ABOUT iFESSUp
(Instructions)

iFESSUp is a private website where community participants fill out Event specific Questionnaires or Requests for Help, and can view respondent's answers in realtime. I hope it can be of help to you.
-Andy
(admin@ifessup.com)

HOW DOES IT WORK?

1. You first create a Group of people with their email id's.
2. Then create an Event in which these people will participate.
3. Using the system, send out emails to the Group's participants asking them to participate in the Event.
4. The individualized emails contain links which when clicked will open the appropriate webpage on which the participant answers questions and views realtime reports.

There are two kinds of Events:

1. A single date Event where you have a single Questionnaire:
   The questionnaire's questions can have different types of responses: single-responses, a selection of responses or simple text entry. This allows you to create a robust questionnaire and where respondents can view other respondents answers.

2. A multi-date Request Event where you enter specific requests for help over multiple dates & times:
   This type of event has specific requests based on a date and time where only one respondent can answer the request. Once a respondent commits to a request, that request is closed to other respondents. This works well for requests associated with helping an individual perform a specific task, ie. take me to PT on Thur. at 10am, as only one respondent is needed to commit to the requested task.

EVENTS CALENDAR

At the heart of iFESSUp is the Calendar page which shows the user's events. If a user is in several Groups, all of their Groups' events and requests would be visible. The user can click on the items in the Calendar to Commit to support a request, enter responses to questionnaires and view reports applicable to the events. For general users, the Calendar is the starting page for their interactions with the website.

The Calendar is particularly helpful for anyone needing help and who is relying on the support of their friends. They often find it difficult to juggle all the organizing, questions and follow-up needed while recovering. The system helps with the time-consuming part of trying to help oneself or a friend, and keep people involved and up-to-date. You can imagine a plethora of situations where being able to get immediate feedback would be helpful. Examples:

• You are managing a potluck and need to make sure all the food options are covered.
• You are teaching a class and need to know who's coming.
• You need to know how to prioritize a list of issues across a group of people.
• You want to purchase a number of items in bulk based on the individual needs of participants in a group.
• You need specific individualized help at something where only 1 person is needed for each task. (ie. healthcare each day)
• You need to get feedback as to which is the best day of the week to do something with a large group.

EVENT QUESTIONNAIRE

The Event Questionnaire allows users to answer multiple questions with each question's answers being pre-defined by the Group Administrator. Answers can be a single value, multiple values or text entry. It can be filled out by simply clicking the appropriate answer for each question. Once the questionnaire has been filled out, it's results are immediately available to all other users within the Group. This allows for immediate feedback via various Reports.

USER REPORTS

One of the benefits to a realtime system is you can immediately view who has responded, what their answers are, and who hasn't yet responded so you can send them reminder emails. The reports include:

• Four report formats showing the results of the answers to a questionnaire. Depending on the nature of the questionnaire, one report may be more beneficial than another. Each report can be downloaded in a format for uploading to MS Excel.
• A report that presents who has signed up to request commitments, how often and when they committed to help over the course of time.
• Of course the calendar is in itself a report of who's signed up for requests for help.

USER ACCESS vs EMAIL LINKS

• Only email addresses that have been set up in iFESSUp by Group Administrators are allowed access to the system or will receive emails.
• General users do not need to login as long as they are content to click on the special links in the system-generated emails they receive. This does limit some functionality, but may make it easier for some users.
• If a user prefers to login using a password, they will have more visibility in viewing and updating information and can view the results at any time. This is preferred but optional.
• Group Administrators must login to maintain Group & Event information, as well as send emails.
• If you forget your login password, there is a link to reset it from the Login page.

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SETTING UP A GROUP, ITS PARTICIPANTS & EVENTS - Group Administration

Because Groups are the basic building block for how iFESSUp works, for system security, the DBA (admin@ifessup.com) is currently the only person who can create a Group. Working with the DBA can be done simply via email and creating a Group takes moments to set up. Once a Group has been created, the Group Administrator takes over and will oversee all of the remaining Group functions such as:

• Adding people to a Group by (a) typing in an email list, (b) copying and pasting an external existing list or (c) copying an existing Group's members to another Group. If you want, you can construct the list outside of iFESSUp then use the (d) Batch Add facility to add users to a Group.
• Creating the appropriate type of Event and its ongoing maintenance over the course of the event.

EMAILS - Group Administration

You want to keep participants in the loop, asking for responses to questions, and keeping them appraised of what's going on. The system allows you to send out different kinds of standardized emails to the entire Group or selected members.

• You can create your own emails with custom features (tags) that you send to your Group. Tags are embedded in the text of your email and are replaced by database info when the emails are sent. Tags would include a person's name, a customized web/url link which when clicked takes the email recipient directly to the Questionnaire or Event Calendar to fill in information or to the realtime Reports specifically for an Event.
• You can send emails to members of an Event's Group detailing what requests have yet to be signed up for with links that take them to the appropriate webpage.
• You can send Reminder emails to people who are nearing their commitment date so they can confirm their commitments. Although this is part of the automated nightly process, there are times you want to do this during the day.

AUTOMATIC OPERATIONS - DBA Administration

In iFESSUp these are performed each night.

• Nightly email Reminders are automatically sent by the system to anyone who is within a couple of days of their commitment. These are done in advance so participants have a chance to inform the event coordinator if they are unable to fulfill their commitment. Each email includes web/url links for the recipient to easily confirm they are still committed, and to the Event Calendar so the recipient can modify their commitment if necessary and notify the Requestor's Contacts to make sure their de-commitment doesn't "fall through the cracks".
• General system back-up and maintenance.

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PRIVACY

As this is a privately owned website, the developer will not distribute any entered information including names and email addresses beyond the needs to operate iFESSUp. For security, the creating and monitoring of each Group and that Group's use of iFESSUP, is at the sole discretion of the developer who can terminate a Group if it is not being used for its original purpose or misuses the system.

TERMS OF SERVICE

By using iFESSUP, you agree that using iFESSUp.com requires you to supply your email address, first and last name as a condition of access. You also agree that the website's owner may at their discretion terminate your use of the system without notification if they find you are abusing it's purpose or being disrespectful of any of its users.

LIMITATIONS

Because the website is privately owned and free to use at the discretion of the owner, the site is limited in the number of Groups, Events, Users, sent emails, etc. that it can effectively handle. If it becomes necessary to limit iFESSUp's use or to shut it down due to site limitations, Group Administrators will be informed in a timely manner so they can take remedial actions. There is no implied or otherwise stated obligation by the owner to keep iFESSUp running in the future. As with any website system, efforts are always made to keep the system up and running and daily backups made, but there is no guarantee that these can be maintained.