Page 5 - Sojourner Newsletter-Winter 2023 Final revised

Volume 100, Issue 1 5

FROM THE WEBMASTER

New capabilities – BUT … We STILL need YOUR help!

By the time you read this issue of the Sojourner, some new things will be in place. Over the past few
months, we have been working with a consultant that is a WORDPRESS guru and operates many Masonic and
other websites using WORDPRESS. He has been working in the background to bring our staid and stale
website into the 21st century. We think you’ll find it easier to navigate AND just as importantly, it is now
optimized for those of you who prefer to use a smartphone or tablet instead of a computer. Now, along with
this new “facelift” of the website comes a small wrinkle. The login credentials you used on our old website
SHOULD work on the new one (it says somewhere in “fine print”). But, if they don’t, you can just “register”
again. For those of you who say you have tried to change your password or do something else on the old
website and it told you an email would be sent to you, well, we think we have fixed that problem – you should
see an email from the webmaster. But, if you don’t, check your junk/spam folder. If you have a problem,
remember – DO NOT CONTACT THE NATIONAL OFFICE!!!! – contact me because they can’t help you
with a website problem. All you are going to do is you go to the office for help is force them to divert their
attention from other important tasks in support of the chapters and our members, AND it will delay getting
your problem solved … because … they have to read it, then turn it around and send to me to get a resolution.
SO, please, read and heed – and do NOT involve the office in web matters.

As I said above, we’ve made some pretty significant changes and positive strides just in the last month on the
website, BUT … this is only PHASE ONE of a multiphase project to bring us into the 21st Century. We will
be “tweaking” the website and making some fundamental changes in how we store files and access them. We
are working with our guru to set up a cloud-based storage system for your files and data. But, just as
important, EVENTUALLY YOU will be able to directly upload and change your own files – meaning, MY
job will get a lot easier, but you will have to learn how to do all this. The important thing is, once we get this
all set up, there will be some training aids/files to help you navigate this new “file cabinet” system. As well,
access restrictions will be simpler to administer. You should already notice that casual passers-by can get to a
lot more of the “public” information than before. They still can’t get into the member only section though.

When someone asks to get access to the member only section, the first thing I do is go to the MMS and
validate their membership credentials. Assuming all is in order, I approve their request and we’re done.
However, suppose they are a new member and their information isn’t in the MMS yet – I advise them of this
situation and tell them I must wait for their data to be put into the MMS. Once that’s done, we’re good to go.
If I see someone OBVIOUSLY trying to sneak into our site (cowans, eavesdroppers, you know the drill), I
simply dump their request and move on. Sometimes, a Brother Mason mistakenly thinks we are for
“sojourning Masons” not just Military Veterans who are also Master Masons…so I will correct them and offer
information on joining the group if they are indeed a Master Mason with military service credentials.

Also, we note that many of you are now making good use of the MMS (database) access that has been
provided for each member to review his information that is being stored. You can only submit changes which
must be reviewed by the office, and secretaries have the ability to update more information fields than a
member does, but they too have to submit the changes for review. But, we are seeing vast improvements in
the quality and accuracy of data that we need to be able to contact our members, so thank you to everyone who
is diligently working with MMS – and providing feedback if you have any problems.

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