We are happy to announce a new update to VolunteerMatters!

The November 2016 VolunteerMatters software release includes major system updates, including various dashboards, email notifications, new staffing designations, etc..

These updates will change some of the system interface and layouts, so I would recommend reviewing the solutions linked in the details below.  While there is no "training" required, the solutions will greatly assist you in understanding the changes and how to utilize them most effectively.  There is nothing you need to do to receive these improvements and they are all included.

On Friday (11/11) there will be a number of system improvements including the following highlights:

General

• Contact Dashboard
• Administrator Email Notifications (Contacts/Credentials)
• New Contact Fields/Filter Items : Site User Active, Site User Created On, Created On
• Profile Images in Contact list views and Contact Chooser. 

Credentials

• Credential Dashboard
• Credential Conflicts List (Overall)
• Credential Conflicts List (Per Project)
• Credential Conflicts List (Need Assignments)
  
  

Projects

• Project Dashboard
• Project List Updates - Manage Button, Fully Mobile Responsive, Project Name Clickable
• Project Need Staffing Designations/Filters - Fully Staffed, Minimally Staffed, and Under Staffed
• Project Geolocation Button
• Per Project Organizer Email Notifications
• Project Assignments Email Button Highlighted

 

The following video also goes over the release and all of the feature details listed below:

 

Details:

Contact Dashboard 

With this update, the system will include a "Contact Dashboard" for administrators to provide a high level view of the contacts in their system.   The available summary information panels are:

• Contact Status Counts
• Contacts Created Since
• Site Users Created Since
• Contacts By Desired Branch

To access the dashboard, log into VolunteerMatters with administrator access, click on "Contacts" in the site menu, and then click on the "Dashboard" button () at the top of the screen.

Note: Items with values greater than zero will feature the ability to click through to the contact list with an automatically created "Advanced Filter" to match the summary information.

 

Administrator Email Notifications (Contacts/Credentials)

With this update, the system will allow an administrator to configure whether they wish to receive daily or weekly email notifications on contact or credential information.  The notifications will be summaries similar to their respective dashboards and link back to those dashboards in the system.

For more information on configuring these notifications for your account click here. 

Note: If the administrator signs up for both the Contact and Credential notifications they will appear in a single email. 

New Contact Fields/Filter Items : Site User Active, Site User Created On, Created On

With this update, the system now includes three new built-in special contact fields:

 

• Site User Active - Values: True, False, or Empty.  Empty means there is no site user.  So this contact did not register themselves and was added either manually or via import.
• Site User Created On - 
• Created On - 

 

These fields can be very useful in dealing with new registrations and manually created contacts.  For example if you add a set of contacts manually "today" and wish to now utilize the "Contact Portal Invitations" to have them come register in the system, you could create a list view or "advanced filter" that utilizes the following filter criteria:

-Contact Created is on or after today and is before tomorrow
-Site User Active is empty

For more information on managing list views click here. 

Profile Images in Contact list views and Contact Chooser

With this update, if "Profile Photo" is included in either a "Contact List View" or the "Contact Chooser" it will display a thumbnail version of the image on the contact's profile (if exists).

 

Credential Dashboard

With this update, the system will include a "Credential Dashboard" for administrators to provide a high level view of the credentials in their system.   The available summary information panels are:

• Credential Status Counts
• Credential Status Change Counts (Past 30 Days)
• Expiring Credentials (Next 30 Days)
• Assignments With Invalid Credentials (Next 30 Days)
• Needs With Invalid Credentials (also includes link to the overall "Credential Conflicts" list)

To access the dashboard, log into VolunteerMatters with administrator access, click on "Credentials" in the site menu.  The dashboard now is the default page for the "Credentials" site menu item.  The previous default page is now available via the "Volunteer Credentials" button ().  To return at anytime to the dashboard from the "Credentials" section, click on the "Dashboard" button () at the top of the screen.

Note: Most items with values greater than zero will feature the ability to click through to the "Volunteer Credentials" page with a filter in place to match the summary information or a need's "Assignment" page depending on the panel you click from.

 

Credential Conflicts List (Overall)

In addition to the "Credential Dashboard", a "Credential Conflicts" page is now available which will give the administrator a high level view on all assignments in which there is a credential conflict (missing or not approved credentials).  

Prior to this, you had to manually go to each project and run the credential conflicts report to see that information and it was only for that one project.   Now an administrator can view across all projects at one time and make sure to follow up on those conflicts prior to needs beginning.

To access the "Credential Conflicts" list, log into VolunteerMatters with administrator access, click on "Credentials" in the site menu.  Then click on the "Credential Conflicts" button () on the top of the screen. 

 

Credential Conflicts List (Per Project)

Similar to the overall "Credential Conflicts" list page, this is also available on the per project level for Organizers. This is replacing the "Credential Conflict Report". 

To access the per project "Credential Conflicts" list, log into VolunteerMatters with administrator or organizer access, click on "Projects" in the site menu.  Then click on the "Manage" button () next to the project you wish to review.  NOTE: An organizer must be assigned to a project to be able to manage it. 

This will take you to the "Project Dashboard".  From here there is a second "Manage" button with a drop-down where  you will select "Credential Conflicts".  This will feature all the credential conflicts (missing or not-approved) for all upcoming shift, tasks, and items that have not started or positions that have not ended.

 

Credential Conflicts List (Need Assignments)

Along with the two previous "Credential Conflict" lists, there is now a quick view of credential conflicts on a need's assignment page.  If there are no conflicts on any of assignments this panel will not display.

 

Project Dashboard

With this update, the system will include a "Project Dashboard" for administrators and organizers to provide a high level view of each of the projects in their system.   The available summary information panels are:

• Project Information
• Project Impact (replaces the previous per project impact report via reports drop-down)
• Project Staffing (Next 30 Days)
• Needs With Invalid Credentials
• Recent Assignments (Past 7 Days)
• Email Notification (if you are an Organizer on Project)

To access a project's dashboard, log into VolunteerMatters with administrator or organizer access, click on "Projects" in the site menu.  Then click on the "Manage" button () next to the project you wish to review.  An organizer must be assigned to a project to be able to manage it.

This will take you to the "Project Dashboard".  To return at anytime to the dashboard from the project's different administrative pages (setup, assign, credential conflicts, reports, etc.), click on the "Dashboard" button () at the top of the screen.

Note: Some dashboard panel items will feature the ability to click through to the different project assignment pages and to manage specific need's assignments. The "Staffing" buttons will take you to the assignments list with an automatically created "Search" filter matching the button selected.

 

Project List/Management Updates

With this update, there were some major changes to project area navigation buttons.  Previously on the "Project List" there were the "Setup", "Assign", and "Invite" buttons.  Those have been replaced by a single "Manage" button () that will take you to each project's dashboard.

The "Project List" is now fully mobile responsive for access on all types of devices, where you can toggle project details by a click of a button.

In addition to that, the project name is also now "Clickable" in the "Project List" and will bring you to the dashboard.

 

On the dashboard itself, the "Setup", "Assign", and "Invite" buttons have been consolidated under a single project level "Manage" button.  This also includes a link to the per-project "Credential Conflict" list. 

 

Project Need Staffing Designations/Filters

With this update there are new tags on project need assignments to make it easier on the administrator or organizer to see at a glance the status of their needs assignments.  The new designations are:

• Fully Staffed - The number of assignees on the need is equal to or above the "Maximum Required" number of volunteers configured on the need.
• Minimally Staffed - The number of assignees on the need is equal to or above the "Minimum Required" number of volunteers but below the "Maximum Required" number of volunteers configured on the need.
• Under Staffed- The number of assignees on the need is less than the "Minimum Required" number of volunteers configured on the need.

These are available via the panel quick links on the "Project Dashboard"

and via the "Project Assignments" page as searchable fields:

The "Staffing" buttons on the "Project Dashboard" will take you to the assignments list with an automatically populated "Search" box filter on all needs matching the button clicked.  To remove the filter just delete it from the "Search" box on a particular need.

 

 

Per Project Organizer Email Notifications

With this update, the system will allow an organizer on a project to configure whether they wish to receive daily or weekly email notifications on project information.  The notifications will be summaries similar to the "Project Dashboard" and link back to the actual dashboard in the system.

For more information on configuring these notifications for your account click here. 

 

Project Geolocation Button

With this update, a project configured with Personal Kiosk Geolocation, will now display a "Geolocation" button on the "Project Dashboard".   

This will allow administrators and organizers to test Geolocation when at a project site.   Via a modal popup, it will tell the administrator/organizer how far they are at their current location from the project's configured location address.  This will assist them with configuring the "Kiosk Geolocation Range (m)" in the project setup and to troubleshoot sign-in issues.

 

Project Assignments Email Button Highlighted

With this update, the existing email assignments button has been highlighted to make it more visible.

For more information on this functionality click here. 

 

Impact:

While the addition of these dashboards will make high level administration easier, there is no major impact on your daily use of other VolunteerMatters functions because of the them.

The project navigation modifications and addition of the credential conflicts list has altered some of the system interface and layouts, so we would recommend reviewing the solutions linked in the details above.

 

Additional Resources:

For more information on your VolunteerMatters system, please view the following videos and solutions:

Training Videos: http://ymcasupport.volunteermatters.com/hc/en-us/articles/219863468-Online-Training-Videos

VolunteerMatters Solutions: http://ymcasupport.volunteermatters.com/hc/en-us/categories/202855648-Using-VolunteerMatters

 

Bug Fixes:

This update will also include fixes to some known issues.  These include:

• Update to "phone flag" coding to remove mixed content security message.
• Update to login page to prevent timeout error. 
• Update to project positions setup display to correct inability to view/use 'edit' icon in certain browser widths.
• Inactive "incomplete" credentials will be ignored on login. 
• Invalid VolunteerMatters system URLs will result in descriptive error page.