TechSideline.com has rolled out a major revamp
designed to improve navigation, make it easier to manage your TSL account, and
introduce monthly auto-billing for subscribers. Read on for a description of the
changes here at TSL, as concisely as we can describe them – which isn’t easy,
given how much has changed.
Improved Navigation
- New tabs at the top for Help, Contact Us,
Home, Subscriber, etc. - Simpler "flyout" menus with larger
fonts - Simplified left-side navigation that matches
the flyouts - Shortcut links within sections
TSL’s navigation was complicated, even for those
familiar with the site, and downright daunting for first-time visitors. We have
cleaned navigation up dramatically. Check out the new, simplified "flyout
menus" (Forums, News and Info, TSL Exclusives, etc.) with a larger font.
Take a look at the tabs (Home, Subscribe, Contact Us, etc.) that we’ve added
above the flyouts, which make it easier to get help and find out how to contact
us, among other things.
As you move around the site, you’ll notice that
the orange left-hand nav links match the flyout menus. It’s a simple, powerful
navigation system that once you learn it, will quickly become second nature.
Another problem the old TSL had was that it clung
to every category of feature and news that we had ever had. There were links for
TSL Columnists, Voice of the Fan, TSL Pass, News and Notes, etc. We have now
consolidated everything into a few basic categories that we’ll use from this
point on.
Overall, almost everything we have linked to
before on the site is still here, it’s just a heck of a lot easier to find.
Consolidated Accounts for Message Boards, TSL
Pass Subscriptions, and TSLMail
- Message board, TSL Pass subscriber, and
TSLMail accounts have been merged - You can now log in using either your email
address or your message board username - If you had both a message board account and a
TSL Pass subscriber account, your new password is the password you had for
TSL Pass - Find a "login" link near the top of
the site to log in - Once you’re logged in, manage your account
using the "account info" link
One of TSL’s major weaknesses was its patchwork
quality when handling accounts, caused by the way the site had grown in stages
over the years. First there were message board accounts, then there were TSL
Pass subscriber accounts, then there were TSLMail accounts … that was three
different places to change email addresses, for example.
Now all accounts have been combined into one
master account that includes your email address, message board username, and a
toggle for turning TSLMail on and off, among other things.
Note that if you used to have a TSL Pass account
and a message board account with different passwords, we selected your TSL Pass
password as your master password.
Don’t charge off and try to log in just yet!
Read the rest of this article first.
Improved Help
- Only one place to go for help: the new
"Help" tab
The old TSL had three or four Help pages
sprinkled throughout the site that covered a variety of topics. It was tough to
find the exact help you needed.
See that "Help" tab near the top of the
page? Any time you’re having trouble logging on or need a question answered, go
there first. All help comes from that one page, and hopefully, all your
questions will be answered from that one page.
To paraphrase Brad in Fast Times at Ridgemont
High: "The Help tab: Learn it, know it … live it."
Monthly Auto-Billing
- Monthly subscribers can set up a credit card
to renew automatically each month - Annual subscribers must still renew manually
For those who prefer to pay their subscription
month by month, with automatic billing to their credit card, we’ve got good news
(and it’s got nothing to do with Geico): that option has finally arrived at TSL.
If you’re a monthly subscriber, once you’re
logged in (described below – keep reading!), just go to your account info page
(click the "account info" link) and follow the instructions for
setting up monthly auto-billing.
If you’re a yearly subscriber, the auto-billing
option is not available, and manual renewal is required.
Please Pardon the Mess!
- Some of you will need help with their
accounts; please be patient - Some dead links and wrong turns will be
present at first - The archives haven’t been completely filled in
A redesign like this is a massive effort, and
despite our best efforts to test it completely, many of you, the TSL faithful,
will uncover problems. Most problems will center around the fact that we
consolidated so many different accounts (message board, subscriber, and TSLMail)
for so many different people. In some cases, automated processes that were
trying to figure out what to do with multiple accounts may have made the wrong
decisions, set things improperly, etc. If that’s the case, we’ll get things
ironed out for you.
At first, there might be some dead links, missing
articles, missing pictures, or missing archives on the site. Please be patient
with us while we find these things and take care of them.
Here’s What You Should Do Now….
If you don’t have a message board account and
aren’t a subscriber, then you’re free to
poke around the free areas of the site and get familiar with the new navigation.
Dismissed!
If you have a message board account or are a TSL
Pass subscriber (or both), then find a
login link and try to log in, using your email address or message board
username, plus your password. Note that if you used to have a TSL Pass account
and a message board account with different passwords, we selected your TSL Pass
password as your master password.
Once you’re logged in, you’ll see a notice near
the top of nearly every TSL page that says "Account Info Center: You’re
logged in as (username) account info | login"
If you can’t get logged in, then check out the
"Help" tab to help you get logged in.
If that doesn’t work, then contact us for help by
clicking the "Contact Us" tab at the top of the site. Please realize
that we’re probably going to get tons of email, perhaps hundreds of them, so our
response may not be super-quick. We’ll be doing the best we can.
To set up monthly auto-billing:
If you’re a monthly subscriber, just go to your account info page (login and
click the "account info" link) and follow the instructions for setting
up monthly auto-billing.
Enjoy the new TSL!
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