Contents

Introduction

Summary

The Worship Planning and Archiving System is a database driven worship planning and analysis system that enables your worship leaders to plan and print out services, store their service plans on a central database, and run statistical analysis on past services. It incorporates a song list that enables you to select songs by musical style and lyrical subject, and to add new songs to the database. Service plans are archived on the database. This means that statistical analysis is possible such as; "Which songs have been used the most?" "Which songs have been used least?" "How much use has a particular song had?"

Since version 0.3 the system includes team and rota management. This enables you to organise your team members into sub-teams and allocate sub-teams to particular services. It includes a substitution system where a team member may have a stand-in. If the team member is unavailable then they simply indicate this on the system, and the stand-in is automatically informed.

With the introduction of team management it is possible to email rotas and completed service plans to your team. Simply plan your service or rota, and with a couple of extra clicks your team will be sent the plan via email.

Credits

The Worship Planning and Archiving System is written and maintained by Philip Ward of Netouerkz Computer Services.
The documentation is written and maintained by Philip Ward and Alastair Rosie.
Netouerkz Computer Services may be contacted via email on service@netouerkz.co.uk or by telephone on 07947303971.

License

Disclaimer

A Note about Data Integrity

In order to access this system you have to enter a username and password. This is to ensure that only authorised users can access the system and add/modify the data. Once you have system access, there are very few restrictions on what you can do if you have the appropriate privileges. You may be able to add and delete any songs you wish, and create and modify any service plans you wish. We trust our worship team members to act responsibly with the data on this system, however, as a precautionary measure this system logs each data transaction that adds, deletes or modifies data. In other words, if you find a song deleted or modified, or a service plan messed up then please let the administrators know, and they will be able to determine the user responsible.

Getting Started

Logging In

This system is web based and therefore needs to be kept secure. For this reason it cannot be accessed unless you first log on with your username and password. Your system administrator will have supplied you with a username and password. Once you enter these you will have access to the system. Your username and password also allow the system to identify you and grant you appropriate privileges. Most worship team members will be given "member" privileges which will enable you to update your own details and view most data held on the system. Worship leaders, Music team leaders, and one or two other people will be given "leader" privileges which also allows them to add / remove / change songs, update service plans, add / remove / change team members and update team structures. An elite few will be given "admin" privileges. Admins can do all that Leaders can, plus organise rotas.

This document will highlight in each section which privileges are required in order to access the functionality described therein.

Frames

If your browser does not support frames then you will automatically be given the no-frames version of this system. If your browser does support frames but you find that the screen looks too cluttered, (which is likely if you are using a low-resolution monitor or lap-top display) then you can select the no-frames version using the link at the top left of the page. The frames version makes it easier to navigate the system, but no functionality is lost if you use the no-frames version.
If you use the frames version then all frames can be resized by holding your cursor over the frame border, clicking and holding down the left mouse button and dragging it up, down or across.

Checking and Updating Details

When you login you are encouraged to check your details and change your password. Click the "My Details" link in the top banner.

Details recorded are Name, Telephone, Email, Privilege level and Roles. The right hand column displays your current responsibilities. If any of your details need to be updated, or if you wish to change your password, then click the "Edit Details" link. The only detail you cannot change here is your privilege level. If you change your roles, please make sure that the list of roles forms a comma seperated list.

Under the list of responsibilities is the "View Rota and Advise any Absences" link. Click this link and select your date range and services. The date range defaults to a three month window starting at the beginning of last month and ending at the end of next month. Click the "Show Rota" button to view a table showing your responsibilities over the selected date range. If you are unable to fulfill any of the responsibilities listed then click the radio button in the "No Can Do" column for that responsibility. You can also click the "I'll Be There" radio button if circumstances change and you are available for a responsibility previously marked as "No Can Do". Click the "Submit Availability" button to confirm these changes. Any changes made will result in emails being sent to the appropriate team leaders and (if possible) the person next on the list to substitute you for the affected responsibilities.

Team Manager

Introduction

The Team Manager is the place to organise your worship team. Here you can view your team and their roles, add, delete and edit team members, send an email to any or all team members, manage your team structures and see whom you can expect at a particular service.

Team Summary

Here you can view a summary of your whole team. There are three options.

• Show all Teams - Displays your worship team structures. This view will not show any members who are not allocated to a team.
• List people and their roles - Displays all team members in alphabetical order and what their roles and responsibilities are.
• List roles and their people - Displays all the roles available and lists against them which team members are responsible for those roles.

Add a Team Member

Adding team members can only be accessed by those with leader or admin privileges. Those with member privileges will not see this option on the Team Manager menu.

Before adding a team member check the list at the top of the window. It lists all recorded members. To add a new team member simply fill in all the requested details. Leave Telephone and Email as "Unknown" if you do not have the details, these are special values that indicate not just to the reader, but to the system that these details are not yet known. Give the new member a username, password and privilege level. Leaders can only assign privilege of member or leader, while admins can assign admin privileges as well.

The roles list requires special attention. The list is a comma seperated list of values. It is also case sensitive, so the system will treat "singer" and "Singer" as seperate roles. There are two roles that are treated specially - "Team Leader" and "Worship Leader". If your new member is a music team leader or worship leader then please use these values rather than making up your own labels for these roles.

Click on the "Submit New Member" button and the new member will be created in the database, provided that the Name and username do not clash with an already existing entry.

You should then get in touch with the new team member to let them know their username and password. Please do not send username or password details via unencrypted email.

Delete a Team Member

Only admins are able to delete team members, other users will not see this option on the Team Manager menu.

Edit a Team Member

Admins and leaders are able to edit team member details, users with member privileges will not see this option on the Team Manager menu.

Choose the member to edit then update their details. The system will warn you if you make a change that compromises data integrity, such as removing a role for which this person is responsible in one of the teams.

Email Team

All users of the system are able to use this feature.

Enter your subject and message and select the members to whom you wish to send your message. All members that have an email address recorded on the system will appear on the right hand side of the page and will be selected by default. As this version does not support adding attachments to emails there is an intermediate page after the first page which prints a list of all the email addresses that you selected. If you need to send an attachment (and if it is a spreadsheet or Word document then consider if you really need to attach it rather than sending the contents as plain text) you can paste this list of email addresses into your own mail client. Click "Send Email" on the intermediate page to send your message.

Manage Team Structures

Only admins are able to manage the team structures, other users will not see this option on the Team Manager menu.

Here you can organise your team members into smaller teams. In the Rota Manager you allocate teams to services. Here is where you organise those teams.

Either select an existing team from the drop down list, or enter a new team name to create a team from scratch. On the next page you will be presented with a table in which to organise your team. Use the drop down lists to choose the roles that are to be filled in this team and to choose the people that are to fill these roles. You can have a role listed more than once (e.g. you can have more than one singer). You can also select up to 4 substitutes for a role. If the main person indicates that they are not available for a service for which this team is on the rota, then the system will let Sub1 know that they are now responsible and will let Sub2 know if Sub1 is not available - etc. You can delete an existing row by ticking the appropriate "Delete" box.

Click the "Submit Team" button once you have finished your organisation, and the new team structure will be validated and, if found to be valid, will be written to the database. Validation checks two things. It checks that you have not allocated someone to a role for which they are not qualified (e.g. allocating someone to "Guitar" when Guitar is not on their list of roles will cause a validation failure), and it checks that no one has been given more than one role within the team (with the exception of "Team Leader" who can have another role). If validation checks fail then you will be told which entries are in violation. You can then choose to either go back, or force the invalid entries through.

View Team Expected at a Service

All users can access this feature.

This brings up a calendar with today's date highlighted in blue. Use the "Next" and "Previous" links if you need to see far into the past or future, and click on the day in which you are interested. That day should then turn blue. Once you have selected the day use the drop down box at the bottom to select the service and click the "Show Team" button. If the resulting page does not show any team members it is because no team has been placed on the rota for that service on that day. The system will display those whom you can expect at that service. It works by looking at the rota to see which team is on, reading the team mambers from that team, and looking to see if any substitutions have been recorded. If you wish to email these people then click the "Email Team" button. The resulting email form is the same as in the "Email Team" feature, except that the people who are expected at the service will be listed on the left of the page and will be selected by default, and the rest of the worship team will be listed on the right of the page and will not be selected by default. Select your recipients, write your message, click "Continue" to get to the preview screen then click "Send Email".

Rota Manager

Introduction

View Rota

Select your date range and the services you are interested in and click "Show Rota". The main rota for the selected dates and services will be shown. If you select a large date range then expect a lot of data and a long wait.

Manage Rota

Only admins can access this feature, all other users will not see this option in the Rota Manager menu.

Select your date range and services and click "Show Rota". This will bring up a table on which to organise your rota. For each selected service only the dates on which these services can occur will be shown. If you selected "Other" services then every day will be shown. This is because "Other" is to be used for one off services that could occur on any day of the week.

For each service shown allocate a team. The teams are taken from those created in the "Team Manager" plus a "Misc" team which can be used when an ad-hoc team is to be used. Select the Worship Leader from the drop down list. The worship leader list is derived from all those team members that have "Worship Leader" as one of their roles. Enter the preacher's name (not via a drop down list, since guest preachers are common) and any notes (such as "Communion" or "Healing Service". Once you're finished click "Submit Rota". This will give you a preview of the rota plus the opportunity to email the rota to your team. If you select "Email Team" then you will be taken to a page where you can select the team members that are to receive the new rota before emailing it to them. Feel free to change the default message if you wish.

Song Manager

Introduction

Add a New Book

Only leaders and admins have access to this feature. The drop-down list at the top of the window gives a list of Song/Music books that our church uses. If you wish to add a book that is not on the list then enter the book's name and give it a reference code in the appropriate fields. The reference code will be used on service plans to inform the team which book to use, so please choose wisely. For example "Mission Praise" may have the code "MP" and "Songs of Fellowship" may have the code "SF".
NB: This system will not let you use a book name or code that are already in use.

Add a New Song

Song Picker

This allows the user to list all the songs on the system, optionally filtered by musical style and lyrical category. Select a musical style and lyrical category and click the "Filter Songs" button to give you a selection of songs that fit those two filters.
The styles and categories are based on the styles and categories given to the songs on the list. This means that if you create a new style or category when adding a new song (see above) then your new style or category will appear in the appropriate list.

Edit a Book

Edit a Song

Merge Songs

Delete a Song or a Book

Planning Your Service

Introduction

Service Picker

Service Planner

Once you have selected your service date and time the Service Planner becomes active for frames users. No-frames users will be taken to a new page which will contain the Service Planner.
An important point to note is that your service plan will not be committed to the database until you preview and then submit your changes. If you make changes and then select another (or the same) service or close your browser or surf away from the service planner without submitting your changes then they will be lost. If you are on a dial-up internet connection you can safely come off-line while planning your service. While off-line you can use the drop-down lists and text boxes in the service planner window. However, you must be on-line to preview and submit your service and must be on-line to use all other features of this system.
The Service Planner consists of a table with drop-down lists and input boxes. At the top of the table you will find three headings: Seq, Type, Song Name/Reading etc.
Seq or Sequence is where you select the order each item will appear on the final printout. This is useful if you wish to juggle the order of your items. If two items end up with the same sequence number then the item that appears first on the list will end up as the first of the two. If your service is looking messy with sequence numbers all over the place then "Preview" and "Submit" your service (see below) and use the "Service Picker" to select the service again. Your items will then be displayed in the selected order.
If you wish to delete an item from the service plan then set the sequence number to 0.
Type gives you a list of item types such as Cong. Song (Congregational Song), Sermon, Reading, Perf. Song (Performed Song) etc. Choose the option that best fits. In the rare event that your item does not appear in the list you can also type in your own item description in the input box below the drop-down list.
Song Name/Reading etc. is where you enter the details of each item. The drop-down list can be used to select a song. If your selected item is not a song, or if the song name is not on the list then leave the drop-down list blank and enter the details into the box underneath the drop-down box. This could include the Bible reading reference for a reading, or the passage and preacher name for the sermon. If you enter a song that is not on the list then please take the time to visit the "Add a New Song" feature to add the song to the list.
The box at the bottom of each cell in this column is titled "Notes" and allows you to type in extra notes such as: "Play the last chorus 3 times", "Uplift the offering during this song" or a list of prayer points. This will also appear in the printout as well. You can type a maximum of 255 characters in this box, which amounts to a small paragraph.
Once this is finished, you can also go to the Seq column and change the sequence of your service.
When you're ready hit the "Preview" button to see a table with your service neatly laid out.
The preview window shows you what your service will look like, before it is submitted to the database. Take a look at the preview and see if your service plan is ordered as you want it. If anything is amiss then hit the back button on your browser to go back to the service planner. Hitting the Back button will take you back to your original service plan where you can make your changes. You need to submit the service to the database and then re-select the service before the service planner window will show your service plan in the correct order. If one of the cells in the preview is red this is because you have entered a song that is not on the list. The printable service plan that you will see when you submit your plan will not show the red highlight, this is simply to remind you to either check the song name, or to add the song to the list later on.
If the preview looks OK (or if you want to submit what you've done so far and come back later) then hit the "Submit" button. This will write your new (or amended) service plan to the database and give you a neat, printable version.

There is the option here to email the completed service plan to your team. If you check the "Send Service Plan By Email" box before clicking "Submit" you will be taken to a page that allows you to select your receipients, edit the message and email the service plan. If a team has been allocated to this service on the rota, and any unavailable team members have indicated their unavailability then the team members whom you can expect at the service will be listed on the left of the page and those with stored email addresses will all be selected. All other team members with stored email addresses will be listed on the right of the page and will not be selected. Select your recipients, edit your message if necessary and click "Send Email". Click "Continue" on the next page to be given a printable version of your service plan.

Printing Tips -If using Internet Explorer, please make sure you have clicked on the service plan itself and then go to File->Print Preview and in the Print Preview dialog box select Print Selected Frame from the drop down box at the top right hand side. You may also wish to change the page setup in order to remove the extra details that appear at the top and bottom of the preview. Click the "Print" button on the top left hand side and your service will be printed out.
If using Mozilla the print preview does not allow you to preview a single frame. First edit the header and footer using the File->Page Setup menu option, select the frame you wish to print then select the File->Print option and select "The Selected Frame" from the Frames options at the bottom of the print dialog.
If using any other browser then please check that browsers documentation on how to print a single frame.

Statistical Analysis

Introduction

Most Popular Songs

How Popular is a Particular Song?

Least Used Songs

Unlisted Songs

A Few Tips

Data Integrity

Record ALL Services

Keep Services Up-to-Date

Contacts