Category: Tendenci

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Picture this – pretty up your user profile

Want to put a face to a name?  Encourage your users to personalize their profiles on your site by uploading their photo.  This is a great way to ensure members can recognize each other at your next meeting or conference – no more staring at nametags all day!

It couldn’t be easier to upload an image to your profile:

  1. View your user profile
  2. Click the gray profile photo box (the one with the big question mark in it)
  3. Browse your computer for your image
  4. Click submit and voila – your profile just got friendlier!

Before:
Profile_pic_before

After:
Profile_pic_after

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Put a face with that name!

Photo_2 Did you know you can upload photos of your members to your site? Members (and admins) can view their profile and click the Upload your Picture! link.

Turn your members directory into a facebook! It’s easy and a great way for your members to get to know each other!!

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Do you have a category called “Category”?

Does your Search Articles page show a category called "Category" lumped in with your real categories? Do you have a "SubCategory" too??

Category_1

These were set up during the development process to populate your category lists. Now that you have real data on your site, you can get rid of these generic category labels.

Just go to your Site Variables listing for your site and find the one for Articles Category. Change the default name from "Category" to a basic category you currently use on your site, such as "Member News" or "Community Events". Do the same for Articles Subcategory.

Use this same process to get rid of the generic categories in Directories.

Not sure how to change your site variables? Contact Schipul at 281.497.6567 and anyone here can walk you through it!

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Emergency Prep Part 2: Volunteer coordination with Tendenci

Calendars_1
In the time of a crisis, helping hands are desparately needed in a variety of activities.  You can quickly and easily coordinate volunteer efforts via your Web site’s calendar while using a tool familar to your organization, which helps with participation levels.

After posting location and activity details on your Web calendar event (read this help file), you can put a cap on the number of volunteers accepted for each event – ensuring  that you never have to turn away extra volunteers and can re-direct their energies elsewhere.

Publicize your volunteer events with e-newsletters and refine your event listings and press releases with our built-in Search Engine Optimization tools.  Tendenci’s Content Management System also makes it a snap for you to add graphics and details to pre-existing pages on your Web site updating your community on your efforts and volunteer needs.

Want more?  Read about more Tendenci emergency preparation features in the Emergency Prep Part 1:  Emergency First Responders blog post.

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Hot Tip – Get fax happy with Tendenci

Save a few minutes of your day by using your Tendenci site to generate fax cover sheets for you.   Search for the sendee in your Web site’s membership database and click on the ‘Fax’ icon (see below) to get the process started.

Tendenci_fax_icon_1

From here you get an automatically generated fax sheet with editable fields for you to type in document page numbers, subject and notes — all with you and your contact’s information already filled in.  Just another little way that Tendenci makes your life easier…

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Emergency prep Part 1: Emergency First Responders

With the arrival of the 2006 hurricane season,  emergency preparedness is more important than ever.  Did you know that your Tendenci site has many built-in features to help you handle emergency situtations and communicate with your organization during a time of crisis?
 

Emergency_responder_4
Tendenci’s First Responder module allows you to send timely and effective emergency communications to the members who need it most by granting them priority communication status on your Web site.

The module allows site users to mark their specific training or skillsets, showing you what members can assist you in what ways (pilot, photography, fireman, etc.) should the need ever arise.  Choose what skills you need and send those members your press releases and alerts first!

Tendenci’s First Responder module helps you make every minute count in an emergency situation – and it’s all already built in to your Web site! 

Interested in learning more?  Read our help files on Tendenci’s First Responder system or give us a call at (281) 497.6567.

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Chat it up on your Web site

Gabbly
Did you know that you can incorporate chat boxes on your Web site without downloading or installing a single piece of software?

Using a free program like Gabbly, you can embed a chat window onto a CMS page on your Tendenci site and enjoy immediate communication with as many members or clients as you like.

This is a fantastic tool to use during a conference, meeting or brainstorming session.  Now having members in multiple physical locations doesn’t have to be such a headache.  Chat boxes are also a great way to collaborate online without even having to pick up the phone. 

Read our help file on adding chat sessions to your site here.

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Meet the Tendenci Programmers

I thought I’d take a minute and introduce the Tendenci programming team.  Oten y’all talk to us but don’t have an opportunity to meet us.  So here’s a picture and brief description of each of the team members!

EloyEloy Zuniga
Eloy is the newest member of our team.  He’s currently a student at U of H majoring in Computer Science.  Eloy originally joined Schipul as an intern on the Search Engine Marketing Team under the direction of Katie Thoreson.  We figured out that he has some programming skills and stole him.  His biggest contribution to the team to date is the mini calendar!

JennyGuiqin (Jenny) Qian
Jenny joined Schipul as a member of the Search Engine Marketing Team.  Sound familiar?  Only Jenny asked to join the programming team!  Since then, she has contributed a substantial amount in helping to advance the Tendenci software!  She is a whiz at regular expressions which has helped her use the Python scripting language to create a lot of the "behind the scenes" functionality of the Tendenci software.  You probably don’t see a lot of Jenny’s work, but trust me, you love it!  Jenny holds an MS in Computer Science from The University of Texas at San Antonio as well as an MS in Biological Science from Nanjing Agricultural University in China.

KathrynKathryn Ciaralli
Kathryn was not a member of the SEM team!  She was hired and placed directly on the programming team shortly after she graduated from U of H with a BS in MIS and a BS in Marketing.  Since joining the team, Kathryn has contributed way too many things to list.  The most recent of which are editable membership applications, Quickbooks export, and updates to the courses module to include course credits.  Kathryn is a big help to the sales team as well as everyone else in the office.  She will continue to contribute a great deal to the team if we can keep another Schipul team from stealing her!

MeJennifer Brooks
If the name’s not familiar, try Jennifer Ulmer.  I recently got married!  I joined Schipul 7 years ago after graduating from U of H with a BS in MIS.  I’ve been around since before Tendenci was created, back when we were doing things the hard way.  I’m amazed at the amount of growth the software, as well as the company, has achieved in the past few years!

So that’s the team!  Next time you talk to any of us, let us know you read the blog!

Thanks,
J