You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know

Are you calling ME a dummy?

In my former professional life as a member of the communications team at METRO, I had the opportunity to work with PIER and came to appreciate PIER as a client.

Using PIER lead me to believe that I could do a whole lot more. I soon became curious about HTML and Web design and turned to PIER’s Support Team for guidance.

My pet rock Ophelia (above) has learned just about as much CSS as I have from these books.

A former PIER Support Team member who will remain anonymous (atchoo-lachmullen! Sorry – suddenly coming down with a cold) suggested I read Web Design for Dummies. Hearing the snobbish “excuse me?” in my silence, he immediately followed up his recommendation with “You’ve never read any of the for Dummies series? They are awesome because they explain things in plain English, but without condescending language.”

The next weekend, I bought and read the book. It made me realize that, before reading it, I just didn’t know what I didn’t know. It made me painfully aware that designing a Web site is not a job for a one-man-band and that, no matter how easy PIER is, some tasks are best left to those with the proper training and skills.

Fast-forward two years

I have learned a lot since I started at PIER, but trust me, I’m still no geek. The best I can do with HTML is manipulate via imitation (a.k.a. copy/paste). The same thing goes for CSS.

I often support PIER Users in my role, but I’m the first to admit that I heavily rely on my co-workers Geoff Baron and Amber Blahnik (the later is such a kick-butt Geek/Artist/Design Goddess it makes me want to call her García or Abby). I have abused my co-workers generosity so much, that one of them, (atchoo—geoff! Boy, this cold!) finally sent me a link to this page. Ouch!

Where was I going with that?

The point is that sometimes we find what we need with a simple Web search, while other times we don’t even know the lingo to use for the search parameters.

For example, this morning I was trying to find out how to transfer the items in my iTunes account onto a different computer, but, when I Googled “copy iTunes items on different computer”, relevant search results weren’t as easy to locate. I read through numerous remotely related articles, blinking ads and annoying pop-ups. Finally, I searched for “transfer iTunes purchases from iPod”. It took me about an hour to learn that all it takes is two clicks, and done!

When I thought about the irony, I remembered something another former PIER employee taught me. Holly Hinman told me that it is one thing to consult the PIER Support site to find out or remember how to do something, but, if the support files are not answering your questions, don’t spend an unreasonable amount of time trying to figure it out on your own. Instead, email PIER Support and the Support Team will tell you what you need to know to get the job done in a timely manner.

C’mon, admit it: have we ever let you down?

The Skinny on Effective Web Design with PIER

Earlier this week, PIER’s support lead, Geoff Baron, hosted a Webinar on designing PIER sites that work. This was not a Webinar about pixels, drop-shadows or HTML, but more of a back-to-basics, pimp-my-PIER-site discussion.

Geoff shared his three principles of good web design:
1. Keep it simple
2. It’s all about your audience
3. Be easy to find

“The better you design your site to anticipate people’s questions,” said Geoff, “the less time you will spend responding to emails and answering the phone.”

Based on this principle, Geoff doled out tips and tricks for every participant, regardless of skill level.

One participant was my former co-worker at METRO, Houston’s transit agency. “It was very informative, even if you did know some of the things he covered,” said Jesse Quintanilla, METRO’s Web Designer.

“I was working with Google Calendar and he covered it,” said Jesse. “It surprised me! I was able to implement it immediately. Now I have a Google calendar on the METRO Solutions Web site.”

Some best practices Geoff demonstrated are:
• Select a domain name that is easily pronounced over the telephone
• Link from your corporate site
• Make it easy for your visitors to subscribe
• Keep your home page fresh with new content –Web browsers love fresh content!
• Use templates to maintain consistency throughout your site
• Use bullets to beak up
your copy into more reader-friendly segments
• Have a well structured folder list – the fewer folders, the better
• Add a “Share this” or “add this” to your Web pages
• Use “breadcrumbs” to
let visitors know where they are in your Web site
• Require as little information as possible on forms – too many fields discourage
visitors from subscribing or submitting an inquiry
• Make your crisis site “not-so-dark” (always available) so people can bookmark it

If you missed this week’s webinar, don’t be too hard on yourself. You still have time to register for the next one on March 23, titled “The Secrets of 508 Compliance using PIER”. We are planning additional webinars and will keep you posted. In the mean time, let us know what topics would be helpful to you.

Why tell them what you are going to tell them?

Crisis communications is one of those instances where redundancy is not only okay, but also desirable. Today, I will focus on why “telling them what you’re going to tell them” is critical when asking stakeholders to Opt-in to receive SMS text message notifications.

Asking stakeholders to subscribe to your email alerts, take a survey, or Opt-in to your SMS text notifications is issuing a call to action. You take the time to write an introduction because you want to ensure recipients understand what you need from them and why. But including an introduction when sending an Opt-in request via SMS text message is more challenging because you are limited to 140 characters. That’s why we encourage PIER users to email stakeholders telling them what is going to happen and why, prior to sending Opt-in messages.

Why the double Opt-in?

In the industry, the SMS Opt-in process is called the double Opt-in. This process is designed to comply with the federal CAN-SPAM Act.

When stakeholders subscribe to receive notifications from your site, they may already indicate that it’s okay to send them alerts via text message; in fact, they may even provide a mobile number. But unlike emails, SMS text messages have an associated cost for both the sender and the recipient.

Because of the associated costs, it is incumbent upon you to ensure that the mobile number you have for a particular contact actually belongs to that contact. Organizations issuing mass notifications via SMS text message must have all recipients confirm that they indeed want to receive text messages from the organization –and the confirmation must be sent via text message from their hand-held device. So, even though a person has subscribed to text message notifications via your Web site, they still need to confirm the Opt-in by responding to your request via text message –that’s why it’s called a double Opt-in.

Confusing?

Indeed it is! The more something is confusing, the more you need to understand it and make sure your stakeholders also understand it. Visit our Support site to view suggested language for emailing your stakeholders regarding the Opt-in process.

One final note: If you plan to send SMS text message notifications at any point, it is best to complete the Opt-in process now. Even if you only plan to send SMS text message notifications during emergencies, the Opt-in process is required, so don’t wait until an emergency happens to complete this process.

Are there other things we can help you better understand about PIER? Please let us know in the comments section.

Your Feedback, Our Inspiration

I love it when the boss comes to Houston. Back in November 2009, PIER’s Vice President of Technology and Services, Kevin Boxx, heard directly from some Houston area clients about the challenges they face using PIER. Lo and behold, as of January 2010, we have a couple of new features.

Here’s the scoop: several clients acquired PIER for Employee Accountability purposes. Their employees can go to “MyCompanyCares.org” and sign in as a guest using their email address and a password – just like they would on facebook. Once they sign in, they can do a number of things like update their contact information or view exclusive pages.

Great! Except for: “what if I have employees who don’t have an email address?” At first, we didn’t know how wide the scope of individuals without email was. Then we learned that, in some cases, there are hundreds of employees without email. Definitely a showstopper!

Now that we have an enhancement in place, organizations can select from a number of fields in a contact directory to use for guest sign-in. Read more about managing guest logins.

Another client mentioned that when a PIER User submitted a draft for approval, he or she had no way of knowing when that draft had been approved for publishing and distribution.

Now, there’s an enhancement allowing organizations to elect to receive an automated notification when documents are approve and ready for publication. Read more about email notifications.

Thanks to feedback from Users, we were able to move forward with these upgrades. Have we made an enhancement that you suggested or wished for? How did this enhancement help you?

Next blog post: Tell ‘em what you’re going to tell ‘em.

PIER Users Meetup in Houston Area on 2/5/10

Houston-area PIER users from the public sector have been meeting on a quarterly basis since last year. This year, organizers would like to extend the invitation to include PIER users from the private sector.

Meetups are an excellent opportunity to get to know other PIER users in the region —some of whom you may work with during future events. The program will be fairly informal, with an emphasis on meeting one another, and will include a couple presentations from folks who will be sharing insights and tricks they have learned from using PIER.

Come share your experience, and some snacks!

We need you to RSVP.

When: Friday, February 5th, 2010 – 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

What: A chance to network with other PIER users, learn more about the product and find out how others are using it.

Where: O’Brien’s Command Center in Spring (6620 Cypresswood Drive, Spring, TX 77379 / 281-320-9796)

Who: All active PIER users are invited.

How: Drive yourself, or meet at the N. Shepherd Park and Ride (7821 North Shepherd) to carpool at 1:30.

RSVP online at http://bit.ly/bVzS2c

Hosted by O’Brien’s Response Management; sponsored by PIER Systems, Inc.

Catch Up On Recently Added Features

Back in November 2009 we blogged about two new features in PIER 6.3: expanded Distribution Reports and the “New Window” link. Today I’m going to talk about these features a bit more.

Distribution Reports allows you to view many details not previously available from your PIER Center. You can see a list of every document distributed from PIER by navigating to the Reports Tab >> Distribution Report. These lists can be sorted by any of the headers on the top row and you can view details about each item by clicking on it. You will be impressed by the amount of information you can get on the status column. Read more about Distribution Reports.

The “New Window” link is located in the bottom of the left column menu that appears on every screen of your PIER Center, right above “View Website”. This feature allows you to open a new window of the PIER Center you are currently working on and is useful if you need to work on multiple documents at once or if you don’t want to abandon an open draft while you work on another PIER function such as inquiries or contacts.

Here’s a great real-life example: you are updating your home page, when someone calls and asks you to re-send them a document from PIER. Don’t close the home page! Leave it open, click “New window” and send the document from the new window. When you are done, you can close the new window and return to your work on the home page.

I’ve been urged to use caution when using this feature. Here are some tips to keep in mind:

• Watch your Windows
It’s easy to get absent minded and have too many windows open, then wonder what happened to the other stuff you were working on!

• Refresh Windows When You Switch Sites
Be sure to refresh each open window if you switch PIER sites as additional windows do not update automatically and will still show the other site. This can create confusion and interrupt your workflow.

Well, that’s enough for now. Enjoy playing with these new features. The next blog post will be about two additional features released earlier this month (Jan. 2010).

Learn from the Best with PIER User Webinars

Do you want to learn more about how to optimize PIER for your needs?

Starting this March, we're offering free PIER User Webinars. These sessions are intended to give PIER users a more in-depth overview of PIER features and provide insight on how top organizations are using PIER for their needs. Each of these sessions will include an open discussion with PIER Technical Support Lead, Geoff Baron.

Designing Your PIER News and Information Site

March 9th, 2010
8:00am (PST) / 11:00am (EST)

We'll show you PIER sites that portray a combination of great design and functionality and discuss the reasons that led to those decisions. It is sure to give you some powerful new ideas on how to restructure your PIER site.

The Secrets of Web Accessibility and 508 Compliance with PIER

March 23rd, 2010
8:00am (PST) / 11:00am (EST)

In this one hour free webinar, we'll walk you through the most important 508 compliance requirements and inform you how to make certain your site design and content meets these requirements.