I've just uploaded a batch of changes aimed at simplifying roster management. Here's the highlights:

- The invite/request status is now separate from the position, so you can invite people as captains, players or subs, and not have to change their position when they accept.

- Accepting or declining an invitation or request is now just a single click. The emails that are sent to captains or players include accept and decline links. These links include security codes, so that you don't even need to be logged into the site to click them!

- Captains can invite players who are not yet registered members. The player is not allowed to accept the invitation until they have paid for their membership.

- Rosters can be managed by conveners of the league the team is in. However, neither admins nor conveners have any additional permissions when dealing with teams that they are on.

- New emails are sent to players whose requests to join are accepted or declined, captains whose invitations to join are accepted or declined, and players who are removed from a team or have their position on a team changed.

I've tested this pretty carefully, but there's a lot of complexity in some of these options, so it's possible that something is not quite right. As always, if you see anything that looks wrong, let me know.

Remember, if you like this feature, please "like" the Zuluru Facebook page.

Seems there's a little bug in inviting non-members. I'll get that fixed shortly.

The non-member bug is fixed, along with a couple of minor issues in how certain email notifications were being built. There's still a couple of notification fixes to be made in obscure corners, but we should be at 99+% now.

Awesome update! Definitely makes adding people easier, especially pre-spring when players are super slow to sign up for membership and anxious captains (or just me) want to get the roster online asap.

Rebecca

There has been a little bit of concern expressed that being able to invite non-members (even though they're clearly marked as such on the roster) may lead to people being even slower to sign up for memberships. So captains, if you want to keep this option, get on those people to sign up!

GregS wrote:There has been a little bit of concern expressed that being able to invite non-members (even though they're clearly marked as such on the roster) may lead to people being even slower to sign up for memberships. So captains, if you want to keep this option, get on those people to sign up!

If captains are concerned about that, then the easy solution is that they just don't bother inviting the players until they know they have paid the membership fee. I personally think this is a great improvement and applaud all of your hard work on it Greg.

GwaiLo wrote:If captains are concerned about that, then the easy solution is that they just don't bother inviting the players until they know they have paid the membership fee. I personally think this is a great improvement and applaud all of your hard work on it Greg.

It's not the captains that are concerned...

I really like the feature of being able to invite players who were past members, who haven't renewed yet. It means they get one e-mail that both invites them to the team, and reminds them that if they don't pay they won't get on the team.

It also allows the admin staff to quickly see who's been invited, but neglected to pay... in the past there was no indication at all that a player might have been asked to play on a team and hadn't payed their TUC fees.

GregS wrote:There has been a little bit of concern expressed that being able to invite non-members (even though they're clearly marked as such on the roster) may lead to people being even slower to sign up for memberships. So captains, if you want to keep this option, get on those people to sign up!

That's a very legitimate concern that I never thought of. Is there a way to send email reminders to those who haven't signed up but have been added to rosters, since they are identified? Or maybe a feature that kicks them off rosters if they haven't signed up for membership by a certain date (like a week before the roster cut off date)?

Just throwing out ideas. I'm not sure how feasible they would be in this system, so take it with a grain of salt.

In a highly unscientific and statistically insignificant study, my summer team had 5 people with memberships before yesterday. In about 20 hours since the rest were invited to the roster via the new option, we've had 9 more memberships purchased. Seems that maybe, instead of encouraging people to not bother with membership because they're already on the roster, the emails are encouraging people to get their membership taken care of and accept the roster invites. Hope this trend holds true for other teams too...

GregS wrote:In a highly unscientific and statistically insignificant study, my summer team had 5 people with memberships before yesterday. In about 20 hours since the rest were invited to the roster via the new option, we've had 9 more memberships purchased. Seems that maybe, instead of encouraging people to not bother with membership because they're already on the roster, the emails are encouraging people to get their membership taken care of and accept the roster invites. Hope this trend holds true for other teams too...

Bunch of Keeners

GregS wrote:In a highly unscientific and statistically insignificant study, my summer team had 5 people with memberships before yesterday. In about 20 hours since the rest were invited to the roster via the new option, we've had 9 more memberships purchased. Seems that maybe, instead of encouraging people to not bother with membership because they're already on the roster, the emails are encouraging people to get their membership taken care of and accept the roster invites. Hope this trend holds true for other teams too...

That's the way I see it too. The email inviting them to join the team is encouraging them to renew their membership. Sort of a one-stop-shopping experience, if you will.

I don't really see how this new system would cause any more concern than the old system did. In previous years, there were teams that would have people playing with them that had not paid their membership fees. Only, it was less obvious, since these people did not show on the rosters. At least now the roster shows that they are un-paid members. So this makes it easier for TUC and Captains to track. Not only can captains hound players, but if TUC is concerned, they can share this responsibility with the captains now. Maybe TUC can run some sort of report to see people that are on rosters and have not paid, and perhaps a policy can be put in place to deal with these cases. There is already a roster deadline, so maybe a membership deadline can be tied in with that? Example: If you are on a roster but have not paid your membership, an email is sent 2 weeks before the roster deadline. If you don't pay by the deadline, you are automatically removed from all rosters and are therefore ineligible to play with those teams for the balance of the season and for payoffs. There could be set reminder points throughout the season where emails are sent as well (so it's not just "one email and you're out").

When it comes down to it, there's no way to police who is playing on teams without paying their membership fee. It's an honour system throughout the regular season, and there will always be people that try to take advantage of that system. I think for the most part though, people probably pay their fees and do things the way they are supposed to. Perhaps a bit late...but my guess is that most people do end up paying as they should (based only on my guess and absolutely no facts). I would like to think that most people understand that TUC is a NOT FOR PROFIT organization, offering the best ultimate league available in Toronto (perhaps Ontario), and would respect that and would pay their fees to support the league and allow it to run efficiently. Whatever system is in place, there will always be misfits. I just think if anything, this new system would help TUC to deal with those cases more so than it would encourage them.

Anyway...just my 2 cents.

rahil_s wrote:Bunch of Keeners

Make that 10 now. #10 is the guy we're usually having to harass in July because he still hasn't gotten around to it. And with two conveners and the webmaster on the team, you know we're bugging him about it and giving all possible assistance to make it happen.

GregS wrote:

rahil_s wrote:Bunch of Keeners

Make that 10 now. #10 is the guy we're usually having to harass in July because he still hasn't gotten around to it. And with two conveners and the webmaster on the team, you know we're bugging him about it and giving all possible assistance to make it happen.

The results from this new feature are nothing short of amazing....

jmccully wrote: The results from this new feature are nothing short of amazing....

Greg, do you need any volunteers for the test group clinical trial thingies?

I'm enthused about the one-stop option for the captains - rather than having to update\invite as registrations come in, we can just (completely?) fill the roster.

GregS wrote:In a highly unscientific and statistically insignificant study, my summer team had 5 people with memberships before yesterday. In about 20 hours since the rest were invited to the roster via the new option, we've had 9 more memberships purchased. Seems that maybe, instead of encouraging people to not bother with membership because they're already on the roster, the emails are encouraging people to get their membership taken care of and accept the roster invites. Hope this trend holds true for other teams too...

I also have had a few extra signups since the new system came about =)

I think being able to add non-registered players is a great addition, and I also understand the concerns about the potential effect on tuc memberships.

All I know is that on my particular team, it is always a struggle to get 12 people signed up in time, and with the new feature we're already more than half way there a month before the deadline.