Difference between revisions of "Quick Start Guide for Administrators"

Revision as of 15:36, 19 May 2013

For full details of setting up your Charitylog system, please see the System Setup Guide.

The Charitylog system

Charitylog is an all-in-one contact management and data logging system for charities and Third Sector businesses. It is internet based, and so is accessible from anywhere you can get an internet connection. It is designed around desktop/laptop use, but works well on tablets and even smartphones.

The vision of Charitylog is that when implemented, the whole organisation will use Charitylog as much as possible. This means that the organisation gets maximum benefit from the software, and also ensures that the maximum possible amount of data is captured for logging and reporting.

The Charitylog system is not bespoke; rather, all our customers use the same basic system. This means that we can properly support everybody, and the system is very reasonably priced, unlike a fully bespoke system which usually requires a high upfront cost and then expensive development or extension work if required. Of course, Charitylog is hugely configurable, and can be set up to meet the needs of your organisation in any number of ways.

System administrators

To assist your organisation with the running of the system, we recommend that you nominate several members of staff to be your in-house administrators. They will have control of who can log on to the system and when, as well as being able to configure the system to your needs. They will be involved in setting up the system with your assigned trainer, and once your system is up and running, they will be in charge. Of course we are not trying to pass all the responsibility of running the system onto these people; the customer support line is open every day and ready to provide help to them, and you, whenever it is needed.

Often, the service managers in the organisation become the administrators. This helps when setting up the system, as each service manager is able to set up the data logging requirements exactly as they should be for their particular project. This is not a hard and fast rule, though. Anybody can be an administrator.

If somebody on the team of administrators is IT literate, this will help, but it is not essential.

Why have administrators at all?

Having in-house administrators gives your organisation more ownership of your system. Rather than just being provided a system and taught to use it, your organisation will be able to alter, extend and customise your system whenever you need to. Your administrators will also be able to add users and remove others, as staff join and leave; they will be able to teach new staff the basics of the system and get them up and running; and they will be able to set up new projects and services on the system when required.