Getting Started

Welcome to your new pastoral contact record! You will need a Username and a Password to log in. We suggest the first initial and last name with no spaces (these are not case sensitive) as "Username" on the log-in screen. This will be easy to remember and consistent for everyone in your group. Although passwords will be completely individualized from one person to another and known only to that person, this is unnecessary for usernames.

Once you have signed up, your password is known only to you and can be reset but not retrieved. In the event that you do not remember your password, please contact us (click "Contact Us" on the link in small type at the bottom of every screen except "Print"). We will reset your account by mailing a new password to the email address you provided to set up the account. This new password can be reset by you when next you log on.

Log In

The "Login" link can be found in the upper right of the "Welcome" screen between the top two horizontal blue fields in small blue letters. After you log in, you will see a personal welcome in the center of the next screen and the "Login" link changes to "Logout."

Information and Help

Notice that there are 3 links in the upper right of the screen: "Help," "My Info" and "Logout." This "Quick Start and Navigation Guide" is accessible by clicking on "Help" and can be printed out for easy reference. The "Help" screen is available from all screens except the "Print" screen.

You can change your password, edit your church's information, edit your personal information and manage your account at any time by clicking on "My Info" between "Help" and "Logout" in the top right corner of any screen except the "Print" screen. The "Print" screen is described at the end of this document, before the "Permissions" descriptions.

The available menu choices for each topic in the blue horizontal fields on the left are found below the topic. For example, if you would like to change your email address, click on "My Info," and "Edit" under the topic "User Information."

A Word about Permissions

All menus are not available to all users. Churches may have, for example, many pastoral visitors who only need to edit contact information on the "Pastoral Care List." A description of the user levels and the permissions for each are included at the end of this document.

Navigate around Website

Now look at the upper left corner of the screen in the white area between the two horizontal blue fields for the navigation bar, directly across from the "Help"/"My Info"/"Logout" links. The navigation bar will show you what screen you are viewing (black typeface) and the path to that screen (blue typeface). You navigate around the web site by clicking on any of the blue links.

Add People to your List

Begin to use your new pastoral contact record after you are logged in by adding a person to your Pastoral Care List. From your church's home page (the page that appears when you log in), scroll down to find the blue "Pastoral Care List" field on the left and click "Add." When the screen comes up, type the desired information in the appropriate fields. New people on the list will be automatically alphabetized by last name.

The "Notes" field is useful for information that pastoral visitors would find helpful to know, such as "Mary Jones had knee surgery on August 7th." The "Notes" field will be shown opposite that name on the person's individual page. Any information in the "Notes" field is easily viewed no matter how many contacts are listed in the "Contact History" for that person.

If you wish to indicate that 1) the person should be visited by clergy only, 2) the person is homebound, or 3) the person is recovering or well, please click in the corresponding box(es) at the bottom of the "Add" screen and those icons will be visible on your church's home page beside the corresponding names.

Click "Save" when you are finished entering the new person on the Pastoral Care List. This will save your entry and bring up the new person's individual page.

The "Contact History" topic on each person's individual page is for specific details relating to ongoing contacts with that person. The "Contact History" topic is in the third horizontal blue field on the left on the person's individual page. This page will show the contact date, name of the person making the contact and what kind of contact it was, along with a comment. The following are two examples of comments: 1) "Jane is in a lot of pain from her back injury and will see the doctor this coming Wednesday, 7/16. She was appreciative of the call but did not wish a visit this week," and 2) "I had a good visit with Martha who is recovering nicely from surgery."

You reach a person's individual page from your church's home page by scrolling down to the blue field "Pastoral Care List" and clicking on the name of a person in that list. When the screen for that person comes up, note that the navigation bar at the top left now shows the name of that person in black typeface. You can navigate back to your church's home page by clicking on the blue link (the name of your church) in the path to the left of the person's name.

To add a contact for a person on the Pastoral Care List, go to the individual person's page (from your church's home page, click on the name of the person under the "Pastoral Care List" heading). Under "Contact History," click on "Add Contact." A calendar screen will come up with a calendar on the right; today's date will be shown in a white, black-bordered square. Click on the date that the contact occurred (it does not have to be the date of entry). A new screen will come up with the selected date inside a solid grey square.

The field to the right of "Type of Contact" is a drop-down menu (click to the right in that field to see the menu and click on your selection). "Type of Contact" allows four kinds of contacts: "Telephone," "In-person Visit," "Other" and "Info." The first two are self-explanatory; "Other" is intended for any contact that is not a visit or by telephone, i.e. seeing the person back in church again, a coincidental encounter or perhaps an email. "Info" is intended for information helpful to the pastoral team that is not a contact between the pastoral minister and the person on the list, i.e. "Mary Jones is visiting her niece in Nearbyville for the month of April," or "Mary's sister reports that Mary's biopsy was negative and she is doing much better."

The "Contacted By" field automatically inserts the name of the person who is logged in but can be changed by selecting, deleting and typing in another name. This is useful when the contacting person is not the person who is making the entry. For example, there might be many lay pastoral visitors at large churches, but only a few who have access to the web page to make and edit entries to the record.

Type your comment in the comment box and click "Add" to save your contact information and return to the individual person's page.

Important notes when viewing an individual person's contact page:

• The "edit" and "delete" commands for each contact entry are located to the right of that entry and may be used to edit and delete the individual entries. "Delete All Contacts" under the "Contact History" heading will delete the entire history and no records will remain! The entire Contact History, unless deleted, will be kept for viewing; simply scroll down to see it. Contacts are automatically listed in chronological order, with the latest contact at the top of the list.
• When a person no longer needs to be on the Pastoral Care List, he or she should be "Moved to Archive." This will remove the person from the main list. To view the archive, click "View Archive" under the Pastoral Care List heading of your church's home page. All contact information for any person in the archive can be viewed at any time by simply clicking on the person's name. From the person's individual screen in the archive, it is possible to a) restore the person to the active list ("Restore from Archive") or b) delete the person completely ("Delete"), in which case no records will remain.

The Pastoral Care List on the church's home page will be alphabetized automatically by last name.

Print Screen

Print a summary of information for the people on your list from the "Print" screen, available from your church's home page. The "Print" command (under the "Pastoral Care List" heading) will open its own window which will contain a summary of the information for each person on your active list. The summary will include the most recent contact information (but not the entire contact history). The "Print" page will show the current day and date in the upper right but headers or unnecessary information will not be shown for economy of printing.

You do not navigate out of the "Print" window. Simply close it out by clicking on the "x" in the upper right of the screen. Because the "Print" screen has opened in its own window, you will still be logged on to your account and your church's home page will still be on the screen after you close the "Print" page.

Remember that you will always know where you are by checking the navigation bar in the upper left of any screen except "Print."

Permissions

Contact Editor

A contact editor has the ability to add, edit and delete contact information.

Care List Manager

A care list manager has contact editor privileges as well as the ability to add and delete people on the Pastoral Care List and edit their personal information.

User Manager

A user manager has care list manager privileges as well as the ability to add and delete other users and edit their personal information.

Account Manager

An account manager has user manager privileges as well as the ability to edit the church information, make payments, and modify permissions of other users.