Administrator Email - 11/29/2021 - Announcing

We're excited to announce ClubExpress Version 64 (BTW, we've changed our numbering system. The previous version was 10.3, since renamed to version 63.)

This is the longest gap we've had between major releases - more than 7 months since the previous version was announced. Most of the features described in this email have already been deployed; we just never got around to announcing them! We were actually working on a major enhancement to our website template design tools, and we've been waiting for it to be done. Well it's now ready to announce and deploy.

This release adds dozens of features across the whole ClubExpress platform. We've also added a number of features for our Aging-in-Place Village customers.

We will be holding a webinar on Wednesday, December 1st, starting at 12:00 Noon US Eastern time, 11:00 AM Central, 10:00 AM Mountain, and 9:00 AM Pacific, for those who want to learn more about these enhancements. If you can't make it, the webinar recording will be available within a couple of days, on the ClubExpress YouTube channel. There is no need to register for this webinar but it is limited to the first 500 attendees. Here are the connection details:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82162876656?pwd=RzlrZDVCMW1vbkNYdkJsTzFSYTdkZz09
Meeting ID: 821 6287 6656
Passcode: 368397

In this issue:

• Website Look and Feel
• Save Option when Leaving a Page
• Emailings
• Resource Scheduler
• Other Enhancements
• Aging-in-Place Village Enhancements
• Bug Fixes
• Other Links

Website Look and Feel

With this release, we are excited to announce a new and powerful way to create and maintain the overall look and feel of your website. It incorporates a new Template Builder, as well as new and powerful tools to build the page header, left and right content boxes, and the page footer. We have leveraged the row- and cell-based tools you already use in the Page Builder to create and maintain static web pages. The new model also treats menus, social media, and the login/Profile panel as objects that can be placed anywhere on your website. Finally, the new model includes full versioning, allowing you to create and show different versions of your website at different times, including test versions to review with your Board of Directors.

Note that this new Template Builder has not yet been deployed. As with other critical functions, we wanted to show it to you before deployment so that it's not a complete surprise. It will be deployed next Monday, December 6th, and we'll also have a full session on the Template Builder during our Bootcamp on Wednesday, December 8th. The online help system has been updated and we're also adding a video tutorial for a deep dive into the functionality.

The Template Builder is selected the same way as always, by clicking "Website Look and Feel" on your Control Panel - Website tab. You will see the following floating panel:



Use the first button to select a template from our updated list of predefined templates. The old "Layout" option is gone; every template now optionally includes left and right panels that can be used or ignored. Templates are built around 4 panels that surround the content area, as shown in the following diagram:



Each of these 4 panels can be edited using the indicated buttons. Each panel allows you to define one or more rows into which elements can be placed. As with the Page Builder, rows can have a "Visibility": everyone, public only, members only, or hidden, as well as separate visibility options for desktop and mobile devices. Everything that can be placed in a row or cell is now defined as a widget, including your website menu, the Member Login/Profile panel (which includes the Control Panel and Favorites link for admins and coordinators.) Content placed in the Header or Footer automatically orients itself horizontally, while content placed in the Left Side or Right Side panels automatically orients itself vertically. So, for example, you can add a menu widget to the Header and it will be a horizontal menu, but if you add it to the Left Side, it will be a vertical menu.



This new architecture removes the separate options to maintain Content Boxes, since they are now incorporated into the Template Builder. It also removes the separate Mobile Setup option, since you can now specify panels in each area that are for mobile viewers only.

The other choices on the Site Editor (Colors, Width, Background, Watermark, Text Styles, Design Scheme, Menu Style, and Custom CSS) are unchanged in functionality.

When adding rows to a canvas, you can pick from a predefined template, or add blank rows to define your own layout. For horizontal areas, a wide selection of blank row layouts is available. Vertical areas have their own set of predefined templates but for blank row layouts, only "Full Width" and "50/50" made sense.



The list of available widgets includes some special options that apply to template only, such as a club logo, the main menu, the Login/Profile link, Social Media links, and the "Add Me to your Mailing List" option. Some of these widgets can only be used once and some of them are also required; you will receive an error message if you to try to apply a template that does not include them. Here is a complete list:



The Configure Section allows you to configure a background color and image for each section, including tiling options. If you then place the social media, member login/Profile, member logo, and menu widgets in the header area, you will end up with a page header looking like this, with the club logo and menu on the same row (an oft-requested feature):



The new "Save Version" option allows you to save multiple versions of a template. Select "Versions" from the Site Editor to view one or more versions of your website look and feel. Use the "Edit" (pencil) icon to recall a saved version for viewing or editing. Note that nothing is changed on the website until you click the Apply button for the version you are currently viewing.



We've made a couple of other minor changes:

• The Text Styles panel now allows you to globally style buttons, including font type, size, and color, border radius and padding, and background and hover colors.
• For those clubs who purchased the Banner Ads function, there is a new way to place and edit banner ads. Ads are maintained using a new Banner Ads module on the Control Panel - Website tab. Ads are added to the module and assigned to a panel. Within the Template Builder and Page Builder, you can then add a Banner Ads widget and link it to a panel; it will then display the ads in this panel.
• The Page Tools option has been removed from the Site Editor and is now available on the Website Options screen. The option for the floating toolbar has been deprecated and only the slide-out option is now available.

When you first open the Website Look and Feel tools, you will see a popup Update Notice, describing the new system. At that point, you have the option of converting to the new system or continuing to use the old system. However, the available options in the old system have been limited to only changing colors, background, watermarks, text styles, design schemes, and custom CSS. Making more substantive changes requires that you convert to the new system. Your current design for the page header, left and right content areas, and footer will be converted automatically.

If your website is heavily modified or has lots of custom CSS, be cautious converting to the new system. We will attempt to convert your current template to the system, but sites that are highly customized may appear as a generic representation and may need some restyling within the new system.

Save Option when Leaving a Page

We have added an important new feature to warn users if they try to leave a page with unsaved changes. This feature has been deployed to a number of pages in the system with Save/Cancel buttons, but not all of them. Let us know if you see a page that should have this option enabled.

If users make any change on an edit page, like typing in a field, selecting something in a dropdown, clicking a radio button or check box, the system will know about it. If the user then tries to leave the page without saving, the system will popup a warning message. There are several different ways to leave a page:

• Click a Cancel button
   
  
• Click the Close (X) button on a popup dialog
   
  
• Click a different page on the menu or crumb trail
   
  
• Press the browser's Refresh button
   
  
• Press the browser's Back button
   
  
• Type something else into the browser's Address Bar
   
  
• Use a saved bookmark in your browser
   
  
• Close your browser
   
  

Emailings

The following enhancements are added to the Emailings module and to emailings in general. Note that some of these enhancements will be deployed in the next couple of days.

• We are adding many new distribution list options:
  • Respondents to a specific Ad Hoc Form
  • Members who have not joined any interest groups (new "None" option)
  • New members since a specified date
  • Just the subgroup (chapter, district, region) administrators
  • Expired members of a subgroup
  • Members whose memberships are about to expire (by future date range)
  • Members in the renewal cycle who are still active
  • Members who ordered a specific Additional Charge within a specified date range
  • Members who have not responded to a survey (maintaining anonymity)
  • Everyone who ordered a specific product from the E-Commerce Storefront
  • Everyone with a birthday within a specified date range
  • Active members by range of expiration dates
  • Everyone who volunteered for a specific opportunity
  
  
• And for Event distribution list options:
  • Member registrants only
  • Non-member registrants only
  • Registrants of a specified activity only
  • Attendees of any event in a specified category and date range
  • Specific event coordinators
  
  
• And for the top-level club in a multi-tier configuration with separate websites:
  • Email the members of a linked chapter
  • Email members who joined a linked chapter since a specified date
  
  
• When adding/editing distribution lists, you can now type text into the dropdown and the list will dynamically filter based on what's entered. For example, type "comm" and immediately see the "Members of a Selected Committee" option.
   
  
• We are adding some new personalization tags:
  • A member's answers to additional member data questions
  • Member number
  • President's name, title, phone, email address
  • Membership Director's name, title, phone, email address
  • Treasurer's name, title, phone, email address
  • Webmaster's name, title, phone, email address
  • Data Protection Officer's name, title, phone, email address
  
  
• When creating a scheduled emailing, the time when the email is to be delivered can now be specified. Times also now appear in the Emailing Administration screen. And timed delivery now respects local time zones!
   
  
• There is a new option to resend an emailing to everyone who did not open the original. Of course, this option requires that the Track Opens box be checked for the original and subsequent resends.
   
  
• You can now configure a default FROM: name and email address, to override the current admin's name and email address.
   
  
• A new report shows who actually opened an email. Of course, this option requires that Track Opens be enabled.
   
  
• When sending Test emails, "TEST - " is now added to the beginning of the Subject line.
   
  
• When someone joins your club or association, the email to the Member Director now includes that member's mobile phone no.
   
  
• The event detail info that can be pasted into an event emailing will now list all event contacts as well as their respective responsibilities. Previously, it was only displaying the primary contact’s name, email, and phone no.
   
  
• Membership-related system emails will now come from the designated Member Director. If this title is not defined; they come from the designated President. If this title in turn is not defined, they come from the club's general info email address. If none of these are defined, from support@mail2.clubexpress.com
   
  
• For emailings, users explicitly set the ‘from’ address. For system emails, we often send them from the membership director or president, or the general club email address. If we use an address where we host the email for that domain, we will use it as the email from address. If we do not handle the email, or if the from address is a personal account (gmail, etc), then the email will come from mailer@mail2.clubexpress.com (as they always have) with the ‘real’ from address shown separately. Replies will always go to the real from address. Notification emails that we send to admins will always now come from support@mail2.clubexpress.com (instead of support@clubexpress.com). If a user replies to one of these messages, the reply will go to support@clubexpress.com. This change allows us to deliver email more reliably, and handle bounced messages.
   
  
• We made a change to private replies to forum messages. We were sending a single email with a ‘To’ address and a ‘CC’ address. This had the effect of revealing the original message poster’s email address to the recipient in the CC address field, which is not always a good thing. We will now send two separate messages – one to the original poster, and a separate copy to the CC address specified on the page (by default, the person sending the reply). The CC message will have a note added to the subject to indicate that it is a copy.
   
  
• We are now sending an email to newly added club administrators, coordinators, and subgroup administrators. The email will contain links to the help system and videos, and info about training available from ClubExpress. This change should help newly-appointed or newly-elected officers get up to speed more quickly.
  

Resource Scheduler

The following enhancements were added to the Resource Scheduler module:

• When the grid becomes taller than a page, the grid now has a scrollbar and the resource headers stay visible at all times.
   
  
• Admins can now navigate to days up to one year in the past.
   
  
• If the “Max Days in Advance” value is set for a resource, it does not apply to admin users, who can make reservations up to 2 years in advance.
   
  
• Admins can now click a Reserved item and see a popup showing a read-only view of the reservation details.
   
  
• There is a new “Resource Scheduler (Read-Only)” option that can be placed on menus or accessed via a button, to show a read-only version of the schedule calendar page.
   
  
• Hourly reservation item reports now list the Setup Start and Cleanup End times.
   
  
• There is a new Reservation History screen showing items included in the reservation. It also provides an 'Edit Reservation' icon. The same icon has been added to the Reservation Manager.
   
  
• The new Reservation Edit screen allows individual reservation items in the future to be edited. Changes can be saved or cancelled. New items can be added and will appear at the bottom of the list. Changes will be shown. If fees are involved, increases and decreases will be flagged. If approval is required, this status will be reflected on all new items or changes, and on the reservation as a whole. If payment is required, this status will also be reflected on the reservation as a whole.
   
  
• We have also made updates to the Reservation Approvals screen. There are new 'Pending Change' and 'Pending Price" columns. If payment is pending for an approved reservation, status will change to Payment Pending before the reservation is finally approved.
  

Other Enhancements

• In the People Manager, you can now search by Zip/Postal code, including partial zip codes starting with a specified value (for example, use "606" to find everyone living in the City of Chicago).
   
  
• When members log in, the Password field now has a Show/Hide Password option.
   
  
• The content editor has been updated to allow users to choose from photos uploaded to the club’s website. We also added the ability to embed videos from outside websites (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.) using the Media Embed option
   
  
• Primary members can now update the answers to additional member data questions for their secondary and tertiary members.
   
  
• Additional member data questions can now be filtered to be visible to primary, secondary, and/or tertiary members. For example, you can have questions that are only visible and answered for the kids who are tertiary members.
   
  
• We significantly improved the Non-Member Database Clean Up Tools, including Merge All options to do mass cleanups.
   
  
• Previously when you signed up for a volunteering opportunity, a slot would appear as “Full” on the slot selection page if was really full, or was in the past. Now slots that are really full are shown as “Full”, and slots that are not full but have passed, are shown as “Passed”.
   
  
• In the User Transaction Search function, Multi-Tier clubs with one website where people join at the top level now have a subgroup selector available. Also, subgroup admins who have coordinator access to this page should only be able to select subgroups for which they are admins.
   
  
• Another enhancement for Multi-Tier clubs with one website where people join at the top level: you can now block subgroup admins from approving Prospective members. When this option is enabled, only top-level administrators can approve Prospective members.
   
  
• The Business Directory module now allows members to remove all information if they no longer want to be listed in the directory.
   
  
• In the Documents Library module, clicking a folder name now expands the next level of sub-folders below the clicked one. So even if the current folder is showing (0) documents, users will immediately see that there are sub-folders with documents in them.
   
  
• In the powerful Ad Hoc Reports module, you can now create reports based around Resource Scheduler data, the Blogs module, and the Documents Library module.
   
  
• We made a number of enhancements to the Classified Ads module (which carries an additional one-time fee of $300 for those clubs not already using this module):
  • There is now an option to require approval before an ad becomes visible, for all or selected members. New ads posted by these members receive a status of "Submitted", and a designated contact person is notified. A new screen allows admins and coordinators to review ads requiring approval. Ads can be approved or declined with an explanation.
  • Another new option allows clubs to limit the number of active ads posted by a member at any one time.
  • Users can now report a "Problem Ad" to the designated contact person, including who made the report, the problem ad, and the reason for the report.
  • We now also allow admins to specify a reason when an ad is deleted.
  
  
• We made a number of enhancements to the Ride Log module for cycling clubs (this module carries an additional one-time fee of $400):
  • Clicking a column heading sorts the grid by this column.
  • There is a new Total row to each numeric column.
  • On the Profile – My Rides screen, there is now a count of “Yes” values.
  • We created a smarter implementation of the Home miles value on the Add screen.
  • When ride participants are added, the grid on the right side scrolls to the bottom so that the user can immediately confirm that they were added.
  
  
• The Check-In Desk module can now record Check-Outs and show this information on the Manager page. It also shows Check-in and Check-Out times. Finally, there is a new Check-In Desk widget in the Page Builder that can display the current count of checked-in people. Use this widget to show website visitors how full the facility is.
   
  
• In the Event Calendar, we made the following changes (with many more on the way!):
  • The Description field in QuickEvents is longer and now supports line breaks.
  • You can now also set mobile phone visibility for the event contact.
  • Event Notes now has a new editor and the ability to have dated/timed notes.
  • "Event Contact(s)" can now be renamed.
  
  
• For custom web pages, you can now define a "Share Image" that will be used for pushing a page to social networks.
   
  

Aging-in-Place Village Enhancements

• If admins working on a new or existing service request try to leave the page, the system will now display a popup warning message:
  • Clicking a Cancel button
  • Clicking a different page on the menu or crumb trail
  • Pressing the browser refresh or back buttons
  • Typing something else into the address bar
  • Using a browser bookmark
  • Attempting to close the browser
  
  
• Service Provider Admin:
  • The Service Provider Availability screen was significantly simplified. The time slots have changed and there are now simple check boxes instead of dropdown lists.
  • There are new options to show/hide inactive providers, filter by service category and service, search within notes, and filter by metro area.
  • A new icon on the grid allows admins to enter Notes for providers, including non-members.
  • Emergency Contact fields are now available for all service providers, including non-members.
  • Date of Birth can now be tracked for service providers.
  
  
• As part of an overall Simplification Project:
  • On the Service Request Add/Edit screens, villages can now remove or hide fields that they don't use. This is done on the Service Options page and it's different for each type of service request. The Service Request Manager will also hide these options.
  • The Service Provider panel on the Add/Edit screen was also simplified.
  • Villages can optionally turn off the connection between service requests and the Contact Log function.
  • Villages can optionally turn off Ratings.
  • Villages can now default the Responsible Staffer.
  
  
• When adding or editing service requests:
  • Member Type is now included in the requesting member's info.
  • A new service request Summary button allows the request details to be copied to the clipboard for use in another application.
  • When selecting service providers to add to a request, the popup screen was simplified and a Notes icon added view notes for a provider.
  • If the Date/Time is flexible, no date or time needs to be specified.
  • A new checkbox allows you to specify one driver for a transportation round trip.
  • For Friendly Visits, only the start time now needs to be specified.
  • For the Flag Past Requests button, there is new functionality to flag a request as Completed or Cancelled.
  
  
• For Service Request Emailings:
  • Where appropriate, service request confirmation emails now include information on multiple providers.
  • When an initial email is sent to volunteers for a service request, a new option will change the request status from “Requested” to “Pending”
  • The Service Request Reminder emails that are sent out to members and service providers have been folded into the System Emails grid along with the other Member Services and general emails.
  • There is a new "Service Request Follow-up" Email that can now be sent out a defined number of days after the service request, to both the member and service provider(s). These emails can also be customized.
  • There’s a new email tag that can be added to the member follow-up email called ‘~~member_ratings_and_comments_url~~’. If this is in the email, a link with ratings stars will appear, allowing users to jump to the ratings and comments screen. Members do not have to be logged in to complete this form.
  • Custom fields can now be added to confirmation emails.
  • Confirmation emails to the requesting member can now be sent automatically to all members in the membership.
  • There is a new Distribution List option: Service Providers who are not fully vetted.
  • For Automated Open Requests, there is a new option to limit the number of days ahead for a service request to be included.
  
  
• In the Volunteer Self Signup (VSS) module:
  • A new emailing variable is available: Starting Location.
  • A new link is provided in confirmation emails to jump back to the VSS screen - Committed tab.
  • There is a new template for Email Open Requests to Volunteers.
  • Search criteria are now saved for the volunteer logging in.
  • Committed Requests now include an iCAL icon to download details to the volunteer's local calendar.
  
  
• Additional Contacts for a secondary or tertiary member now has a "Copy Primary's Contacts" button.
   
  
• "Staff to Notify" can now be pre-configured under Service Options for Automated Open Requests.
   
  
• New report - Service providers who are not fully vetted.
   
  
• Open Provider Requests was renamed to Open Member Requests. We also added a filter by provider type.
   
  
• The ToDo List option was removed.
   
  
• There is a new Profile option for member service providers: the list of services requests they are assigned to.
   
  
• After a service request, villages can now also track the number of trips required for the request.
   
  
• In the Contact Log accessed from the People Manager, all entries are now shown, and we added a Status filter (Open, Closed, Both)
   
  
• A new data export shows completed requests within a date range without a duration filled in.
   
  
• When a member is Dropped (moved away, passed away, went into assisted living, etc.) any future service requests are now changed to Cancelled.
   
  
• The Open Member Requests Pending Approval screen now only appears when Automated Open Requests is configured to require approvals.
   
  
• When a member submits a request via their Profile screen, all fields are now required.
   
  
• Service Provider listing reports now support filters by category, visibility (Active/Visible, Active/Not Visible, Inactive), and provider type (Member Volunteer, Non-Member Volunteer, Contractor).
   
  
• Another new report shows members by age bracket (60-69, 70-79, etc.)
   
  

Bug Fixes

The following bugs were fixed since our last version announcement:

• In the Event Calendar module:
  • An event contact was not getting notified of a registration if the primary was set up to not receive notifications but the next contact was.
  • For multi-date events, there was a problem tracking attendance for each date in the event.
  • The Event Confirmation email showed the internal registrant type name but not the Display Name for that registrant type.
  • Event defaults was not saving the Phone option for members only.
  • In Event Emailings, there was an error when clicking the Event Basics button, but only for event coordinators.
  • For certain types of users, the Waitlist time was expiring sooner than the 24-hour setting.
  
  
• There was a problem editing a Gift Membership that had already been sent out and clicking the Save button. Also, there was an issue where people would edit a gift coupon in the Discount Coupons screen and get it unsynchronized from the original gift.
   
  
• In the Resource Scheduler, copying a reservation was not copying the Prep time. Another copy problem was copying a reservation too far into the future and getting an error because enough days beyond the end of 2021 had not been loaded into memory.
   
  
• In the E-Commerce Storefront, Shipping and Handling are now included in the tax calculation. Also, the tax rate drop-down lists in the Storefront no longer show inactive tax rates. Finally, there was a problem deleting a product photo where the filename contained special characters.
   
  
• In the Web Graphics module, when searching by Titles, the results panel shows titles. When searching by filename, the results panel now shows filenames.
   
  
• The Donations wizard has a built-in Captcha to prevent multiple "bot" donations. There was a bug in the implementation. Also in Donations, deleting or canceling an unpaid donation was not updating the Fund total donation amount and count of donations.
   
  
• The Virtual Membership Card links on the Profile - Chapters/Sub-Members screen were displaying cards for the primary member instead of the sub-member.
   
  
• In the "Text Messaging - Everyone Registered for this event" option, the distribution list was showing a count of 0 even though people were registered for the event.
   
  
• For Aging-in-Place Villages, some of these problems appeared after all the recent changes:
  • The Automated Open Request option was not respecting the service provider categories (Active/Visible, Active/Invisible, Not Active).
  • Also for Automated Open Requests, the service provider name was not appearing in the confirmation email.
  • Undated service requests are now included in these emails.
  • Coordinators did not initially have access to the new Notes feature.
  • In Service Provider availability, there was a problem with the "Any Time" checkbox not updating its column of time slots correctly.
  • In the Service Provider Manager screen, the Metro Area filter was not working correctly.
  • Under Service Options, the "Staff to Notify" email address was not being saved.
  • Emailed service requests did not have the correct Reply address defined.
  • The Flag Past Requests option was generating an error message.
  • For a time, the VSS module was sending the incorrect confirmation email for transportation requests.
  • The Service Provider profile was not showing the Birthday field for village members.
  • There was a problem in the Service Request Reminder email to the requesting member - some of the data fields were not appearing in the body of the email.
  
  
• Business Membership codes were not being generated for users renewing as a business member who were not previously that member type. Also, business membership codes will now be unique across all organizations running on the ClubExpress platform.
   
  
• In the Discussion Forums module, when forums are visible on the public side of the website (always in read-only mode), non-members were not able to click on message attachments to view them.
   
  
• For multi-tier organizations using the Event Calendar module, custom calendars that blocked a list fo subgroups were not displaying events from the top-level organization.
   
  
• There was an obscure problem on the Pending Payment page with validating Canadian postal codes for non-member charges.
   
  
• When a Volunteering opportunity that is active and published is linked to an event, the Volunteer button should show up immediately on the event’s registration screen. Conversely, if the volunteering opportunity is no longer linked to an event (and the event has no other linked (active and published) opportunities), the Volunteer button should immediately disappear from the event’s registration screen. This was not happening.
   
  
• In the Resource Scheduling module, when using the arrows or calendar to navigate by months, navigating to the current month displayed all days in the month, but days in the past should not be available to make reservations. Also, when a Check-Out fails because of a time overlap, the error message was not including the description of the failed item, to allow the user to know which item to adjust.
   
  
• There was a problem with multi-tier clubs adding non-members to a committee.
   
  
• In the Classified Ads module, module coordinators were not able to adjust categories.
   
  
• In the Documents Library module, with lots of docs in a folder, clicking the title popped up an info box which may not be visible on the screen.
   
  
• There was a problem in the E-Learning module with completion certificates not populating with their variable information.
   
  
• When you edit or merge a non-member from the People Manager, we have to refresh the page to show the updated information. When this was done, we were always going back to page one of the search results. So if you were on page six and wanted to stay there, you had to navigate your way back to it. Now, the People Manager will remain on the same page when you edit or merge a non-member. Note that when you click the search button, you will always go to page one.
   
  
• When a member type was set to allow exactly one secondary member, the page where you select the sub-members would not let you add one and move on; it complained that you had to add one secondary member, even though you had already done so. This was not a problem for tertiary members.
   
  
• The "Add to my Calendar" option generates an ICS file. This file was not respecting local time zones on mobile devices.
   
  

Again, all of these problems have been fixed.

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