ecampaigning tool feedback and questions
Debra Broughton
For those who don't know me (I'm not sure how big this list is) I'm the
Web Coordinator at Friends of the Earth International. (www.foei.org) We
have been deploying plone since April this year and are keen to use the
ec tool.
I have spent some time recently exploring the possibilities and it does
seem to be a resource with a lot of potential. I'd like to be in a
position to use it for our next email action, which will happen in the
next few weeks, but I still have some questions about how we can use it,
and would welcome any information or examples of how the ec tool is
being used.
My questions/feedback:
1. Our current cyberactions consist of a headline brief explanation and
photo on the same page as the message. This is important to us as we aim
to construct our actions so they have the minimum number of clicks. I've
found a roundabout way to do this with the ec tool, but as the page
elements that need editing don't show up in plone's contents view, it's
not ideal. Am I missing something, or are there plans to improve this?
2. The campaign action element could be a good way to generate an index
to all cyberactions, but I can't find a way to turn off fields I don't
want displayed (total actions, organiser and so on ). Again, I'd like
to be able to edit this page so that I can add an introductory text, a
photo and a link to our cybacrion list, but it's not clear how or
whether this can be done
3. The 'keep me informed' checkbox implies that there is some sort of
mailing list facility, but I can't find any way to set this up.
Cheers
Debra
--
Debra Broughton
web coordinator
web: www.foei.org
Tel: +31 20 6221369
Skype: foei_debra
Yahoo: webfoei
Join the FoEI webmasters' email list:
https://lists.foei.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/foeiweb
Sign up for cyber actions
https://lists.foei.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/cyberaction
Duane Raymond
> I have spent some time recently exploring the
> possibilities and it does
> seem to be a resource with a lot of potential.
Yes - it does have - we just need to make it more obvious!
> I'd
> like to be in a
> position to use it for our next email action, which
> will happen in the
> next few weeks,
Great!
> 1. Our current cyberactions consist of a headline
> brief explanation and
> photo on the same page as the message.
The is perfectly possible with the eCampaigning Tool as it was
made to be very flexible for the layout. This page might help
you:
http://www.fairsay.com/labs/ectool/docs/ActionSteps
Basically to make whatever layout you want, you need to add
content to different 'layout elements'. Layout elements are the
major layout areas of the page, and each can contain one or more
types of content: HTML (which can link to images) or fields.
So if you wanted your 'headline' and image above the fields, just
add it to the 'Page Header' layout element.
> This is
> important to us as we aim
> to construct our actions so they have the minimum
> number of clicks.
Right - that is exactly what the eCampaigning Tool was designed
to do.
> I've
> found a roundabout way to do this with the ec tool,
> but as the page
> elements that need editing don't show up in plone's
> contents view, it's
> not ideal. Am I missing something, or are there plans
> to improve this?
I'm not sure why the page elements don't show up in the Plone
folder contents view. On my installation they do. Just keep in
mind the hierarchy:
- Action Edition
- Action Elements (e.g. Action Message Template if you chose
to put it within an action edition)
- Action Steps (for simple actions there is only one)
- Layout Elements ('view' action and then press contents)
- HTML blocks, field blocks, images
Assuming things are the same on your set-up, then maybe it is
just a matter of going to them via 'view' > contents (from the
action edition). I'll also discuss this with Petri to see how we
can make it more obvious. (the reason it is like this is that
each action edition must contain one or more 'action steps', each
of which had a layout)
> 2. The campaign action element could be a good way to
> generate an index
> to all cyberactions, but I can't find a way to turn
> off fields I don't
> want displayed (total actions, organiser and so on ).
> Again, I'd like
> to be able to edit this page so that I can add an
> introductory text, a
> photo and a link to our cybacrion list, but it's not
> clear how or
> whether this can be done
The 'campaign action' element is currently designed as an
internal 'grouping' mechanism for action editions (e.g. imagine a
coalition where each member organisation wants to set-up an
action under the umbrella of a single aligned action). Thus it
is currently designed for linking related action editions and
reporting on them.
I like your idea on this through, and to do what you want you'll
need to edit the template that generates the 'campaign action'
view (probably requires a developer). For your developer's
reference, I think it is the template:
/portal_skins/ecampaigning_templates/campaign_action_view (via
the zmi)
So yes, it can be done, but would take a developer re-working the
template as it isn't how we originally envisioned it being used
(but think we might incorporate this idea in the future)
> 3. The 'keep me informed' checkbox implies that there
> is some sort of
> mailing list facility, but I can't find any way to set this up.
The 'keep me informed' checkbox is there by default since most
organisations want to do this and it is best practice to do so.
However all it does is store the opt-in preference data - but
there is no mailing list facility (yet) as most organisations
export the data and load it into their mass emailing system.
Note: for all fields you can add/remove/edit them via the 'edit
schemas' tab of the edition (use 'edit edition' tab to get
there). To change their order, simply move them up/down in the
relevant 'layout element' in which they are contained (usually
'right column')
Hope this helps and if there is anything else, let me know....I'm
looking forward to seeing your first action with the tool!
Cheers,
Duane
===========================================================
Duane Raymond
FairSay - Making Campaigning Count
+44 (0)207 993 4200
IM: fairsay (Skype, Yahoo!, Google, MSN)
Blog: http://fairsay.com/blog?utm_source=dr&utm_medium=ems
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Web: http://fairsay.com/