Making Music Platform Project Plan (Full website users)

Making Music have created a project plan to provide a bite-sized approach to building and designing your Platform. As each group is different this is by no means a rigid plan but aims to provide structure, a timeframe, as well as a clearer understanding of who is responsible for each part of the process. This plan has been designed specifically for those with the full website and not those who are using the members area only, however, some parts of the plan are applicable to both.

Guidance on using the plan

  • The project has been split into weekly sections which are based on one person working on the Platform for an average of around 3 hours per week.
  • The task lines for each section contain several tasks which should be completed using the Making Music help guides relevant to each section. All of our help guides can be found on the MM Platform Service Hub page.
  • For some weeks we have provided links to other useful resources which are included in the help guides needed section. These include top tips as well as other resources which are available on our website.
  • In regards to the task lines you may find that you are not ready to complete some of the tasks or that you do not want to use a certain function and that is fine, just come back to that task when ready or move on to the next task.

Before you begin

  • Extras – If you have asked for any of the additional features (domain name management, Additional storage, extra nightly back up or SSL certificate) then please read our Additional extras for your Making Music Platform help guide for more information on what you need to do. We would recommend that everyone has an SSL certificate.
  • Website set-up checklist – Your Making Music Platform includes a website set-up checklist which you may find useful throughout the project. This can be found in the Administration Dashboard under the Website config/Info section of your Platform.
  • Privacy settings – you can administer what the public can see about your members and what information members can see about each other by going to the Website and configuration page (cog in the top right-hand side of screen, then the top cog) under the configuration tab
  • Viewing pages with different permission levels - There is a key icon (top right-hand side corner of your Platform) which allows you to view pages using different permission levels
  • Contact us – The membership team will act as first line support and will be able to handle most queries, by email or phone, on any aspect of the system. Please note that all email queries will be responded to within 5 working days. There may be some questions we can’t help with as the team are not IT specialists and in those instances we will refer queries on to the software owner HarmonySite for help. There is a page in your Platform which provides you with more information about contacting us for help and the format which email queries should take. This can be found in the top right-hand corner of your Platform by clicking on the icon with a question mark.

Contents

 

Week one – The beginning

Estimated time of completion - 2hours

The best way to start any project is to get a basic understanding of how it all works.

Link to week one task line

 

Week two - Getting started with the member database

Estimated time of completion (based on manually adding 50 records and completing all other tasks) 3 hours

Adding members, friends and sponsors to your platform is an essential part of your platforms functionality and therefore should be one of the first things to focus on.

  • Help guide needed:
  • Where to look in your Platform: In the Admin dashboard (under the section entitled Members). You may also need to look at the Members Home page.
  • This week will focus on the following aspects:
    • Adding and checking members details
    • Positions
    • Committees and teams
    • Adding sponsors and friends
    • Member groupings

Link to week two task line

 

Week three – Designing your website (part one)

Estimated time of completion - 2 hours 30 minutes

The information for designing your website will be split over the course of two weeks. The first week will focus primarily on the design of your homepage.

Link to week three task line

 

Week four – Designing your website (part two)

Estimated time of completion – 3 hours 30 minutes (please note that you may require extra time to update the content on all pages which have been linked to the main menu)

This week will carry on from the tasks completed in week three and will focus on designing your website.

Link to week four task line

 

Week five – Getting started with the members area

Estimated time of completion – 3 hours 30 minutes (this really does vary depending on the number of documents and songs you would like to add so you may wish to allow more time for this week)

This week will focus on the different aspects of the members area. We will only be covering the main aspects of the area however this part of the site is highly customisable so you can add or remove features as required.

Link to week five task line

 

Week six – Events

Estimated time of completion – 3 hours

This week will focus on adding events to your website. Please note that selling tickets for your events will not be covered this week and more information about this can be found in week nine entitled finance.

  • Help guide needed:
  • Where to look in your platform: In the Administration Dashboard (under the Riser Stacks and Events sections) and in the website and configuration page
  • This week will focus on the following aspects:
    • Adding venues
    • Riser stacks
    • Adding an event
    • Creating event programmes
    • Tracking event attendance/availability

Link to week six task line

 

Week seven – Emails and mailing lists

Estimated time of completion – 2 hours 30 minutes

This week will focus on using the Platform to send out emails including newsletters to the organisations members and friends. The Platform needs to be live for emails to function correctly but it will still be worth setting this up beforehand and then testing once you have gone live.

Link to week seven task line

 

Week eight – Going live with your website

Estimated time of completion – 3 hours 30 minutes

You should now be at the stage where you are nearly ready to make your new website available to your members and to the public. Week eight will focus on the final checks to be carried out before you go live with your website and provide you with instructions of how to go live.

Link to week eight task line

 

Week nine – All things finance

Estimated time of completion – 3 hours

The final week will focus on the financial aspects of the Platform. We would recommend adding these features after you have gone live with your Platform and more importantly when the SSL certificate has been added.

  • Help guides needed:
  • Where to look in your platform: in the Administration Dashboard (under the finance and members section) and in the Website and Configuration page
  • This week will focus on the following aspects:
    • Setting up payment methods
    • Member invoicing
    • Gift aid
    • Donations
    • Selling merchandise
    • Selling tickets for events

Link to week nine task line

 

Congratulations, you should have now created a functioning website which you and your members are happy with and which truly represents your group. As this project plan focused on the main aspects of the Platform there may be some features which have not been mentioned. Therefore, it would be worth looking through the Administration Dashboard as well as the Website and configuration page of your website to decide whether you would like to use any of these. Some of the additional features including Member Audits, tracking website visits and sending text messages can be found in our Other information you need to know in your Making Music Platform help guide.

 

 

We hope you find this Making Music resource useful. If you have any comments or suggestions about the guidance please contact us. Whilst every effort is made to ensure that the content of this guidance is accurate and up to date, Making Music do not warrant, nor accept any liability or responsibility for the completeness or accuracy of the content, or for any loss which may arise from reliance on the information contained in it.

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