RA Update (Jan 9) (Read 3622 times)

If you're encountering errors with the new changes, please go to the technical support forum and see if someone has reported the same problem. If not, please start a new topic there. This will help me keep track of all the errors without having to scan through this thread

If the forum post editor's background is dark blue, you need to force a refresh to load in the new changes:

- Internet Explorer: Ctrl-F5

- Firefox: Ctrl-R

- Safari: Option-Cmd-R

Happy New Year everyone!

The original plan for this release contained more than what I have uploaded. However, it was deemed to be too ambitious so I scaled back. The rest of the changes will be included in a future release.

Below is a list of major changes to RA. Please read through them because they affect how you will enter your data in the training log. 

International support

All of the date and number fields now use your country's date and number conventions. For example, if your country uses the comma as the decimal delimiter, you will need to use comma instead of the decimal point for fractional numbers. Each field's watermark will indicate the format the data. 

Timezone support

RA now supports all timezones. Daylight savings time will also be observed.  Please check your timezone setting since your previous timezone information may not be correct after this upgrade. I may have introduced errors when I created the daylight savings data. If you notice any oddity with your time, please let me know and I will correct it.

New site wide styles

I modified the styles to address several issues:

• Reduce the number of clicks to get to various pages
• Make room for future sections
• Make the menu system more prominent and easier to read
• Ensure all pages have the same look and feel

Enhanced tcx importer

Tcx is the file format used by Garmin devices. I upgraded the site's tcx importer to adhere to Garmin's specifications. RA should now be able to import all tcx files correctly.

Additional file import support

RA now supports imports from the follow data sources:

• gpx
• Map My Run
• Polar Hrm
• Polar ProTrainer
• Runner's World
• SportTracks
• Custom

These formats are considered experimental. If you do use them, please examine the imported data closely before saving them to your log.

Import gpx or kml file in course editor

If you have routes in gpx or kml files, you can import them directly in the course editor by clicking the "Import" button in the upper right corner of the page instead of creating them manually.

Updated monthly calendar

You can view detailed information about each workout entry, including strength training in the monthly calendar view. Hover the cursor over any entry you wish to see and a popup will appear. And for JoeO, you can now jump to any year you wish.

Message Center

Your sent box now displays the name of the message recipient instead of yours.

Forum moderators

As some of you have noticed already, I added support for moderators for the public forums. I cannot monitor the forums constantly and needed help from some of the users. This addition was just in time as RA was hit by a surge in spams.

The moderators only have the ability to censor topics and posts. They do not have access to your information other than what you wish to reveal to the public. If your log and profile are private, they cannot see them. They are regular users in every other regard.

They are instructed to only censor spam. I will continue to moderate the public forums to maintain a civil environment. I also added the ability to delete threads. Only I can delete them and I will only delete spams.

Group posts

I added a new board titled "My Group Forums".  It is under the "All About Running" board.  If you belong to any groups, you can see their latest posts on the same page as the public forum.  Hopefully this will reduce the amount of clicking.

Automatic forum image resizing

There are instances when someone links oversized images that mess up the page. The forum will now automatically reduce the image to fit within the page. When you hover your cursor over the image, an expand icon will appear. Clicking on the icon will allow you to expand the image to its original size. Clicking on the icon again will shrink it back to fit the page.

Group accessible logs

If you only allow your group members to view your log, a log icon will appear below your name in the forums for users that are in your group(s).

Donations

I made the switch from Google Checkout to PayPal. I haven't fully converted the shopping cart to use the new system yet so I took the link off the site for now. I will try to complete it in the next few weeks.

These are the major changes to RA in this release. There are many other changes that I did not mention. The beta users braved the possibility of losing their data to ensure your data is safe. We all thank them for their contribution to RA.

I wish everyone good health and good running! Happy New Year!

eric :-)