Welcome!
Over the past several months, I've been developing a new BMB website. For the most part, I've kept the visual design and layout the same to minimze confusion with the transition. Most of the changes come in the form of new features and a great improvement in efficiency behind the scenes. Below is a summary of notable changes and new features:

If you prefer a paper guide, PDF files containing much of this information are available for students and staff.

Registration

Registration is now much more streamlined and is handled through an on-site form rather than over email. The link to the registration page will be visible on the members page when you're not logged in and also posted on the main page when we're expecting people to register. It is important when you register to choose the correct section, as this will be used to give you access to your section page.
Once you register, a staff member will verify that you're on the class roster for the upcoming season and that your supplied WIN is correct. Your graduation date should be your expected last year in the BMB. May 1st will be the approximate day every year when old members are removed according to supplied graduation dates, and a final removal will be done when we recieve the new class roster.
VERY IMPORTANT:
If you would like to register for the new site right away, you will be verified against a list of BroncoNetID's from the old website. If you're new in 2009, you wont be verified until we recieve an official class roster with WIN numbers.

Login and left menu

Logins are now handled directly from the left menu, rather than the old-fashioned popup window. The left menu is also persistant and dynamic. Persistant meaning it is visible on ALL pages, and dynamic meaning it changes according to who you are and whether or not you're logged in.

Section Pages

Each section now has a page where that section's staff can post messages to their section. Only members of that section may view the page. Staff also have the ability to upload files to their section pages. These pages were designed with things like announcing sectionals or section activities and for sharing things like section songs and pictures. They can, however, be used for whatever the staff members see fit, or not used at all; they are provided for your convenience. By special request, static content (such as contact information) can be added to section pages. If you're a staff member for your section, you may e-mail the webmaster to make this request. All content to be added must be provided.

Staff Communication Page

Nearly identical to the section pages, except all staff members can view and post to it, and it lacks the ability to store files.

Calendar

The calendars will show most BMB events, primarily those not shown on the schedule page. Members can request their event be added to the calendar by e-mailing the Senior Assistant. The calendars are shown by month, and only months with events in them will have a page.

BMB Mobile

Specially designed for cell phones without a full browser and/or with limited data plans, the BMB Mobile page displays any rehearsal cancellation information as well as the most recent news posting. Other posts are available through this page also via a link at the bottom. Unfortunately, due to technical limitations, the page will not automatically be displayed when viewing the website from your cell phone. The page is accessible from:
http://www.wmich.edu/marchingband/mobile.php

RSS Feed

If you're unfamiliar with the technology, RSS (Really Simple Syndication) provides an easy way to view things like news stories all from one convenient location. The new website utilizes this service. This is an entirely elective option on your part and if you don't know what is is, will not affect your normal viewing of the new website in any way. More information about RSS is available here.
For the BMB site, all news stories and rehearsal cancellation notices will be posted to the feed.
If you use Twitter, you can follow bmbnews. The RSS feed automatically tweets to that user. It updates every 6 hours.

Other Features and Changes

• Automatic checking of rehearsal cancellation - no need to keep reloading the page during bad weather. It will change automatically if Mr. Montgomery changes the message.
• All Mark Times will be kept available on the website for the season.
• Reorganized left menu - Certain things have moved around slightly and their new location should be self explanatory.
• Reorganized multimedia content - All pictures, audio, and video are now available through one multimedia portal page.
• Most dates on the website are in the ISO standard format YYYY-MM-DD. This is to make it easier to store dates in the database. I appoligize for any confusion this may cause.
• Most times should be converted to the conventional twelve hour format but it's possible that they may be in 24-hour format on some pages. To convert from 24-hour to 12-hour time, simply subtract twelve from the hours if the hours are greater than 12. Again, I appoligize for any confusion this causes, if this happens.
• For simplicity, old news posts WILL NOT be transferred to the new site. Information that may be still be needed can be found here.
• Most downloads are secured using a special file which verifies that you're authorized to recieve the file. Requests of any download-able file will automatically point to this file and if you're authorized, your browser will not change pages, the download will simply start.
• The website is best viewed using Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera or Internet Explorer 8. Some visual features of the website are disabled due to the non-compliance of Internet Explorer 7 and older. If you're using IE7 or older, you will see a message on the main page with instructions to upgrade, as recommended by Microsoft.

And last but not least...

Pictures

The process of adding pictures is now significantly faster. We estimate time to posting to be within three days of the event, but it is still mostly dependant on the personal schedules of staff members. We also now have incredible Previous and Next links when viewing pictures so you don't have to go back to the main page of pictures to view the next one.

Most importantly, you can feel free to e-mail me at any time if you have a problem or suggestion. I began work on the website before I was a staff member, so much of what I've done is based on my interpretation of how things might work best, therefore they may not be ideal. ANY ideas for change are welcome.
-Alex

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