Version 2.5 Release Date: February 24, 2016

All enhancements apply to the Get Connected 2.0 platform.

Our new features include a more robust searching/filtering tool, new notification templates, more registration options, and improvements to the manager panel.

Users can now apply multiple search criteria to find needs, agencies, events, advanced-event needs, and disaster-response needs. To search, select all filters that apply, and then click the Search button. In this example, the user is searching for needs by county, interest, and keyword.

To remove a search criterion, click the red X to the left of it.

"Family Friendly" was added as a search option so that users can search for needs that are good for the whole family. To search for family-friendly needs, select Family Friendly from the Age filter, and then click Search.

Note: Like the other "age" options, "Family Friendly" will be visible in the dropdown list only if an agency manager has selected it for a posted need.

If a volunteer lives in a dense metro area, finding a need within five miles is sometimes not close enough. Get Connected now offers the ability to search for needs that are within a ZIP code--and not within a certain number of miles from that ZIP code.

To search for miles within a ZIP code, select the Distance filter, select the Is in option, and enter the ZIP code. Click Search to view all needs within that ZIP code.

A new "teams" search feature allows users to search for only those needs that accept (or don't accept) team signups. To search for needs that allow teams, select the Teams option from the search filter and click either Accepting Teams or Individuals Only. Click Search to view the results.

The new digest email will consolidate information from the following three automated notifications into a single, easy-to-read message:

This convenient new email will be sent every Monday morning. The body of the email will pull in and summarize the needs and events added in the previous week that match the recipient's interests or were posted by an agency the recipient has fanned. The email will also contain applicable links to the new content. Not included in the email will be inactive needs and events, and needs and events that belong to an inactive agency.

Note: The "Need Notification for Users with Interest" template has been discontinued. The two "Agency Fan" templates are still available in Get Connected and will continued to be triggered as previously. If you wish to deactivate these notifications (since the agency fan information is also included in the new digest), you can do that.

Note: Like all notifications in Get Connected, this template can be edited as needed.

A new notification template, "Get Connected Hours Rejection: User," has been added to Get Connected. This message is sent to a Get Connected user whose hours have been rejected by an agency manager. It informs them that their submitted hours have been rejected and includes a link to to Add Hours area of their user profile.

When a user unregisters from a need, the following notifications will be triggered:

When a user unregisters from an event, the following notifications will be triggered:

Like all notification templates in Get Connected, all of these notifications can be edited as needed. Click the links above to learn about the specific notifications that have been added.

Note: Similar notifications have been available in the Advanced Events Module (AEM) for some time. With this enhancement, they are now available for standard needs as well.

In the past, a user could be registered for a site (via signup or import) before required user-registration questions were put into place. As a result, a question could be "required," but there would be users on the site who had not answered it.

A new enhancement helps ensure that all users, both new and existing, have the opportunity to answer any required registration questions the system manager puts into place. If a required user-registration is added:

Existing users will not be required to answer the question at that time, but they will be brought back to it every time they log in until they've submitted an answer.

All Get Connected 2.0 platforms include a "From the Blog" section in the bottom right-hand corner of the user dashboard. The section will now be visible only if there are active blog entries present. (Previously, it was not possible to hide the "From the Blog" section.)

To hide this section, the system manager should go to the blogging area of the manager panel and either remove the existing blog entries or mark them as "Pending."

If a site manager wishes to replace the information in an existing spotlight with new information, Get Connected now offers the ability to clear all of the spotlight's fields with a single click.

To save any change to spotlights, including clearing a spotlight, remember to click Submit.

System managers now have the option to allow users to skip steps 2 through 5 of the registration process. This option is stored under the User Registration tab in Site Settings.

In Get Connected 1.0, the system manager could to enter the "From" name that would appear on automatic notifications. The feature was removed for the 2.0 release, but it has now been restored to the General tab in Site Settings.

If you leave this field blank, emails will be shown as coming from "No Reply."

Note: We recommend leaving this field blank, as the name "No Reply" will have an easier time getting through spam filters. Changing the default "Email From Name" in Site Settings may reduce the number of users who receive your Get Connected emails.

Note: Regardless of the Email From Name, the default return address for all Get Connected emails is no-reply@galaxydigital.com.

If a need, event, advanced-event need, or disaster-response need has no more capacity, it will not appear on the list of needs on the site, and it will not appear on the calendar. Users who have responded will still be able to access the need through their Need Responses tab (in the user profile) and through any other direct link.

System managers can now add the following types of custom questions to the hours-submission form that volunteers and agency managers use:

Questions are controlled under the Hours tab in Site Settings.

Note: Previously, only dropdown questions could be added. System managers can add a total of two questions to the hours-submission form.

In addition to adding various types of questions to hours-submission form, system managers can now opt to make a question required. Questions are controlled under the Hours tab in Site Settings.

The default capacity for a team is now left blank when team creators respond to needs. This helps to avoid data entry errors and encourages thoughtful entry of information.

For agency managers, "My Agency" or "My Agencies" will now appear in the utility bar at the top of Get Connected in order to distinguish it from the Agencies menu item in the left hand navigation.

This change conforms to language overrides to "agency" and "agencies." For example, if your site uses the term "organization" rather than "agency," the utility bar will now read "My Organization."

Some users reported the check boxes on various front-end pages were difficult to see. Those check boxes have been made more prominent.

A new icon has been added for needs that do not have a primary interest.

This icon replaces the blank circle that previously appeared for needs that have been imported with no assigned interest.

Community Impact Areas (CIAs) have been added to the front and back end advanced-events need forms. They will only appear if there is at least one active CIA on the site. As with CIAs on standard needs, if CIAs are used, agency managers are required to select a CIA for each need posted.

The default sort order of needs on a given advanced event has been changed to descending by date updated. Users can still see the manually sorted order created in the back end by choosing the Prepared Order sort option.

This round of enhancements does not include new features or fixes for the AEM.

Custom questions can be created on a block-by-block basis for the students’ and agencies’ hours forms. Small text, large text, radio button, drop down, and check box questions can be created, each can be made required, and the answers to these questions appear in exports.

In the site manager panel, a "Status" column has been added to the block list so that system managers know at a glance what students are currently working on.

Two fields, Logo and Site URL, were used in SLM 1.0 but not in SLM 2.0. The fields have been removed to avoid confusion.

If the DRM has been activated by the system manager and there is an active, non-expired DRM need on the site, then the site will show a red banner for responding to DRM needs.

This banner appears in both the logged-in and logged-out views.

New fields for emergency contact information has been added to the DRM volunteer profile.

In the DRM volunteer profile, additional choices added to the lists in Skills and Services.

This round of enhancements does not include updates or fixes for the DRM.

Advanced Release Date: June 15, 2016

Public Release Date: July 27, 2016

Automatic Upgrade of All 2.0 Sites: September 30, 2016

This round of enhancements is known as Version 2.6. As of September 30, 2016, all sites using our 2.0 version will have the 2.6 upgrade, which features a redesigned Manager Panel and Opportunity Scheduling.

The manager panel now features the same layout as the platform's agency and user areas. All manager-panel features were preserved unless otherwise noted. This article reviews the main differences you'll see in the layout.

Tables in the manager panel have improved features for viewing and exporting.

The manager panel's Site Settings area has several new features, all located in the Settings area.

Site managers can now set the list view or the grid view as the default for needs, events, and other pages on your site. This enhancement allows site managers to present their users with the layout they feel works best in their community. Grid view is the site default.

Volunteer Impact Pages (VIPs) are an effective tool for sharing your platform's news, goals, successes, and more. The "logged-in" version of all Galaxy product sites includes an icon to access a site's internal VIP.

Previously, the VIP icon appeared whether or not a site had completed a VIP. (If a site hadn't completed a VIP, the link took the user to a sample VIP page.) With this enhancement, a site can hide the VIP icon if they are not currently using VIPs.

By default, if a need has reached its capacity for number of volunteers needed, it will no longer be displayed in the volunteer's view. Because some Site Managers do not wish to hide full needs, we have added a setting that allows site managers to choose whether or not full needs will be hidden.
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The manager panel now features the Data Explorer, a new batch of reports. With these reports, system managers can move between views to access the data most relevant to them.

The system manager dashboard no longer features the buttons, tabs, and graphs shown previously. With this new enhancement, system managers can now view a customized dashboard when accessing the manager panel.

This new panel is largely customizable in the same way that Volunteer Impact Pages (VIPs) are customizable. This means that system managers can view what they consider the most important information about their site every time they log in.

An "Hours Management" area has been added to the manager panel. This area is similar to the "Manage Needs" and "Manage Agencies" areas. System managers can use this area to view, edit, and add user hours.

System managers can now move spotlights up and down in their list, making it even easier to bring something to the forefront of their users’ attention.

In the past, HTML code was sometimes included in exports from the manager panel. With this new enhancement, exports will now exclude HTML code.

Previously, if a system manager wanted to provide a link for "clustered" agencies or needs, they had to build the link using instructions provided in our Help Center. That link is now much easier to access. In each Clusters table (located in the Manage Agencies and Manage Needs areas), you'll be able to see how many agencies or needs have a certain cluster label.

That number link you to a page displaying the clustered items. You can then grab the link and share it with your volunteers.

In situations where users should receive no emails under any circumstances (such as before a site goes live), system managers can now turn off all emails with one setting. This setting is in the Settings > Main Settings area of your manager panel, in the portion titled Site Information.

Some sites, particularly those that use single sign-on (SSO) functionality, have complicated requirements related to their users' email addresses. In these cases, it is vital that students and other users not change their email addresses after being registered on the site.

If a system needs to give guidance to users on the login page, the system manager can now work with Galaxy Digital staff to add registration instructions.

Note: This enhancement was added in response to some clients who have complex single sign-on arrangements.

Some users report poor performance with outdated versions of Internet Explorer no longer supported by Microsoft. With this new enhancement, your system will check a visitor's browser and recommend an upgrade, as necessary, for optimal viewing and use the site.

When posting a need, Agency Managers and Site Managers now have two additional options for need type: Custom Shifts and Recurring Shifts. These are in addition to the three existing need types of Ongoing, Runs Until, and Happens On.

When adding user hours, agency managers and users can now view pertinent information about the associated need or volunteer. This new feature will help volunteers who have responded to needs with similar need titles, as well as agencies who have volunteers with similar names. Shown below is the view of an agency manager who has selected both a need and a user in order to submit hours for the user.

In the above example, even if there were multiple needs with the same title, or multiple users with the same name, the agency manager can still identify the need (by the date) and the user (by the email address).

When a user deactivates their profile, they will now receive an email containing a link to their volunteer résumé so that they can have a record of their service.

In the past, when searching for agencies, users found that our "search by name or phrase" feature inadequate for finding specific agencies. We have added a new "name" search that allows a much more direct search for agencies.

If you click the Share icon for needs, events, and other content, you'll see that you have two new options for sharing information on your site.

Campus Connect and Corporate Connect sites can now copy the notification templates from their hub when they want to make sure both sites have consistent messaging.

This setting is made in the Communication > Notifications area, under the Update Templates heading.

The following 1.0 features have been removed or hidden in this latest upgrade:

Polls and forums were removed because they were legacy modules that are no longer supported in version 2.0. The "categories" area was hidden to prevent confusion with causes and interests. The "templates" feature was hidden because it is used only by the Galaxy Digital staff and not system managers.

The following Galaxy Digital logo has been added to the footer of all Galaxy product platforms.

Clicking the logo will take the user to our website, www.galaxydigital.com. The logo and link were added to improve our client sites' positions in search engine results.

Previously, if a system manager wanted to use Google analytics on their Galaxy product site, they could either access a limited version from the manager panel (System > Analytics), or they could reach out to Galaxy Digital to set up fuller access. With this new enhancement, system managers no longer have to contact Galaxy Digital for this. There is now an option in Site Settings to set up Google Analytics.

This setting is located in the Main Settings area of Site Settings, under the Custom Codes heading.

Agency logos on so-called “cards” been made slightly larger for easier viewing. We still recommend that agencies upload logos that are roughly the same height and width; this will help the logo look as large as possible in the space provided.

System managers can now look at a list of the alerts Galaxy Digital staff have pushed to their site.

If you have a Galaxy Digital alert, you'll see a red banner across the top of your manager panel screen, as shown above. Click the banner to view the message. Messages are stored in the manager panel and can later be accessed by clicking the bell icon in the top right-hand area of your screen.

When creating custom questions (in areas such as the user registration form and in advanced events), you can specify one of five question types:

All question types can be marked as required except check boxes. This change was made because users were unable to skip check box questions if (1) none of the options applied and (2) there was no "does not apply" option available.

System managers will now have an easier time adding hours to need responses with new features that calculate the default time.

A Duration field has been added to the need-posting form for easier calculation of the default time spent volunteering. Duration data will be used when adding hours in the back of the site and by our Volunteer Check-in feature.

First and Last links have been added to the front end pagination system so that users have an easier time navigating their search results.

Passwords must now be a minimum of eight characters. Passwords are case-sensitive and can be a mix of letters, numerals, and symbols.

Site managers resetting a user's password from the manager panel could previously see the new password as they were typing it. Passwords will no longer be visible and will appear as a series of dots, just as they do on the front end.

Galaxy Digital staff can now help system managers import a Department for their users. We anticipate that this enhancement will be particularly useful for Corporate Connect clients.

Users now have more links available when they click their profile picture in the top right of the site. Note that it is now easier to navigate to the hours-tracking and need-response information stored there.

Although we are grandfathering in all videos currently on Galaxy product sites, we now limit new videos to those on YouTube. This change does not affect an agency manager's ability to add a Vimeo or YouTube video to an agency profile.

Previously, three user types were allowed on a site:

Because the "contributor" type was used so rarely in previous versions, it has been discontinued.

The word “nearby” has been dropped from the Dashboard. This term was causing confusion for many users, and we felt that the functionality of this area could be left intact without it.

The blog widget on the Dashboard now includes a link to view more blog entries.

This round of enhancements includes no updates or fixes to the Advanced Events Module (AEM).

Agency managers have always been able to export all of the responses for a given advanced event, but they can now narrow their export down to just the responses to a specific AEM need.

Note that you can also message the volunteers from the left-hand side of the page.

This round of enhancements includes no fixes to the Disaster Response Module (DRM).

When your site is turned into a Volunteer Action Center using the DRM, volunteers are sometimes interviewed for positions in person. A system manager working in the DRM area of the manager panel can now add a new user to the site without leaving the module.

In addition to allowing system managers to search for disaster response profiles of users, system managers can now add them to users from DRM. This means that a manager can put this information into the system on a volunteer’s behalf without assuming the user.

System managers and agency managers can now clone DRM needs, making it even easier to set the system up with content with time is of the essence.

Previously, site managers who wanted to message users or agency managers regarding disaster response had to do so from the Communication tab within the DRM. This feature has been moved to the Email Blast tool.

This filter is also available in the Volunteerism > Users area of the Manager Panel. In that area, you can export the filtered list as needed.

This round of enhancements includes no updates or fixes to the Service Learning Module (SLM).

Professors and course assistants can now see who has responded to which needs within their SLM environment. This new feature is especially helpful when trying to dig into how responsive a student has been on which needs are not getting enough attention from students.

Release Date: November 2, 2016

Version 2.7 enhancements have been made to the following Get Connected, Corporate Connect, Campus Connect, and Community Connect modules.

When a volunteer responds to a need, they are taken to a need-response form where they can enter additional information, such as phone number, days available, and other notes. Site Managers can now add custom questions to this form in order to elicit even more specific information about their volunteers' activity.

Certain pages of Corporate Connect and Campus Connect sites now display some additional text to show that an agency, need, or event originated from a Get Connected hub. Here's an example from a need-response page; note that the Details section shows where the need originated.

With this enhancement, volunteers will now know where their responses, RSVPs, and agency-fan data are going, and the Get Connected hub receives credit for providing the agency, need, and event content.

When a volunteer responds to a need or event, certain notifications will be automatically sent to that volunteer over time:

With this enhancement, if a Corporate Connect or Campus Connect volunteer responds to a need or event that originated on the Get Connected hub, the emails listed above will now include "Powered by ..." text that shows the site on which the need or event originated.

Site Managers can now filter users by their selected causes and user filter.

To date, only interests were a part of the filter. This change applies to both the user-management area and the Email Blast.

Headquarters (HQs) are special Get Connected sites that have been set to receive reporting data from other sites, regardless of whether they are set up as a Get Connected Hub, Corporate Connect site, Campus Connect site, or none of the above. HQ sites can now use the user filter and Email Blast tools to look for users on their reporting sites.

When viewing a Get Connected hub site's Volunteer Impact Page (VIP), a user can now select to view data by domain, state, or region.

In the above example, the user is selecting to view data by state. The items in the State and Domain dropdowns are populated automatically. To have specific regions added for your site, contact our Customer Care team.

Site managers can now view and edit the agencies a user has fanned by going to Volunteerism > Users, clicking on a user, and then clicking Agencies. This agencies page shows what agencies the user manages (if any) and what agencies the user has fanned. A Site Manager can add or remove agencies from both lists as needed.

When viewing the Causes and Interests tabs in Site Settings, Corporate Connect and Campus Connect Site Managers will now see their Get Connected hub's custom causes and interests, if any have been added. This enhancement allows the Corporate or Campus Connect Site Manager to select their Get Connected hub's custom categories to use on their own site. This enhancement will not disrupt the Corporate or Campus Connect site's ability to have its own custom causes and interests; however, all sites are still required to have exactly 16 causes and 16 interests.

Each week, all Get Connected, Corporate Connect, Campus Connect, and Community Connect users who have indicated interests or fanned one or more agencies receive a "digest" email. This email provides links to the latest needs posted for each recipient's preferred interests, as well as needs posted by their favorite agencies. Prior to this enhancement, users of Corporate Connect and Campus Connect sites only received information about needs posted on those sites—not about needs posted on the Get Connected hub feeding into their site. With this enhancement, the digest email now includes needs from both the Corporate or Campus Connect site and the applicable Get Connected hub.

Agency Managers can now click on the headers of table columns to sort content so that items are easier to find. A new Added column in the needs table shows the date each need was added.

Prior to this enhancement, whenever a need or event was cloned, the system created a brand-new need or event, which immediately triggered a notification email to certain users. We have changed how cloning works in order prevent these notifications from being triggered until after the cloned need has been updated and saved. The cloning process does not change at all for Agency Managers and Site Managers; the only change is in when the notification to users is triggered.

The team-response button for volunteers has been updated to be more intuitive and easier to locate.

As you can see above, the old button only showed a team icon, whereas the new one shows the icon with the Respond as a Team wording. In addition, an "individual" icon has been added to the individual Respond button.

All emails sent from Get Connected, Corporate Connect, Campus Connect, and Community Connect are also sent via in-app messaging. Previously, if a Site Manager marked an email template as inactive (in Communication > Notifications), the email would no longer be triggered; however, the corresponding in-app message was still being triggered. With this enhancement, the email template status (e.g., active or inactive) will now be applied to both emails an in-app messaging.

The background color of all forms on your Get Connected, Corporate Connect, Campus Connect, or Community Connect site have been darkened so that fields are easier to see.

If your site uses language overrides, these overrides will now be applied in the digest emails as well as on the rest of your site.

Previously, the Agency Manager's export of needs showed a "1" to indicate that a need accepted teams, and a "0" to show that it accepted individual responses only. To minimize confusion, "1" and "0" have been replaced with "Y" and "N," respectively, in the export.

Your site's blog now shows who authored each post. Now your users can know who wrote what when reading the blog.

An icon, accompanied by the author's name (as shown above), appears on the blog post itself, not in the listing of posts or on the Dashboard.

Your site has many opportunities to export data into a spreadsheet. In the past, clicking an Export command resulted in the creation of a spreadsheet with the requested data. Sometimes the spreadsheet would be created immediately, but sometimes it would take longer, particularly for spreadsheets that included a great deal of data. With this enhancement, clicking an Export command will trigger an email to your inbox within 60 seconds. This email will include a link to view the export.

This enhancement was made in order to decrease the time necessary to create new exports for all sites.

Obsolete email templates include (1) no-longer-applicable templates from older versions of the code and (2) templates that have not been used in a very long time. All obsolete templates have been removed from all sites in order to reduce the amount of clutter in the notification templates.

Company Managers and Agency Managers can now see how many hours a volunteer has submitted for a given AEM need by viewing the responses to that need.

With this new column, Agency and Company Managers will now know how many hours each of their volunteers has submitted, and whether or not they still need to add hours on a volunteer's behalf.

AEM needs can now be cloned from the Site Manager Panel. Previously, a Site Manager could clone an AEM need only by using the Live Preview feature. With this enhancement, Site Managers now have a Clone button for each AEM need in the Site Manager Panel. This button is located at the bottom of the need form. (Needs are accessed by going to the All Needs area of the advanced event and clicking on a need in the listing displayed.)

In the Reports area of the Site Manager Panel, sites using the DRM now include a "Volunteer Skills and Services" report. This report lists all volunteers who have disaster profiles and shows which skills and services they have checked off. Like all Connect site reports, this report can be exported into a spreadsheet.

For DRM imports, you can now include a comma-separated list of DRM skills and services in the import template so that they are imported along with the profiles. Contact us if you would like our template for importing DRM profiles, or if you need to import data.