Tim, if a new member is filling out the membership form and he/she lives in a rural community and doesn't have a 'home address' only a P.O box, how is this going to work? In my case, our only other 'address' is our land location taken from our rural municipality map. I'm sure that this is not going to be of any help to the secretary.
Hopefully, we won't have many new members that would fit into this category but I was just curious.
Thanks and have a great day .....
Hi Karen,
I'm stepping in and answering for Perry (our new Secretary) here, so Perry please correct me if I'm off base, but I believe the PO Box rule is not there to be hard and fast, but to give us the ability to get some more information about a prospective member. It is a show of good faith for the new member to give the home address if they normally use a PO Box. Perry is doing a great job in communicating with the new members and assessing which people are real collectors and really want to join the club, and which people are just mucking around.
Does that answer your question?
Regards ... Tim.
Here is how that works:
If you apply ONLY with a PO Box I will notice that information and ask for an explanation of why only a PO Box in my follow-up application email. If I receive an answer such as noted above, well, common sense dictates. I'm not exactly sure how the computer can deal with it but I'm fine with it within reason. If you have an address but use a PO Box for mailings we'd like that information ( unseen by members, and seen only by the Webmaster & the secretary ) in the DB. This would be for internal use only. Otherwise I use other sources to qualify applicants ..... Perry
Thanks fellas ... Your other sources Perry, does this mean that you are going to visit each of these applicants to qualify them? lol ...... This should be lots of fun for you. Get you outta the 'smog etc.' of city living ......
FBI, CIA, INTERPOL, LAPD Police Records, er, let's see what else? There are several white page dot coms out there which verify addresses. However, those visits sound like fun ... and what is smog, not where I live ... Now Canadian's, I reject them all .... they're all suspect to me. Europeans and Middle-Easterners are too busy with surviving to worry about. Asians, well since I'm married to one I have to admit I'm very partial to them .... Perry
Of course all of the above is "in jest" and I take the responsibility seriously and hope everyone who deserves membership is approved.
This morning I have implemented the new security enhancements that we have been talking about for quite a while. All maintenance of your membership information is now done from the Membership Area. The system now has the ability to link the Membership Database, the Discussion Board and Auction all together.
So how will you be affected?
If you're currently using the same Username in all three areas (Membership Database, Discussion Board and Auction)
You won't be affected very much. The programs will automatically link your registrations across the three areas. You should go into the Members Area and use the "Change Password" function to setup your password across the three areas. It is a good idea to just use the one password so that it doesn't get confusing between the three areas.
If you're currently using a different Username in the Discussion Board or the Auction from that in the Members Area
You need to link your different username registrations together. There are two ways that you can do this:
1. Go into the Members Area and use the "Set Alternate Auction Username" function or the "Set Alternate Discussion Board Username" function, depending on which is different to the Members Username that you are currently using. If your Auction and Discussion Board Username are both different to the Members Username you will have to do this for both of them. This is a very easy process. The program will guide you through it asking you for a couple of pieces of information. It takes almost no time at all.
2. Alternatively, you can go to the Auction or Discussion Board main page and select the function called Connect to Membership Database. The program will walk you through the process of connecting to your Membership record. If you don't have a Membership record, the program will walk you through the process of setting up a new Membership record and connecting your Auction or Discussion Board registration to it.
If you have an Auction regististration but have never joined the Stamporama Membership Database
From the Auction main page, select the function called Connect to Membership Database. The program will walk you through the process of creating your Membership record and connecting it to your Auction registration.
If you have a Discussion Board registration but have never joined the Stamporama Membership Database
From the Discussion Board main page, select from the options on the left hand side of the screen, the function called Connect to Membership Database. The program will walk you through the process of creating your Membership record and connecting it to your Discussion Board registration.
If you have joined the Stamporama Membership Database, but have never registered to use the Discussion Board or the Auction)
Go into the Member Area and use the "Change Password" function or the "Edit" function. On pressing the Submit button in either function, the program will check to see if the Discussion Board registration and the Auction registration are setup correctly for your Membership username and will set them up automatically for you if need be. The program will tell you what it has done.
If you aren't currently using a username in the Discussion Board or the Auction that is different to the one that you use in the Membership Database, but you would like to
Go into the Members Area and use the "Set Alternate Discussion Board Username" function or the "Set Alternate Auction Username" function, and the program will lead you through the process of setting up the different account registration. It will keep it linked to your Membership account and will alway use the same password word from the Membership Database.
If you are currently using a different email address in the Auction or Discussion Board from that in the Members Database
Go into the Members Area and use the Edit function to setup the alternate emaill address for either the Discussion Board or the Auction. On saving your alternate email address in the Members Database record it will be applied to the Auction or Discussion Board as appropriate.
What else is New?
We have implemented some new security features to help secure the Auction, after what happened recently with someone coming in under a number of false Auction accounts and defrauding our members.
1. We are requiring a Home Address to be given by new members. A PO Box in the mailing address will not be enough. When you go into the Edit function you will see that it is asking for a Home Address. There is a Box there that you can click to have the Mailing Address copied into the Home Address when the program saves the data. The Home Address is only visible to the Stamporama club secretary and president. It will never be shared with anyone.
2. A contact phone number will be required. This can be entered in the Edit function. Please set this up so that if the club secretary or president ever need to contact you in an emergency situation, they are able to do so. NO ONE but the Stamporama club secretary and president has visibility to the phone number. It will never be shared with anyone.
3. In the Edit function you will also be asked to indicate if you connect to the Internet using a Fast connection (Broadband, DSL or Wifi) or a Slow connection (Dial Up). Please give us this information. It will help the webmaster in supporting the website and in solving problems.
That is about it. I hope that you find the new changes helpful and useful. Please contact me if you have any problems in using the system or in connecting up your Membership, Auction and Discussion Board registrations. I am very happy to help you.
Regards ... Tim.
Stamporama Webmaster.
re: Why We Need a physical address; multiple user names
Tim, if a new member is filling out the membership form and he/she lives in a rural community and doesn't have a 'home address' only a P.O box, how is this going to work? In my case, our only other 'address' is our land location taken from our rural municipality map. I'm sure that this is not going to be of any help to the secretary.
Hopefully, we won't have many new members that would fit into this category but I was just curious.
Thanks and have a great day .....
re: Why We Need a physical address; multiple user names
Hi Karen,
I'm stepping in and answering for Perry (our new Secretary) here, so Perry please correct me if I'm off base, but I believe the PO Box rule is not there to be hard and fast, but to give us the ability to get some more information about a prospective member. It is a show of good faith for the new member to give the home address if they normally use a PO Box. Perry is doing a great job in communicating with the new members and assessing which people are real collectors and really want to join the club, and which people are just mucking around.
Does that answer your question?
Regards ... Tim.
re: Why We Need a physical address; multiple user names
Here is how that works:
If you apply ONLY with a PO Box I will notice that information and ask for an explanation of why only a PO Box in my follow-up application email. If I receive an answer such as noted above, well, common sense dictates. I'm not exactly sure how the computer can deal with it but I'm fine with it within reason. If you have an address but use a PO Box for mailings we'd like that information ( unseen by members, and seen only by the Webmaster & the secretary ) in the DB. This would be for internal use only. Otherwise I use other sources to qualify applicants ..... Perry
re: Why We Need a physical address; multiple user names
Thanks fellas ... Your other sources Perry, does this mean that you are going to visit each of these applicants to qualify them? lol ...... This should be lots of fun for you. Get you outta the 'smog etc.' of city living ......
re: Why We Need a physical address; multiple user names
FBI, CIA, INTERPOL, LAPD Police Records, er, let's see what else? There are several white page dot coms out there which verify addresses. However, those visits sound like fun ... and what is smog, not where I live ... Now Canadian's, I reject them all .... they're all suspect to me. Europeans and Middle-Easterners are too busy with surviving to worry about. Asians, well since I'm married to one I have to admit I'm very partial to them .... Perry
Of course all of the above is "in jest" and I take the responsibility seriously and hope everyone who deserves membership is approved.