SOAR

Based on customer feedback, we have added a feature to be able to delete multiple pictures from a Photo Album.

You can access this feature by going to Administration/Content/Manage/Photo Albums. You can then select the “delete pics” link for any of your Photo Albums.

We have finally found a photo upload tool that provides enough features and supports the Macintosh platform !

This new tool supports the following browsers and platforms

• Windows/Internet Explorer
• Windows/Firefox
• Macintosh/Safari

A huge thank you to our Beta customers that verified the new tool is working well in the production environment.

The new tool also had the following new features

• Displays thumbnails of files selected for upload
• Uploads each picture individually and reports on progress, success, and failure of upload
• Graphic icons on the top of the application that summarize upload progress and completion
  

We have received very positive response to the EBlast features. We have added the additions below to the EBlast feature.

EBlast Content Exclusion

A number of customers use Den/Patrol/Group Filters to add generic events to their calendars such as public holidays and school events. By default all of these events are included in EBlasts, which can detract from focusing unit members on unit events.

You can now select Den/Patrol/Group Filters that will be excluded from EBlasts. Go to Administration/Email/EBlast/Settings. You can check the filters you would like to exclude. Make sure to click Save EBlast Settings after making any changes

EBlast Settings

An icon is available under Administration/Email/Eblast called Settings. This page allows you to setup your EBlast options.

• Enable EBlast
  • This will turn on/off the EBlast feature

• Email Address
  • All EBlast emails will come form the email address: eblast@
  • This is an alias to the email address defined by this option
  • This design was chosen to assist in EBlasts not being flagged as SPAM

• Day of the Week
  • You get to pick the day of the week EBlasts will be generated on
    

If you are using the Den/Patrol filters and have your Roster setup, EBlast gets even better. EBlast email will be personalized for each unit member. Only content that applies to that unit member will be included in their EBlast email. If Filters are used, you will see a listing of them in the individual EBlasts.

A couple of examples will explain this better.

Example #1 A family has two scouts in a Troop in different Patrols. Each scout and each parent have separate email addresses

• Scout #1 will receive an EBlast with Troop and Patrol #1 content
• Scout #2 will receive an EBlast with Troop and Patrol #2 content
  

Each EBlast consists of two columns

Column #1 - Content added/updated in the last 7 days

• Announcements & Events
  • These are displayed first to emphasize importance
  • Summary details (including teasers) are shown
  • Links to any file attachments are included
  • If an item contains more detail than shown in the EBlast, a link to the full content on the unit website is displayed
• Files, Links, Custom Pages, and Photo Albums
  • A link is provided to the added/updated item on the unit website

Column #2 – Upcoming Events

• Events in the next 7 days are shown in the first section
  

If you would like to use the EBlast feature, we recommend following these steps.

1. Make sure you have the Advanced Package
   • You can check this (or upgrade) by going to Administration/Account
2. Make sure you have created accounts (Active or Blocked) for scouts, parents, and adults that include email addresses
   • You can import accounts via TroopMaster or PackMaster Import functions
   • You can import accounts via the SOAR Roster or Member Import functions
   • You can add accounts manually at Administration/Members
3. Check that you are using the special Committee Filter for all leader content
   

Communicating with scouts/parents is one of the most important and time consuming tasks unit leaders have.

A typical scout/parent will receive multiple emails each week with reminders, information on new events, final details on upcoming events, changes in meeting schedules, volunteer requests, etc. For each of these, a unit leader will post content to the unit website AND send an email to the appropriate group.

SOAR EBlast simplifies communications in the following ways.

You can upload a picture to include in your Welcome Message. This picture would resize to a height of 200 pixels to ensure the picture did not take up the entire screen.

We have adjusted the settings of this image to be a maximum height of 250 pixels. If you upload a picture that is smaller it will show as actual size. If you upload a larger picture it will resize to 250 pixels in height

A new icon is available under Administration/Control Panel/Site Presentation called Reset Counter.

This function will set your Site Counter shown on the Home Page to zero.