[Odb-help] Adding power to ODB: SURVEY BEGINS NOW !!

[odb-help at lists.democracygroups.org]

Dear ODB Users:

We are now ready to begin the ODB "new features" survey.
Sorry 'bout the delay, those end of year mailings are now done :)

The entire survey is real short... should take you 30 seconds
for all the questions except the last question (question 6).  The
guide to the last question is at the end of this email.

The link to the survey is:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=78582730018

Remember, this survey will affect the road map for future
development of ODB. You have FIVE days to finish this, so
please respond by the end of the day on TUESDAY 12/'6.

Thank you,

-Rich Cowan
 for the ODB Development Team




**** ODB survey, December 2004.  Options for question 6...
      please do not email this unless you can't use the web form ****

1. Web Form Integration.

Many nonprofits are adopting content management (CMS) systems to
handle their web sites.  Some of the CMS systems like Drupal or Plone
or Mambo (or even raw PHP) make it easy to set up forms on your web
site for user signups.  Proposed: Add to ODB the capability to more
easily retrieve data that your web visitors submit into the CMS.

2. Email Now integration.

The Groundspring "Email Now" feature makes it pretty easy to send
mass emails that include the recipients first and last name if you put
your list into the proper format.  ODB does not yet generate a list of
emails in this format.  Proposed:  Add to ODB the capability to directly
generate email lists that tap the full power of EmailNow using the "copy
emails" button.

3. Donate Now integration.

The Groundspring "Donate Now" service has the capability (though
it is not always used) to include a "key" in the donation link to indicate
the page that a donation comes from, as well as the ID of a donor. 
Proposed:  Add to ODB the capability to include the donor ID in data
exports for mass email.  Also extend ODB's capabilities when importing
Groundspring donations to recognize a donor ID, so as to
automatically match up an online donation with the correct donor.

4. Tracking Code export.

ODB can now import tracking codes, but it can be difficult to easily
export them.  Proposed: We could extend the export features of ODB
to make it easier to export SRC, Activity, Issue, Constituency codes.

5. Email List Integration.

Third party services for managing email lists can make it much easier for
your constituents to go to a single web page and modify which emails
they receive.  However, when you enter someone's sign up form in ODB,
there is no way to easily update their email list preferences.  Proposed:
that OC investigate an email list vendor and figure out a way to allow

6.  Smart Event Codes.

ODB can be used to track event attendance, using the Activity or
SRC codes.  However, these codes do not let you keep track of
a person's overall status, i.e. whether they have expressed interest,
whether they registered, whether they have paid, and whether they
came.  Proposed:  Extend event codes to offer multiple checkboxes
per code to do with 1 event code what used to require four separate
SRC codes.

7. More Hooks for External Reports

It is possible to have an external software program directly access
the ODB tables for reporting purposes.  Proposed: we implement a
starter group of reports and setup instructions for accessing ODB data
using external software such as Access, PHP, or Open Office.

8. Option: Enter Street Address in One Field (as opposed to street
num and street name)

This feature would eliminate the need to press the tab key after
entering the street number of an address.  ODB would then
automatically detect if the address needs to be broken in a
street number and street name component, and ask the user
if there is a question.
 
 9. Sync with Palm Pilot or PDA         
 
Would allow ODB databases to be more easily updated based
on data entered into a PDA (portable digital assistant).

10.  Sync w/central office (Merge When Importing Duplicates)         
 
Would allow chapters of a national, statewide, or county wide
organization to more easily upload and merge their data into a
"master" database kept at headquarters.

11.  Ability to Save Dated Notes on Contacts          

Would allow a fundraising professional or organizer to enter
a separate comment for a conversation on a given date.  Would
also allow you to specify dates to get a reminder when you need
to contact the person again.
 
12. Easier Way to Exclude Records During Search         

A way to make it easier for you to choose people who do NOT
have a certain tracking code (without having to enter a custom
search). 
 
13. Ability to Handle Very Long Addresses 

Currently ODB's addresses are limited to 4 lines and 40
characters per line.  This is good for small mailing labels, but
some groups would like to be able to have more space, or the
ability to include an additional address line.