This document highlights all the changes made from Zone4 version 3.3  to version 4.0 the main release for 2005/2006.

 Online Registration System

• Zone4 has launched a much more advanced online registration system to accommodate greater flexibility for the race organizer and to make features like group-registration and QuickLists available.  This new architecture is supported by a limitless field structure where you can add as many fields as you like and specify things like the data type, field length, whether it will be available online, or required.  You can add as many fields as you like and group them under custom headers for better organization.  See the Set Options section for more details.

• The concept of a multi-race event has also been expanded to a more generic Category Specific Options section where again, you can add race/event options and specify things like price, dates and specify details for each option in each category.  

• Banquets and Donation options have now been replaced by the more flexible Fee Options section where you can add unlimited options and specify prices and whether the option allows for multiple or single quantities or whether or not the option will be included in the all event price, etc.

• A new feature called Friends-of-Club has been added which allows you to provide password secured discounts to select groups.  You can then provide complementary entries or discounted prices for certain online registrants.

• The old system of specifying a percentage fee increase after a certain date has been replaced with the ability to set an initial price and a specific raised fee for every category and option that will be used after the set raise date.

• Due to the new architecture with unlimited custom fields, Zone4 is ideally suited for club member registrations.  For Club Registrations, you have the option to allow deferred payments so that members can submit payment by cheque thereby avoiding the online payment step of the online registration.  This helps reduce the cost of the Online Registration Charge, and is a suitable options where clubs can easily handle cheque payments.

• The online registration system also supports $0 registration so if you have an event and don't want to charge anything for it (such as a coaches meeting or free race) you can still use the Online Registration System.  The Online Registration Fee still applies (which in this case would be $2 per person) but the club can elect to absorb that cost instead of having the registrant pay it themselves.

• Related to the above feature, you now have 3 options when it comes to the Online Registration Charge.  You can have the registrant pay it, the club can cover it, or the club can elect to cover only the registration that total up to $0 (complementary, and no-cost entries)

• There is now a group-registration system where registrants can add multiple people to their cart before checking out at once.  This is also supported by a password protected QuickList feature that can remember a persons registrations making future registration a snap.  This is especially useful for group registrants as the QuickList allows them to register in mere minutes compared to hours last year.

Sprints

• The sprint module has been updated to include the new 5 heat format.  This new format has a much simpler algorithm that allows basically any number of racers per heat and any odd number of qualifiers.  This formula has also been applied to the other formats so that you can select 2, 4, 5,or 8 first round heats and any number of qualifiers that you wish.  You can then select to advance as many racers as you want in each round.  The new algorithm should be very useful to clubs who want to have sprint races with all their qualifiers participating as the system will just keep adding people to heats until the number of set qualifiers has been met.

Electronic Interface

• The electronic interface has remained largely unchanged since the major overhaul of last year.  A few small enhancements have been made as requested.

• Interfaces have been added for the Chronomix 731, Alge TdC 8001, and Alge Timy devices.

• The interface now allows multiple computers (or even the same computer) to access the same channel without causing any conflicts.  This is not something you wouldn't typically do but it may find some uses for backup checking and monitoring.

• A device emulator has been added to the Interface Test menu which allows the computer to mimic the output protocol of any one of the compatible devices.  This allows you to attached a serial cable between two computers and have one pretend it is a timing device outputting times, while the receiving computer receives the times as if they are real.  This is great for testing, and can be simplified even further using a soldered 2-3 pin serial port loopback connector allowing the device emulator to send signals to itself for testing using only a single computer.

Other Changes

• An error logging system has been added to the program to allow better debugging by Zone4.  If you are having problems simply click the Internet function Send Error Logs to Zone4.  This connects to the internet and submits the current race file logs to Zone4 for analysis.

• The Category Info screen now has a list of categories along the left hand side so instead of clicking Prev/Next to scroll through the categories, you can also just click the desired category on the list to display the details.

• The Racer Details page looks quite different as it implements the new field and option architecture.  It also includes Prev/Next buttons allowing you to scroll through the records in the Racer List.

Zone4 Club Services

• Zone4 has also launched into an exciting endeavor by developing an Online Membership System for both BC and Alberta.  This Zone4 hosted application will handle all of the membership reporting and club information needs of these provinces and is integrated directly into the existing Zone4 architecture to provide seamless connections with the Zone4 race program and website publishing.  This is a new area for Zone4 but a logical extension of our goal to provide quality services to both clubs and the ski community as a whole.  It has the advantage of allowing clubs to use the Zone4 Online Registration services for club members and then having that data upload directly into the Membership system for reporting and invoicing.  This application will also grow over the years to provide clubs with a central Membership reporting and management system for all your club needs.