Help: Logging On

First-Timers:

Please read this if you have never logged on to the Members' Area before!
If you have just joined the Ramblers in the last few days, have patience! We are an all-volunteer organization, and club work gets done in the volunteers' spare time. Even the most dedicated Membership Director may need several days to enter all the new members that have signed up at a Wednesday meeting. Please allow a week after signing up for your information to be entered into our database. If you turned your application in to a coordinator on a weekend hike, remember that he or she will probably hand it in to the Membership Director the following Wednesday, so allow a week from the following Wednesday.

If you are a member, there is already (or soon will be) a Username and Password set up for you. You must use this Username and Password the first time you log on.

Your Username is your name, as it appears on the Members List. For example, if your name is Bill Smith, your Username will be William Smith (assuming that's what you wrote on the application form). Your Password is your home phone number, 7 digits without any punctuation. For example, if your phone number is (403) 555-1212, your Password will be 5551212.

Once you have logged on, you will be asked to change your password, so that it remains your secret. Pick a password that you will remember.

Renewing Members:

Please read this if you have not logged on to the Members' Area since you renewed your membership.
Your username and password have not changed since the last time you logged on. Your old password will still work. Remember, however, that you changed your password when you first logged on, so it is no longer your phone number.

Once you have logged on, you will be asked to change your password. Pick a password that you will remember. You cannot re-use the password that you used last year.

What's Going On?

If you find that you are being asked again and again for your Username and Password in the same session, it is likely that your browser is refusing to accept "cookies". A "cookie" is an identifier that allows your browser to tell the website who you are without having to ask you on every page. If your browser refuses to accept cookies, it will not remember your Username, and you will have to enter it again on every page.

In Netscape, you can specify your cookies preference by going to: Edit / Preferences / Advanced. Under "Cookies", select any option except "disable cookies".

Internet Explorer will always accept cookies.

In Opera, you can specify your cookies preference by going to: File / Preferences / Privacy. Under "cookies", select "Automatically accept all cookies".

Why

To access pages in the Members' Area, you must log on with a valid Username and Password. This protects members' privacy by ensuring that members' personal information, such as coordinators' names, is not available to the general public. It also prevents members of the general public from showing up for trips without first having contacted coordinators or members.

Until you log on, you will be unable to access any pages in the Members' Area.

Note: If you accessed this help page from the Help button on the Logon form, you will be unable to use the links on this page that lead to pages on the Members' Area until you finish logging on. Use the Back button on your browser to go back to the Logon form and finish logging in.

When

You will be asked for your Username and Password the first time you access any page in the Members' Area during an online session. As long as you continue to access pages in the Members' Area, you will not be required to log on again. If you do not access any pages in the Members' Area for 20 minutes, or if you shut down your browser, your session is terminated and you will be required to log on again the next time you access a Members' page.

What

Initially, your Username is your own name (first name and last name). Your user name is based on the Membership List: for example, if your name is "Bill Smith", your Username may be "William Smith". Check the Membership List to find out how your name is recorded, and therefore what your username is.

You can change your Username once you have logged on.

The first time you log on, you must use the Password that has been set up for you. Once you have logged on, you can change your password to one that you can remember.

If you do not know your Username or Password, contact the Webmaster.

How

Enter your Username (usually your own name) in the Username box.
Enter your Password in the Password box. For your security, your password will appear as a row of asterisks, instead of being visible.
Click on the Login button.

Neither the Username nor the Password field are case-sensitive. For example, if your Username was "John Doe", you could type, "John Doe", "JOHN DOE" or "john doe", and all would be accepted.

Then...

The first time you log on to the website (and possibly on rare occasions after that), You will be required to change your password. This is to ensure that no one else knows your password.

You can also change your password any other time you wish by going to the Update personal Info page. Changing your password is a good idea if you suspect someone may know it.

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