QlubbHouse

SIte was down, now back up

noreply@blogger.com (Qlubb) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 22:34:00 +0000

Mysql burped this morning which was why we had some issues with accessing Qlubb this morning. The site is back up and should be working though we are looking into some continued issues. Sorry about that and we will keep you posted.

new features - Member Reports and Email Categorization

noreply@blogger.com (Qlubb) — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 10:28:00 +0000

We just released two new features this morning.

1) Printable Membership Roster
From our Member Tab, you can now create custom-membership reports to use for a phone bank or just to keep near your telephone. At the top of the Members tab there is a new "Print Roster" link. Once you click on this link, a pop-up window will appear prompting you for 5 fields you would like to display in the report. The first field you select will be the one on which the report is sorted.

2) Categorizing Emails
At Qlubb, we like to keep emails to a minimum, but sometimes you can't get around it. Now we allow you to categorize/file your email to a specific event via a drop-down box in the messages AND event pages. This way, you can easily find the email threads that pertain to an event. If you send an email via the event page, it will automatically get categorized to that event!

We have also added a new field called message summary - this field allows you to describe quickly the contents of the email. This field is not sent with the email.

Busy Moms' Resolutions 2010:Simplify - Win a $200 gift card to Oriental Trading

noreply@blogger.com (Qlubb) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 11:30:00 +0000

Happy New Year. It’s a new year and a new decade! It’s the time for new resolutions and on the top of many people’s list is to “get organized”. Qlubb wants to help busy parents do just that – free up time to actually enjoy their groups and not chase around volunteers. We want to help jump start this process with our Busy Moms’ Resolution 2010:Simplify Contest. (Dads are also eligible ☺)

Each time you use Qlubb (create a Qlubb, create an event, add a member), you’ll receive an entry into our drawing for a $200 Oriental Trading gift card. We want you to share your Qlubb love and so each time you share us via social networking (Twitter, Facebook), you’ll also receive an entry into the contest.

One lucky person will win the Grand Prize of $200 Oriental Trading gift card plus a Qlubb premium service and ten runner-ups will receive their choice of a Qlubb premium service.

This contest ends February 28th. Here are the terms and conditions.

Ending 2009 with a Bang - HTML email and Opt-out

noreply@blogger.com (Qlubb) — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 14:25:00 +0000

Today we are making available HTML email notices and email opt-out. This means that any email that originates from Qlubb (e.g. reminders, invitations, task assignments, etc) will be presented in a more easy-to-read format. With this HTML formatting, it will be easier and faster for you and your members to find the event or tasks' relevant information and easier for them to volunteer!

We have tested this extensively on Yahoo, Gmail, Live, AOL and other popular email clients. Please let us know if it is not clear for particular client.

Additionally, each of these HTML emails now includes a specific opt-out link that makes it easier for members to unsubscribe from your Qlubb's email exchange's and Qlubb reminders.

We hope these improvements make it easier for you and your Qlubb to get things done! Happy New Year!

New Functionality - ability to send email to only event participants

noreply@blogger.com (Qlubb) — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:43:00 +0000

Many of you have asked for the ability to send emails out only to people who are participating/attending a specific event. This was a great suggestion and today we released this capability.

On each Event page you will now see a "Email Participants" button, just below the event description (see image). When you click on that, a pop-up window will appear and allow you to compose your email which will only be sent to Qlubb members who have 1) RSVP-ed "yes", 2) RSVP-ed "maybe" and 3) task assignees.

It's a great way to notify event participants of new files, new details, new tasks, and any changes without subjecting other Qlubb members to the email "spam"

We hope you like this new functionality - let us know what you think. Twitter about this new functionality!

New Functionality - Custom Domains and Task-Level Reminders

noreply@blogger.com (Qlubb) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:55:00 +0000

Happy Thanksgiving!

Two new features were released today. We will discuss them in some details below. And of course, as always, if you still have questions, please send them to help@qlubb.com

1) First, the easier one. Task-level reminders. Up until today, email reminders were sent only at the event level. The email reminders would remind users of the event and also the tasks for which they are responsible. Today we are announcing the release of standalone task-level reminders.

This means that now you can create a non-date event with many dated specific tasks. This is perfect for tasks that are the same each time and repeat on a regular basis, events that include
weekly classroom reading volunteers - same task, same time, regular volunteers needed

in-class volunteers
bi-weekly snack runs
bi-weekly laundry responsibilities
weekly garden watering volunteers

For example, in the instance of in-class volunteers, you can now create an event called "In-class volunteers" with no date. In the event itself, you can add weekly tasks (with dates) for volunteers. This makes your Qlubb calendar cleaner and easier to find who is doing what when. So instead of weekly volunteer events on the calendar, there is just one "In-class Volunteer" Sign-up sheet.

In the past, you could actually create the sign-up sheet, however, Qlubb did not send out emails for non-dated events and, subsequently, the tasks for those non-dated events. With today's release we have implemented the ability to send out task reminders for those events with no dates; thereby making this type of sign-up sheet more effective at reminding volunteers of ongoing rotating responsibilities.

2) Custom Domain Mapping
Many of you have asked us how you can redirect your Qlubb to your own URL. Well, today, we let you do that for a low, low price of $10 per year. You can map your Qlubb URL to either a subdomain (xxx.yourURL.com) or your top level domain (www.yourURL.com). It's relatively easy in that you need to create a CNAME entry in your domain management page, found on your domain hosting provider (e.g., GoDaddy, MyDomain, etc.) Make sure that other CNAMEs do not interfere. If you have any questions, please let us know.

We currently do not offer the ability to register domains - you need to have an existing domain to complete the domain mapping. We recommend using GoDaddy or Mydomain to purchase your URL. Once you have this, please proceed with our premium services button (accessible only by Qlubb admins).

We wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving!

The Qlubb Team

New Usability Improvements

noreply@blogger.com (Qlubb) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:41:00 +0000

Last night we released some new enhancements to Qlubb that will make it easier for you to find events.

Wider 30-day calendar: Many of you informed us that the 30-day calendar, with its small cells, was hard to read, and therefore hard to use. You will notice that we expanded the calendar view to now include the white-space to the right, which used to be reserved for ads. So now the calendar is wider and fewer ads!

Act Now list: The Act Now list now includes those Sign-up sheets that have no dates. This is often useful for ongoing sign-up sheets like classroom donations which do not have a specific date. Before we only displayed those sign-up sheets with dates; the new version includes all sign-up sheets with dates and those without.

Multi-Date Events: For multi-day events that may a start date in the past and have an end date in the future, we now keep that multi-day event on the "current events" list.

We hope this helps you use Qlubb. Let us know what you think or if you have any other suggestions. feedback at qlubb dot com.

Supported Browsers-Firefox, Safari, IE7, IE8

noreply@blogger.com (Qlubb) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:41:00 +0000

Not all browsers are alike. They all seem to tout their adherence to standards, but there are quirks to each browser, and among versions. As you can imagine, it makes development and support a challenge. The challenge is where do we deploy our valuable people resources - to supporting a broad range of browsers or to spend our time developing great features users want. It's a balance.

We write this as over the past few months we have found design and UI issues with some lesser used browsers, specifically AOL and IE6. Occasionally the Flash plug-ins or javascript or layout don't quite work perfectly. And so at Qlubb we decided that our official supported browsers are: Safari, Firefox, IE7, IE8.

Chrome seems to be okay for our Qlubb users and most of the time IE6 is stable as well. But recognize that our bug fix priorities are always with our officially supported browsers (Safari, Firefox, IE7, IE8).

So if you are not on these browsers, please upgrade - not only will our Qlubb experience be more pleasant, but so to will your overall surfing experience.

Download the latest
Safari browser - http://www.apple.com/safari/
Firefox - http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/personal.html
IE8 - http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/default.aspx?WT.srch=1

Ad-free Qlubbs

noreply@blogger.com (Qlubb) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 23:33:00 +0000

For our clean-living, clutter-free members, we are happy to announce today that we are offering an ad-free Qlubb for only $30 per year, or 8 cents per day. No more annoying ads, and it, frankly, makes your Qlubb that much more attractive!

Though we try our best to limit the types of advertising that is shown (we have to pay the bills), we occasionally get a rogue ad. Many of our Qlubbs are faith-based and/or child-related and so the ad-free option will make your Qlubb experience more appealing.

It's easy to get the ad-free option, just go to the Admin tab, and you will find an orange "Premium" button. Click on that and follow the directions.

Let us know if you have any questions. feedback@qlubb.com

premium photo sharing

noreply@blogger.com (Qlubb-CEO) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 23:05:00 +0000

We have heard so much from Qlubb users about how they can make photo sharing easier, especially when it comes to making end-of-the-year photo and memory books. Sure, people can view photos from across the photo sites, but too often the photos viewed are compressed. So while they look adequate on line, they too often are of too low of resolution for actual prints or year books.

Having edited more than my share of preschool and classroom yearbooks, I am only too familiar with the nightmare associated with organizing and getting photos for my groups. One of the beauties of Qlubb is that we allow groups to associate and organize their photos by their calendar events. Not only is this easier for people to find photos, but is a life-saver at the end of the year, when you need to find photos for teacher's gifts, for yearbooks, for your own memories.

So today, our team is making available premium photo sharing capabilities. With this new feature, Qlubbs can store/share/download high-res original photos and will get additional storage to accommodate these larger files.

There are two premium photo/storage options:

1GB storage upgrade (in addition to the free 500MB) - $12 per year or just 3 cents/day or about 500 high-res photos
5GB storage upgrade (in addition to the free 500MB) - $20 per year or just 5 cents/day or about 1,800 high-res photos. This is also useful for groups that are sharing a lot of documents.

NOTE: This additional storage can also be used to share/upload files!

To get this new capability, go to the Admin tab (if you are the admin, if you are not ask your admin). You will see a bright orange button on the right hand side, click on that and follow the instructions - it's easy. You and your Qlubb members will thank you!

DONE or not DONE? We clarify...

noreply@blogger.com (Qlubb) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 22:29:00 +0000

One of the early features of our sign-up sheet was the “DONE” button. The original intent was to allow event organizers to create TO-DO lists. And as responsibilities were completed, volunteers could indicate that they were “DONE”. It’s a TO-DO list feature.

However, some users have been using the “DONE” button in lieu of the “ME” or “ASSIGN” button. So occasionally, a volunteer will click on the DONE and others can not volunteer, which leads to confusion especially for those events that require multiple volunteers.

So today we have improved sign-up sheet capability so that the DONE button is optional. The default behavior will be to NOT have a DONE button.

As you can see in the screen shot, some tasks should have a DONE button – for instance, make reservation. However, others such as “bring pizza” is not going to need a DONE button.

It’s easy to configure-when you create the task, there will be a check box for “add DONE button”

We hope this improves the usability of our sign-up sheets – please let us know if you have others!

New Features - Volunteer Reports and Event Reminders Settings

noreply@blogger.com (Qlubb) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:24:00 +0000

This morning we released two new features that we hope will make it even easier to manage and organize your groups.

First, volunteer reports. The sign-up sheets, and RSVPs are great for automatically the organization of users. But often times, the leaders of the group want to know the big picture of who is doing what, when, where... So with that, we now have the "Volunteer Report" that provides the Qlubb with an overview of the membership's participation in Qlubb activities.

The reports are located on the left-hand column of your Qlubb's homepage, right below the Act Now! section.

The report itself sorts members by their name and then lists down all events/tasks which they have or will be participating. Participation in the past is printed in grey, future participation in blue.

Secondly, we have added a new ADMIN feature that allows Qlubb leaders/administrators to set the default event reminder behavior. Until today, event reminder emails were sent to everyone in the Qlubb, by default. However, many Qlubb leaders, wanting to limit spam (yeah, less spam!), have wanted to make ALL their event reminders sent only to those who sign-up for tasks or who RSVP.

So today, we are giving ADMINs the ability to set the DEFAULT behavior for all their Qlubb's events. Of course, each event reminder setting can be individually set. This capability just reduces the need for the Qlubb organizer to go in and change every single event.

Below is a screen-shot of this setting on the Admin page.

uploading files and photos fixed

noreply@blogger.com (Qlubb) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 07:32:00 +0000

We got around to fixing up the file/photo uploading issue.

At the same time, we added some new little fixes.

- you can now copy an event up to 20 times (yeah)
- now multi-day events appears as multi-day events on the 30-day calendar.

Yeah. it's the little things is life right? ..... well, stayed tuned, ... life is going to get much better :)

Take the hassle out of parent-teacher conference sign-ups!

noreply@blogger.com (Qlubb) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 23:39:00 +0000

Back-to-school seems just like yesterday, but already some schools are planning for the year's first parent-teacher conferences. Remember the hassle of signing up for a time...

not having your personal calendar with you?
not writing down the right time?
not knowing where the sign-up sheet is?
forgetting the conference entirely! (I am guilty of missing one too many conferences myself!)
wanting to switch times with someone else, but not knowing who is going when...

This year, do something different... and organized... Put your classroom's parent-teacher conference sign-up on Qlubb. Why?

everyone can sign-up at any time (in your PJs, in front of your calendar, at home when you can discuss child-care options, in the middle of the night when the kids are not screaming, etc.)
automatic reminders will be sent to you (so no more excuses of forgetting the conference!)
changes to the time/place - you'll know
want to switch with someone else - you will know who is going when and where and how to contact them
integrate the event with your ical compatible online calendar (most calendar's these days are!)
teachers can print out the up-to-date schedule!

Make it easy for everyone (parents and teachers alike) this year. Take a look at how our demo Qlubb does it. http://smith.qlubb.com/events/47962

Sometimes it's just so easy being a classroom hero :)

issue with uploading files and photos

noreply@blogger.com (Qlubb) — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 17:16:00 +0000

It appears we are having issues uploading photos and files. The pop-up window appears, but clicking on the "upload" button seems to be not actually uploading the photos. We will get to this ASAP and get back to all of you. Sorry for the inconvenience.

delays via Yahoo Mail

noreply@blogger.com (Qlubb) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 16:31:00 +0000

Recently, we have noticed that there has occasional delays in delivery of email to Yahoo Mail users. Eventually the email does arrive, but often the delay can be upwards of several hours. Working with Yahoo, we are looking at various ways to diagnose and remedy this situation. For our Yahoo users, rest assured that your email is not lost and will arrive, it just may not be instantaneous.

This does not seem to be a problem for our AOL, Gmail or MSN/Live users.

New email features and automatic password retrieval

noreply@blogger.com (Qlubb) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:20:00 +0000

Today we released a few key, highly demanded features that help the way email is delivered and also automated password retrieval.

More descriptive email subject. We are now prefacing email subject lines with [Qlubb qlubbname]. This will make it easier for you to find and sort out your Qlubb-related emails from all the others in your InBox
Reply to Qlubb email behavior. Now your Qlubb admin can set how replies to Qlubb group emails behave. Your admin can set your Qlubb email to reply to ONLY the sender or to the whole Qlubb (current and default setting). This behavior is found in the Admin tab.
Automatic password retrieval. While we love to talk to our users, often all you really want is your Qlubb password and/or your Qlubb admin password. So today, we have implemented the ability to retrieve your Qlubb passwords via email. The only requirement we have is that you know the name of your Qlubb.

Let us know what you think. We listen!

We are on a tear! iCal synchronization now!

noreply@blogger.com (Qlubb) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 07:36:00 +0000

But wait... there are even more new features. This morning we released iCal integration support. This means that now your group's Qlubb events can be synchronized with any of the ics-supporting calendaring systems, including iCal, Google Calendar, Yahoo Calendar, Microsoft Outlook 2000, Facebook, etc..

With our new feature, you can choose to download your Qlubb entire event calendar or you can choose to just download specific events.

You will see a link "add event to my iCalendar" - click on that link. A pop-up window will appear that opens up a Qlubb ics file. Open this file up with your calendar application - and voila.

We hope you enjoy this new feature and as always please send us your comments, suggestions to feedback (at) qlubb (dot) com.

Printing out event list and event details

noreply@blogger.com (Qlubb) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 10:22:00 +0000

Once again, we listen to our users and we deliver results.

This morning ,we deployed a new feature that allows Qlubbs to print out their entire event list and a specific event details. This is useful on the day of the event, when you may not have your computer or broadband available. With this print out you can bring your Qlubb sign-up sheet to your fair, volunteer day, etc. You can create a printable view of the event by clicking on the "print out event details" link found right next to the green "Send Invite" button.

The event list printout is also useful for Qlubbs users that like to have their sports game schedule or semester events printed out and tacked to the refrigerator door. You can find the button to generate this printable event list up at the top of your main Qlubb page in the Qlubb Tools box.

Regardless of how you use our print feature, we hope you find it useful. Keep sending us great ideas! feedback at qlubb dot come

Email related issues are fixed.

noreply@blogger.com (Qlubb) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 07:25:00 +0000

This weekend, we noticed a degradation of our email-related services (e.g., email confirmation, group email). We have since re-started our mail server and everything is back to normal. We are looking into why it happened and are instituting procedures to prevent this from occurring in the future.

In re-starting the server, we may lose some pending emails. We are going to be re-sending out some Qlubb creation confirmations. If you sent out email this weekend -please resend - just in case. Sorry for any inconvenience.

Help At Your Finger TIps

noreply@blogger.com (Qlubb) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:18:00 +0000

Today, we introduced our new online help section. We've included the most commonly asked questions and the detailed answers. We will be continuously updating and adding new questions. So while we always welcome your questions and try to reply within a few hours (help at qlubb dot com), take a look here as well to see if your question has already been answered.

http://www.qlubb.com/qlubbs/help

Qlubb-er Spotlight Series - Lorna Murray, Scouting Organizer

noreply@blogger.com (Qlubb-CEO) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 18:37:00 +0000

For our second Qlubb User Spotlight, I would like to introduce to you to another Super Mom-Lorna Murray, an active parent of 2 school-aged boys. She is a "master" Qlubb-user having started 6 Qlubbs to help her organize various scouting groups, for which she manages the Tiger Den Program and serves as website administrator and trainer!

Qlubb: Tell us a little a bit about yourself
I am married with two young boys, ages 7 and 5. My husband's name is Ken and we have been married for 16 1/2 years. I am very active in my children's lives; they are the world to me. I retired from my State job in February 2008 and have been busy volunteering since. I was on the executive board of the Holbrook Elementary Parent Group as Secretary for two years. I volunteered to work in the school library one day a week and as a room parent for my 7 year old's classroom this past year. I hope to do the same this year. I also volunteer in the community as a member of the Holbrook Emergency Management Agency and CERT.

Qlubb: Pick three words that best describe yourself
organized .loyal . committed (to my children, family and friends)

Qlubb: Describe how you used Qlubb in your volunteering responsibilities
I have 6 Qlubb's set up. They are for five Cub Scout Dens and one is for the Leaders of the Pack. We have Tigercubs, Wolfcubs, Bearcubs, Webelos 1, Webelos 2 and Pack 56 Qlubb. There are 12 families for the Tiger Den, 16 families for the Wolf Den, 13 families for the Bear Den, 11 families for the Webelos 1 Den, 7 families for the Webelos 2 Den and finally there are at least 12 Leaders listed so far in the Pack 56 Leaders Qlubb.

We list events and meetings on every Qlubb site. The school calendar, Scout calendar and the Den calendar are all listed on each site. [We use Qlubb for] communication and sharing event news with our groups and for planning by using the event calendar to show the group all upcoming events. We plan our Scout calendar a year in advance, so families can make their schedules without conflicts with the Scout program. This makes every Scout family very happy. Having the Qlubb website helps us generate volunteers easily.

Qlubb: What did you use before Qlubb?
We used the telephone to make lots of phone calls and a copy machine to make lots of copies of our Scout Calendar. Using the telephone meant we had to repeat ourselves multiple times to each member of the Den and we did this close to once a weeks in some cases. Having the Qlubb makes it so our members can see their Scout Calendar anytime and anywhere they need to view it. The direct emails that go out each week to remind members of their den meetings is the greatest thing ever. I love the Qlubb site very much, it makes everyone's life a lot easier.

Qlubb: What is the best part of being a volunteer? Why do you do it?
The best part is being there and watching my sons' have fun! I do it for them and for me, because seeing the smile on their faces is my reward.

Qlubb: Thank you so much for sharing your experiences with us. You certainly define the Boy Scout Motto of "Be Prepared!"

But Wait... There's More

noreply@blogger.com (Qlubb) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 07:16:00 +0000

We added a new admin feature this evening that limits users' ability to delete messages. Like the other new admin features, this is a setting that can be determine and set by each Qlubb's administrator.

Thanks to our loyal users who suggested this feature. Keep 'em coming!

New admin features!

noreply@blogger.com (Qlubb) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:17:00 +0000

Today Qlubb released new admin features that help Qlubb admins better control member access and Qlubb data/event integrity. This is especially helpful for Qlubbs that have larger number of members - this helps to ensure the integrity of the Qlubb event data as well as protect individual member's personal information. The features released today include:

admin password - in addition to specific users being designated as admins, we have added another security feature, a separate admin password. As an admin, when you click on the admin tab, a pop-up window will prompt you for the admin password. The default is "admin" - please change this ASAP.
restricting user ability to add/modify/delete events
restricting user ability to add/modify/delete tasks
restricting user access to view member info in member tab

We are very excited about this functionality which was suggested by many of our growing Qlubbs! So thanks! Questions, comments, problems send them to us.

Uploading Avatars fixed!

noreply@blogger.com (Andy) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 06:05:00 +0000

So the uploading of avatars on the Members page is fixed. We had an issue with some permissions on the server that prevented writing to a tmp file (server side mumbo jumbo).

But either way, avatars can now be successfully updated.
sorry again for the inconvenience.