Settings
From the Settings menus, account administrators can control, manage and customize the various elements of the Volunteer Management service.
Note
You must have either Administrator or Owner role permissions to view or edit Settings.
Accounts
The Settings->Accounts page gives you control over who has access to the Manager Interface of your service.
These are typically your HR or Volunteer staff who work with scheduling. These are not the Volunteers themselves, they get access
to the Volunteer Portal.
Account List
From the Account List page, you’ll see a list of all your accounts and their assigned Role.
From this page, use the Add button to create a new account, or you can Edit an existing account.
Account Details
Accounts have the following fields:
- First Name, Last Name
The account holder’s name.
- E-Mail
E-Mail address for the account. For some older accounts, this may be a username but it is recommended
to use an actual email address here so the account can use the password recovery feature if needed.
- Password
An Administrator (or the owner of the account) can change the account’s password. Otherwise leave this
field blank.
- Role
User Accounts can have one of the following Roles:
User Account Roles
Status |
Description |
|---|
Owner |
The Primary account holder. The Owner can assign and take away •Administrator* access for other users,
and is the only one who can change certain Organization Settings (like the Organization
Name). Otherwise, functionally equivalent to the Administrator role. |
Administrator |
Administrators have access to all the Settings options and can create Events and Departments. |
User |
Accounts with the User role can perform the regular scheduling for volunteers, creating and assigning shifts.
The do not have access to system settings and can not create Events or Departments. |
Disabled |
A Disabled account does not have access to log into the system. Often is it preferred to Disable an account
over deleting it. |
- Last Login
When the account last logged into the management interface.
Deleting Accounts
From the Edit Account screen and Administrator can delete an account. Owner accounts can not be deleted.
For tracking purposes, it’s recommended to change the accounts Role to Disabled in over deleting the account.
Achievements
Achievements are badges that volunteers can earn by reaching certain goals. What those goals are is
entirely up to you, the service only tracks when you award an achievement to a volunteer. The achievements
earned by a volunteer are then visible in their Volunteer Portal.
Achievements also have levels, so you can define how many of an achievement need to be earned to reach a
Silver or Gold rank.
Achievements List
View the list of Achievements registered in the system. Use the Add button to create a new achievement,
or you can Edit and existing record.
Achievement Details
- Achievement Name
The name of the achievement. This name is visible to volunteers.
- Description
A text field to allow you to describe the criteria for earning the achievement. This field is not
visible to volunteers.
- Available?
Enable to make the achievement eligible to be rewarded to a volunteer. If not enabled, this
reward will not be displayed as an available option for new rewards, but will still be displayed
to any volunteers who have already earned it.
- To Silver
An integer number for how many times this achievement needs to be earned by a volunteer in order
to qualify for the Silver level (displayed as a “pip” along side the achievement icon).
- To Gold
An integer number for how many times this achievement needs to be earned by a volunteer in order
to qualify for the Gold level (displayed as a “pip” along side the achievement icon). The To Gold
must be larger than the To Silver value.
- Image
Use the Change Image button to upload an image to represent your achievement “badge”. The achievement
must first be saved before you can add an image.
Custom Fields
The Settings->Custom Fields page allows an administrator to customize some
of the data fields collected for a Volunteer. While some “core fields” (like the name fields, email, date of birth)
can not be changed, the following fields can be enabled or disabled based on your organization’s requirements.
These settings are service-wide and affect volunteers for all events.
There are three options for each field which can be toggled on or off.
Custom Field Options
Switch |
Description |
|---|
Use |
Enable or disable if you want to collect this field for a Volunteer. If set to on, this field will
be available on the Volunteer Details page of the management interface. |
Display on Signup |
If enabled, this field will be displayed on the Volunteer Signup page to be collected
from a volunteer when they register for your event. |
Required |
If enabled, this field will be required by a Volunteer on the Event Registration page. Custom fields
are never required in the management interface. |
Custom Field Descriptions
- Address
Physical address fields (Address Line 1&2, City, State, Postal Code, Country) for a volunteer. Address fields
are also available in the Rewards report and useful if you need to mail the volunteer something (like rewards
or a reimbursement check).
- Emergency Contact
If you need to collect an Emergency Contact for the volunteer, enable this field. Adds three fields: a Name, Phone and
Relation.
- Forum Username
If your event has an online forum or other social media and you’d like to collect a username. Useful
if you need to give the user special access like private volunteer forums.
- Max Hours
If you would like the volunteer to let you know the maximum number of hours they would like to work your
event. This field is only used for reference and ranking suggestions, it is not a hard limit.
- Member ID
If your organization uses Member IDs that may be different than the identifier assigned to the volunteer.
- Registration #
If you would like to track the volunteer’s registration numbers for the event. Useful for issuing reimbursements.
- Shirt Size
Many events will provide their volunteers with T-Shirts. Enable to collect the shirt size from the volunteer.
You can then view size requests in the Event Details report which can be useful when placing shirt orders.
- Comments From Volunteer
Adds an open text box to the Volunteer Portal where the volunteer can enter comments.
- W-9 Received
If your event requires collection of tax or other documents to me work eligibility requirements.
This field is only used on the Management Interface and not displayed in the Volunteer Portal or signup pages.
- Schedule in Advance
Some events schedule volunteers on site, some in advance and some a mix of both. If you would like the
volunteer to be able to request being scheduled in advance, enable this field. You can then use this
field as a Filter on the Volunteer List page.
Email
The service is capable of sending emails to volunteers using your organization’s email server. That
way, emails appear to originate from your organization’s domain instead of hakaru.org.
Contact your Network Administrator to get the server settings for your organization and enter them here.
It is recommended to create a dedicated account for the Volunteer Management Service to use that
is capable of sending mail as the user (or group) you desire.
Note
Google Gmail or G-Suite Email
If using a Gmail or Google G-Suite account, do not enter your account password. Instead, create
an App Password specifically for the service.
See: https://support.google.com/mail/answer/185833?hl=en
Use the following settings:
SMTP Host |
smtp.gmail.com:587
|
SMTP Security |
TLS |
Email Settings Descriptions
- SMTP Host
Hostname of your SMTP server. If using a port other than 25, follow the hostname with a :<port>,
e.g.: smtp.mydomain.com:587
- SMTP User
Your SMTP account username.
- SMTP Password
Your SMTP account password. See the note above for Gmail and G-Suite accounts.
- SMTP Security
Most SMTP servers use some form of security to encrypt passwords (typically TLS). Specify yours
here or None for clear-text (not recommended!)
- E-Mail From Address
Overrides what email address is used for sending emails. For example, if you’re using an individual user’s
account to send the email, but you want the email to appear to have been sent from a Group, enter
the email address here. Your SMTP User must of course have access to send from the specified
address. Otherwise leave blank.
- E-Mail From Name
Same as E-Mail From Address, but overrides the display name used as the sender of the email.
Email Templates
The Settings->Email Templates page allows you to customize the appearance
of the emails sent to your volunteers with the look and feel of your organization and event, along
with the wording.
Beyond just letting the volunteer know their application has been approved, you can pass along
important information like training information, contact details, important news or anything
else you would like.
From the Email Templates List page, you can view the templates you have created. The In Use column lets
you know which templates are currently in use by your portal Site, since you may want
to customize your email templates for each event.
Use the Add button to create a new template, Edit to edit an existing template, or View if you’d like
to see a sample of what the rendered template would look like.
Each template allows you to create an HTML and Plain Text version, which is displayed to the volunteer
based on their personal email client settings.
Email Template Descriptions
- Type
The following email types are available:
Email Template Types
Template Type |
Description |
|---|
Password Reset |
When Volunteers use the Forgot My Password form in the Volunteer Portal.
Make sure to add the [[password_url]] (Password URL) variable in your template. |
Registration Submitted |
Sent to a volunteer after submitting the Event Registration form. |
Registration Approved |
Sent to a volunteer when they are marked Approved for an event using the Approve + Send Email option. |
- Subject
Subject of the email message.
- Description
Description of the email template. For internal use, not displayed to the volunteer.
- Embed Images?
If you would like your email to contain images, you do need them hosted on an external web server
(The service currently does not support uploading of images for email templates). However, if you would
like to embed the image in the email that is sent rather than link to the image externally, you can
enable this option.
Enabling this option makes your email size larger, however some users block displaying of remote
email images so embedding the image helps increase the chance the volunteer will see your image
and potentially lowers your spam score.
Template Editor
A WYSIWYG editor is provided to allow you to customize your email template. If you are familiar with HTML, you
can enter raw HTML code by going to Tools -> Source Code.
Note
Please note the template editor has its own Save button that is separate from the main
Update Email Template Settings button for the form at the top of the page.
Make sure to use the Save button on the editor to save any template changes.
You can also provide a base CSS Stylesheet that will be rendered with your email.
Also be sure to provide a Plain Text Email Template for users who disabled HTML email messages. Your
email will be sent as a MIME Multipart message with both the HTML and Plain Text alternative available
for your volunteer to view.
The following variables are available for use in your email template. You can insert them into your
template by using the Variables menu in the editor, or just enter them directly.
[[ volunteer_identifier ]]
[[ volunteer_status ]]
[[ volunteer_givenname ]]
[[ volunteer_surname ]]
[[ volunteer_nickname ]]
[[ volunteer_pronouns ]]
[[ volunteer_email ]]
[[ volunteer_address1 ]]
[[ volunteer_address2 ]]
[[ volunteer_city ]]
[[ volunteer_state ]]
[[ volunteer_postalcode ]]
[[ volunteer_country ]]
[[ volunteer_telephone ]]
[[ volunteer_shirtsize ]]
[[ volunteer_forumuser ]]
[[ volunteer_econtact ]] - Emergency Contact
[[ volunteer_econtact_phone ]]
[[ volunteer_econtact_relation ]]
[[ event_name ]]
[[ event_location ]]
[[ event_city ]]
[[ event_state ]]
[[ event_country ]]
[[ password_url ]] - Password Reset templates only
Example Email Template
Below is a sample plain-text email template that shows the use of variables in your message.
Hello [[ volunteer_givenname ]]!
Congratulations! Your volunteer registration for [[ event_name ]] has been approved! Please
remember your Volunteer ID ([[ volunteer_identifier ]]), you will need it at the con.
So what happens next?
Orientation Meeting Schedule
----------------------------
* Thursday July 28 - 9:00 AM (Panel 1)
* Thursday July 28 - 4:00 PM (Panel 1)
* Friday July 29 - 9:00 AM (Volunteer Ops)
* Friday July 29 - 4:00 PM (Volunteer Ops)
We do require that you to attend one of these meetings before you can volunteer with us, even
if you have volunteered in previous years.
At the orientation meetings, we'll go over all the do's and don'ts, get you setup with your
schedules and get your badges.
Your Information
----------------------
Below is the information we have on file for you. If anything is incorrect or changes,
you may log back into the Gofer portal to keep us updated.
Volunteer ID: [[ volunteer_identifier ]]
Registration Status: [[ volunteer_status ]]
Name: [[ volunteer_givenname]] [[ volunteer_surname ]]
E-Mail [[ volunteer_email ]]
Address: [[ volunteer_address1 ]]
[[ volunteer_address2 ]]
[[ volunteer_city ]], [[ volunteer_state ]] [[volunteer_postalcode ]] ([[ volunteer_country ]])
Telephone: [[ volunteer_telephone ]]
Shirt Size: [[ volunteer_shirtsize ]]
Thank you, welcome aboard and we look forward to seeing you!
- [[ event_name ]] Volunteer Ops Staff
[[ event_dates ]]
[[ site_url ]]
Organization
The Settings->Organization page allows you to customize some global service settings for
your organization.
- Organization Name
The name of your organization. Only your account Owner can change this field.
- Volunteer (Singular)
Do you call your Volunteers something other than “Volunteer”? If so, you can enter the singular term here and
it will be used throughout the service in place of the word “Volunteer”. Otherwise leave this field blank to
use the default “Volunteer”.
- Volunteer (Plural)
The plural term used to identify your volunteers (see above). Leave this field blank to use
the default “Volunteers”.
- Volunteer Minimum Age
Enter the minimum age required for your volunteers to register for your event. The system will require
volunteers be a minimum of this age by the first day of your event when registering. In the management
interface, a warning label will be displayed if below this age.
Also displayed on this page are a list of the Owner and Administrator accounts, as well as a count of
your total number of Volunteers.
Sites
The Settings->Sites page allows you to create and manage your Volunteer Portal.
The Site the location of your Volunteer Portal and where you will direct your volunteers to go to register
to volunteer for your event. You can use our shared portal (https://portals.hakaru.org/) or your own custom
domain. Contact your Network Administrator to have them setup a custom hostname in
your event’s domain.
If you run multiple events, you can create a Site record for each event (using separate hostnames) and
still share the same volunteers.
Notes for Network Administrators
Custom Domains
If you would like your Volunteer Portal to be accessible from your own domain, you will
need to create a CNAME record in your DNS pointing to portals.hakaru.org.
For example, if your main website is www.myevent.com, you might use volunteers.myevent.com.
Your volunteer management staff will still access the Management Interface at https://hakaru.org/,
but your volunteers will access the registration pages using your custom domain.
SSL Certificates
In order for your volunteer portal to be operational, we will need to request
HTTPS security certificates on your behalf (we use Let’s Encrypt).
Once your CNAME record has been added to your DNS, please contact your sales
representative with the hostname so they can have the certificate generated.
If you ever need to change your hostname, please let us know so we can generate
the cerificate for the new name.
Site Details
The following options are available to configure your site.
- Status
Enable or disable the site.
- Hostname
The fully-qualified hostname for your site. Do not include “https” or any URL paths.
When you request a domain name from your organization’s IT/Network Administrator, register
the name as a CNAME record pointing to portals.hakaru.org. (see Notes for Network
Administrators above).
- Title
Title to be displayed on your website portal.
- Event
Attach an Event to the site. This will be the event Volunteers will
be registering for from the site. If you run multiple concurrent events, you will need to create
a Site record for each concurrent event.
- Main Site URL
Your event website’s main URL. This will be displayed and linked from the Volunteer Portal.
Provide the full URL (e.g. https://myevent.com/).
- Event Registration URL
Optional. The registration page for your event’s attendees. This will be displayed and linked from the Volunteer Portal.
Provide the full URL (e.g. https://myevent.com/register/).
- Privacy Policy URL
Optional. Your event’s privacy policy. This will be displayed and linked from the Volunteer Portal.
Provide the full URL (e.g. https://myevent.com/privacy/).
- Help URL
Optional. If your event has a “Contact Us” page or other helpdesk system, provide the URL here.
This will be displayed and linked from the Volunteer Portal.
Provide the full URL (e.g. https://myevent.com/help/).
- News Feed URL
Optional. If your event has a News Feed page, provide the URL here.
This will be displayed and linked from the Volunteer Portal.
Provide the full URL (e.g. https://myevent.com/help/).
- Login URL
Optional. If you would like your Volunteers to log into your website directly to reach the Volunteer Portal
instead of logging into the portal, enter the URL here. This requires you to configure OAuth2 authentication
on your website to communicate with the system. Please contact your sales representative in order to assist
with this functionality. Leave blank for the default login system.
- Allow Updates
Enable to allow Volunteers to change their information after they register. Many events turn off updates
during the event or right before reward reports are generated.
- Available Hours
Do you want to use the Volunteer Portal to collect available hours from your Volunteers?
Set to Edit to allow users to enter their availability. View Only if they can view but not make any changes.
Set to Disabled if you do not wish to use this feature.
Many events wait until their schedule has been released before turning on this feature, giving the
Volunteer a chance to see the event schedule can allow them to provide you with a more accurate availability.
- Scheduled Hours
Do you want to allow your volunteers to view their assigned shifts from the Volunteer Portal?
Can be set to View Only or Disabled.
- Display Rewards
Do you want to allow your volunteers to view their received rewards from the Volunteer Portal?
Can be set to View Only or Disabled.
Content
The Content tab of the Edit Site page allows for further customization of the content displayed on your
Volunteer Portal. You can customize:
Site Content Types
Template Type |
Description |
|---|
Homepage (bottom) |
This is content that is displayed on the bottom of the landing/home page of the Volunteer Portal.
The content will appear under a banner with a link to the Signup form.
Here you can display news, instructions or other information you would like your volunteers to
know before they sign up.
|
Signup Form Notice |
This content is displayed at the top of the volunteer registration form. This is for
important messages or other information you think volunteers should have when filling out
the registration form.
Due to the size of the form, it’s recommended to keep this content brief.
|
Help Page |
If you did not supply a Help URL in the settings above, you can optionally supply content for
a help page hosted on your Volunteer Portal. If content for a Help Page is supplied, a Help
link will be displayed at the top of all Volunteer Portal pages. |
The WYSIWYG editor allows you to enter and format content. If you are familiar with HTML, you can also
provide raw HTML code by going to Tools->Source Code.
The following variables are available for use in your site templates. You can insert them into your
template by using the Variables menu in the editor, or just enter them directly.
[[ event_name ]]
[[ event_dates ]]
[[ event_location ]]
[[ event_city ]]
[[ event_state ]]
[[ event_country ]]
[[ site_url ]]
[[ now ]]
E-Mail
The E-Mail tab of the Edit Site page allows you to set which Email Templates you
would like to use for emails generated by this site. You can also override the default E-Mail From Adddress and
E-Mail From Name that were set under your Email Settings. This allows you to have
custom email settings for a specific event (if you run multiple/concurrent events).
- E-Mail From Address
Override the “From” email address defined in your Email Settings. Leave blank to use
the default setting.
- E-Mail From Name
Override the “From” name defined in your Email Settings. Leave blank to use
the default setting.
- E-Mail Templates
Select among your existing Email Template descriptions for each of the
template types: Password Reset, Registration Approved and Registration Submitted.