Making it Easier to Manage Calendar Entries

The “Quick Post” feature was designed to help make it easier to manage your website calendar. With the Quick Post feature, you or designated members can edit calendar entries right from the public Calendar page.

The first step to get this feature up and running is handled in Site Admin.

  • Go to Site Admin
  • Go to General Information
  • Click the heading to “Set option to allow members to post to calendar”
  • Click the “Change Calendar Posting Setting” link. You’ll get a dialog box in which you can choose how to handle this feature. I’d recommend using the “authorized members” option, otherwise any member can update the calendar, which could lead to chaos.
  • If you select the authorized member option and click the Set Calendar Posting Option button, you’ll get another dialog box in which you can select the members who will be able to use this feature.

Once you’ve completed the setup process, any authorized member can go to the public Calendar page to make changes.  Click on the edit icon next to the name of the item, and make changes. Notice the document icon that is circled in red. When that icon gets clicked the following dialog box will open. Just check the radio button for the Type of Event and fill in any blanks and your event will update on the page. This process works for adding a new event also when you click the Add New Entry to Calendar button that is located on the right side of the page just above the small navigation calendar.

Get the Most from Your Home Page Slide Show

About a year ago, we introduced the slide show feature for all of our Kiwanis web sites. This very cool feature lets your visitors sit back and watch while the pictures of your choosing fade in and out. Even if you’re using this feature, you might not be getting the most out of it. And, if you’re not sure what the Home Page slide show looks like in action, take a peek at the website for the Kiwanis Club of El Centro. [Read more...]

New Template Available

The appearance of your website is important not only to you, but also to site visitors. Visitors will immediately judge your club based on their initial visual impression. We encourage you to review your template periodically and, if you’d like a more modern appearance, contact us right away.

[Read more...]

Text Editor Feature – Adding a Link

Whether you’re sending an email or creating a news story for your web site, one of the things you can do to squeeze more information into your content without actually pasting in a huge amount of text is to use links. This post will cover how to add a link that can go to another web page, an uploaded document, or additional content on your site.

[Read more...]

New Kiwanis Year – Part 4 – Officers and Committees

The new Kiwanis year is in full swing. Have you updated your officers and committees to reflect the changes? This post covers three facets of handling officers and conmittees:

  • The difference between an office and an officer
  • How to set offices and officers as well as committee and Board members
  • Why member names don’t always show on the public pages

[Read more...]

Message Center Changes

The Message Center has undergone a few changes recently. The changes introduce a new, more efficient text editor and make it easier for members to find their most recent messages.

New Look

In Members Only, when you click the “Send Mail” button you now go to a new page that includes a link to the Message Center, a new help icon, and two message listings. Those listings look back two weeks and display up to five of the most recent messages sent to you and sent by you.

Message Sending Basics

To send a message, you must include a subject, your name, and your email address. When you exit a field, a green check mark will appear that indicates the field has been completed.

You’ll also need to select recipients and the list includes all of the current members. Check the names of the members that should be included in your message.

Messages will include a personalized salutation that includes the member’s first name. If you don’t want this salutation, click the Personalize Message button and uncheck the option.

Text Editor Features

Here are the top four features/changes in the text editor.

  1. Paste text from an external document into the text editor using the Paste from Word icon.
  2. Embed an image in your message by using the Image icon in the text editor icons.
  3. Add a link by using the Link icon.
  4. Spell checking is automatic

Pasting Text

The text editor allows you to paste text from external sources.  You should never paste in text that includes images, however, because that will cause your message sending to fail since the pasted-in text will be referring to an image that is on your computer, not the server. Pasted-in text should be just that, text only. Note that when pasting in text that has been formatted, you may also lose your formatting, so we recommend styling your text in the text editor, not on your desktop.

Embedding Images

Members may embed any image that is already on the server in an email by clicking the Image icon and then clicking Browse Server button. All images in the web site folder for images are available for use. In the future, we anticipate adding the ability to upload images to be included in the email.

Adding a Link

Links are added in a quick, four-step process.

  • Type your text or select an embedded image
  • Click the Link icon
  • Type or paste in the full URL
  • Click OK

Spell checking

The text editor will automatically check your spelling as you type.  Misspelled words will be underlined with a red line. Right click on the word to see a list of suggestions. Select the correctly spelled word from the list and the misspelled word will be replaced in the text.

New Kiwanis Year – Part 3 – Newsletters

If you’re not adding newsletters to your site, now is a great time to start. The process to add them is simple and there is a way to make access to those newsletters really obvious.

[Read more...]

New Kiwanis Year – Part 2 – The Calendar

Your calendar provides site visitors with a wealth of information about your club. Who are your speakers? When do you meet? Is this an active club? This post explores how to get the most out of your calendar.

[Read more...]

New Kiwanis Year – Updating Your Site – Part 1

When the new Kiwanis year begins, will your site be ready? This is the first in an annual series of posts intended to help webmasters get their sites ready for the new year. Let’s start by looking at your Home page. [Read more...]

Introducing the Scratch Pad – a new feature

Have you ever had a moment when you’ve wished you could find the note you made about how to do something on your website? Personal notes are a great resource for helping us remember—in our own terminology—how we did something. That problem is now solved. Say hello to the Scratch Pad.
[Read more...]