Only now can I come out from behind a veil of secrecy and tell you about my experience as a beta tester for the new SABR Encyclopedia. It was that terrible kind of experience in which you both have fun and learn some things at the same time.

We are pleased to announce that the open development period of the new SABR Encyclopedia has started. All members are now invited to contribute to the Encyclopedia and contribute to its mission of becoming an essential reference on professional and collegiate baseball, which brings together SABR research and other resources in one convenient portal.

If you're reading this article, you're probably here because you've just read that we're switching to a standardized ID system for logging into the SABR website and other sites. I hope to use this article to explain why we're doing it, and why it's good.

It's a fairly long explanation, because it's a fairly involved issue, but if you're really curious, this should explain the situation.

I had attempted to do reports here every month, but I think that is a bit too fine-grained for this venue. Of course, when I started the attempt, I had only been at SABR for 3 months, so a month was a significant portion of my time here. As I've moved on, most things worth noting have taken a longer time scale, and a longer period seems more appropriate. "Read more" for updates on the Encyclopedia, research sites, and other things from my "department".