Member Only Password

[svhokuloa]

Can anyone help? I have been a member of HCOA for years and paid my dues again last march. However I have not received the new member only password. Several e-mails to password@hanschristian.org over the last two month have not resulted in a reply. Any ideas on how to get the new password?

[hcadmin]

I'll get your account informatino out to you today.

[Guest]

Ed I re-sent your account information. Let me know if you did not get it.

[lonesome_boatman]

Additionally I have not received the new member only password. Can you assist with the new password?

[mimoza]

My ecperience is that one enters the Members Only area by using one's own login name and password. I did that just now. I know some of the UI (user interface) seems to indicate otherwise, but that is what works for me.

[dolph]

I just tried writing an email to the link about passwords and it came back as undeliverable.

I have been a member and denied access to the member area. When I wrote in, I was repeatedly told that I shouldn't have problems, but I have never been able to log into the member area.

I don't know if I am a member now, and my email to inquire was just returned as undeliverable.

My question is: Why does there have to be a restricted area? The Cape Dory website is incredibly active. I think one of the reasons is that it is so simple and there are no restrictions.

Please, if anyone with control over this board is reading this, tell me how to make sure I am an active member and can access the member areas. (There must be free rum there or something for it to be protected so well.)

Thanks,
-Mathias

[membership]

Hello Mathias,
I have been monitoring membership/ payment / password issues since early 2009. The general info contact point at http://www.hanschristian.org/contact.html works. The password email link is broken, and my access to the site is extremely limited, so I'm very sorry that I can't fix that, or any content, but I can tell you this:

You are a registered guest of HCOA. The members only area is restricted to paying members. Whoever told you (this must have been in 2008 because you registered in June) that you should have no problem did not take the time to look up your payment details.

Out of 400 or so registerd users, we have a little more than 100 paying members, and a little fewer than 100 active board users (more than 5 posts). It is a sad fact that even a few of our heaviest users of the message board are not paying members. If I could, I would change the note under their names to "Guest" instead of "First Mate" or "Crew."

Here is something to think about: Anyone can use the board without paying. Somebody has to pay for it in order for it to be here. Members pay; guests don't. The ~real~ free stuff (not rum) is outside the Members Only area.

I will be the first to acknowledge that much of the site content is horribly out of date. Links are broken, etc., since we lost our first webmaster. The current webmaster has committed only to handling emergency issues.
The best content on the site is in this message board, and is provided free of charge by your fellow sailors. If you would like to help ensure that this venue remains open, then at least consider becoming a paying member. Buy a burgee. Get a friend to join. Membership is only $15/year if you subscribe. Having said that, let me add that guests and registered guests will always be welcome.

Re: How to tell if you are an active member
If you can login to the member area, then you are an active paying member. Otherwise, you are a guest, a registered guest, or an inactive member.
You can visit http://www.hanschristian.org/amm/member.php to view your membership details.

Re: Other associations:
The Cape Dory Owners Association is $45 / year - three times the HCOA rate - reduced to $40 if you pay by check & $32 if you buy 5 years at a time. Their site is much better maintained than the HCOA site.
The Seven Seas Cruising Association memberships start at $50/year. Their site is also much better maintained than the HCOA site.
Both of these organizations have similar membership models to HCOA's, i.e. the discussion board is "free."

[dolph]

Webmaster, (Whoever you be)

Thanks for your extensive response. I think the membership is both an honorable thing and it would help fund the improvement of the site.

Trying to sign up for the lifetime membership brought back all the traumatic memories of yore. When it asked for a name and password, it said mine was already taken. (Yes, of course) But I don't want to change my name and password. My brain, shriveled by sea and sun, cannot cope with too many out there in the world and it is a sure fire way for me to forget it next time I want to access the site.

But I cannot find a way to pay for a membership using my current name and password. When I clicked on the link to have name and password sent to me, it sent an autoresponse back with a link, but when I clicked on the link, it led to a page with an error message.

What a dilemma: We have a good site, but not enough money to get it fixed, and no way to raise money. Arrrghhh!

For a millisecond, I considered becoming an assistant webmaster, but I don't know the first thing about webpages or programming.

Please let me know if there is some other way I can sign up or if there is something I am missing.

Thanks,
-Mathias

[membership]

I am not the webmaster, just the membership chairman, and I share your frustration. If had webmaster power, I would fix a bunch of the things that are broken, but as things are, I can't.

If I had a little more spare time (I have none as I am starting a new business), I would lobby to gain webmaster power, but as things are, I can't afford the time to do anything over and above what I am already doing.

I am pretty sure that the link I gave above http://www.hanschristian.org/amm/member.php will bring you to a page that will let you change your subscription status under your current login. Unfortunately, there is no way to get there (that I can find) on the site. You'll have to use the link as provided here. Give it one more shot, and let me know what happens. It let me update this subscription ("membership" is a registered guest), but I would like to have someone else verify that it works. If so, I will lobby to get at least this little feature fixed.

I just thought of a bit of arithmetic... If we have about 100 paying members at $15/year, how does this site even stay afloat? It's a miracle...

Thanks,
Brian

[dolph]

Brian,

Thanks so much for your patience with this issue and all the webpage issues in general.

I just tried that link again. (Have seen it before.) But it gives me an error message. (I tried attaching an image, but I guess my cut and paste program only saves tiff files which don't attach.) Anyway, it says there is an error because "You have not verified your email address." Then it gives a link, which I have tried before. And I end up going around in circles.

It may be just me that somehow is condemned to ply the pages of this site without ever being allowed to fully live, yet not being able to die either.

Just call me the "Flying Dutchmember."

-Mathias

[membership]

If you put your tiff file (or any file) into a zip file, you can attach that.
I'll send you email.