NCBBA GUINEA PIGS:Welcome to the sneak peek of the new web site.

In the development world, we call those people "beta-testers" but guinea pig sounds more fun!

If you're seeing this, you're one of the few selected to try out the new web site. Bear with us as we put on the finishing touches and apply last-minute fixes to things. We're working hard to get everything fired up and ready to go for the 27th.

Some of the new features we'd like you to make sure work for you:

• Join the site: If you look to the right of this article, you should be prompted to login or register. If you don't have an account on the new site yet, go ahead and register so you can see all the features.
• Shopping: Click on SHOP up top to be taken to the new online store. We've tested it as best we can without going live. It's currently set to "live" mode for the duration of this test so you can purchase anything in the shop you desire. Keep in mind that you are the ONLY members in the NCBBA who can purchase this material before the live date on June 27th. The Limited edition stuff is expected to sell fast so grab some while you're here if you'd like.
• Forums: Yeah, I know the forums are empty, but I can't write all the articles myself, right? I'd love it if a few of you went in to some of the forum categories and posted a few test posts. I'll delete anything that looks like a test post before we go live, so you can say anything for now. The new NCBBA web site is about a lot more than just beach access. We want this to be a place our members can congregate and use on a daily basis, so if you can think of a section that would be interesting to have as a forum category, please don't hesitate to inform us. (And I know I haven't customized the logo on the forums yet. I just installed them yesterday but I wanted to release this to all of you asap, so you're seeing it before I'm completely done.)
• Dual Login: By logging into either the site, or the forums, you will be logged into the other. No more dual accounts, finally! Now you can shop, post, and communicate all from the same login. Try logging out of the site,then go to forums again and try to login. If you return to the homepage after logging in, the homepage should show you as already registered.
• Rotating News: You SHOULD see a rotating news header at the top of the homepage. This is a new feature that automatically rotates the most recent 5 articles. You can click on any article heading and see the article full screen. Try it out and let us know it's working right.
• Popular news: The Popular section automatically updates with what our viewers find most appealing, so as an article gets more views it will be moved to this list automatically, and then eventually to the top if it's the most popular article.
• Submit Articles: Now our users can submit news to the editor. Once you're logged in, you can see a "Submit Article" link on the right side of the homepage. From here you can write articles for the site and submit them to the editor for inclusion in our Member News section.  I'd love it if a few of you tried this feature out and let me know what problems you experience, if any.
• Menu Systems: There are two menu systems on the site. The main menu is located at the top of the screen. If you click on "About Us" you will see two new menus, one directly beneath the main menu and one to the far right side on most pages. This allows you to dive deeper and deeper into the site. Navigate around a little bit and let us know how easy or hard it is for you to find what you're looking for.
• New Look: What do you think of the new look and the new structure compared to the old site? (www.ncbba.org). Is there something on the old site you think should be here we haven't brought over yet?
• Different Browsers: If you have multiple browsers, PLEASE take a moment and test the site using them. That's one of the greatest challenges to overcome when designing a site. Does it work well with Internet Explorer? How about Mozilla Firefox? What about Google Chrome? Then there's the iPhone and Safari too. We really want to be sure this is cross-browser compatible for everyone.

Anything else you can think of to share about your experience would be great. I look very much forward to your responses. I've put a topic in the forum you can access by going to Forum, scrolling to the bottom of the page, and clicking the category titled "Web Site & Support Forum". From here, you can post new topics related to the Sneak Peak. We are all interested in what you have to say, so feel free to share anything. Remember, we want honest feedback so if you don't like something that's good to know too. Of course we want a big round of back-patting as well! lol.

Thanks for taking the time to test the new site with us. You can reach us by email at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with any problems or comments.