Venue selection. This has long been the feature that generates the most errors.
Performer details. Sure, the 'Contra-ctions' are playing for your dance. But who are they?
Venues
It appears that the item that causes more problems for updaters is adding the event venue. Originally this required going to a separate page or form... and then perhaps getting lost on the way back. While this message still exists, there are two other methods which many users will find easier;
1. Use a popup menu to see nearby menus from the Dance Gypsy's data base of almost 2000 dance venues. If we already know about the venue, a single click records that venue as the venue for your event -- and records all the details, such as alternative names of details of the address.
2. If we do not already have the venue, you can enter the location or name of the venue. Usually one or the other is enough to uniquely identify a venue. So you could enter:
or
All these should be good enough to create a venue.
You may still use the separate venue update pages, which may be useful when there are special circumstances (e.g. specifying that the venue is in the rectory not the social hall of the church)
Performers
One problem that has frustrated some dance organizers (especially in areas where the Dance Gypsy is new) is the inability to add information about the performers. If you schedules an events with performers but the DG did not know those performers - that's all you got, the name of the performer - not the members of the band, the instruments the performer plays, almost nothing. And no link to the performer's listing (since there was none).
Now you can enter information such as :
or
and the DG will do it's best to incorporate that information into the listings
This means first that your own listing will contain more information, and it will also look better visually because the links will make it clear there is additional information available. In addition it combine with information from other events to improve the listings for the performers
Recover Forgotten Passwords
The most common problem that registered users have in using the Dance Gypsy is forgetting their password. (Not really very surprising: a user who updates only one festival may go 6 months or more without logging in). And it is such a pain: requires requesting a new one, waiting for the email to arrive, logging back in and changing the password back to something usable again. With all this in mind, the Dance Gypsy has provided a new tool to help
The Solution
Now you can store a hint with your password to help you remember it if you forget. For example if your password is your wife's name, the hint could say "the most beautiful woman in the world". [And really guys, if that hint doesn't solve it for you, you have bigger problems than a lost DG password.] The hint will be provided immediately, You may create the hint when you first register, or you may add (or change) it later from the "change registration" page.
Note that if your password is "foobar", do not use the hint: "My password is foobar". Select a hint that lets you know, but not everyone else. Thus, "my mother"s special day", the same as my credit card" or "my third grade teacher" or the grade I got in second year physics" may all be helpful passwords.
Users can create or modify public Dance Gypsy information — your own information: the way you will be found by and appear to users of the Dance Gypsy, or information about your band(s) or festivals and events, or even venues. To do that, use the “Update Information” menu, which allows you to update (create or modify):
Performer: for your own personal description. This is the information that is “about you”: your contact information, the bands you belong to, what instruments you play, etc.
Band: for your bands. This is similar information, but about your band: the style of music it plays, where it is located, contact information, members, etc.
Festival: for your festivals and special events. Special events are any dance-oriented event held annually or just once.
Dance Series : for your regularly scheduled dances, that is dances which meet every month or every week, or several times a year or…
Venues: description of venues you use for your dances.
Yes, the Dance Gypsy will still enter the information for you. However there are a great many reasons for doing it yourself:
The truthful answer: At present, for the vast majority of visitors to the Dance Gypsy there is very little reason to register — the only useful tools so far are for musicians and callers, and others whose name or organizations are referenced on Dance Gypsy pages, such as representatives of bands, organizers for dances and festivals and representatives of dance organizations: in general, anyone who has information viewable on Dance Gypsy pages.
This will become progressively useful as more Dance Gypsy services are added. For example, the Dance Gypsy forum will be re-established and use the same IDs as the user pages, users will be allowed to set their default settings, and contributors can bypass the fund drives.
Any user of the Dance Gypsy is invited to register and/or login. Login is still not required to access the Dance Gypsy data bases or other services, but being a registered user does provide additional options. This is most important for persons who are referenced in the Dance Gypsy data bases: musicians, dance leaders band representatives, and contact persons for dance organizations and events. Once registered and identified, such people can update their own descriptions as well as those of their bands or events with which they are associated. All such users may update their own pages. users who serve as contacts for bands or events may also update the pages for those bands or events.
For most visitors: On the first visit, just follow the menu bar to the registration page where you can provide a user name, password and email address. On subsequent visits you will simply go to the page you wish to visit. At that point you will be asked to login.
Those who wish to update their own data will obviously have to provide their names and additional contact information. Some performers have been given pre-approved accounts and were sent an email with the specifics .