AlumniOnline Reunion Website User Guide

Table of Contents

Features

Basic Plugin Setup

When activated, AlumniOnline Reunion Website creates the necessary pages, post types and menu links, sets the default role to “AlumniOnline Reunion Website User” and provides the necessary permissions to use the features of the website. The following steps should be completed to install the plugin on your website:

  1. Install and activate the plugin from the plugin page.
  2. Click on the Basic Settings tab.
  3. Set the main menu value under the “Settings” tab on this page.
  4. Review or change the default message board page.
  5. Review or change the default member search page.
  6. Enable “Anyone can register” on the General Settings page.

The premium plugin includes many more features, including: reunion posts with option to rsvp and submit payments, memorial page to post lost friends, option to post missing classmates and search features on the member list.

Pro Plugin Setup

  1. Install and activate the plugin from the plugin page.
  2. Enter the license key under the License Key tab.
  3. Click on the Pro Settings tab.
  4. If desired, enable the option to allow public users to view the message board and member search options.
  5. Add any additional custom fields to member profile and missing member posts. The following fields are provided by default: class, start year, end year.
  6. If the website will be used for something other than a class reunion website, enable the disable classmate references option.
  7. If desired, disable photo gallery options on the message board.
  8. Install the Free ACF plugin.
  9. Add any additional custom fields to be used on the RSVP form. The following fields are provided by default: number of attendees, userid, members name, names of any additional guests and comments or requests.
  10. To enable optional online ticket payments, install the WP Simple Shopping Cart plugin.
  11. Review or change additional settings as desired.

Adding Custom Fields

Custom fields may be added to member profile pages as well as missing member and RSVP forms in the pro version. All custom fields must be prefixed with “alumnionline_”.

The ACF plugin will make the process of adding custom fields much easier and is required for reunion RSVPs.

 The pro plugin provides an option to easily generate custom fields for missing members, member profiles and Reunion RSVPs. 

Missing Classmates - Pro Plugin Only

The missing classmates section allows administrators to list classmates that have not yet been located and/or notified of an upcoming reunion. Missing classmates may be tagged with a custom status for tracking and members may post comments to assist in locating missing classmates. Two default status are included: “unknown” and “deceased”. The default category slugs should NOT be renamed. Deceased classmates are displayed in the In Memoriam section. WordPress users may also be marked as deceased using the “Deceased User” role which will mark the account as inactive but still display the user in the classmate list.

The missing classmates post type supports an unlimited number of text format, custom fields.

The following fields are provided by default: 

  • alumnionline_class
  • alumnionline_start_year
  • alumnionline_end_year

Additional fields may be added on the settings page as necessary. 

In Memoriam - Pro Plugin Only

The In Memoriam section is included in the pro version only and allows users to filter the classmate/member list to show members that are deceased. Deceased members may be added in the missing members area and then tagged with the “Deceased” category or if the member is a registered member of the website, their role may be changed to “Deceased User” which will mark the account as inactive but still display the user in the classmate list as deceased.

Planning a Reunion

While reunion planning can be done in the basic version the pro plugin will save you a great deal of time by automatically generating an RSVP form and displaying online ticketing options.

To plan a reunion:

  1. Post a message in the message board and tag it with the “Reunion” category.
  2. Since the message board only provides text formatting options, edit the post in the WordPress editor to provide more details about the reunion. 
  3. If using the pro plugin, to display an RSVP form on the post, place a check mark next to the “Display RSVP form at the bottom of the post”. This option requires the Free Advanced Custom Fields Plugin to be installed.
  4. In the pro version, enter a ticket price and currency symbol and optional PayPal payment button embed code to enable online ticketing. You may also install the Free WP Simple Shopping Cart Plugin which provides additional payment options (Stripe or PayPal are supported).
  5. When a payment is received reunion planners can mark the payment status by editing the RSVP record under ALL RSVPs and marking it as paid.
  6. The pro version includes an export option on the ALL RSVPs page to allow reunion planners to download a spreadsheet of reunion attendees. 

Enabling Online Ticket Payments - Pro Plugin Only

Complete the following steps to enable online ticket payments for a specific reunion.

  1. If desired, install the free WP Simple Shopping Cart Plugin and configure the desired payment processer, Stripe or PayPal
  2. Create a reunion post on your message board.
  3. Edit the post in the WordPress editor to enable the RSVP form, add a ticket price, currency and optional PayPal button code.
  4. Update the post.

Once a user submits an rsvp form they will be prompted to complete the online payment.

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