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Frequency Asked Questions

How will my members access the availability database?

After subscribing, your club will be provided with it's own unique availablity site. The site's address will look something like:

• http://myclub.squadlist.co.uk

Access to this site will be password protected and restricted to your club members only.

How do I add new rowers to the system?

When you subscribe, you will be issued with a coaches login. You can use this login to access the administration options and add additional coaches and rowers.

Access details and passwords can be emailed to rowers as they are added to the system.

Rowers/coxes organise our outings and need to be able to add them without having to be named as coaches on the list.

As a coach, edit their details and change their role (bottom right of the edit details screen) to 'Rep'.

They will now be able to add outings and view squad entry form details.

What information can different people see?

The system supports three levels of users:

• Coaches can add outings and new rowers and can view and edit details of all members.
• Rowers can see and edit their own details and may see all of the outings assigned to them. Normal rowers can see the email addresses and phone numbers of the rest of their squad members, and the email addresses of members of other squads.
• Squad Representives can add outings and view the entry form details for their squad.

Is there any way of editing an outing, without deleting it and then re adding it?

Yes. Outings may be rescheduled up until the point that a rower records their availablity for that outing.

What do users need to access the availability database?

An Internet connected PC or Mac, with a suitable web browser is required to access the availablity database; no other software needs to be installed. Rowers will also require a valid email address.

The system has been tested on Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers.

I have forgotten my password; how can I reset it?

A password reminder option is provided on the login page. If a member has entered their email address into the My Details form, they will be able to have their login details email to them by entering their recorded email address.

Can a rower be assigned to more than one squad?

Yes. We've found that these people are typically coxswains or non squad rowers who occasionally sub into squad boats. Adding them to more than one squad will allow them to see and state their availability for both squad's outings.

Can I export my data into an Excel spreadsheet?

All rower information fields can be exported to an Excel CSV file.
Export functions for the remaining data are still under development.

What sort of security do you have in place to protect my personal information?

While we can't completely guarantee the security of information, the following precautions have been taken:

• The physical machine holding your data is with a professional hosting service, in a physically secure location.
• Access to the virtual machine hosting the databases is restricted. The data is not exported from the system.
• Each copy of the system uses a separate database and access to each database is password protected.
• We have limited the amount of information that the system allows you to enter (ie. it does not have fields for addresses etc) and most of the fields (other than email addresses and names) are not compulsory.
• The application limits what normal users can view. ie. only coaches may view and edit other member's records.
• We do not retain deleted data indefinitly. If you remove records, the corresponding database rows are deleted.

User's should be aware that using weak, easily guessed passwords could expose them to risk. As with any online service, using personal or club names as passwords is not recommended.

Who developed the system?

The availability system was developed by members of Twickenham Rowing Club in England. It has been in use for around 2 years. The system is been made available in the hope that it may be of use to other clubs.

Can this system be used outside of Britian?

Yes. The system was developed for use by a British club and as such, some of the data fields are specifc to England. The core functions should still be applicable in other countries. If there is sufficiant interest, the system will be localised for other regions.

How are you paying for this free system? Are you planning on charging people in the future?

The free copies are currently running on surplus computing resources. The software has to maintained regardless of how many people are using it. Once you've written one of these it actually costs very little extra to handle lots of them.

If the computing or support costs increase in the future we may have to look at a combination of advertising and/or subscription based funding. If required, such a move would be notified well in advance (at least 3 months as per the terms and conditions) and would not be considered until the current users could be provided with a means of self provision (see below).

Can I install this software on my own website? Can I run my own copy in-house?

Not at this stage.

Our goal is for the system's source code to be publically available at some point in the future. This would allow clubs to take their system back in-house if they so wished.

Before we can do this we have to ensure that the code is in a state which will be easily maintainable across multiple installations and is condusive to having multiple developers working on it.

How can I be notified about updates to the system?

You can join the user's mailing list to receive notification about updates and changes to the system.

The list signup screen is located here.

A message will be sent to this list before any upgrades or changes are made to the system.

Who can I contact about the availability system?

Please direct any enquires or questions to enquires at squadlist dot co dot uk