OVERVIEW

This document is a quick-start guide for DEMopolis.   It's assumed that you've already created your YDA chapter using DEMopolis on the YDA Chapter Page.  

 

This quick-start guide walks you through the fundamentals of DEMopolis:

§         importing lists and adding members

§         managing your membership information

§         creating and managing groups

§         sending blast emails


Please send feedback, suggestions, and corrections to the DEMopolis Help Desk. 

 

 

LOGIN

On the Democracy In Action home page enter the email address you signed up with and your password to access DEMopolis Headquarters.   You'll see a page similar to this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Briefly, here are the first things you'll need to do (which will be covered in more detail below):

 

§         Importing Lists and Adding Members -Your chapter’s lists can include both official members and unofficial members. They can include volunteers, donors, activists, or people who are some combination of these categories. To manage lists use the Your List tab on the upper left.  If you need to import an existing database of supporters, use the Upload Supporter List option under the Your List tab.  Under the Your List tab, you can also add an individual record.

 

New supporters can also enter their contact information through your website or the YDA national website. Their information is then uploaded into the DEMopolis database and they then show up on your lists. (If they sign up on the YDA national website and they live in your chapters state or area they too will become part of your list.)

 

§         Managing Your Membership – Keeping your chapter’s membership information up-to-date is important in order to maintain good communications channels to your members.  Using the many search functions in DEMopolis you will be able to gain quick and easy access to membership records, in order to update, edit and change your member profiles. 

 

§         Managing Groups - the Group feature allows you to manage list serves so your members can communicate, share ideas and discuss topics important to them.  To manage Groups, use the Manage Groups option under Your List tab.

 

§         Sending an "Email Blast" - the DEMopolis "Email Blast" feature let's you send an email to all or some of your supporters.  The blast tool includes intelligent handling of returning "bounce" error emails (e.g. for "mailbox not found" or "unsubscribe me" type return emails).  You can do this using the Email tab (the second tab from the left). You can also create sophisticated HTML emails with your chapters logo and website feel using the email template generator.

 

When cruising around the various DEMopolis screens, most of the pages are self explanatory, and there are context sensitive help icons like this   for many of the pages.  Click on one of these little helpers and you'll get specific help about that page.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

_______________________________________________________________

IMPORTING YOUR LISTS

 

1. Creating a Supporter Data File to Import

Sample spreadsheet supportor importBut before importing data into DEMopolis, the file must be formatted for import.  In this example, supporters are being imported from a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.   Here's a sample spreadsheet:
Note that the first line in the spreadsheet has to contain the titles for each column.  The column titles should be descriptive of their content, but do not need to match titles in the DEMopolis Database at this point.   Save the spreadsheet using the  File->Save As  pull-down menu command and setting the Save as Type at “Text (tab delimited).”  You should see something like the following screen:




 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Save the text file in directory that you can remember.  

 

Starting Upload of Supporter Data

Now we're ready to import the data into the DEMopolis.  Go to the Your List tab (top left tab).  You should see a page similar to this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Click on Import Supporter List to import a list.  You should see a page similar to the one below. There are detailed instructions on this page that walk you through list importing.

Enter the file name or browse for the file.

Make sure the other choices on the screen above are set as follows:

Now you're ready to actually upload the data.   Click on Upload Data.   You you'll be taken to the Field Matching screen (below).

 

Matching Import Fields to Supporter Fields in DEMopolis

You you'll be taken to the Field Matching screen, which looks like this:



For each column, select a Database Field name in the right column which matches the corresponding value in your import in the left column.  The DEMopolis will make an attempt to match columns, but often you will need to make the matches yourself.  


 

 

 

 

 

Here's the Field Matching screen with the proper Database Field values choosen:




 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note, there are many more rows than are shown in the above screen.

What if your data doesn’t match?

If you have a value in the left column that doesn't have any good choice in the right column, there are two things you can do.

One choice is to essentially throw the data away by choosing None for the Database Field column. This column will not be imported.

The other choice is to ask YDA to create a new custom field to suit your database needs. Email your request to the DEMopolis Help Desk..  

Assuming you've matched up the right and left hand columns in the Field Matching screen, go to the bottom of the screen and click on the Submit for Upload button.

 

2. Checking Supporter File Upload Status

Once you submit file for upload, you will be taken to the following Upload Status screen:



In this example, the newly requested upload #2642 is under Upload Status with August 30, 2005.   Note that there is no Date Completed value because the upload hasn't finished running.  You can click the Reload button (Refresh on Internet Explorer) to check for updates to your upload status.    You can also come back to this screen by clicking on Your List then Your Upload Status (on the left).

The time required for your upload will complete varies with the number of entries in the upload file and with the load on the Democracy In Action computers.   It can be as fast as a few minutes or as slow as a few hours.   Eventually, the Upload status screen will display something like this #2635 seen above.




 

 

 

 

The example below indicates 327 supporters were successfully updated.   If you were uploading supporters that were already in the supporter database, the Supporters Updated column would have been incremented instead of the Supporters Created column.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


For quality control purposes you should check a few of the uploaded entries for accuracy.

 

2. Adding an individual member

To add an individual member, go to the Your List tab.  Scroll down the screen to Quick Add. Enter your new member’s information here. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________

MANAGING YOUR MEMBERS

 

1. FINDING A MEMBER RECORD

There two screens from which you can search for your chapter members.  You can also use the Query tools to discover broader information on your members, such as how many members live in a specific zip code. The query tool is described in more detail under the topic of Groups.

 

Search from Your List Page

You can search for individual members directly under Your List.  You can enter criteria for your search in the fields provided on the left or by using the drop down menu provided on the right. 

                                                                    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Searching List or Find Supporters

Under the Your List tab select List or Find Supporters.  You'll see a screen like this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you know part of an email address, enter it into the search field just to the right and click on Go! Or, if you want to search by some other supporter field, select that field from the Search by pull-down list and then enter the search data in the contains field.  

 

Search Results

Below is an example, of a search result page.  On this page you can Edit, Remove, or Delete a record.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The “Current Filters” line on the screen serves as a system check by showing your search criteria:

 


 

 

 


Note: If you want to rerun the query looking for some other members, you have to first click on Clear All Filters.  Otherwise the new search criteria you enter will only search the current results rather than your entire membership.

 

 

 

 

 

2. EDITING A MEMBER PROFILE

 

To edit a record click on Edit, this is located to the left of the member ID number. (To first locate a member, see the section on searching directly above.)You will be taken to a screen similar to this:

 

This is an example record for Smith Smith.   All fields are editable.  To save changes you must click on Submit Changes otherwise no changes you make will be saved.  Remember that you can click on  to get help with a specific page.

 

There are several different "views" of Smith Smith’s data.   These views are selected using the tabs just under the Edit Supporter title:

 

 

§         Standard Fields - you'll see and be able edit additional details about your member here.

 

§         Groups - You can group supporters into various groups to help administer communicate with your organization effectively.   Some examples of groups could be; board members, volunteers, donors etc.  The groups you create are specific to your chapter, though members can join groups located in other chapters housed in DEMopolis.

 

§         Donations - This permits you to track donations made through the DEMopolis web interface, as well as manually enter donations.

 

§         Events - This permits you to see what events your member has attended and what future events the member is currently signed up to attended.  Events are created under the Web Features tab.

 

§         Contact History - Let's you manually enter contacts made to a supporter and later view the contact history.

 

__________________________________________________________________________________________

 

CREATING AND MANAGING GROUPS

 

Remaining under the Your List tab, follow the Manage Groups link.  You will see a page similar to the one below:  From this page you can create new groups or edit existing ones.

 

 

1. Creating a Group

To create a new group, enter the group’s name in the New Group field and click on Create New Group.

You will be taken to a page similar to this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Adding members to a group through Query Builder.

Queries can be helpful when creating list-serves using he Groups capabilities of DEMopolis.

 

To run a query go to the Your List tab.  Click on Create New Query under the Advanced Search section in the middle of the screen.  You will be taken to the Query Builder screen, which should appear similar to this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Using the Query Builder, you can create lists based on geography, topics of interest, donation history and many more.  The options are so varied that the best way to learn about this DEMopolis feature is to go in and explore!  Remember that you can use the query builder to create lists for your list serves, so this is an important feature to get to know. Here is a quick example:

 

In this example, the goal is to create a group that includes everyone from North Carolina.  To create the query click on, Save Query and Take Action.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A page similar to the one below will appear after the query runs. Select the group you want to add these members to.  Note: You must create this group first so that it is available on the drop down menu.  After you select the group, click Update Information.  All of your members will now be included in the group.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Adding members to a group during List Import

After you have created a group, you can add people to that group during list import.

           

            Step 1: Create the group under the Your List tab, follow the Manage Groups link.

            Step 2: Import your list under the Your List tab, follow the Import Supporter List link.

Step 3:  When you get to the Field Matching Screen (shown below) select the group from the drop down menu.     

Step 4: Complete the list import by pressing Submit for Upload.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Adding Individuals to a Group

Under the Your List tab, follow the Manage Groups link.  Select the group to which you want to add the new member.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You will be taken to a new screen, similar to the one below.  Midway down the screen you will see the field Add to Group.  Here you can add a new member by email address.  If this person already has a record in DEMopolis, this group will be added to their profile automatically once you sign them up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Removing Group Members.

Select the appropriate group under the Your List tab and follow the link on the left to Manage Groups.

Once you have entered the group, scroll to the bottom of the screen.  There you will see a Remove option beside each member’s name.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________

SENDING BLAST EMAILS

To send an email blast, start by clicking on the Email tab on the main screen.  You will be taken to a page similar to this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Creating an Email Template.
Click on Create a New Email Blast and you should see a screen like the following:




If you look at the bottom of the above screen, you can see that by default, no email formatting template is available (near the bottom).   To set one up, we'll click on Manage Templates  

NOTE: Email templates and website templates are not the same thing. You must select email template.  Also, you must pull from an existing site as the links in the wrapper will be functional. 

 

You will be taken to the following screen.  Make the following selections:

§         Select Email Template from the drop down menu

§         Enter your Template Name

§         Enter your website URL in the Create from URL field. In this example we are using the Stay Close Campaign. 

                

You will be taken to the Template Wizard version of your website. This will have marking similar to the Stay Close website below.  The page has been divided into regions.  Select the region you would like the text of your email to be placed. (This can be a guessing game, so if the first placement doesn’t look right go back and try a different region.) In this example we will choose the middle yellow box by clicking Content Here.

 

 

 




 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The template generator will then begin to generate your template.  Select This is an Email Template from the drop down menu at the top of the screen. Make sure the template name is accurate so you don’t overwrite previous templates and then click Create Template.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Sending a Blast Email
Once your template is created, select Send an Email Blast from the left navigation bar. And then click on Create Blast Email.  Your newly created template is now available.  Select the template and then click Continue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After clicking on Continue, you are taken to the Edit Content screen for creating an email blast.  To edit the HTML email click on edit and a WYSIWYG editor will open as shown below. When you are done, click Save and Continue at the located above the HTML version.

Create dynamic content in your blast mails by inserting a personalized greeting line.

Make sure to do this for both the text and HTML versions of the email.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NOTE: Make sure to put content in the both the text version and in the HTML Version.  If you only fill out the HTML version then people with text only email may not receive your message.

You will be taken to the target selection page.  From this page you can:

§         Select the people you want to email from the Query pull down menu

§         Email your entire list

§         Email people based on group membership, event attendance, or other factors

Choose the audience you would like to send your blast email to and hit Save query options and Continue

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You will be taken to the Email Options screen, which is similar to the screen pictured below. The screen serves three critical purposes. 

 

1. Source Information: This information must be filled out accurately in order for your email blast to function properly. Most importantly the system must know the email address you are using for the blast. 

 

2. You can schedule the blast timing

 

3. You can opt out of email tracking.

 

Once you’ve made your decisions hit Save and Preview Blast.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the Preview Blast Email page you will see a copy of both the text and HTML versions of your email and can choose from the following options:                               

1. You can send a Test Email.

 

2. Generate a spam report on the content of your email. (This report will appear in a pop-up window)

 

3. SUBMIT BLAST EMAIL NOW.

 

4. Spot check and look for any last minute edits.            

 

 

 

WARNING: ONCE YOU CLICK SUBMIT BLAST NOW, THERE IS NO GOING BACK.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After submitting your blast, you will be taken to the following screen:

3. Tracking your emails progress.

Keeping track of the failure and success of your emails is a key component into maintaining a vibrant and active list.  If your click and open rates are low, then you know your message isn’t getting out. When emails are a success you gain insight into what motivates your group and/or chapter members and how to appeal to them in the future.

 

Follow the link under the Email tab to Email Summary.  This page features key information about how members are responding to your email blasts.

 

 

 

 

For more information or feedback please email the DEMopolis Help Desk.
Paid for by the Young Democrats of America.