We would like to welcome the community, players, & tournament directors to the new SN Website. As we begin this new chapter in the Southern Nationals we would like to take a moment to thank everyone that has contributed and continues to contribute to this series. The SN continues to be a true player driven & player run organization made up of volunteers that collectively contribute to the growth of disc golf in the southeast. With this new website we can continue to make improvements and add features to our series. Our series is unique in the fact that we want to hear from you. What can we do better, what features would you like to see, what good idea do you have to improve the series. Some of these ideas may be out of reach now but could be implemented in the future. We would also like to see people step up and volunteer their time for a board of director position.
The construction of this site was vital in many ways:
- The original code developed many years ago was outdated and was at risk of a complete data loss. We attempted to convert it with the last website update, but it was unsuccessful due to its lack of compatibility with WordPress. This problem made it vulnerable to hacks & allowed for certain information to be compromised. The new site allows for very strong site & data security that brings it in line with current standards.
- Improving the overall system for inputting results. This was important to transfer the responsibility of inputting results from a volunteer board member to the TD where it should be. The new system allows for the TD to make any changes to scores that are incorrect, update scores per round in real time, and be able to submit results in a functional way.
- Improving access to event information for Tournament Directors. The new system allows for TDs to have complete access to all their events past & present using a secure login. This allows them to add a tournament to the schedule & change/add event information in a more functional way.
- Improving the overall aesthetics of the site. This was important to provide a professional & functional site that the SN, Players, TDs, & Volunteers deserve. It also serves a dual purpose to provide a professional environment for potential ad space buyers and sponsors to the SN.
Upcoming Forum Feature: We plan to add a branded phpBB forum feature to the site in the future. It was not in the original scope of work planned but is on the agenda to be added in the near future.
Old SN Data: We decided not to transfer any data prior to 2018 into the new system. This decision was to prevent diluting the new player & tournament database with old data. We worked out a solution with our web team to provide a functioning archive of the old SNDG.org and the data within it including old forum data. We thought this was the best compromise by maintaining the old SN history and moving on to the new future of the SN.
With any new site construction there is the potential for problems to come up. We are working with a very respectable web design company that is quick to deal with any problems that we face. Thank you for your confidence in us and we hope to continue moving this series in a positive direction.
Sincerely,
SN Board of Directors