Finally gone live

Just a very quick post to let you guys know that the site that has consumed my life for the past 6 months has finally gone live. I am running a _very_ customised version of civicrm 2.1 on top of a drupal install. I'd like to thank all those that helped me to get to grips with the hows and wherefores of civicrm and for putting up with me on the irc channel. I have a few more tasks to do including finalising the integration with Sage but on the whole I think I'm there. I've had to write a few things for the site I would rather not have done and also I've written some things that I genuinely think should be in the core of civi. Some are already making their way in such as waiting lists. I'm looking forward to being able to spend more time developing the latest version of civicrm and meeting some like-minds at the UK Dev Camp. Hopefully I'll get to put a face to some of the irc nicks too. If anyone would like to check out the sites in question, just head over to www.birminghamforward.co.uk and www.birminghamfuture.co.uk Now if you will indulge me I'll tell you a bit about the config. It runs a single install of drupal with the domain module providing the ability to share content between the 2 domains. I use a single install of civicrm which contains the contact db. The civi memberships provide a means of restricting access to the sites (unfortunately I haven't written it as something that can be added to core although I think I want to). I have a rudimentary waiting list system, the ability to come back later and update the names of additional participants. The bookers can substitute their place for another from the same company if they can't make it. I added the ability to print name badges, registers (for hosts at events) and a contact system to send updates to attendees of an event which can optionally include a delegate list. My main area of development has been the events system which if I am allowed I will try and turn into a really nice feature rich and easy to use/extend system. I have some big ideas rolling around in my worn out head but I really believe in them being useful. If you have any questions, suggestions or just want a shoulder to cry on give me a shout. I'm also normally on irc from 2pm GMT if you need me. Chris

Comments

Chris

Congratulations on the launch of these sites! CiviEvents could definitely use some enhancement to make it easier for people.

An area that we are looking at for a client is the ability to send out invitations to a group, where the template for the invite uses event related tokens so that once the template is setup it is really easy to send out the invites including date/time/location. The invitation's RSVP link would include a code for the individual (in the same way as links do when using link tracking in CiviMail), so that when recipients click on it certain fields on the RSVP page are already completed where the recipient has previously provided that information (without having to have a Drupal username/password to first log in).

Is that something your clients would also find useful?

Andrew
Community Builders

It's an idea I've had but not implemented so if you are working on it I won't start afresh on it. I'll probably put together a list of things i'd like to see in the next few days. If I get good feedback then I'll move on to the planning stage. If you can give feedback on the list it'll be helpful.

There is currently some functionality in CiviCRM for including a "checksum" token in URL's emailed to constituents - which allows some forms (Profiles and online contribution pages) to recognize the contact and prefill form field values. The feature is not currently available for online event registration forms - but would be good for you to check it out if you haven't already - and possibly leverage it for the above functionality.

Best to continue discussion of this on forum Developer board or IRC.

on the launch! The sites look cool. I'd really like a tour behind the scenes as well. One-click attendence lists and name badges are very useful and practical - it would be great to see them in core at some point.

We did some work on CiviEvent usability improvements at the San Francisco developer camp - maybe that is something we can continue with in London.

Michael

Site looks really nice, congratulations!!!