I can't tell you how excited I am to announce a new League Management System (LMS) for the Western Mass Relics - powered by Teamlinkt.  It features a new Website, a Mobile App for your phone and/or tablets, and a new Communication System.  Because there is so much "new stuff" to share, this email is a little long.  Actually, it's REALLY long.  But I sincerely hope you'll read it all - maybe even twice, since everything that has been done has been done for YOU - you MIGHTY RELIC !!

 

 

A HUGE salute and thank you to Doug Newton for the many years of keeping up what we're now calling the "Legacy" website.  It takes quite a bit of work to keep sites up to date - can't thank you enough, Doug.  Doug also helped evaluate the NEW site and has given it an emphatic "two thumbs up" - a HUGE endorsement.  Now I hope he sits back and enjoys being a frequent visitor to the new one.

 

 

 

The NEW Relics Website is going to live at http://www.westernmassrelics.org/  The legacy site at http://wmassrelics.com/ will remain online for a short while longer, but then be "redirected" to the new site, and have its content archived.

 

The new site has many new features and enhancements I think you'll like a lot:

 

 

The site uses a modern technology that allows the pages to "render well" or "look good" not only on big computer screens, but also on your Tablets and Mobile Phones.  It should be EASY to access and read all the content with no "pinching" or left/right scrolling.  Since 75% of all website visits these days happen from a Mobile Device, this was an important consideration when selecting a new platform.

 

 

Courtesy of the LMS, it's drop-dead easy to see the Game Schedules - for an Entire Division, or for just YOUR Team.  You'll use the "filters" to make your selection, and then click or tap "GO".  Try it out from your computer or your phone.  It should look great and be easy to navigate.

 

 

Also courtesy of the LMS, the website will display the final scores of all the games (once we actually HAVE some games).  For any Coach who is wiling, they can upload the final score of a game to the website right from the mobile app!  If a Coach is not inclined to use this "tech" they can either delegate a more tech-inclined assistant to do it, or they can just call, text, or email me and I'll do it.

 

The score results automatically update the new Standings Page !!  HEY - its about time we looked like the Professionals we are - right ?!?!  :-)  Once again, just use the "filters" to select GOLD or SILVER, and click or tap "GO" to see the up-to-the-minute Standings.

 

 

Based on feedback from the Team that helped evaluate and test the new site, we've added a "Weather" Page.  It features "widgets" that display current and forecast conditions, and a radar image.  NOTE: This is much more comprehensive weather info than what appears in the small weather widget on the home page.

 

 

 

One of the true highlights of the LMS is the FREE, integrated Mobile App !!  Just visit https://www.teamlinkt.com/gettheapp and download/install the app from either the APPLE App Store or the GOOGLE PLAY store.  When you create your account it is vital that you use the same email address that you have on file with the Relics.  Once you get logged in you should find yourself ALREADY LINKED to your Relics Team.  Please do NOT click "Create a Team".  If you don't see Relics information showing a few seconds after getting logged in, please contact me and we'll get you some help.  There are SO MANY things you can do with the App like:

• See your upcoming Game Schedule
• Indicate to your Coach with a tap if you are available or not available to play in any upcoming game
• See the Names and Contact Info for Coach and Teammates
• Check the Scores for any of your past games
• Easily send a chat-style message or email to your Coach, or any or all Teammates
• Take a team POLL
• Share Photos
• Access the Relics Website
• Submit Final Game Scores to the Website (Coaches and Delegates only)

Perhaps the BIGGEST change of all is with the Player Ideas "System".  It's much more than a single web page and truly a new way for Relics to communicate, collaborate, and be/stay involved with everything that's going on.  Like the Legacy Player Ideas page, player posts still appear on a specific web page on the new web site.  But that's where the similarities pretty much end.  There is quite a bit going here but I encourage you to be patient - it should all make sense once you get the hang of it.  :-)

 

• You can post a message to the Player Ideas Page just by sending an email to: WesternMassRelics@GoogleGroups.com   Please consider adding a Contact to your Email Address Book or Phone with a name like "Relics Player Ideas" and that email address.  That way, the email address will always be handy.  For security, you must send the email from the email account(s) "on file" with The Relics.  This prevents impostors from posting as you just because they happen to know your e-mail address.  It IS possible for us to have more than 1 email address "on file" for you (Work, Home, etc) so if you want to be able to post to the system from more than 1 of your email addresses, please get a note to Mitch or I.
• When you post the message, it not only appears on the Web Page, but the system also delivers the e-mail to all other Relics.  This is great for those of us who are to lazy to visit the Web Page, or for those of us who LIVE in their email.  :-)
• When you REPLY to one of these emails, that also Posts to the Web Page, AND sends an email to all the Relics.  YES, this means that you might receive quite a few emails, but see more on this in the last bullet below.
• Posts are automatically grouped into "conversations" for your convenience.  This way it's possible to choose which conversations you want to get into.
• No matter how many Posts there are to the system, they stay FOREVER...never "falling off the Page".
• This area has a SEARCH box powered by Google.  So if you remember a conversation that had a reference to "boxer shorts" in it, but you have no idea who made or how long ago - just type  "boxer shorts" into the search bar and you'll find it with ease !!
• It is still possible to post directly from the Web Page, however to do so (and this is the trickiest part) you must be signed into a Google/Gmail Account and the email address or addresses associated with that account must be "on file" with The Relics.  This again is for security reasons so that no one else can "masquerade" as you and make a posting seemingly from you.  This may seem like a "big deal" or a Pain In The Ass but truthfully it's not.  You don't even need to USE a Gmail email address: you can associate ANY email address - like your AOL or Yahoo address - with Google to make this work, and we have some Relics that will help you with this if you need help.  But again, you only need to do this if you want to post from the Web Page - if you post by sending an email you don't even need to bother with this.
• If you prefer to NOT get an email every time a Relic posts, you can opt to get ONE email a day that summarizes the day's postings, or opt to get NO emails...but you'll have to go to the website to know what's going on.  To request this change, contact me - Ted Chmura at TedChmura@gmail.com