Planned Upgrades

The following upgrades are planned for this site:

NOTE: With the June 2012 Release of Platform 2.0, this page is no longer being maintained. Some of these items will be included in the Platform 2.0 upgrade. Once 2.0 is launched, we will come back and update this page.

These numbered upgrades(enhancements) are listed nearly in priority order. Some may be worked on simultaneously and as such, the first one listed may not be finished first if a shorter, second or third listing actually gets completed first. Upon completion, items are moved to "Release Notes."

Enhancements Currently Being Worked On:

Membership Module: A feature rich integrated system to aid in the management of members of your organization, group or network. Will include ability to communicate via email, collect fees, manage types and allow end-users to select their communication preferences. (March 2010, 25 hours)
Roommate Finder: This will allow attendees to help find a roommate. Options will allow for rooms not to be released until the room is filled. Privacy will be maintained and attendees will be able to choose how much information they want to reveal about themself. (April 2010, 25 hrs)
Enhanced Payment Processing: MasterCard & Visa have new requirements related to partial payments for gift cards and some other issues. This upgrade will bring us into compliance prior to the June 30th deadline. (June 2010, 10 hours)
Acknowledgement Page: After an initial attendee is entered into the system a page will pop-up that will have various checkmarks that will be used to acknowledge that they understand things like cancellation fees, photo-release, liability, housing payments, pay later implications, etc. If they don't agree, they can't go on. (May 2010, 15 hours).
Site Archiver: Automate the process of archiving at the site level. Does some basic error checking, requires Service Fee and Data Validation be run first, updates summary table and finally sets the event status to 8. (Summer 2010, 10 hrs)
Statistical Summary: Create a separate table that stores historical statistical data for each event. Keeps critical info like attendee count (1,2,3 months out), payment types & methods... basically items that show up on service fee invoice. (Summer 2010, 5 hours)
Support Ticket System: This will create a support ticket when the "contact" button is used on end-user site, or the "contact" button in the Knowledge Center. These tickets will then be tracked and monitored from within the admin system. Email notifications will go out but admins will actually log into the system to respond and as such messages will be tracked. I can make use of RNT work I already did. (Summer 2010, 25 hrs)
Classroom Manager: This is for sign-up to specific classes. It will manage descriptions, class size, wait lists and other functions related to class selection (Summer 2010, 20 hrs)
PowerSearch: Give the ability to search key fields in multiple tables (attendee, fund, user, profile, sale) for a key word. This will allow you to find if a person's name has been entered wrong or you cannot find a particular account to which something is associated. (Summer 2010, 10 hrs)
Admin Create Room/Group Move: Have a master housing page graphically shows people in rooms and allows you to more easily move them from room to room. Also give option to create a room, etc. This will be most helpful for master billed/transfer billed sites. (Summer 2010, 7 hrs)
On-Site Instant Payment: Although nearly finished, this feature needs the existing record checking to be improved. If it finds an email match either as an attendee or in a profile, it needs to give specific options for actions to be taken. Needs enhancement so that automatically checks a person in (default to yes unless before conference). Also needs ability to send email if box is checked. (May 2010, 5 hrs) 95% done
Housing Admin Manager: Backend enhanced housing functions that allow exceeding capacity and so forth. Include ability to surpress errors. Allow admin to open a new room and then move people to/from that new room. (Summer 2010, 10 hrs)
SinglePage Form: This feature will create html-coding so that the entire registration page for a single user will appear on a single page. This coding can then be placed on any Web page, and doesn't have to be on an official eventCORE host. After posting, they will be taken back to a thank-you that you designate. (Summer 2009, 15 hrs)
Audio/Picture Files: Add "media & photos" as a file upload option with higher download limits that go into a /media subdirectory off of customs (parallel docouments). Then also a message i_msg that links to a download directory that lists those files with a forced download option. For pictures, use a photoImage script to display thumbnails of the photos. (Summer 2010, 5 hrs)
FAQ/Help Pages: Put the top ten questions on a FAQ page and then provide a link to the http://help.intre.org pages for other questions. Also then provide contact us link. (Summer 2010, 3 hrs)

Planned Enhancements Not-Yet-Scheduled:

The following unscheduled items will be moved up as others are completed. If you have a desired enhancement that is not on this list (or the quick fix list), you may request to have an enhancement moved up in priority or a new one added. Custom scripting and enhancement "bumping" (i.e. moving up in priority) can be done upon request for a price to be determined.

Archive Site Data: In an effort to enhance database speed and integrity, this feature will take old conference information and move it to an archive site. It can be retreived and reactivated if necessary, but will otherwise be stored off-line. (unscheduled, medium, 25 hrs)

Login Function: Separate out the Login Feature as a separate so that it can be used for special applications. Then also enhance the password recovery, failure messages, and so forth (unscheduled, high, 10 hrs)

Logo/Style Template: Create a means whereby a standard template can be choosen. It pulls in a logo and sets the style to match. (unscheduled, medium, 5 hrs)

Icon Based Help: Place the help icon at various strategic locations and have it bring up context sensitve help as you mouse over that icon. See: http://www.web-source.net/javascript.htm (mouse over green double underline words) or how help on http://help.intre.org works. This would work for both end-user and admin side. (unscheduled, high, 10 hrs)

Profile/Attend Rework: Fix so the profile/attendee options have higher control (i.e. separate control for phone numbers, church, work, major, school, etc.), have help mouse over for the fields, also required fields. Rethink required full profile fields (unscheduled, medium, 5 hrs)

Check Processing: Improve the instructions and manner in which checks should be submitted.

Date Stamping Changes: The site currenly only keeps track of the date of the last log-in, but the desire is to expand that beyond the user table. This will be helpful for archiving and mirroring purposes. (unscheduled, medium, 25 hrs)

Generic Data Dump: For use in the "Quick Reports" and other places. The ability to take what's on the screen or selected and turn it into an excel data dump. (Fall 2009, medium 20 hrs)

Mirrored Site: For additional security, a mirrored site will be created that will regularly transfer key data from one site to the other. (unscheduled, medium, 40 hrs)

Help Icons: Use a "help" (life saver ring) icon that would appear in key places both on admin and end-user side that when clicked will open up a context sensitive help box for that item. (unscheduled, medium, 30 hrs)

Admin Login Warnings: Keep track of the last time certain integrity features where run and if they haven't been run for a while, give a warning when an admin first logs in. May want to keep track of how often errors were found to help give insight into site stablility. Key thing here though is to help admins make sure that at least once a day they run the data validation check to make sure data is all valid. (unscheduled, medium, 20 hrs)

AdminBar System: Move away from the admin log in and instead go to a admin BAR system where it checks if you're an admin on that site and if you are, it puts a special 5 pixel bar just below the banner. Also then checks which functions you legally can perform on each site. Have it memorize your acceptable actions.

Table Editor: Using the Table Edit code, set up other places where you can edit the tables/records for a specific item. Also build in a new access feature that is for table editing. (unscheduled, medium, 10 hrs)

Room Type Choice Verified against Registration Choice: For events where people pay more for single/double or triple rooms, the system will automatically choose the room type based on their registration choice. Key feature is that the room type they choose will have to match the registration type that they have choosen. (unscheduled, medium, 10 hrs)

Budgeting Features: Will enable you to enter in your expenses so that you can see the balance sheet for an event. (unscheduled, medium, 10 hrs)

Profile Management: Do an overhaul of the profile management to better enhance the ability to manage profiles. (unscheduled, medium, 12 hrs)

View & Edit Travel Arrangements: This feature will enable you to view the travel arrangements and edit (with permission) the attendee record. (unscheduled, medium, 12 hrs)

Bulk Email Interface with EventMailer. There currently is a limitation of only being able to send a small number of bulk emails at once. This enhancement will enable you to send to your whole event at once. It will schedule the email to be sent in the background at a later, less busy time. (unscheduled, medium, 25 hrs)

Change Password/Resend Link: Ability for admin to update an users password. Also auto-create a link that people can use to log into an invoice. (unscheduled, medium, 5 hrs)

Retain Field Data for Error Return: After you enter data in a form, if you make a mistake, the script tells you of the error but then sends you back to the previous page without saving your data. This enhancement will make use of javascripting to store that data and do error checking prior to leaving the page. The Lausanne application page contains a model on how this is best done. (unscheduled, medium, 15 hrs)

Admin Access Sorting: Set up so that valid options only appear on correct screen and then also build into error checking so that miss-matched or invalid codes show up as errors. (unscheduled, low, 5 hrs)

Merchant Account Self Service: Allow the ability for an admin to enter in gateway login information (authorize.net/verisign, etc)directly without having to work thru the hostMaster. (unscheduled, low, 5 hrs)

Additional Merchant Accounts: Set up additional merchant account processing options. We currently have authorize.net, but we need to expand to others beginning with the "big six" and then go beyond. (unscheduled, medium, 20 hours)

Additional Data Recorded on Payment Gateway: Allow for additional fields to be transferred to the credit card gateway for processing. These would include customer numbers, departmental billing, phone address, etc. (unscheduled, low, 10 hours)

Nametag Changes and Corrections: Accessed from Access Options -> Attend -> Name Tag Listing. There is a "change" button to the left. This button will allow you to quickly fix the name tag field for attendees and then give you tools to help you export and print your name tags. (unscheduled, low, 5 hrs)

Required Fields: Allow admin to put required fields into the various forms so that a person cannot proceed unless certain fields are filled in. (unscheduled, low, 15 hrs)

Automated Data Validation: Give option or require that validation be run prior to these operations.
1) A refresh of the database, 2) before major mailings, 3) prior to the running of critical reports, 4) before billing, and 5) as a part of the archiving process. (unscheduled, 10 hrs)

Statistical Summary: Whenever a "quick summary" is run or at regular intervals and for sure when archiving, have it post current counts and statistics to a summary site.

Favorite Access Options: Administrators will be able to choose to put some of the more popular admin links at the top of their page. All others would then appear on a separate page. This simply helps organize the "access options" for an attendee. (unscheduled, low, 5 hrs)

Enhance Info Editor: Customize the html editor in the Info Message section to make it easier to link to other messages and to set it up. (unscheduled, low, 3 hrs)

Event Directory: A checkbox in the attendee listing that asks if their name should be published in the event directory. Gives option of via secure contact only, not at all or via published edition. (unscheduled, low, 10 hrs)

General Analytics Report: This will be an enhanced overview report that will allow some filters to be applied to better show statistics and comparisons. Will show percents filled out and so forth. (unscheduled, low, 10 hrs)

Post Registration Survey: Have a survey pop-up that would get some quick feedback about INTRE registration tool and the users experience. Purpose would be to improve tool. (unscheduled, low, 20 hrs)

Post-Conference Survey: This would be a module that an event could use at the completion of an event. Attendees would log back in to answer some general survey questions. (unscheduled, low, 20 hrs)

Enhanced Look: Work on adding some simple icons and logos in appropriate places.  (unscheduled, low, 5 hrs)

Enhanced Report Generator: Activate and use the report generator tool that would allow admins to create customized reports from their data. A part of this also includes improving the ability to select fields for the standard custom report tool as well. (unscheduled, low, 20 hrs)

MultiLanguage Site: Convert the site to work for multiple languages. (unscheduled, low, 150+ hours).

Datadump Enhancement: For datadump, have it total certain columns. (unscheduled, low, 10hrs)

Service Fee Invoice: Enhance the "service fee invoice" so that creditcard and other money fees only show up if in fact they are not self-processed. Maybe put them at the bottom. (unscheduled, low, 5 hrs)

StyleSheet Wizard: Uses a simply form to change the key colors by use of a form rather than editing the stylesheet. Also will allow updating of styles as well. (unscheduled, low, 10 hrs)

Childcare Module: Rework this to get it back up and running. (unscheduled, low, 5 hrs)

Test Mode: Instead of using ChloeDog and cloning for testing purposes, set up so "0" mode in site status so it saves user data to temporary files that are then deleted when we go live. That way style sheets, info pages, etc. do not have to be cloned over. This would require the creation of a "test" database to store that relevant info. (low, unscheduled, 25 hrs)

Redesign to Allow Liquid Screen Width: Rework to allow the site to work with multiple screen widths. Also allow for the top banner to change to a minimal size once logged in. (low, unscheduled, 25 hrs)