Stephen Miller

This year saw a complete redesign of the NECKRA website. On the surface, the website has an updated look with improvements to race information, results and classified ads. Behind the scenes, the website has been migrated from a dedicated hosting service to Google Sites.

What follows are some of the highlights from the year.

Timely Results

The migration to Google Sites has made the website easier to maintain. This enabled timelier posting of race results. For all NECKRA Points series races, the results were posted on the website within a few hours of when they were made available.

For Points Series standings, the website was set up so that the people calculating the results could post them directly on the website. Much credit goes to Shawn Burke, Eric Jones and Mark Wendolowski for getting the Points Series results posted quickly.

Improved Race Information

One of my primary goals with the new website was to provide better race information. While this information has been available in the race packet for years, it was time to make this same information available on the website.

For every Points Series race, there is a dedicated page, which includes a copy of the page from the race packet. In addition, a Google map is provided to make it easier to get to the race. In addition to the individual race maps, there is an overview map, which shows where the races are located. This makes it easier to find a race near you.

To make certain that the race schedule is current, online forms were provided to submit races to the schedule or update race information.

Classified Ads

With the addition of online forms for submitting and removing ads, the classified ads page has become an active forum for buying and selling boats and equipment. Since the beginning of the year, there have been 50 new ads posted. This includes both items for sale and items people were looking to buy. During this same time period, 25 ads have been removed by request, indicating a large number of successful transactions.

Picture Storage

A Picasa account has been set up to allow for permanent storage of race photos. This allows contributing photographers to share their photos with the NECKRA community without needing to use up the storage on their personal accounts.

Usage Information

Visitors to the website come from all over the country with the largest concentration coming from New England. Approximately 10% of the visitors view the website with a mobile device (iPad, iPhone, Android, etc).

By far, the most visited pages are the race schedule, race information and race results, including the points standings. As might be expected, there is a spike in visitors on the days leading up to and following a race. The next most visited page is the classified ads.

Looking Ahead to 2012

Although there is currently an online form for joining NECKRA, this still requires mailing a check to complete your membership. Beginning in the not-so-distant future, the option for PayPal payments will be added to the online membership form.

Another change to the website in 2012 will be the return of some historical results. These had been available before the website redesign and will be made available again sometime during the winter months.