Frequently Asked Questions and Answers

1. Tell me more about this website?

Aurora Country Club and Consencis Software have teamed up to provide a quality website for Aurora CC and its members. Aurora, its facilities, history and staff are described throughout this website. Aurora recommends Consencis should you or your business need a significant web site application

2. Do I need to sign in?

You don't need to sign in to use the public part of the website. If you want access to the members features you'll need to sign in the first time you use the site from a particular computer. The first time you visit, a cookie will be stored on your computer that will let the website recognize you when you return. As long as the cookie is present you won't have to sign in again.

3. A note about cookies

Your browser should be set to allow cookies if you want to do more than simply view the site. These small files are placed on your computer by web applications to assist in processing. Some cookies last only until you close the browser session others are saved after you close the session. The Aurora site uses both kinds. If your computer rejects the Aurora cookies the site will not function properly for you. The settings the browser came with should work just fine. Otherwise you can change them from:

• Tools/Internet Options/Privacy in Microsoft Internet Explorer or
• Edit/Preferences/Privacy and Security/Cookies in Netscape Navigator.
• AOL has similar preference settings which you’ll need to use

4. Signup and Security

The site is open to the general public but any personal information you provide is secured. Access to features displaying personal information is controlled by the system administrator. If you only use one computer and use that computer to signup you won’t need to do anything else. The system will recognize you each time you sign in from a cookie stored on your computer. When you provide personal information like your name, email or phone numbers the system will remember that information from session to session.

If you need more security, or if you want to access the system from a different computer, or if more than one club member uses the same computer to access the Aurora website, you should signup for a password. Then each time to want to use the website you can login using your email address and password.

To sign up, select the “Sign In” feature found on the home page and on the bottom of every page in the site. Sign In is easy, automatic and forgiving. It includes a password reset feature if you forget your password. It uses the email address you provided when you first signed up. It will send notices to that email address. Once you are signed in you may edit your personal data including your email address and password as well as your name address and phone numbers. Sign In requires cookies so please review the notes on cookies above if you experience problems.

Signup works best if you have a separate email address for each member but it is possible for several members to share one email and still effectively use the site. There is also the capability for each member to have an alternate email address in which case notices will be sent to both addresses.

5. Personalization using “my Aurora”

Personalization gives you quick access to the features you regularly enjoy at the club. Throughout the site there are buttons labeled myAurora. Pressing one of these will add the feature you are viewing to your personal list of interests at the club. Use the MyAurora item on the menu bar to display and manage your list of interests. Click on the items in your list to link to additional features for those items. Your personalized list will be available each time you use the club site. (Cookies are required)

6. Calendar

The event calendar accessible from the homepage displays the same information that is distributed with the newsletter but since it is online it is more up to date and complete than the printed version. This calendar supports multiple themes and may be customized to display your interests. Initially it opens showing all information for the current month. From the Themes pull down on the left you can limit the display to a single theme. Thus if your only interest is Swimming you can select that theme and see only the Swimming events. The pull down on the right allows you to view months other than the current month. Clicking on a date (number) will open a page listing the events for just that date. If an event is underlined on the calendar it is linked to additional information about that event. A printable version of the calendar can be accessed from the print link on the month view. You can then use your browser’s print function to send the page to your printer.

7. Group Event Organizer

The site includes a powerful group organizer.The organizer is useful for all sorts of groups, events, meetings, teams and leagues. Members use the organizer to signup for the group, indicate and confirm their availability to participate in events. Leaders can manage events and participants. Group email complements the online roster and calendar. Leaders can use the results tracking feature to record the outcome of each event and maintain ongoing records.

8. The technology (if you were curious)

In a nutshell this is an Active Server Pages (ASP), SQL Server, IIS application hosted on a P4 1U rack mounted server running Windows 2003 server located at a commercial hosting service in Los Angeles. Multi-homed redundant T3 telecommunications deliver the application to the internet. Much of the code is written in either VBScript, JavaScript or T-SQL stored procedures. An Olympus digital camera and photo editing software was used to prepare the images displayed online. SHA-1, MD-5 and RSA encryption secures private data. SSL is available should Aurora need it.

9. Comments about the website

You can send comments and suggestions to the club and/or website developers by completing the More Information form accessible from the menu bar or by clicking the “Contact Us” link found on the bottom of every page in the site.