SOAR

If you have previously used the PackMaster ME/2006 Import functions, you member accounts will have "long" usernames. i.e. their usernames will contain their full first name.

When using the PackMaster 2008 Import function this naming convention will continue so as not to unexpectedly change login information and potentially confuse your members.

You can convert from "long" to "short" usernames by using the following steps.

1. Upgrade to PackMaster 2008 (www.troopmaster.com)
2. Make sure you have the latest PackMaster 2008 patches (V4.00b or newer)
3. Run an export from PackMaster 2008
   

To import PackMaster 2008+ data into your SOAR myPack website, do the following

1. Navigate to the PackMaster 2008-2011 Import function on your website
2. Select the options you would like to use
3. Select the export file from PackMaster
4. Click the Import button

Import options include

• Activate Adults?
  • Active = members can login to the website using their individual username & password.
  • Blocked = members will need to use shared account
  • Either way, account information will be availlable for the Roster and Email Lists.
    

The export of PackMaster 2008+ data has been greatly simplified thanks to the folks at Troopmaster Software, Inc. In addition, the resulting single data file is encrypted to protect your senstive information.

Instructions

Use the following process to export data from PackMaster.

1. Open PackMaster
2. Click File/Export/SOAR.
3. Select a location to save the file
4. Remember where you saved the file

How easy is that???

Here are some guidelines for data that resides in your PackMaster database.

Scouts & Adults

• All names (scout, parent, and adult) should be unique. Use middle names and suffixes if necessary to ensure all names are unique.
• The website account username will be automatically generated in the format
  • <first initial><middle initial><last name><suffix>
• Do not use co-leaders for dens. Pick one as primary and one as assistant.
• Only current leadership (both scout and adult) should be recorded. If older positions are recorded, they may come through to the Troop Website.
  

The PackMaster 2008+ Import will save alot of typing time by pulling account, roster, and achievement data directly from your TroopMaster database to populate your website automatically.

Upon initial import this feature will

• Create a website account for each scout, parent, and adult
• Group scouts together into Dens
• Link scouts and parents in child/parent relationships
• Assign leadership positions to parents/adults
• Associate achievement information with individual scouts

When importing you can control

• If website accounts are Active or Blocked
  

You can select the number of events that will be shown in the Upcoming Events section of the Home Page.

This feature is accessible at Administration/Control Panel/Features.

The EBlast Now feature will immediately send out an EBlast. It can be found at Administration/Email/EBlast/EBlast Now.

This function can be used in the following ways.

• If you do not want to have weekly scheduled EBlasts, you can use this feature to manually determine when to send out an EBlast.
• If you have weekly EBlasts scheduled but want to send out a notice of new content on the website before the next scheduled EBlast. There are also options for how an EBlast Now will affect your next scheduled EBlast.

When we move our dedicated servers to a new hosting provider, we will become solely responsible for the “reputation” of our email servers and the email that passes through them. This has the advantage of removing the current random bouncing email problem that currently exists. The disadvantage is we have to put in place and maintain technology to block SPAM.

We have installed SPAM blocking filters on our corporate server and are refining the configuration to provide an adequate balance between blocking unsolicited emails while ensuring legitimate emails are passed through. This does not affect customers sites at this point in time.

We have added the column “Status” to all user selection lists (Email Lists, Global Senders, EBlast Exclude Members, etc.).

This column will display if an account is Active or Blocked.

We have added a configuration setting for Upcoming Events to allow you to select the number of events that will be shown in this section of the home page.

This can be found under Administration/Control Panel/Site Settings/Features.