Blackbaud How-to Documentation Updates

Browse Sequence in MadCap Flare

A browse sequence is great if you have several topics that you want your users to view in a specific order. For example if you have a series of getting started content or recommended workflows, a browse sequence comes in handy. What happens is, when users view the compiled online Help system, they can use your browse sequences to “browse” through the topics  in order.

In a browse sequence, you…

Content Strategy Q&A with Kristina Halvorson

I attended this Q&A hosted by Gather Content yesterday afternoon, and as with all Kristina Halvorson encounters, I learned some good stuff.

Importance of video-specific content strategies with a strong focus on consistency in word choices, voice and tone

Observations on “plain language”

Conflation of Content Strategy and Content Marketing – in a nutshell Content Marketers discover their content…

How to Architect Your Content Strategy

Last September I participated in the 2016 Content Marketing World conference – a great conference hosted in my hometown of Cleveland, OH. Presenting at the conference was a wonderful experience, and I thoroughly enjoyed being an attendee as well. I came home with lots of great information and my head teeming with new ideas.

A few months ago, the Content Marketing Institutepublished an article on…

Automate Building & Publishing in Flare

If you’re like me, you have several Flare targets that you need to build and publish with some regularity. Our solution has been to use Flare batch targets to identify these targets then create a .bat file and use Windows Task Scheduler to set dates and times to run and publish the builds.

Thanks to a recent addition to Flare, we can now skip the .bat step and set Task Scheduler from the batch…

This is a test post

This past weekend we successfully upgraded you to the April 2015 release (4.2) of ResearchPoint. In this update, we added the ability to sync social information from ResearchPoint to Raiser's Edge, added an indicator for records who may have more network connections available from GuideStar after a group screening, and updated the Target Analytics data sources we use for the Target Analytics prospect search and the WealthPoint screening. When you log in for the first time after we update your organization's database, the Help will open to the What's New topic with all the details about the latest release. You can also review the following resources:

Review what's new on our ResearchPoint New Features page.

Prefer to download a PDF? Review the new features in our release notes document format.

Did you miss the introduction of our new Target Analytics Social Media Finder service in 4.1? Watch our Social Media Finder video or review the release notes.

Since the beginning of the year, we've also been slowly rolling out some improvements to your ResearchPoint How-to Documentation page.

We moved the guides into to columns, sorted into sections so it's easier and faster to find the how-to guides you need.

We also sorted the guides into which are most helpful for researchers and which are most helpful to prospect research managers and site administrators.

We introduced the Search ResearchPoint Help option. You can search for the answer to your question from the How-to page just like you can in the program.

We introduced some new and updated guides focused on specific tasks. And, we're working on adding more short guides to help you get the answers you need faster.

New and Updated Guides:

Updated the Prospect Records guide

Added a new Prospect Research Search guide

Added a new Research Lists guide

Added a new Manager Application Users guide

Added a new ResearchPoint QuickStart guide to help administrators get your organization set up and going!

On behalf of the ResearchPoint product development team, I’m pleased to announce the 4.1 release of ResearchPoint. This past weekend, we updated all of our hosted ResearchPoint customers.

In this February 2015 release, the new features and enhancements include:

A new data service from Target Analytics, Social Media Finder

Performance Improvements for Group WealthPoint Screens

CoreLogic Property Valuation Update

Target Analytics Prospecting Database Updates

Updated Labels for Date Criteria Operators

The release notes can be found on the ResearchPoint How-to Documentation page. If you’re interested in learning more about Social Media Finder, watch our video:

This past weekend, we successfully upgraded you to the December 2014 (3.19) release of ResearchPoint. We're pleased to inform you of an update to real estate assets and the Target Analytics Prospecting Database.

When you log in for the first time after your database updates, the help panel will open to the 3.19 What's New Topic. You can navigate to the What's New topic any time with the link at the top of the help panel.

In addition, we updated the following help documentation:

Help content in the product

New Features webpage on Blackbaud.com

The Blackbaud CRM 4.0 release includes significant enhancements to our Help offering. 

We designed a tabbed panel to bring online Help topics directly into the program. The new Help Panel offers improved usability with a modern update. When users click Help, a panel appears from the right side of the screen and displays content specific to the page or screen. 

With the new Help Panel, users can quickly access: 

New feature content

The latest most up-to-date Help topics from service pack new features and additional content improvements

Feature videos 

We also made a significant investment in improving the quality of our existing User Education resources. A large portion of this improvement initiative is based on feedback from Blackbaud Customer Support, Blackbaud Professional Services, and our customers. 

We reviewed, tested, and updated content to ensure accuracy and provide a more logical flow of information.

When necessary, we re-organized functional area content to improve the flow of information.

We created new How-To videos to visually enhance user understanding of specific concepts, tasks, and workflows related to feature areas.

We added videos to provide high-level overviews of complex areas of the program such as Batch, Import, and Query.

We created additional walkthrough illustrations.

We added new “Big Picture” chapters to many of the guides that provide feature overviews and describe workflows and considerations with cross-references to more detailed sections.

Several chapters now illustrate the life cycle of a feature or process. 

In ResearchPoint October 2014 release (3.18), you can use Open Data Protocol (OData) to use and share data you query on from the Information Library outside of ResearchPoint. OData is a data access protocol designed to provide standard access.

This format can then be  consumed by other programs. Best of all, with OData you are using a direct link to a query in ResearchPoint. You can refresh the data as often as you need to get the latest information from ResearchPoint. No need to re-configure or export again!

To help you understand how to use OData in ResearchPoint, we’ve put together a short tip sheet including instructions on how to set up and copy the OData link.

 How to Use Open Data Protocol in ResearchPoint

While we put together a few ideas in the tip sheet on how we think you’ll use OData in ResearchPoint, we can’t wait to hear how you think OData can extend your ResearchPoint prospect research data. We hope you’ll share your ideas and see how others are using OData in the Target Analytics Community!

 OTHER ENHANCEMENTS INCLUDE:

Target Analytics Prospecting Database Updates

Batch and Import Guide Enhancements including New Helpful Videos

Post to Community from In-Product Help Panel

New Save As Option for Export Definitions

Location of Prospect History Moved

The July 2014 (9.4.5) release of Blackbaud Sphere includes updates to Friends Asking Friends such as a new Google Analytics destination goal configuration section and mobile registration enhancements. The release also includes changes to help prevent forms from being used to process fraudulent transactions and Internet Explorer 10 support for the Sphere administrative site. Use the links below to learn more:

Release Notes New Features

In this release we have enhancements to Experian data, Research Lists, Query, and the introduction to the new Target Analytics User Community.  After you upgrade and log in for the first time, the help pane will fly out with the release notes like it did for the last release. Here are other resources to help you get to know the new features: 

Watch the New Features webinar by Leah Riley. It was recorded on Monday, April 28th, 2014. You can watch the presentation again!

Review what we added on the ResearchPoint New Features page. This link never changes so you can always come back here for an overview of what we've updated in the product in a visual layout with additional notes, links to videos, and links to important resources you may need. If you prefer a printer-friendly version, we provide that as well.

On the New Features page, we also provide a historical section so if you ever miss the notes for a release you can come back here and review what we added.

Watch the new features videos added to the ResearchPoint Videos page.

The updated release notes for the Sphere April release are now available in the Release Notes section of the Sphere How-to page on www.blackbaud.com and in the “New in this release” topic in the Sphere online Help. 

The April 2014 release of Blackbaud NetCommunity 6.58 delivers enhancements for email and favicon image settings, updates to the event registration form and directory parts, and more! Use the links below to learn about the changes:

New Features Guide

The updated release notes for the Sphere March release are now available in the Release Notes section of the Sphere How-to page on www.blackbaud.com and in the “New in this release” topic in the Sphere online Help. 

The updated release notes for the Sphere February release are now available in the Release Notes section of the Sphere How-to page on www.blackbaud.com and in the “New in this release” topic in the Sphere online Help.