Super Awesome News!

Our August newsletter is finally done. I know what you are saying, it's only August 4th, what do you mean it's finally done. Let me explain, I started writing this newsletter in June thinking that it would be the June newsletter, but with family vacations and planning for the 2010 school year, it just didn't happen.

So What's Going On?

We've made a few changes to AddressMonster.com and are trying to wrap up a few others before the school year begins. So what did we add recently? If you said a bulk import process for families then you are correct!

Bulk Family Import

Yep, you asked that we figure out a way to allow for bulk imports of spreadsheets into AddressMonster.com. Now you can do this by using the Excel template found in the Family Admin screen. Once you import the family information you just need to associate the students to a teacher and your all set.

Student Editor

It's great to be able to import families in bulk, but how about editing lots of students at the same time too! That's right, now within the Family Admin screen you can select the option for "edit students" to search for students by last name. You'll see a list of all of the students in the school where you can then change families (not sure why) as well as teachers from one screen. This is great for new school year changes when virtually every student will have a new teacher assigned. Just make the changes and click on the "Update" button at the bottom.

Home Page Editor

But wait, there's more! (that was my tribute to Ron Popeil). Some of you have asked to be able to change the home page for the student search section so that it can be updated with new information such as promotions with local restaurants or other activities. Well, wait no more, that is now a standard feature in AddressMonster.com! From the admin panel, you can select the Website option and edit the homepage that your directory members see each time they login. Have fun!

What's Next?

Well, we are all trying to get ready for the start of the 2010-2011 school year. That means more directories and more feature requests. Thanks to everyone that has sent in ideas and suggestions on what could make the product better. We couldn't do it without you.

What's that you say? Didn't know that we listen to feature requests? Well, we do! That's right, just send in your ideas to suggestions@addressmonster.com and we'll see about getting it added to a future release. Everything you see on the website came from a suggestion from one of our schools. Don't be shy, step to the front of the classroom and make your opinion count!

On a serious note, we are working on two major items. First, we need to be able to send newsletters from the site to all of the school directory members. Everyone is doing it nowadays and using companies like ConstantContact.com to do it. No need to spend a few hundred dollars with them when email should be free!

The second item that we are working on are some better instructions on how to use the system. Sounds simple, I know, but believe it or not it's a lot harder than I expected it to be. We've spent so much time trying to cram features into the application in time for the upcoming year that we've lost track on how to show people how to use the system. Rest assured, it's coming though.

So in closing, thanks for reading the June (delivered in August) newsletter. Take a chance to check out the latest features in AddressMonster.com and please don't hesitate to send in your idea. We use the application ourselves for our schools and want to make it the best application that it can be.

Thanks,
Robert
robert@addressmonster.com