FAQ:

Security:

Q: Shouldn't the Entry Form be protected by a password stronger than our Membership ID?

A: We realize that using a Membership ID to bring up the entry form makes it pretty easy for anyone to enter projects.  You may be asking what were those guys thinking?

We were thinking that we wanted it to be easy for anybody to enter projects.  MITES is asking teachers to enter their student projects this year.  In future years we expect that many students might be entering their own projects.  We also knew we didn't want to invest time setting up login credentials for 600+ teachers, only to have some of those credentials (it only takes one) shared with students or teacher's assistants. 

So to make this both easy, and resistant to tampering, we made it so anyone may enter projects, but no one may change them. Once you submit a project, it may not be altered.  Although we do have an 'Edit' link in the Registered Projects section, it doesn't really edit the entry.  Instead it copies the selected entry into the entry form where you can make changes and then submit it as a new entry.  We realize that this means people can submit bogus projects, and that if any 'edits' are done, there will be duplicates to remove.  By asking teachers to submit all the projects this year, we expect the number of bogus projects will be small.

So how do we get rid of unwanted projects?
In your list of Registered Projects, notice there is a column of check boxes to the left of the projects listing. Here you can make a selection of which projects are legitimate, completed, and will actually be going to the fair. After entering a password (to be distributed by the Membership Chairman in the near future) you will be able to save your selection to the system.  The result of saving your selection is that only selected projects will appear on the Judging Reports used to record results.  If you print a copy of this selection and bring it with you to the fair, it will speed the registration and payment process.
Clearly, balancing ease of use with security is always going to be a compromise.  We expect this solution will work well.

Entry Form:

Q:  I forgot to save a Final Project List, now what?

A: You're Ok!  If you never save a Final Project List, then *all* of your projects will be entered.  If you enter additional projects after making a selection, the new projects will also be entered.  Basically, any project you enter will be included until you save a Final Project List which excludes it.  The benefits of saving a Final Project List are (a): if you entered any projects which will not be going to the fair, by de-selecting them and saving the selection, those de-selected projects get hidden (faded display) from view in your projects list, and you can print a list of only the selected projects to help figure your registration fee.  (b): Those projects you de-selected will also be removed from the Judging Reports.  This helps the Judges by not having to look for projects which are not present.  After registration closes, you may still generate and print a list of selected projects, however since your RAO has likely already begun printing Judging Sheets, you will only be permitted to print (but not save) your selection.

Q:  CT-1 is not there, how do I enter Construction Trades - Team Build?

A: Please use CT-GP.  We had to change CT-1 to CT-GP. The GP Category is how we tell the application to request names of additional students, and after the Convention, to display them in results.