Contributed by Patti Sperry
Andar Service Pack 2011.01 is here!!
Andar Service Pack 2011.01 was released by Helix at the end of January. The newest release has been installed on a few of the Upic cities to be reviewed and tested out. Upic Business Analyst’s reviewed over 60 pages of enhancements for Andar core and eCommunity .
After thorough review, Upic Business Analysts have selected their Tops in the List
Andar 2011.01 Enhancements
Connector Enhancements—all Business Analysts commented on the connector enhancements that includes that one can no import Do Not Contacts and MIG users can import opt in and opt out flags. The upload screen for the connector has visually changed and has split the location and file name into two lines. The import fields no longer need to be case sensitive. And for UW’s that are using the change log features, connector changes will now be documented in the change log in the same manner as manual changes.
Community Impact Enhancements – Most enhancements to Community Impact have been impacted by Upic UW’s and as such the Business Analyst’s associated with these UW’s were pleased with the ability to have a short and long CB packages report along with the ability to sort columns in the allocation worksheet.
Bio Tab and Dashboard Enhancements – Customized Bio Tabs and Dashboards have been the lifesaver for many UW’s and my favorite in this enhancement package is the ability to add “Communications Quick Add”, making adding a communications to an account a one-step process. Additionally, the ability to have maintenance lists to bring in any item from the Bio tabs allows the enduser to keep track of their accounts all in one place. With the newest service pack, MIG users have the ability to select different broadcast channels to view their accounts which allows different rule sets for changes to their Bio and Dashboard screens.
Processing/Designation Enhancements – The addition of a new menu item – Donor Choice Management>DC Administration>Move designations will allow users to move an agency/program from one federation to another without removing the designations. Listed as a processing option but important for anyone adding new individuals to the database is the addition of fields on the “add individual” screen which include two emails and birthdate from the attribute tab. Processors will also be warned if they add a Corporate pledge to the envelope face for an account that has an existing Corporate pledge.
Datamining (DMO) Enhancements – Datamining queries have been somewhat limited in the past, new additions of the ability to mass assign techniques through a DMO and selection of General Relationships from either the parent or subsidiary were top contenders by the Upic Staff. One of my favorites is the ability to extract the employer’s structure node when extracting employees which was formerly not available. Along with these enhancements the ability to clean-up warehouses associate with datamining operations or manual can now be deleted in mass by using the Shift and Control keys.
MIG – The MIG module will now be able to handle corporate gifts thru Donor Advised Funds and will be able to soft credit the organization. MIG has a new item for ranking called Loyalty. Loyalty is a customizable calculation of other ranking summaries which itself is then added to ranking summaries. Receipts and Thanks You letters will now have the capability of being sent via email in a pdf format. This same pdf document can be attached as a communication on the donors account.
Other – Jan Atterson likes the new shortcut keys of “Y” for yesterday and “T” for today wherever dates need to be added. Debbie Jacob likes the ability that the Transaction Register Report will now allow the Comments field to be shown and the ability for the Acknowledgement to Agency Report to be emailed to a contact at the agency. And both agree that the new account preferences under the attributes tab>preferences for name and salutation will be a benefit to all users.
To find out more information on these and other enhancements register to attend a webinar on Tuesday, February 22 at 3 pm or Wednesday, February 23 at 9 am at https://upic.webex.com
Andar 2011.01 eCommunity Enhancements
eCommunity Community Impact Enhancements– Agencies will no longer have to worry when they cut and paste from a Word Document into Andar text boxes, the information will convert directly to text and remove unnecessary html coding. A new system option under Community Impact has been incorporated to disable the text field in outcomes. The Demographics report will now allow all demographics for one year to be brought in on one report. CB Packages can now have the Document upload. CB Packages cutoff date can be overridden on the agency/program account. There is a new web option to hide or disallow the copy option from each CB Web Page. And most of the “bugs” related to CB have been fixed in this service pack.
eCommunity Security Enhancements– The enhancement of web security is a major plus for this service pack. Event registration will require the user to correctly type in a matching password. There is a new web option “General, User ID Autocomplete Off” and “General Password Autocomplete Off. (NOT RECOMMENDED) but will allow web browsers to autocomplete the information on the ePledge login screen. Additional security is associated with User IDs and Passwords on the System Preferences. It is highly recommended that each UW reviews their system set-up of User IDs and Passwords after the installation of the newest service pack.
eCommunity eMails Enhancements– There are a few new variable for campaign registration – Campaign Registration Pledge Types and Campaign Registration Pay Periods.
iAttend Enhancements – A new web option for event registration is send Confirmation e-Mail Default and Send Each Attendee a Confirmation eMail Default. These emails will now have additional variables including Event User Defined and Attend User Defined fields.
eCommunity General Enhancements – Many of the hardcoded texts used in ePledge, Community Impact and Volunteer can now be changed with specific web notes. This also includes setting preferences for addresses and emails. There are numerous projects on this and more information can be found in the documentation.
ePledge replication page currently has three options (exact replicate, increase by percent and no replicate). An additional option – increase by amount has been added with additional web notes. By default, all four options are turned on for the tailoring account.
Single Page Registration and Pledge will now allow attaching multiple miscellaneous web envelopes at time. This will allow UW’s to solicit for different campaigns along with differentiating the “buckets” that these dollars are generated for. Along with this there will be web options to show a list of radio buttons for pledge amounts on the Single Registration and Pledge page. The user can select the amount instead of keying it in.
Helix has provided a Generic Look & Feel definition that is very similar to the Live United with Area fields without Live United graphics. Users will now be able to apply a Generic Look & Feel to their epledge site. This Look & Feel provides a blank webpage with several empty areas surrounding the content body. The content of these areas can be customized through the Look & Feel definitions. United Ways where Upic Solutions provides their ePledge support will have a default ePledge site set-up prior to May 1st but may consider this new option prior to that time.
Helix has provided many enhancements and bug fixes in the 2011.01 service pack. Many of which are not included in this synopsis. Please note that Security Administrators should review that attached Security Matrix prior to service pack installation. Upic Solutions will install the service pack on UW databases per request via the Kasaya ticketing system. It is highly recommended that each United Way have the service pack installed in a timely manner. And as always, Upic Solutions is available for questions regarding this service pack.