CiviCRM Community Forums (archive)

Hello all,

I volunteered to organize my high school class's 50th reunion in the fall of 2013. This may be a somewhat unique use for CiviCRM as we know all of the people - all the graduates are listed in the yearbook and on the program from the graduation. What we don't know is current contact information for all the classmates. So the membership process I would like to follow is this:

• preload all classmates with last know addresses
• send out email and snailmail announcements
• classmates log in and activate accounts using passwords from the announcements
• classmates update their own information
• allow classmates to register and pay for the reunion in CiviCRM
• the CiviCRM facility becomes a long term resource for the class

Is the preload -> activation process possible in CiviCRM?

What modules do I need?

Where are the best hosting sites (cost, security and reliability)?

Thanks,
Jim

Civi can do all these things except for the initial password creation.

There may be other ways to pre-create usernames/pwds for the CMS you use (I know there are ways with Joomla) and then import those into Civi so they can be sent via email. But Civi doesn't have that functionality itself.

Thanks to everyone who has replied so far.

I was aware of the online manual which is immensely better than downloading a big PDF. Unfortunately I find such online manuals difficult to digest and a printed book may be a better option even though it becomes obsolete before it arrives.

The checksum "password" idea is intriguing.

More questions:

1 - What is the difference between civiCRM groups and Organic Groups. Why would I want one or the other?

2 - How do I add additional fields (columns) to the contact? I need things like several "source codes" and a flag to indicate a non-graduate classmate. These fields need not be visible in any display forms.

Jim