of people interested in NARAM are already experienced rocketeers; you are preaching to the converted. They don't need to be swooned by awesome graphic presentations on a glitzy website. As long as it's reasonably straightforward and gives you the info you need, it works.

As an NAR member for about 15 years at this point (albeit spread over 40 years), I have seen a lot of rocketry websites, a lot of event websites, a lot of NARAM websites. Some were good, some were great, some were horrible.

This one is not (horrible). It is OK, it does the job. I don't think I'd start lobbing potshots unless I was willing to jump into the saddle and doing the work myself.
 
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