Round 3 Online Entry is CLOSED!

[JimWilson29]

We have CLOSED the pre-entry for Round 3 of the 2013 season.

www.mra-racing.org/memberportal
Here is a quick check list to ensure you get register properly.
1. Login to the Member Portal. www.mra-racing.org/memberportal
2. Check your Transponder field to ensure we have your transponder number.
3. Check your Medical Information on the Medical tab and make any relevant updates
4. Check your Bike information on the Bike tab and make any changes needed.
5. Check your Sponsors list on the Sponsors tab to ensure you are up to date with all those supporting you.
6. Enter for your Races on the Races tab by clicking “Register for an Event” button
7. Select the Classes you want to run on the left column and they will move over to the right in your Cart.
8. Donate to the Safety Fun in the “Other Charge” field if you would like to help the MRA.
9. Update the Total
10. ALLOW POP UPS on your web browser or hold the CTRL key down when you click the “Pay for Entry” button.
11. Complete the transaction in PayPal with a PayPal account or a guest account and a credit card.

Just a reminder that for Round 3, ABATE of Colorado will be hosting their Feed the Racers BBQ Cookoff Saturday night. So don’t make any dinner plans other than coming over to the ABATE pit to eat and bench race with your friends.

See you there,

MRA Board of Directors

[Peanut_EOD]

I registered the second it was open! Woohoo!

[JimWilson29]

Hey Gang- Right now the MRA website is down for some server maintenance so the link that redirects you to RaceWurx is not working.
In the meantime, you can access RaceWurx directly at https://boston.macusa.net/fmi/iwp/cgi?-db=RaceWurxRR.v2.fmp12&-loadframes

[Peanut_EOD]

That explains a lot.

[loujr]

When does online entry close.??

[JimWilson29]

When does online entry close.??


Friday evening, June 21st

[loujr]

When does online entry close.??


Friday evening, June 21st

Thanks Jim.

[Jim 'smooth' Brewer]

I just entered & tried to pay for entries and got this ..

This entry is locked due to attempted payment or closed registraion. You can only try to pay again if failed, change the bike you will use or change emergency info. Contact MRA if you need to make other changes

I saved the entries but I don't know why it wouldn't let me pay. I don't have other bikes and my emergency info is correct, so I don't want to change those.

Is there any way we can either let us do rest of year entries (like we could before) or at least leave the on-line entry open more than a few days?

BTW, "registration" is spelled wrong in that error message.

[Jon]

Yeah I got the same thing, it just helps raise the stress levels leading up to race weekend. As if me cracking a rib yesterday attempting to scale a fence isn't enough?

[T Baggins]

I just entered & tried to pay for entries and got this ..

This entry is locked due to attempted payment or closed registraion. You can only try to pay again if failed, change the bike you will use or change emergency info. Contact MRA if you need to make other changes

I saved the entries but I don't know why it wouldn't let me pay. I don't have other bikes and my emergency info is correct, so I don't want to change those.

Is there any way we can either let us do rest of year entries (like we could before) or at least leave the on-line entry open more than a few days?

BTW, "registration" is spelled wrong in that error message.


Note it says "you can only try to pay again if failed..." so you CAN go in and pay still. You just can't change your entries after you've saved and exited.

After we get thru this round I believe we'll be able to open registration for ALL of the remaining rounds simultaneously. Remember MRA is the first organization to use RaceWurx for online "anything..." and we're still working out the kinks.

[Jim 'smooth' Brewer]

Note it says "you can only try to pay again if failed..." so you CAN go in and pay still. You just can't change your entries after you've saved and exited.

Ah, so I should ignore the entry is locked due to attempted payment or closed registraion message??
Being of low self-esteem, I presumed I'd failed.


After we get thru this round I believe we'll be able to open registration for ALL of the remaining rounds simultaneously. Remember MRA is the first organization to use RaceWurx for online "anything..." and we're still working out the kinks.
I don't think I need to tell you that I understand working the kinks out of racing software.

[T Baggins]

Note it says "you can only try to pay again if failed..." so you CAN go in and pay still. You just can't change your entries after you've saved and exited.

Ah, so I should ignore the entry is locked due to attempted payment or closed registraion message??
Being of low self-esteem, I presumed I'd failed.


After we get thru this round I believe we'll be able to open registration for ALL of the remaining rounds simultaneously. Remember MRA is the first organization to use RaceWurx for online "anything..." and we're still working out the kinks.
I don't think I need to tell you that I understand working the kinks out of racing software.

I agree that the language could be cleaned up a bit....

Not only are you of low self-esteem, but also prematurely ejected from your task at hand... had you read on:

"You can only try to pay again if failed, change the bike you will use or change emergency info."

Might that have piqued your curiosity a bit....?

Kidding aside, did you go in and try to pay again - and do so successfully?

[Jon]

Pretty sure I've now paid for round three for a 2nd time as it did what it did for round two but this time on my 3rd attempt went and allowed to pay for it where before it wouldn't allow me to get past the Entry Locked blah balh blah.
Though you folks in the office may really enjoy the new system, I find that during the three rounds so far that I find myself checking and rechecking without ever actually knowing what I may have done right or wrong. Granted, it let me access the upcoming event and add classes but during round two I think it deducted from the card on file and may have done the same this time though I never got confirmation saying so prior to tonights.
Can we simply get an email confirmation in the future or do we have to input our CC or PayPal each time? As advanced as the system is and as much as it does to make the office's job so much easiler, I'm looking forward to those features that makes the racers job easier....I know how self centered of me, but, anything that has Mr Brewer a longtime HP employee, asking questions concerns me as I don't think it's the most intuitive program I've ever seen....end of rant.

[JimWilson29]

Pretty sure I've now paid for round three for a 2nd time as it did what it did for round two but this time on my 3rd attempt went and allowed to pay for it where before it wouldn't allow me to get past the Entry Locked blah balh blah.

Jon, I only show one payment made for Round 3.



Though you folks in the office may really enjoy the new system, I find that during the three rounds so far that I find myself checking and rechecking without ever actually knowing what I may have done right or wrong. Granted, it let me access the upcoming event and add classes but during round two I think it deducted from the card on file and may have done the same this time though I never got confirmation saying so prior to tonights.

If you have a valid email on file with PayPal, it will send you a confirmation when a payment is made.



Can we simply get an email confirmation in the future or do we have to input our CC or PayPal each time? As advanced as the system is and as much as it does to make the office's job so much easiler, I'm looking forward to those features that makes the racers job easier....I know how self centered of me, but, anything that has Mr Brewer a longtime HP employee, asking questions concerns me as I don't think it's the most intuitive program I've ever seen....end of rant.

One of the next enhancements I requested is that RaceWurx sends out an email confirmation whenever an entry is confirmed and whenever a membership is activated.

Jon, we are trying our best to make this work as efficiently as possible for you and the rest of the members. Based on the very minimal complaints I have received so far, I think we are doing pretty good. The Board has put an enormous amount of time and effort into implementing this system and will continue to do so with maintaining and enhancing it in the future.

[Jim 'smooth' Brewer]

Not only are you of low self-esteem, but also prematurely ejected from your task at hand...

I hadn't fully gripped my lack of results. It seems I've become accustomed to coming up empty handed when attempting such tasks.

had you read on:
"You can only try to pay again if failed, change the bike you will use or change emergency info."
Might that have piqued your curiosity a bit....?

It was intriguing grammar. Not to pick nits, but "failed" is past tense meaning something didn't occur. I took "change" as an imperative verb by assuming the punctuation was wrong, not the tense. So, I read the sentence, "You can only try to pay again if (you) failed (to complete the transaction.), (You should) change the bike you will use or change (your) emergency info."

Perhaps better wording would be, "You should only try to pay again if you didn't receive payment confirmation from PayPal, or if you changed the bike you will use, or if you changed your emergency info." .. although I'm not sure why changing emergency info or bike type would have anything to do with how much you owe.


Kidding aside, did you go in and try to pay again - and do so successfully?
I did and was successful, although I'm still getting a red message about an attempted payment (even though PayPal confirmed it happened) and locked entry message at the bottom of the page.


Based on the very minimal complaints I have received so far, I think we are doing pretty good.

James, be careful about making that conjecture. The members have been asked many, many, many times to be patient, so we are. When you're ready for constructive feedback, let us know.

[T Baggins]

We did change the wording a bit, and I also engaged Mr. Brewer and Marc Allen to see where the hang-up was.

The biggest difference between this payment system and the previous is the previous was thru a merchant card type account and cost the MRA (you members) considerably more for the transaction fees - and ultimately WE were responsible for the security of the transaction because it occurred on our server.

The current system completely disassociates from the MRA/RaceWurx site and takes you to PayPal. This costs less and removes virtually all liability from the MRA (you members) if anyone's card or personal info gets hacked.

The reason we "lock the entry" is so that people can't go back in after paying and change the classes they're entered for. Since RaceWurx and PayPal are separate, there would be no simple way to keep track of who owes who what when entries start getting changed by the member. For example. If I went in and registered for a SINGLE endurance race for $80 and paid in paypal. The system shows me as "paid", and now I can go in and add any and all other classes at no charge.

No system is perfect, but once we get the e-mail confirmation thing worked out we should be in a better place.

[JimWilson29]

Based on the very minimal complaints I have received so far, I think we are doing pretty good.


James, be careful about making that conjecture. The members have been asked many, many, many times to be patient, so we are. When you're ready for constructive feedback, let us know.

Since we are not using a defect tracker for this, provide me via email a word document with each issue you have. Please classify if this is an enhancement or a defect. If you believe it to be a defect, please refer to a requirement or use case where the condition is not being met. Provide me with a detailed description, the steps to recreate, the expected result and the actual result. You can also provide me with what you believe the severity to be. We can keep that simple: Low, Medium, High, Critical. I will evaluate each issue you submit and if it's valid, I will prioritize and place in the queue to be handled in a future release.
Thank you.

[Peanut_EOD]

Hey Gang- Right now the MRA website is down for some server maintenance so the link that redirects you to RaceWurx is not working.
In the meantime, you can access RaceWurx directly at https://boston.macusa.net/fmi/iwp/cgi?-db=RaceWurxRR.v2.fmp12&-loadframes
Is it ever gonna be fixed? :-k

[JimWilson29]

Hey Gang- Right now the MRA website is down for some server maintenance so the link that redirects you to RaceWurx is not working.
In the meantime, you can access RaceWurx directly at https://boston.macusa.net/fmi/iwp/cgi?-db=RaceWurxRR.v2.fmp12&-loadframes
Is it ever gonna be fixed? :-k

We should be up and running with a web page on the new server by tomorrow.

[Jon]

Really looking forward to seeing the new website as the old one was getting a bit antiquated. Thr anticipation of all the updated features, point standings, lap times and point standings will really put the MRA into the 21st century.Thanks to all who have worked on it to make happen my hats off to you all.

[JimWilson29]

Really looking forward to seeing the new website as the old one was getting a bit antiquated. Thr anticipation of all the updated features, point standings, lap times and point standings will really put the MRA into the 21st century.Thanks to all who have worked on it to make happen my hats off to you all.

I agree the old website was antiquated. What you will see is only a temporary solution while we build our new website. Our plan is to have all things that you are anticipating.

[Peanut_EOD]

WooHoo!!! \:D/ =D>

[T Baggins]

Hey Gang- Right now the MRA website is down for some server maintenance so the link that redirects you to RaceWurx is not working.
In the meantime, you can access RaceWurx directly at https://boston.macusa.net/fmi/iwp/cgi?-db=RaceWurxRR.v2.fmp12&-loadframes
Is it ever gonna be fixed? :-k

I'm gonna post here, then start a new forum topic on this so it's in the right place and people will find it...

To expand on Wilson's response:

No, "it" (the old MRA website) is never going to be fixed. The death of the server it was living on necessitates a COMPLETE rebuild and do-over. Which is fine really, 'cause universally I think everyone agreed that the old site sucked anyway. The timing maybe not so perfect, but life dishes out and the MRA gratefully and willingly receives.

The temporary site will no doubt draw complaints due to a lack of functionality and excitement - and the new site likely won't be done fast enough to please most... unless someone out there is simply dying to build one for the MRA for free within the next 24 hours...

Thank you Mike Lakritz for jumping in and taking over the hosting and temporary website solution. And thank you Dave Gallant and Dan Sallis for doing everything in your capability to keep the old cold fusion server alive for as long as you did.

The forums will be moving to a new server as well, but will need to be updated to a current bbs format and then transferred. I can all but guarantee that there will be some sort of service interruption, but of course we'll do our best to minimize the impact on the members.

Please let me remind you all that the MRA (and all of our online resources) is "for fun" and that the world isn't going to end simply because you can't post your favorite cat video on the forums or can't access your points standings or lap-times instantaneously. Much of the work going into this is completely volunteered, non-compensated time from OUR members, and for the board members working on it - it is one more thing on our plates which we hadn't appropriately budgeted time and resources for.

I'm just trying to put it all in perspective here, and really you should know that we're dying behind the scenes this year trying to make all this new shit work. Having the extra burden of building a new website and forum, on top of still working out the kinks of the RaceWurx (and MRA raceday processes as a result), and still trying to host profitable, safe and fun events is extremely difficult to say the least.

Not looking for sympathy for the Board, we all signed up for this. It would be great, however, if the members could either cut us a little slack - or come to us with SOLUTIONS that you're willing to run with to HELP the situation, rather than complaining about how things aren't perfectly meeting your specific needs.

Please and thank you. ](*,)

[loujr]

Quick question....paid for round 3, however I didn't get the conformation email just checking to see if this is a result of the site being down or did I make a mistake???

[polar x]

I can not even log in to the link. wont take my login or password.
any ideas mr Uglydog?

[JimWilson29]

I can not even log in to the link. wont take my login or password.
any ideas mr Uglydog?


I just tried it and it's working.

[polar x]

thanks for sending the info, it took 3 trys before it worked.....my computer was the issue. Thank you for the help and all the hard work you do Jim.

[T Baggins]

Quick question....paid for round 3, however I didn't get the conformation email just checking to see if this is a result of the site being down or did I make a mistake???

RaceWurx doesn't send a confirmation e-mail... Yet. But it will in the very near future. IF PayPal has your correct e-mail you should get a confirm from them showing the payment went thru.

[303 cycle]

Is there any chance of extending the online deadline for pre-entry in the future? Due to the site being down I didn't log on until today only to see its too late for pre-entry for Pueblo. I know there is a lot more behind the scenes but closing online entry 5 days before an MRA event seems a little premature? :?:

[Jon]

Dave,
The MRA has shut down pre-entry a week before the races since, well, like forever.As a matter a fact they actually extended pre-entry this time by several days.
You shouldn't procrastinate next time, just get er done especially when there's a much space dedicated to the difficulties we're having with the website and etc.
See you in sunny Pueblo

[303 cycle]

Very trued Jon, my Columbian Devil distracts me :evil:

[T Baggins]

At Monday's Board Meeting we agreed to changing the Online Entry Deadline to the Monday the week of... instead of the Friday prior. So we "are extending" the entry timeline permanently moving forward.

I'll give you a two minute edumacation on why we close online entry when we do. You'll see that our timing on this is anything BUT arbitrary...

In the past, when the economy was horrible and we were at risk of cancelling rounds from week to week - we closed the Friday prior so that we had adequate time to notify the members, vendors, track, insurance, etc...

Now that the economy is better and we're not presently at risk of having to cancel events, we've moved it to Monday. Even so, five days actually "isn't" premature...

Once online entry closes, Jen and Rachael have to go thru and verify every single entry for every single class, and verify proper payment for each as well. If there is a discrepancy in payment amount they have to contact the member to sort it out. If there is NO payment, just an entry - then the entry must be deleted.

From there the PreEntry Tech Report is generated, and this is what Hot Carl uses to get you guys thru tech "WITHOUT" having to check in at the office any more (new for this weekend!)...

Then Jen creates the preliminary grids for all of the classes with all of the entries, based either on points or time of entry...

This all has to be completed by Wednesday night, because on Thursday RaceWurx gets "taken down from cyberspace" and moved to a local hard drive so that we can run the event from it. None of the venue's we race at have reliable enough/fast enough internet - so that's why we run it from a local copy.

So essentially Jen and Rachael have only a few hours (because they both work full time jobs) on Tuesday Night and Wednesday Night to do all of the above, "make the event happen", and pull the system down to a local copy.

And friends, that is why we close online entry when we do.

:D

[303 cycle]

Thanks for the clarification Tony. Closing entry on Monday is nice as if anyone has to "OK" anything with the boss (AKA job or hot blooded Columbian money grabber) they can still pre-enter.

See you guys on Saturday. Or perhaps Friday since princess needs her sleep.

[T Baggins]

I've found that the more info we can give the members the better. :D

That way you're at least informed... if not in agreement. :wink: