Fresh Vine Status Updates

This is the second minor update to the 2.0 release that came out in late July. This update addresses two improvements to the email system. The first update to the way emails are generated to make sure they continue to be show up in your members in-boxes and not their spam folders. We implemented two features to further improve our system.

The second makes it more clear when you are not able to preview emails (because your member profile does not have an email address).

Features

Minor Features

• Two improve email headers added.
• First: helps to correctly identify our email server as a valid sending agent for generating the email
  (like ensuring the return address on a letter is valid)
• Second: helps to more confidently make sure we are the sender through an encrypted code. Also checks the message contents to ensure it has not been altered en route.
  (like placing a wax seal over the opening of the envelope to ensure its contents are not altered)
• Added visual cues and blocked preview button from functioning if member profile not correctly set.
• Simply add an email address to your member profile and you will be able to send messages.

Additional Note

This release is major step for us. Not only does it signify the first release on our new 4-6 week release cycle, but it also is includes the last major building block modules we need to really start having a lot of fun in the coming year. These last two pieces are the Campus system (for multi-site support), and the Services module. They allow you to understand the trends and attendance for your weekly worship services. After setting up the services you will be able to attach giving to a particular service, and will automatically update the attendance as you log the giving information. These elements will continue to integrate more deeply into the system with future releases.

These pieces, along with the rest of the system, will allow us to have more fun pushing the limits of what a web based church management system can do. So read on, and enjoy all the details below.

Update Video:

Update Gallery:

Features

Major Features:

• Service Management
  • You are now able to create and manage services
  • Enter Attendance, Giving, Salivations, and up to 8 other customizable data points
  • Track Giving by Services/Campuses
• New Lists for Member Roster, Group Roster, and Service List
  • Improved Filtering
  • Map functionality for the Rosters (not for Services List)
  • New Batch functions for the Group Roster
    You can now create subgroups directly from the batch menu
• Member Roster Updates
  • Addition of new date fields for Baptism, Confirmation, Membership and Background check dates.
• User Experience Improvements
  • New page titles help clearly communicate where you are in the system
  • Sections are branded by color for more quick recognition of where you are in the system
  • Contextual menus beneath the page titles (links that are pertinent to what you are doing right now)
  • New custom Icons to more clearly communicate purpose and function of the modules

Minor Features:

• Giving Input Page has been upgraded
  • Giving can now be tracked by services
  • Live Countdown has been replaced by the service giving total
• Email management system now resides at http://YourSite.freshvine.co/email/
  • Also tracking when messages are opened
• New Access Type ['Church:Services'] and Group [Services]
  • This access is required to view and edit the services module
  • This access type has been automatically added to the administrator group
• Settings Page Updated
  • Added the Multi-Site campus setup. Include all the campuses you have.
  • Settings for the Service Record Keeping added.
  • Added the toggles for the new Member Date fields on the roster tab
  • Website and Media is now Content and Media in preparation for future updates
• Migration System Developed for importing data from external systems (for use during account creation)

Other Fixes:

• Dynamic totals on the giving input and editing pages now work as expected
• Logo in the email footer now represents fresh vine
• Corrected some iOS (iPad and iPhone) display issues with the navigation system (icons overlapping)
• Modified the persistent header to function in IE8 and newer (though we recommend other browsers: firefox, chrome)
• Other minor Bug Fixes and Interface tweaks

Other Changes:

• The Content Management System has now been officially depreciated except for two clients who are in the process of developing their new websites. This module will be completely removed in September, 2011.