Golden Rule #5 & 6 of Website Design & Functionality

5) Website should work on multiple browsers.

Gone are the days where the only Internet browser that everybody used was Netscape. Today, there are various Internet browsers that people prefer to use. Thus, it becomes imperative that your website be able to load on any browser – whether that be Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari or Google Chrome.

ClubRunner websites not only work on every browser out there, but because we support unicode, we are able to provide you with a website that you can maintain in another language! So, you never will have to worry about your visitor’s browser preference or any language barrier.

6) Content should be updated often.

The real factor that drives a website towards becoming successful is the content. If content is not updated often, visitors of the website have no reason to visit the site often. Updating content on a regular basis becomes quite difficult if one does not know HTML and has to rely on a webmaster.

With Website Manager, there is absolutely no need to know any computer programming language. Furthermore, you can eliminate the need for any sole webmaster with the simple interface that is provided to you to design the website as you see fit. You even have the opportunity to let other members of your club update the content on the site based on their access rights. You can easily update your eBulletin on a daily basis and share any news or information on your homepage with a click of a mouse. The best part is that you can do all this at your own pace and at your own time, so you can make sure that your website is content-centric at all times.

Want to know how to implement these golden rules for your ClubRunner site? Contact support@clubrunner.ca or visit ClubRunner's knowledgebase for more information!

**Read more about the Top 10 Golden Rules including Rules #1, 2, 3 & 4**

Visit ClubRunner RI Convention 2010

The Rotary International convention is just around the corner on June 19 - 23 and ClubRunner will be there! If you are planning to attend, be sure to drop by the ClubRunner display at Booth 1000.

There’ll be lots to see and do and prizes to win. Join in the fun and celebrate this annual gathering of Rotarians! For more details and to provide feedback, visit the RI Convention 2010 - Montreal page!

ClubRunner gets a Makeover in 2010!

Our development team is busy working on many product enhancements as suggested by our users. We are excited to announce that 2010 brings a new level of automation, communication and database management to the Rotary world with spectacular additions.

Changes to ClubRunner Module Interfaces. You will gradually notice the Graphical User Interface (GUI) updated and opening in a new window to provide a clean and sleek design, making it easier to navigate and to read data. This has already taken effect for the following features:

• Member Profile
• Committees Module
• Email Message Center
• Member Lists (Active, Inactive & Others)
• Account Statements
• Active Request Update
• Dues & Billing
• Edit Executives & Directors
• All Reports

Eventually, all modules will be transitioned to the new platform, at which time you will be able to access each feature through convenient drop down menus. We are excited about this technological upgrade and once ported over entirely, we will be able to introduce more flexibility and customization. Stay tuned for more information about dynamic changes to ClubRunner or feel free to contact us.

New Year, New Resolution

With the start of a new year, many people have made their list of aspirations, goals and resolutions, both personally and professionally. This is by no means an exception for service clubs.

Boost your club's public image by posting news regularly to your website, promote what Rotary is all about by adding more friends to your eBulletin subscriber list, and encourage your members to keep their profile current by using the Active Member Update Request. Show off your holiday fun by uploading your memories to photo journals, post a new YouTube video to your homepage, and so much more!

Stay tuned for more information about how ClubRunner can help you meet your goals and take your administration and communication needs to the next level in 2010!

Week 19: Tip of the Week

#19: Did you know that if you don’t update your website frequently visitors will not come back?

There are 4 reasons why it’s important to constantly maintain your website:

1. Fresh material added regularly to your site keeps visitors coming back to see what's new.
2. Websites must continually evolve and be developed to meet the increasing demands of your audience, as well as reflect the latest technology and trends.
3. The success of your site is relative to whether people can find your site from a search engine. Link to other relevant sites and ask other webmasters to link their sites to yours. Examples include other community websites, District site, your neighbouring clubs and Rotary International’s registry of websites.
4. There should always be a constant and designated person to supervise your site and keep it running smoothly.

If any of these components are missing, visitors will lose interest and look elsewhere for information, which will cause the traffic on your site to decrease. If you’re already using ClubRunner, attend the Website Manager & eBulletin and Site Pages Management web training sessions to help you gain more insight as to how to keep your website content current and your traffic always busy!

Week 18: Tip of the Week

# 18: Did you know that having a web presence increases your club’s public image?

Since we are in the Web 2.0 (highly interactive) technology era, when most people are conducting research and looking for information about a particular area the world wide web is the first place they go. With that in mind, it’s important that your club has a website that will have key information to engage a visitor and entice them to want to know more about your club and possibly want to get involved. It’s easy to have web presence with ClubRunner, as you don’t require any technical expertise to maintain and update the site quickly and easily. Tip: Get several members involved in updating your website to keep it fresh more frequently with less effort. Visit our official website for more information.

Future ClubRunner Updates

Over the last few weeks ClubRunner has released a number of feature updates and improvements and we still have much more in store!

Our R&D team is busy at work enhancing various ClubRunner features as requested by our users. Your suggestions are key to our development team implementing product enhancements and improvements. We get a lot of users providing feedback about features and functions that would be beneficial and rest assured, they are taken seriously! To submit product recommendations, please email feedback@clubrunner.ca.

Stay tuned for information about new offerings and check out our official service updates page for a list of details.

New Feature: Active Member Update Request

Need members to update their profile? You can now send them a request to do so! The Active Member Request Update feature allows you to review how recently your members’ profiles were updated, and by whom. Send out an email to each member displaying their current profile details and request an update if required. In order to access this feature, you must have an access level of Club Executive (level 50) or greater.

Once the email has been sent to the member, it will appear within their inbox exactly as it would if they were logged into the ClubRunner system. If all information is correct, the member doesn’t need to do anything. To make any changes to the information, they simply click on the Update button located at the top and bottom of the email message, which takes members to a password page, followed by a direct link to their profile.

Visit the official ClubRunner website for more information about this feature.

Week 11: Tip of the Week

#11. Did you know that if you’re a secretary, you can report your club’s attendance to the district* with a few simple mouse clicks?

Click 1: Under Meeting Services, click on Input “Attendance” for the current year

Click 2: Verify each attendance list by clicking on “Attendance” next to the appropriate date (optional)

Click 3: Click on Report Month Year attendance

Click 4: Click on Close Month and Update District


* Note: You can only update your district if they are online using ClubRunner.

New Feature Release: Tabbed Member Profile

A new look and feel to your member information layout is now available! Complete with 5 tabs to organize and separate your data. With this feature update, you will be able to:

• Choose a preferred address, email and preferred nickname to be displayed in the member directory
• Monitor when changes were last made
• View attendance reports
• View member designations and committees
• See list of club events and add them to your personal online calendar
• Set and monitor a secured password to access your club’s site

To learn more about this new release, visit ClubRunner's official website