[GMDC_Tech] Fwd: Tech Zoom!

Wed Jan 18 00:42:37 UTC 2023

All,
 It is once again time for our Tech Zoom this Thursday....

Lat month Cheryl and I had a great discussion, but we were a bit lonely - I"d like to try to run the things by everyone - 
we covered:
Domain names
mailboxes
payment processors
forms porcessors
hosting comparisons

We still need clarity on the requirements fo rmember sharing - Elizabeth!  Ideas / samples / any thoughts sp ewe can decide what we need to support this feature.

I will include below the previous email texts that address this stuff in more depth:

Hope to see you Thirsday 7PM 
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84007212454?pwd=NkVRekFDdTMvbjRvanJMa1JDM3lIdz09

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 * Requirements?
   * Payment accepting
   * member interaction
   * member management
   * even mamagement
 * Platform?
   * I've attached a spreadsheet with platform comparisons.  We can begin this fun discussion using that as a base.  There are some examples embedded i the spreadsheet.  It is .ods but excel will open it.
 * Identity?
   * We are now http://greenmountaindogclub.com
   * We could also be things like:
     * http://gmdc.info
     * http://gmdogclub.org
     * gmdogclub.net
       * You get the idea - in case we don't like typing.  we can be all of these things, actually, except the ones that are already taken
That should be a solid hour :).  
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

some thoughts on functionality--- (some providers are better at some of these than others.  why we need to prioritize)
+++++
On Line Payments (AKA, throw money at Cheryl)
There are 2 basic methods of taking payments.  Donation / subscription / registration monies are typically collected via forms processing (Click the choices on a page, enter payment info, submit).  The selling of items typically happens via "e-commerce" aka a shopping cart.  Of course you can make either method do either type of transaction, but for what we do I think we are looking at forms processing for payments

  Virtually all platforms support PayPal payments (2.99% + .49 cents per transaction, 2.59% without chargeback protection), some (ok, most) charge a service fee on top of the paypal fees unless you have a build-and-host-it-yourself site.
  The platforms geared toward smaller club / member orgs typically have a preferred payment partner; if you use their preferred payment system they do not charge a service fee.  eg:  Wild Apricot uses AffiniPay, (2.9% + .30 per xact), Club Express has a built-in payment system (2.99%+.20 per xact), JotForm supports most processors and does not charge an additilonal fee beyond whatever the processor fees are, CoffeeCup supports most gateways and does not charge an additional fee.  It is unclear if Wordpress or Wix charge transaction service fees , and Square Space does not offer pricing information of any kind.

So, the best plan may be to not choose a merchant account until we have chosen a platform
+++++
Member Engagement - Club Express and WIld Apricot are two examples of platforms that are geared toward small membership organizations.  They include features such private member areas.  Members can create a profile and choose what info to share with other members, there can be private file sharing, blogs and forums.  This is Elizabeth's main area - I am not clear what features you are actually looking for .  I know you have put some time into making a private Facebook Group.  Can you open this up - if only to the committee?  Maybe that will give an idea of what you are trying to put together?  I'm not clear if features like the forums and/or blogs would be helpful to you

+++++
eMail Templating This is the pretty announcement emails we could use for general membership emails.  
Templates can be available for the monthly meeting announcements, event announcements, reports, etc.  Cheryl - most of these platforms offer automatic invoicing, etc for member renewals - a template can be set that knows when to send the invoice, when to nudge if no response, when to expire the  member if no payment, etc.  
Event announcements can have a 'click to register' link to an rsvp form with options and pricing if it is not free

++++++
Mailboxes
Sadly, most of the platforms I mentioned herein do NOT provide mailboxes.  
I do support the use of responsibility accounts (ie, "Treasurer at Greenmountaindogclub.com" etc so that the function is not closely linked with an individual; also the mailbox itself can be a repository for the communications and documents generated by that role and can pass from person to person when the responsibility changes.
There are any number of ways around this.  I have sent this email from the address WebTech at greenmountaindogclub.org - this is an alias that transparently forwards & sends mail to/from me .  We can do this right now BUT - there is no standalone mailbox for an alias, and your cient has to support using an alias as a send identity.  Some popular clients are really restrictive in this regard (lookin' at you, Outlook), and many people get frustrated trying to get this properly configured.  So I don't think this is a great option.  We can purchase hosting at cleverdot (where we have registered the domain) at a very reasonable cost and this will support literally hundreds of mailboxes.  The site itself may or may not be hosted there (it is now on Weebly, I have a redirect at the Cleverdot nameservers; we can direct the domain anywhere we want)

I have created a few sample mailboxes for you to try at my domain (this is what we would get in the above scenario)
To try one or more out go to https://webmail.jpivovar.net/  and enter one of the email addresses below.
GMDC_Delegate at jpivovar.net  
GMDC_Treasurer at jpivovar.net
GMDC_Secretary at jpivovar.net
GMDC_Veep at jpivovar.net

The password for each is   2BEaDog4All

++++++ Other things ++++++
Newsletter opt-in, donation link, photo galleries, event calendars, event management, even a 'meetup' facility for ad-hoc member gatherings / training / etc are all available to some extent in many platforms.  Online site management that allows multiple admins with individualized access is a great feature for an org that is basically virtual and geographically separated.

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