User Questions
How do I sign up?
Click the Sign Up button to begin setting up your account. Be sure you typed your email address in correctly as it will send a confirmation email to the email address you provide to verify that you entered a valid and correct address. It is the email address that the system uses to send the reminders so we want to make sure it is correct.
One interface issue that catches some users - If you leave the phone number blank, it will not let you finish the form and the code that says it is required isn't working. You do not have to give a real phone number but something has to be in that field to allow you to submit the form.
Once that has been done, you will get an email with a link to confirm your email address. If you do not get the link, please check your spam folder as many times, the messages wind up there.
The message isn't in my spam folder. What do I do?
If it isn't in your spam folder, then it is likely that a bad address was typed in. So far the numbers indicate that over 5% of the people typed in bad addresses. If it an obvious mistake, like using gmail.comn not gmail.com, I'll try to fix it and resend the confirmation link. You can also just try creating a new account with the correct information and if it lets you use the correct address, then yes, you typed in a bad address. I will clean those bad addresses up when I'm doing the maintenance in the database, so don't worry about them. I do check to see if you have created an account with the correct info before I attempt to fix your address. If you have already created the account, I'll just delete the one with the wrong email address.
How can I stop the emails from going into the spam folder?
Please add manager@prayerbanner.org and admin@prayerbanner.org to your safe sender list. This is especially true if you are on Earthlink.
Special Note for Earthlink users - I have recieved the umpteenth request to verify who I am to your earthlink servers. Since my time is pretty important also, I am letting it be known that I will not take time out of my day to jump through the hoops to get the prayerbanner.org addresses approved. If you want to ensure that you get emails from the system, please go ahead and add admin@prayerbanner.org and manager@prayerbanner.org to your Whitelist.
For more info on why this is a terrible system, please read either of these articles - http://www.macworld.com/article/1135114/earthlinkspam.html and http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2009/01/if-you-write-me-from-earthlink-here-apos-s-why-i-won-apos-t-write-back/9349/
Back to our normally scheduled FAQ.
Now that I'm signed up for on the site, how do I reserve a particular time slot?
Once you login, you'll see a list of all of the available weekends.
Click on the name of the weekend that you want to sign up for. It is the typically blue text with the underlined text.
On that page you'll see all of the time slots and the names of people who have already signed up for various times.
To the right of each available slot, you'll see the word Reserve. Click on the reserve button to sign up for that time.
Click on the confirmation button when it pops up.
Done. You are now signed up for that slot.
I can't remember my password. Can you reset it?
There is a function for you to reset your own password. For security reasons, the admins do not have access to anyone's passwords.
All you have to do is to click on the Click Here link next to Forgot Password. That will take you to a page where you can enter your email address.
After entering your email address, click the Reset Password button and the system will send you an email with a link in it that you will need to click on.
When you click on the link, you'll be taken back to a webpage where you can enter a new password and then enter it again to confirm that you entered it correctly.
Once you have done that, you'll be logged into the site and can start signing up for slots. You will need to click on the link within 24 hours as the link will expire. If you don't see the email right away, please check your spam folder. If you get a response that the link has expired, simply start the process over again.
Questions for Banner Admins
First, who do I contact to setup a banner? - admin@prayerbanner.org
Second, what information is needed?
In the subject line of the email, please title it with something like "Austin Presbyterian Pilgramage banner request" and not generic like "new banner request". The majority of the emails to that address are new banner requests so it helps me
keep the weekends straight if you include the identifying info in the subject line.
Then in the body of the email, please include the following info, including the labels. Copying and pasting from here is a good idea so that you will know that you haven't missed anything.
Full name of Weekend (There are at least 7 APP communities so the full name is required to make sure your users can find your banner.)
Start date
Start time
End date
End time
Prayer banner administrator name
Moderator name
Moderator's E-Mail address
Moderator's phone number
Time Zone
The new site also allows for different labels for staff, particpants, moderator, rector so if you want to use something other than the default staff and participant, please indicate what you would like used.
In addition to sending the above information, please go ahead and login to the site and sign in. Once you have done that, I can upgrade account to a banner admin so that you can also edit the staff and particpant lists.
Please send the above info in the body of the email as opposed to sending as an attachment. There are a multitude of reasons why sending attachments is a bad idea when the info can be put in the body of the email but here is the main kicker for you. I sometimes am not at my computer when I'm doing the updates and I may do them from my iPad or iPhone. If I have to open an attachment, I'll just wait until the next time I'm working on the site while at my computer. That can mean a delay of several days. Short answer is to just send it in the body of the email.
When can I expect updates to the banner?
The updates are done on Wednesday nights and once again over the weekend.
How far in advance should I put the banner up?
Banners can be filled in as little as a week but 2-3 months out is about as far out you need to go. 4-6 weeks is actually a pretty good target.
How do I send the staff and participant lists?
No need to send them to me any more. Just login to the site and click on the edit button for the weekend that you are administering. You'll see the fields for Staff and Participants as well as the fields for labels. You can edit them and post the lists whenever you feel the need to.
How do the reminders get sent out?
Login to the site and click on the Send Reminders button. That will take you to a page where you'll see all weekends listed that you are the admin for and you can trigger any of the 3 types of lists.
1 *** This function is currently not working but I have created a work around that allows them to be sent out. I have to do it manually but I can still send them out** Email Reminders (Staff and Participants lists attached) This is the traditional reminder list that everyone wants to go out.
2 Email Entire list to Administrator and Moderator - This will send the list of people who signed up to the administrator and the moderator so that you can see who signed up and use the info to print the banners. Not everyone does it this way so skip that if you want.
3 Email Staff and Participants to Administrator and Moderator. Again, an optional email allowing you to send an email with the staff and participants to yourself and the moderator. Helpful to see how the lists look.
When will the admins be able to post our own banners?
At this time, I'm not giving anyone else that ability in order to make sure that proper naming schemes are followed. For example, not every admin has realized that this is a worldwide site as I still get requests to post the banner for APP with no designation as to whether it is from Austin, Arkansas, Alabama, etc. I may bring in one or two other main admin's to help me out but I still need to make sure the mechanics are working properly and tasks defined.
That's it for now. Again, check out the FAQ later as I will be adding more info as time allows.
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