Over the next week or so I'll be performing some upgrades on the site. I apologize in advance for anything that breaks, because something always does. The plan is to upgrade the following items:
Upgrade template skins to complete forum update to vBulletin 3.7.1
Many of the settings and menu options we see in the forum depend on the visual style used which is seperate from the backend system. Upgrading the styles will enable some wonderful new functions in the forum like enhanced profiles and social groups. Ever wanted to talk to other K-12 schools, or Faith-based organizations? Now with
social groups you can create your own!
Upgrade email notification and reply system (completed)
Many people make use of a tool we added to get new post notifications by email. Rather than having to go to the forum, you can just reply to the email and it gets posted automatically. To make use of this tool, add yourself to the
Email Notification and Reply group in the User Control Panel. You can set up which forums you'd like to participate in by checking your
Forum Subscriptions in the User Control Panel. This tool duplicates the function of a Yahoo! group, of which many people are still quite fond.
Upgrade Banner Ad Management system
This should be invisible to most of you. If you have any quesitons, concerns or ideas about how advertising is managed on the site,
please let us know. Too much? Not enough?
Beyond this week some new sections and features will be added:
Blackbaud User Society Swag Shop
We will be re-opening the shop to let you have access to shirts and other goodies with the Blackbus logo on them. For sure this will be ready so your order can be received prior to the conference in November. Wear them with pride!
New Third Party Consultants Marketplace
Once upon a time we had a sub-forum for consultants. It never really worked well so we are starting form scratch to create a marketplace for consultants to profile themselves, allow you to rate them, ask questions, see their products and more. The goal is to provide a place for us to get educated on what the alternatives are to Blackbaud's consulting team. More options means better value for you and a better informed decision. We are going to be working with consultants and other third parties to periodically profile their firms and get them involved in the discussions on the forums - not as spam but as equal players.
Jeff Montgomery,
David Zeidman, and
Lisa Kasperzak amongst other have already proven that most consultants genuinely want to help people use their software better. These are highly experienced people who love what they do.
Is there anything else you think the site needs?
Let us know!