Porterville Church of Christ Web Site Site

Welcome to the Church Web Site. The key features are:

• News. Announce news to the church.
• Events. Keep everyone up to date on what’s happening.
• Photos. Share photos and associate them with news items.
• Member Information. Member contact information is available, but only to other members, i.e. this information is considered "private".
• Schedule Information. Member assignment information is available, but only to other members, i.e. this information is considered "private".
• Sermon Previews. Sermon Previews are posted for the upcoming Sunday and are visible on the home page. In addition past notes can be seen on a second page.
• Search. News, Events, Member information, Locations and Sermon Previews data base tables can be searched.

Site Members and Roles

the Church Web Site allows visitors to view public information. Some members have specific privileges defined by roles such as administrator or minister. The following table describes what features are available to visitors in different roles.

Important: To login, you must know your user name and password.

Note: If you are not in the member data base, i.e. can't login, please contact the administrator@pvcoc.org.

Note: The member data base was initialized with the member list from the pvcoc.org web site.

Note: Members can change their own password. They may also change their contact information to keep it up to date. Alternatively, they can ask a web site administrator to make the update.

Currently, only Kent Hawley can assign members to a role (such as Administrator or Minister) that can manage the site.

Visitors cannot register themselves. Administrators can register new members by clicking the Register link. New members are activated automatically, but are not assigned to any role. Kent Hawley can manage users (for example, assign them to a role) using the ASP.NET Web Site Administration tool. For details, see Appendix A.

Photos and Albums

The photo album enables administrators to:

• Create albums of photos for use in the site.
• Upload photos to albums.
• View the photos and albums.

Tip: The Church Web Site enables administrators to publish news articles, events, photos and other items. Photos can be associated with these items, but photos need to be stored in an album. You may want to create a default album to hold the pictures for these articles.

To create a photo album

1. Log in to the site as an administrator (member in the role Administrator).
2. In the navigation bar, click Photos.
3. Click Add New Album.
4. Enter a name such as "Site Photos" in the Album Name box.
5. If you don't want others to be able to see the album, check Album is private and non-visible to other users.
6. Click Add Album.

To upload a photo to an album

1. Log in to the site as a user who can see the album. (Administrators can see all albums.)
2. In the navigation bar, click Photos.
3. In the albums page, select the album to upload pictures to.
4. In the Upload Photo section, click Browse to select the image to upload.
5. Enter a title in the Image title box.
6. Click Upload.
7. Repeat steps 4 through 6 to upload additional photos.

News Articles

The Church Web Site enables administrators to publish news articles for the church. The articles are displayed on the home page and on the news list page. News articles can include content or act as links to other pages.

You can associate a picture with an article. The picture displays as a thumbnail in the article list and at the top of the article content. The article can also point to a photo album for additional images.

To create a news article

1. Log in to the site as an administrator (member in the role Administrator).
2. In the navigation bar, click News.
3. Click Add New Article.
4. Enter a title for the article.
5. Specify what type of article to create:
   1. To create an article with content, enter the content in the Description text box.
   2. If the content is HTML, see the HTML Process, below.
   3. To create a link, select Use a link instead of inline content for this article and optionally enter a description that is displayed as a summary in the article list page. The title is used as the link text.
6. HTML Process
1. Here is a process for news articles.
2. Note: MS Word does the "html" part:
3. In MS Word create (or bring up existing) e.g. bulletin, news article or even sermon preview, content with the "look and feel" desired.
4. In MS Word, Save As ....; 2nd DropDown, choose "Save As Type" -> Web Page Filtered.
5. You can do this with a web browser
6. Bring up the filtered web file in Internet Explorer (or your favorite browser)
7. Click on "View" and then "Source" in Internet Explorer (A Note Pad editor of "html stuff" appears).
8. Click on "Edit" and then "Select All" and copy (Ctrl C)
9. Paste (Ctrl V) it in a PVCOC Web Site News Article editor (Add Article).
10. Set date/time for web site users to see article
11. Save Article
7. To delay publication, set the article date and time to be in the future. By default, the date and time is set to the current time, so the article is available immediately.
8. To associate a photo with the article, do the following:
   1. Click Upload new image.
   2. From the drop-down list, select the album to upload to.
   3. Click Browse to select the image file.
   4. Enter a title for the image.
   5. Click Upload Image.
   To select an existing image:
   1. Click Pick an existing image.
   2. Select the album containing the image.
   3. Select the photo from the album.
   4. Click Use Selection to confirm the selection.
9. If you want to use than one photo for an article, associate the article with a photo album. Select an album from the list, or click New Album to create a new album.

   Tip: If you create an album for the article, you can use one of the photos from the album as the photo for the article. Create the album and upload the pictures you want to show. Then click Pick an existing image and choose the album and one of the images to use as the thumbnail and article photo.

10. Click Save Article. The article is displayed in the news articles list.

Events

The Church Site enables administrators to publish a calendar of events that are of interest to church members. The events can be seen in a list or on a calendar.

Events can be associated with a location that can include details such as directions and facility information. The location is remembered so that it can be used for other events and doesn't need to be re-entered.

To create an event

1. Log in to the site as an administrator (member in the role Administrator).
2. In the navigation bar, click Events.
3. Click Add New Event.
4. Enter a title for the event.
5. Specify what type of event to create:
   1. To create an event with content, enter the content in the Description text box.
   2. To create a link, select Use a link instead of inline content for this event and optionally enter a description that is displayed as a summary.
6. Set the start date and time of the event. If the event has a specific duration, you can also set the end date and time. If it does not have a specific duration, set the end time to be the same as the start time.
7. To associate a photo with the event, do the following:
   1. Click Upload new image.
   2. From the drop-down list, select the album to upload to.
   3. Click Browse to select the image file.
   4. Enter a title for the image.
   5. Click Upload Image.
   To select an existing image:
   1. Click Pick an existing image.
   2. Select the album containing the image.
   3. Select the photo from the album.
   4. Click Use Selection to confirm the selection.
8. Click Save Event. The event is displayed in the events list.

You can create a location while creating an event, or the event can be associated with an existing location.

To create a location

1. Log in to the site as an administrator (member in the role Administrator).
2. In the navigation bar, click Locations.
3. Click Locations List.
4. Click Add new location.
5. Enter a name for the location.
6. Optionally fill in the following information for the location. Blank fields are not displayed when viewing the location.
   • Description – use for a description of the location.
   • Address – use for a physical address.
   • Directions – use to guide the members to the event.
7. To associate a photo with the location, do the following:
   1. Click Upload new image.
   2. From the drop-down list, select the album to upload to.
   3. Click Browse to select the image file.
   4. Enter a title for the image.
   5. Click Upload Image.
   To select an existing image:
   1. Click Pick an existing image.
   2. Select the album containing the image.
   3. Select the photo from the album.
   4. Click Use Selection to confirm the selection.
8. Click Save Location. The location is displayed in the location list.

Tip: You can use the photo storage for a location to include a map to go with the directions. Save the map from your favorite mapping software and upload it as the photo for the location.

Ministry Lists

The Church Web Site enables Administrators to publish and maintain lists of members as Ministry Lists. Each list contains 0 or more members. Each member has an optional role in the ministry. Each list has a name and a description.

To view a ministry list

1. In the navigation bar, click Members and then Lists.
2. Click Click on the down arrow of the dropdown control. Click on the liet you want to view..
3. The list is displayed.

To create a ministry list

1. Log in to the site as an administrator (member in the role Administrator).
2. In the navigation bar, click Members and then Lists.
3. Click Add New List.
4. Enter a title for the list and a description.
5. Click on Apply Changes

To add a member to a ministry list

1. Log in to the site as an administrator (member in the role Administrator).
2. In the navigation bar, click Members and then Lists.
3. Click Add Member(s) to List.
4. The Ministry Lists Page appears.

Other Operations

1. Remove a member from a list
2. Delete a list
3. Edit List name or description.
4. Edit a member's role in the list.

Sermon Previews

The Church Web Site enables Ministers to publish and maintain lists of Sermon Previews. Each Preview has a title and contents. Visitors and members can see the current sermon preview on the Home page or walk through previous previews on the View Sermon Previews page.

To view the current sermon preview: Go to the home page.

To view a sermon preview list

1. On the home page, click View Sermon Previews.
2. Click onNext or Previous to walk through the list.
3. The list is displayed.

To create a Sermon Preview

1. Log in to the site as a Minister (member in the role Minister).
2. On the home page, click View Sermon Previews.
3. Enter Sermon title and Sermon Priew content.
4. Select a date and time after which the preview can be seen by visitors and members.
5. Click Save Preview.
7. Note: The Minister can create and walk through future sermon previews.

Other Operations, Minister Role

1. Remove a sermon preview from the list
2. Edit a sermon preview.

Searches

Searches include member information, news articles, events, locations and sermon previews. Schedule information can also be searched, including:

• Schedule Assignments
• Schedule Preferences
• Schedule Vacations

Searches results can View Details to see more information about one result.

Search Members

1. Login as a member (or in Role of Administrator or Minister).
2. Wave on Search and click on Members.
3. Enter search criteria in one or more fields. This will "narrow" the search.
4. Wild cards may be used. "%" is added to the front or end of a word.
5. Note: a blank field is an implied "%" wild card.
6. Entering information in multiple fields implies an "AND" of all search criteria. i.e. narrows the results.
7. Special member flags:

   These flags allow the Administrator to logically remove a member from the member list without deleting all the member information from the data base.

   1. Moved: The member has moved out of the area and attends another congregation
   2. Deceased: The member has passed away.
   3. Dropped: The member is no longer attending
   4. Role: The member name is in a role. e.g. Administrator or Minister.

   These search fields are initially populated with "no". i.e. search for members which have none of these fields set. One field can be set to "yes". e.g. "No Longer Attends" set to "y" or "yes" would show a list of members where Dropped = "1". If the field is blanked or set to "%", then this field does not contrain the results.

   e.g. A popular member has moved out of the area. Many want to email or phone (possibly updated fields). Meanwhile, the member shouldn't show in the member list as a current member. The administrator can:

   1. Delete the member records. Don't want to remember anything
   2. Edit or blank fields. Want to remember some information, but not others
   3. Mark one of these fields. Want to remember all information, but mark as not a current member.
   4. Blank password, to prevent previous member from accessing site.
   5. Leave password alone, so the user can update their own contact information.

Other searches are similar.

Schedules

The Church Web Site enables administrators to publish schedules for the church. A schedule lists member assignments, e.g. SONG LEADER (a Task) for MORNING SERVICE (Service) for all Sundays in a given month. A task can be weekly (a different person for each week) or monthly (the assignment lasts all month).

A logged in member can view the schedule.

When a person views the monthly calendar (Events_Calendar.aspx), assignments will appear on the day they are to be performed. Like other events, waving over the event will show the event description. Schedule event descriptions show the Service, Task and person's name. (Note: Currently, only "weekly" tasks are supported. Two names in one column is allowed in the Data Base, but is not shown on the calendar. Also, names must match the user name in the Data Base for this feature to work.).

To view a Schedule

1. Log in to the site as a member.
2. In the navigation bar, wave over Members and click Schedule Edit.
3. Select the month and type the proper year, e.g. 2009, if needed. Note: The default is the current month and year.
4. Click View. The Schedule information for the specified month and year will appear. If the Schedule for this month and year are not available in the Data Base, "No Schedule Data Available..." messages will appear.
5. Tip: Weekly events show up on the Events calendar page. Tip: Use your browser editor and/or find on page, to search for your name on the schedule.

To create a schedule from Publisher Plain Text

1. Log in to the site as an administrator (member in the role Administrator).
2. In the navigation bar, wave over Members and click Schedule Copy.
3. Click New.
4. Enter a title for the schedule. The last two tokens should be month and year. e.g. MARCH 2009
5. Plain Text Process
1. Here is a process for schedules.
2. Note: Publisher does the "Plain Text" part:
3. In Publisher create (or bring up existing) e.g. a schedule for MARCH 2009.
4. In Publisher, Save As ....; Also, choose "Save As Type" -> Plain Text.
5. Publisher brings up a Wizard for choosing the carriage return and line feed styles. Choose Windows style.
6. You can do the next step with any simple text editor, e.g. NotePad in windows. Note: DO NOT use advanced editors like Microsoft Word!
7. Bring up the Plain Text file in NotePad.
8. Click on "Edit" and then "Select All" and copy (Ctrl C)
9. Paste (Ctrl V) it in a PVCOC Web Site Schedule_Copy.aspx page, contents editor.
10. Also, the title must have the month and year that matches the schedule pasted into the contents editor.
11. Set date/time for web site users to see article
12. Save in Data Base
6. To delay publication, set the schedule date and time to be in the future. By default, the date and time is set to the current time, so the schedule is available immediately.
7. When you click Save in Data Base. The schedule is displayed on the Schedule_Edit.aspx web page and stored in the Data Base as parsed information (Schedule, Service, Task, Assignment).
8. Assuming the parsing did not encounter serious errors, the information appears on the Schedule_Edit.aspx page in a tabular format.
9. It is best to check for errors since the parser is expecting certain spellings and position of information to know what it "means". The current parsing algorithm expects names to be delimited by Tab characters provided by Publisher in the Plain Text file.
10. Errors (if any) can be corrected by pressing Edit and entering or correcting one or more names in the row for this task. This is followed by Update. the new value should be reflected on the screen and in the data base.

To create (or correct) a schedule manually

1. Log in to the site as an administrator (member in the role Administrator).
2. In the navigation bar, wave over Members and click Schedule Edit.
3. Select the month and type the proper year, e.g. 2009. Click on View.
1. If the month already exists, the schedule will appear. If not, 4 "services" will appear, claiming that they have no data. If month exists, you have the choice of Delete or Clear or simply going to each task line and clicking on Edit.
2. If the administrator is going to use the Plain Text procedure to create a month that already exist, the month MUST be deleted BEFORE using the Plain Text Process.
4. Click Create Schedule to create a new, empty (Cleared) schedule.
5. Click on Edit beside each task to make assignments for that task.
6. Tasks are "weekly" or "monthly". All Month tasks are assigned to one (or more people) for the entire month. Otherwise it is a weekly task, needing a different person assigned to each week.
7. Note: More than one person CAN be entered in a weekly field. However, they will not appear on the Events page.
8. In All Month tasks names can be separated, each into their own column. This would be good practice.

To create (or update) the "Preference List"

1. Log in to the site as an administrator (member in the role Administrator).
2. In the navigation bar, wave over Members and click Preference Edit.
3. Click on the Edit Preference Assignments check box.
4. Click + or - to expand or collapse a node in the tree. Note: Also see buttons near the top of the work area.
5. Click (select) a node to perform an operation. Currently, clicking on a Task, opens a box to permit entering a person's name. i.e. This person is willing to perform this Task in this Service. Save saves it to the Data Base.
6. Click on Refresh and buttons and/or +,- icons to expand and see the changes to the tree.

To generate a schedule automatically from Preference List

1. Log in to the site as an administrator (member in the role Administrator).
2. Note: First, ensure Preference List is up to date. See above.
3. In the navigation bar, wave over Members and click Schedule Edit.
4. Select the month and type the proper year, e.g. 2009. Click on View.
1. If the month already exists, the schedule will appear. If not, 4 "services" will appear, claiming that they have no data. If this month exists, you have the choice of Delete or Clear or simply going to each task line and clicking on Edit.
5. Click Generate Schedule to create a new, populated schedule.
6. Click on Edit beside each task to override the generated assignments for that task.

Printing Schedules (manually created or generated)

1. Re-Login under your non-Administrator ID [Note: This Takes away Select Edit hyperlinks in command column.] <====
2. Click on View. (This displays a "header" just under the button row.)
3. Mark Schedule Edit page outputs (entries in "tables" AND the "header") and Copy

   Note: It is best to begin marking, starting with the bottom row, and swipe upward to and including the header.

4. Paste in MS Word
5. Switch from Portrait to Landscape
6. MS Word: place cursor in front of service that is split across 2 pages., e.g. EVENING SERVICE and enter Return. Then insert Break (page)
7. Print
8. Make copies and distribute.

Vacations