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Portal Advanced Setup

Since the Portal is integrated with ELEXIO Database, there are certain areas of the Database you'll need to configure, depending on which sections you're planning to use. We've included instructions and best practices on each section below.

Jump To: Profile Directory Groups Group Finder Ministries Events Giving

Profile Tab

This is typically the first tab a user will see after logging in. On this screen a user can manage and update personal information for themselves or any member of their family.

The information on this page comes directly from the People > General Info screen of your Database. Any changes made by the user in Portal are saved directly to your Database, eliminating the work of updating the user's information in the church office.
- NOTE: Any changes that users make within the Portal are recorded in Database report titled "Data changes made in the Portal - R2025."
- NOTE: When a family member is removed, this creates an unassigned Follow Up task for an Admin to remove the person from the household.

Adding a Family Member:

To add a new family member, select Add Member in the the Select a Family Member drop-down box.

NOTE: Only those with the family position of Household Head or Spouse of Head may add additional family members or view/edit other family member's information.

Privacy Settings: Managing what displays in the Directory

Communication Area and Mailing Lists Under the Profile tab, we've included checkboxes so that each user can control if they want to include their profile in the Directory, and if so,
which information is visible to everyone. For example, under the Communication heading, simply uncheck "visible to everyone" if a certain communication method (i.e. phone number/email) should remain private.

Mass Email Subscription (Mailing Lists):

At the bottom of the Profile tab, an individual can select which Email Lists (Mailing Lists) they'd like to be included in.

Mailing List information is managed in your Database under Administration > Mailing Lists.
NOTE: Both the Publish Online and Edit Online check-boxes must be checked for a list to appear and allow a person to opt-in or opt-out.

Directory Tab

The Directory tab includes the ability to search by name as well as filters that let you view Church Staff, Groups or Ministries you're involved in, or filter by Campus. Clicking an address will bring it up in Google Maps. If you're on a mobile device, tapping a phone number will initiate a call on your phone.

Directory Access:

For security reasons, when someone first creates a Portal account, they will not have access to the Directory. To have view the Directory, a staff member must manually assign them the Portal and Mobile security role through ELEXIO Database.

Required Criteria to appear in the Directory:

In order for someone to appear the Directory, they must meet two criteria:

They be assigned a Status that is included in the list of Status codes that are authorized to appear in the Directory. This is controlled in the Database under Administration > Codes > Status. The Include in Online Directory check-box must be checked (see arrow at right).
They must have "Include me in the directory" selected in the Profile tab of Portal.

Troubleshooting who's appearing in the Directory

Special Staff Permissions

In order for someone to appear under Staff Member filter, on the Database People > General Info screen, they must have the staff check-box selected.

Church staff members can be assigned rights to view people in the Directory even if a person has chosen to opt themselves out. (This allows staff to access information on their smartphone or tablet; helpful for ministry on the go).

This can be set up under Home > Common Tasks > Manage Security Settings. Select a Security Role, and under the Portal and Mobile heading, set Portal & Mobile - View Private Information to "view" in green (below). More on Security Roles

Groups Tab

The Groups tab displays any groups a user attends and provides the ability to search for other groups they might like to attend. This information is pulled from the People > Involvement Screen of ELEXIO Database.

Group Links:

The area is for links such as online study materials or a link to your next meeting location. Links display for all users. Group leaders also have an "Add Link" button to add links.

Taking Group Attendance:

For leaders, a Group Attendance button will appear under Group Actions. Select a date, uncheck anyone not at the meeting, and click save. If prior attendance has already been recorded for that date, check boxes will reflect the attendance as recorded.

When Group Attendance is recorded via Portal, it will either be matched with an existing event occurrence for this small group already defined in the Database Events Calendar, or a corresponding event will be added to the calendar automatically to hold this attendance data.

NOTE: Small Group Events must be published to Portal to ensure this match to an existing event can occur; otherwise, duplicate events will begin appearing.

Group Communications:

In ELEXIO Database, you can control if Portal users will have the ability to mass text or email members within their group. This is managed under Home > Common Tasks > Manage Security Settings. Typically, most Portal users have the security role of Portal & Mobile. Select this role and toggle on/off the Email All Members or Text All Members options (below).

Small Group Finder

The Small Group Finder allows your congregation or site visitors to search available small groups that they might be interested in joining. In conjunction with a Database Web-Form for small group sign up, the Group Finder can be a powerful tool to help your congregation get connected.

Display the Group Finder without Requiring Login:

To make it easy for church visitors to find a group, the Group Finder can be placed on a page that does not require login. On your website, add a unique page for the Group Finder, embed the Portal on that page, set the Portal menu not to display, and set the Group Finder as the first section to
load. Find detailed instructions at Embedding Portal on your website

Group Finder Configuration Options:

In ELEXIO Database, navigate to Home > Options > Portal Options > Group Finder. Here, you can control whether the List view or Map view loads by default. In addition, you can set which filters appear under the Filter tab.

Managing What Group Information Displays:

In ELEXIO Database, navigate to Administration > Groups. Select a group. Use the Publish Online in Group Finder checkbox to manage if a group should appear in the Group Finder (below right).

Other items to review before rolling out the Group Finder:

The Group Leader name and their default phone number/email address will appear in List view, under the Group Description (right). There is not a way to hide this information.
We recommend including a one or two sentence description of each groups' mission or vision to make it easy for site visitors to see if they'd like to be involved.
- NOTE: If you place a URL starting with "www" the a small group description, it will automatically be turned into a clickable link. This can be helpful if you'd like to link to a sign-up page that uses a Database Web-Form.
- NOTE2: You can also embed HTML in the small group description. Click here for code to embed a simple button that you can link to a sign up form.
If applicable, make sure each group has the below items filled out:
- Topic
- Meeting Day
- Start Time
- Childcare Options
- Group Gender
- Marital Status
- Zone
- Location

Ministries Tab:

The Ministries tab displays the ministries in which the user is involved. This information is pulled from the People > Involvement Screen of ELEXIO Database.

The Groups tab displays any groups a user attends and provides the ability to search for other groups they might like to attend.

Ministry Links:

This area is for links such as online ministry materials or schedules. Links display for all users. Ministry Leaders have an Add Link button to add/manage links.

Ministry Communications:

In ELEXIO Database, you can control if Portal users will have the ability to mass text or email members within their ministry. Permissions to allow mass text/email are manged in the same way Groups. See Communication Permissions.

Events Tab

The Events area displays all events which a user is eligible for. Here, a person with the family position of Head of Household or Spouse of Head can select any family member, view that individual's events, as well as register or make registration changes.If an event is part of a recurring series, only the next instance will appear.

Managing Which Events Appear in Portal

In ELEXIO Database, create or edit an event. Under the Publicity Tab, ensure the ELEXIO PORTAL checkbox is selected. In addition, under the Attending Tab, if "Anyone can attend" is selected, the event will display for each person who can access the Portal Events tab. If "People matching this criteria..." is selected, persons matching the criteria you have chosen will be able to view this event in Portal.

Giving Tab

The Giving area allows a user to view or print their giving history. (This information pulls from the ELEXIO Database People > Contributions screen). In addition, using the provided check-box, they can opt out of receiving mailed giving statements (paperless). Last, if Online Giving is enabled, they can donate online as well as setup/manage recurring donations. NOTE: Online Giving requires SSL security be enabled.

Pledges:

Beneath Giving History, a user will be able to see any active pledges tied to their account and how much they have given during the pledge period. (This information pulls from People > Contributions > Pledges). Once a pledge period has passed, a pledge will still display in the Portal for three months.

Managing Funds:

You can manage the designated funds that display in Portal to donate towards. In the Database, navigate to Administration > Codes > Funds.

For each fund, use the "Publish Online" check box to control display in the Designated Fund box.

All online donations are automatically recorded on the individual's Contribution's screen. (No donations data entry work is required!)

Make Giving Easy to Find

When a website visitor wants give online, they may not think to look in a 'My Account' section of your website. Therefore, we often recommend you create two menu items or links to separate Portal pages on your site; one for online giving and the other for the remaining areas of Portal.

As usual, link the "My Account" or similarly titled menu item to a page that shows all the areas of Portal, including giving. Link the "Online Giving" menu item to a separate page that only shows the Portal giving section. (For Elexio Website owners, you can set which section appears using the Portal block controls. Non-Elexio Website owners will need to accomplish the above by modifying the Portal embed code. Instructions to do so can be found at Setting up and Using Portal under the "Option 1: Integrate Portal into your existing website" heading).

Once these steps for the Portal set-up are completed, you may want to continue on to:

Last Updated: 8/14/15

This article is intended for: Implementation Administrators

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