Hi folks,
The communications for Groupanizer right now is all over the map because it was built from so many small pieces, and a lot of other people's modules. So it's too complicated and it needs to be much simpler. Here's a mockup of how we envision the communications setup screen.
Please note a few things:
- Mailing lists will merge with forums, which is cool because the forum interface is a LOT better than the current mailing list log.
- Mail will get delivered as soon as it comes in (or gets posted through the site) so no more delays and mail process failures.
- You'll be able to add your own forwards, to save and/or send email as soon as it comes in.
- You will be able to send to a person, a role, a subgroup, a section OR a mailing list (mailing lists will become a way of aggregating more than one group, and it's a feature we might not bother with at all to start.
What do you think so far? Can I make this screen any more obvious?
I like the idea a lot and it looks like it might handle the issue I am going ask about all ready
Is the "New Forums Topics" block that can be displayed on the dashboard smart enough to not display posts that a member doesn't have permission to see?
If the "New Forums Topics" block displays posts from forums that a member doesn't have the rights to see, it will be a problem. We don't want the general membership to be able to see email messages that are sent only to the Board.
As long as the "New Forums Topics" block only displays things that a member has permission to see, it will be perfect.
Ian Harrop
Western Hospitality Singers www.sing4fun.ca
Alberta Sport Parachuting Association www.aspa.ca
ian.harrop@live.com
I like this a lot. I always thought the Forums was a good idea that wasn't ever utilised as the guys didn't know it was there.
Ian - I was wondering about permissions myself.
I'd love to see only the mailing lists that a member had access to available to them, so that they can't post to or see others that they are not allowed to post to. Also, only people who are in the list should be able to see the message history (is this level of security possible in the forums?) I would hate to think that potentially confidential discussions about members was available outside of the Music Team/Management Teams of the chorus.
Eg, if I set my contact group mailing lists to only be sent to by people with a specific role (eg, PR), then nobody else should know they exist (so that they can't post to them "unofficially")
Only an "admin" role should be able to see all the mailing lists and diagnose issues with them.
Tom - is this possible?
Also, can we add some sort of alert to the dashboard to show new bounced messages, so that we sort them out immediately? Again, only available to Site Admin.
Antony Currington
Musical Director :: Harbour Capital Chorus
Email :: acurrington@paradise.net.nz
Wellington, New Zealand
That's one immediate benefit - Forum Topics are nodes, and the Forum Permissions module can lock them down by role. So when people go to the forums, they will only see the ones they are supposed to see. That was one of the big mistakes we made when designing the mailing lists originally - they are not nodes!
Notice the line in the mockup that says send to [users who can view]. That delegates the forum membership to the permission system, so it will always match. Technically it would be possible to configure a forum so that it sends stuff to people who can't see the forum on the web, BUT most groups (upwards of 95%) don't have their forums locked down anyway, and the ones who do will be able to set the permissions correctly.
Permission to post will be checked when the email comes in, so there's no back-door. It will be the same permissions as on the web site.
There will be a bounces tab on the communications setup screen, but I could also create a dashboard notification for admins.
T
Hi Tom,
Just checking on the status of this, as I would be interested in simplifying our communications within the chorus. One concern is how to handle optional lists - our general discussions list is optional and our announcement list is mandatory for all singing members. Can individuals choose which lists/forums they will get email from? We want to make sure that members see the announcements and they not get lost in a sea of general discussion.
Brett McHargue
London Gay Men's Chorus
System Administrator
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Brett McHargue
London Gay Men's Chorus
Web Administrator
In the new communications module, would it be possible for a member to be able to get email from the list but not to be able to post to it?
Carole Bergerson
Groupanizer Mistress
Alaska Sound Celebration
cbergerson@gmail.com
Any word on when the new email system is coming out? My email hosting plan expires soon and I don't want to renew it for another year if it won't be needed.
Tom Nisbet
Webmaster - Heart of Maryland Chorus
www.HeartOfMaryland.org
tom27@HeartOfMaryland.org
I would be nice to be able to Moderate members on occasion.. If there could be a selection to moderate a particular member, so that their emails and theirs alone would not be sent to the group until someone approved and released it.
Carole Bergerson
Groupanizer Mistress
Alaska Sound Celebration
cbergerson@gmail.com
I've got the new email system installed to test (not live with my guys just yet), but for me there was a couple of bugs in it that Tom didn't see before, and I made one enhancement suggestion to Tom, which he's working his way through right now. I expect that once he's free of his international jet-setting lifestyle , he'll be all over it and want to get it out.
Antony Currington
Musical Director :: Harbour Capital Chorus
Email :: acurrington@paradise.net.nz
Wellington, New Zealand