In this sprint, we worked on 25 stories/projects. Here are the highlights!
General Updates
Information on updating your member types & dues for upcoming renewals
Product Updates
Order numbers are now sequential
"Skip To Content" link for screen readers
"New Order Received" notification email will now be sent for orders placed by an admin
Register for Novi Roundtables!
Dates & Topics Below
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New Member Signup
Very exciting news in the Novi world: A few weeks ago, we released the work we've been focusing on over the last few months... new member signup!
You may have noticed changes to how your member registration process looks and feels, new things that members are empowered do on their own, new admin settings and more!
We've worked hard to streamline this process - making it simpler for members to signup on the website and easier for admins to process and capture information from them.
This Member Signup Overview article runs through the process for both admins and members, including information about existing features as well as what's new. Specifically, when it comes to setting up your online membership application, and seeing what members will experience when joining or manually renewing via the frontend of your website.
A few brief highlights:
Set fields as "Key Information" to collect upon initial signup or manual renewal
Non-member & Prospect signup from member compass
Incomplete Signups appearing in your Recent Signups list
Streamlined and modern look & feel to the signup process
...and much more!
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Updating Your Member Types & Dues
If your members are on an end-of-the-year calendar anniversary cycle, 'tis the season for renewals! Even if your members expire other times in the year, or are on anniversary renewal cycle, this is a great time to evaluate your setup.
Please review these settings prior to your renewals running. This will ensure that your renewals include the proper amounts/information and will prevent having to run a recalculation. (Need a quick auto-renewal refresher? Check it out here!)
Not sure where to get started? We've worked on updating some of our Educate Articles on this information. We highly recommend giving the below articles a read!
And remember...if you would like to do a run-through with a Novi team member on your setup or changes to it, you can always schedule a one-on-one workshop!
Update Dues Rules for Next Membership Year - Whether or not you have changes to make, we highly recommend reviewing your dues rules before each renewal period. If you do have any changes, such as an increase in the annual dues amount, this article will show you how to change the dues amount (and other settings) for the upcoming membership year prior to renewals running.
Transaction Dates & Payments - Please pay special attention to the transaction date for auto-renewals in this one. Earlier this year, we released a feature that allows the auto-renewal invoice date to be in the next membership period. The default auto-renewal invoice transaction date (if not updated) is 1 day after expiration date. This means that if your member expires on 12/31/19, the renewal invoice date will appear as 1/1/2020. If you would rather that the invoice date show show the true day that the invoice was created, this can be done as well. Ultimately this is up to how your and your accountant would like to handle this.
Member Type Settings - This article will run you through different sections within the Settings tab of each of your member types. These may not change year-to-year, but doing a quick review will ensure that settings like the invoice transaction date mentioned above are best dialed in to your association's needs.
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Product Updates
Sequential Order Numbers
We've made an update so that product order numbers are no longer random. They will now be sequential to provide easier organization for admins. We'll look for the highest number and go up from there.
"Skip To Content" Link for Screen Readers
As we continue to improve accessibility on Novi websites, our latest addition is a link in the top toolbar that allows screen readers to jump to the page's main content blocks. This will also be helpful to users who can see the page but are using a keyboard, rather than a mouse, to navigate the website.
The "Skip To Content" link will be available on all pages of your website, but will not be visible unless the user hits the Tab key when they first land on a page. The first time they hit Tab the link will appear in the left side of the top toolbar area.
Clicking on the link, or hitting Enter on the keyboard, will jump the user past the navigation and to the top featured section.
Or, if they hit Tab again, the link will disappear.
"New Order Received" Notification Email for Admins
The notification email that is sent when a new order is placed by a user on the frontend will now also be sent if the order is placed by an admin on the backend. We learned that some associations have follow-up steps that are triggered by this email, so they need to receive it whether the order was placed by a member or association staff.
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Upcoming Novi AMS Roundtables
Novi Roundtables are weekly opportunities for Novi customers to virtually gather and discuss a specific topic relating to association work. This is a discussion amongst attendees, not a webinar! A Novi team member will be in attendance to moderate each discussion.
To sign up, click the link below for a topic that you're interested in! Here are the remaining 2019 roundtables:
Oct 30: SEO Best Practices - Does Your SEO Look Scary? Want To Make It More Spooktacular?
Nov 13: Website Content Workshop - Looking to learn more about interesting and captivating website content ideas? Come share your ideas!
Nov 20: LiveChat Integration - LiveChat is an online customer service chat software that can be input into Novi sites.
Dec 18: Backlog Review & 2020 Priorities - Join us for this roundtable to see highlights of what the Novi developers worked on in 2019 to make Novi AMS even more amazing, as well as what they plan to work on in 2020.