Revision as of 21:29, 1 June 2010

General inquiries come to the info@scrabbleplayers.org email address, and many can be handled in a routine manner as described below on this page.

When interacting with members, keep in mind that their computer literacy is generally low. If they were able to accurately describe problems and consult the FAQ, they wouldn't be emailing for help, so it's up to us to work politely within their limitations.

This is a living document; the contents are updated as procedures are refined and developed.

Lost NASPA ID

1. If the inquirer says that they do not know their NASPA ID, first see if you can find it.
   • Look them up in the internal membership database. Search as flexibly as you can (give minimal information, use pattern matching), because players are not always sure of their own names (Dave/David, John/John Q, Smith/Smith-Jones)
2. If you find them, check to make sure that the email address in the database matches the email address of the inquiry.
   1. If it matches, continue with step 4.
   2. If it does not match, ask them if they used to use the old email address, and if the database should be updated.
      1. If they say the old email address was theirs but is no longer, update the email address in the database, and continue with step 4.
      2. If they say the old email address was theirs and they should still be listed with it, continue with step 4.
      3. Otherwise, continue with step 3.
3. At this point, you have been unable to find the player in the database, and need to determine why. Email the player and ask if (1) they have changed their name recently, (2) were perhaps an NSA member (NSA membership numbers were 1-6 digits, occasionally with a letter appended) and never a NASPA member, or (3) have ever played in a sanctioned tournament listed on cross-tables.com.
   • If (1), then start over with their old name. If you find them, send them their ID and ask John Chew to change their name in the database.
   • If (2), explain to them that the NSA and NASPA are separate organizations and that if they want to play in their first sanctioned tournament, they should join NASPA, and are eligible for the $15 six-month trial rate. (If they had ever played in a tournament, they would have been in the database.)
   • If (3), find the tournament, find the player's real name there, and start over.
4. At this point, you have found the player in the database, and their NASPA ID. Email it to them, explain that they can find it in future in the public membership database at http://www.scrabbleplayers.org/cgi-bin/members.pl and finish.

Lost NASPA Password

1. If the member does not know their NASPA ID, follow the Lost NASPA ID procedure first.
2. If the member knows their ID, they should be able to enter their ID and email address in the login box on the website to receive a new random password. In order of decreasing frequency, here are observed reasons for which this can fail, with recommended remedies.

   Member cannot reliably enter their ID.

   Ask member to copy and paste ID from your reply.

   Member has never given us their email address.

   Use membership editor to enter email address, ask them to retry.

   Member has changed email addresses.

   Ask member if they would like their address of record changed.

   • If yes, change it and ask them to retry.
   • If no, ask them to retry with the email address we have.

   Member does not have computer skills to enter two pieces of information and click a button, would like someone else to do it for them.

   Tell them that you cannot reset their password for them, ask them to try again. This is true by design, as if a member cannot do this, there's no point in issuing them a username and password to connect to the website.

   Member actually has correct password, but is using a browser that does not support cookies, and is returned to the login window even after a successful login.

   The only common browser that does not support cookies is the crippled one that comes with AOL. AOL users should download and use Firefox to connect to the large number of websites that require cookies. Others should enable cookies in their browser preferences. If they aren't sure, there are lots of websites (Google: cookie test) that will help diagnose and correct the problem.

   Member belongs to NSA, has never belonged to NASPA.

   Explain to member that NASPA took over responsibility for competitive SCRABBLE play in 2009 and that players must reapply for membership with the new association.

   Committee member is confusing NASPAWiki password with NASPA password.

   Explain to them that they are different passwords, refer them to John Chew if they really need a NASPAWiki password.

   Member refuses to do anything to obtain password, saying that all website content should be available without one.

   Explain that we provide some member-only services in exchange for a membership fee, and the only way to ensure that those services are accessible only to members is password protection.

Cannot log in

1. If a member does not have their ID or password, see the Lost NASPA ID or Lost NASPA Password section.
2. Otherwise, ask the member for their NASPA ID and password and proceed with the first of the following subprocedures that applies, listed in decreasing order of observed frequency.

   Member has given you an incorrect NASPA ID.

   Follow the Lost NASPA ID procedure.

   You have verified that you can the username and password successfully yourself. (It's helpful to keep a second browser on your computer, so you can keep your own session active.)

   Ask the member to enable cookies in their browser. If they are an AOL user, make sure they are using Firefox, not the default crippled no-cookie AOL browser.

   The username and password do not match.

   Follow the Lost NASPA Password procedure.