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Volgistics Updates

This help topic lists new customer-facing Volgistics features and improvements from January 2010 until now. Starting in January 2021, we also include minor updates such as bug fixes.

We recognize that each organization's purpose and work flow determine the changes they'll find valuable, but we highlight significant new features we feel add value to the system on the list of changes.

Visit this help topic any time to see what's new!

2024

May

Qualified Volunteer Filter for Scheduling - May 4, 2024

Introduced a new scheduling feature so System Operators can filter the dropdown of volunteers listed to only those who meet the qualifications set on the Assignment's Rules tab. See our New Feature Scheduling Qualified Volunteers blog post for more information.

Tweaks to Overnight Maintenance Adjustments - May 1, 2024

Released some small changes to the adjustments we made for the overnight maintenance cycle.

April

Adjusted Overnight Maintenance Cycle - April 30, 2024

Added optimization to distribute workload for overnight maintenance cycle.

Staggered Maintenance Commands for VicNet - April 24, 2024

Updated the maintenance commands for the VicNet portal so the commands are performed at different times on each server.

Fixed a Bug With Rich Text Editor - April 23, 2024

Fixed a bug to restore missing options for the rich text editor on the message composition page.

Application Form Upgrades - April 23, 2024

We upgraded several features for application forms. Alerts for submitted application forms can now be sent to up to five System Operators and you can now require applicants to select shifts when they apply.

Put Daily Message Limit in Place for Trial Accounts - April 22, 2024

Put a five message per day limit on trial accounts to prevent abuse.

Added Security Check to Message Composition Page - April 19, 2024

Put a security check in trial accounts for the message composition page.

Update to Trial Account Sign-Up Page - April 17, 2024

Fixed a problem that prevented submission of the form used to start trial accounts.

Updated System Monitoring - April 16, 2024

Added a new alert to assist with monitoring the system for problems with the VicNet portal.

Correction to Mandate Totals - April 15, 2024

A small percentage of service entries that showed as being applied to a mandatory service program were not actually counted toward the total hours given for the program. We ran a utility to update the totals so those service entries were included.

Overnight Maintenance Update - April 10, 2024

Put in a temporary fix to pause hourly maintenance while the overnight maintenance cycle is in progress.

Fix for Server Crashes - April 2, 2024

Corrected a problem that caused the VicNet portal to make servers fail.

March

Require Applicants to Upload Expired Documents Again - March 29, 2024

Applicants are now required to upload documents again to un-submitted application forms if three days pass from the time the document was uploaded originally. This prevents missing documents for submitted applications or documents being associated with the wrong applicant.

Bug Fix for Disabled Form Page - March 25, 2024

Corrected a problem that prevented changes to the disabled application form message from saving.

Corrected Password Reset Delivery Failure - March 22,2024

Fixed a problem that caused VicNet password reset messages to not be delivered.

Updates to Team Alerts - March 19, 2024

Improved delivery for warnings regarding the system functionality.

Behind the Scenes Improvements - March 18, 2024

Improved functionality for information retrieval from databases.

Added One-Click Unsubscribe to Emails - March 13, 2024

Added one-click unsubscribe to email messages to comply with new Gmail and Yahoo validation requirements.

Bug Fix for Service Page - March 12, 2024

Corrected a problem that prevented the VicNet Service page from loading.

Bug Fix for Schedule Loading - March 11, 2024

Fixed a problem with schedule loading for VicNet and VicTouch as well as other small bugs caused by new software version.

February

Fixed Problem for Fields in VicNet and Application Forms - February 29, 2024

Corrected bug that affected fields set with a date format in the VicNet portal and on application forms.

Fixed Trial Account Sign Up - February 22, 2024

Fixed problem that prevented submission of the new trial account form.

Post-Deployment Fixes - February 22, 2024

Fixed small bugs caused by the update to the new software version.

Updated Software Version - February 21, 2024

Moved to a new version of the software language used for the Volgistics code.

Increased System Operator Maximum - February 20, 2024

Raised the maximum number of System Operator records available from 150 to 200.

Corrected Problem with Coordinator Scheduling - February 5, 2024

Fixed a problem that prevented Coordinators from seeing their full list of volunteers in the VicNet portal.

January

Addressed Range Errors for Accounts on Hold - January 24, 2024

We introduced features to properly catch and handle values in the Volgistics Store for accounts on Hold.

Addressed Range Errors for Support System - January 22, 2024

We introduced features to properly catch and handle values that were outside of an acceptable range in the support desk software.

Email Public Key Update - January 18, 2024

Updated the public key for email communications.

Welcome Page Statistic Update - January 18, 2024

Corrected a problem that caused the cumulative hour total on the Welcome page to be calculated incorrectly.

Bug Fix Build - January 17, 2024

Fixed various bugs throughout the system.

Corrected Access Errors for VicNet - January 10, 2024

Cleared expired security tokens and patched memory leaks to prevent access problems for the VicNet portal.

Fixed Issue With Viewing Other Volunteers Scheduled - January 9, 2024

Corrected a problem that prevented volunteers from seeing other volunteers scheduled when the self-scheduling feature was not enabled.

Coordinator Preview Fix - January 5, 2024

Corrected a problem that prevented System Operators from previewing the VicNet portal of a Coordinator record.

Message Preference Expansion - January 5, 2024

We created a larger database so more types of message preferences can be added. Current message preference choices were moved to the new database.

Separated VicNet App Pool - January 4, 2024

To improve efficiency, we put the processes and tools to handle commands for the VicNet portal into their own pool that is separate from the pool for other processes such as the application forms and VicTouch time station commands.

Fixed Problem With Assigning Inquiries - January 3, 2024

Fixed a bug where two support team members could be assigned to answer the same customer inquiry.

Addressed Range Errors for Portal - January 3, 2024

We introduced features to properly catch and handle values that were outside of an acceptable range in the portal.

Improvements for VicNet Schedule Load Speed - January 2, 2024

Made updates to improve the loading speed for the Schedule page in the VicNet portal.

2023

December

Corrected Problem with Schedule Page Loading in VicNet Portal - December 28, 2023

We fixed a bug that prevented the VicNet Schedule page from loading in situations where the volunteer was scheduled as a substitute and the organization enabled fast loading.

Fixed Team Alert Problem - December 26, 2023

Corrected a problem that caused the alert sent to the team about hardware problems to hang and need to be reset.

Updated Inquiry Response Software - December 20, 2023

We made updates to the tool the Volgistics team uses to answer inquiries from our customers. The updates will make on boarding new team members and setting individual user rights for team members easier.

Schedule Messages to Send Later - December 19, 2023

By popular demand, we've added a new feature allowing Operators to schedule messages to send at a later date and time. Now you can compose your message and choose Schedule Send to choose a date and time for the message to be sent in the future. When that date and time arrives, Volgistics will automatically send out your message to the selected recipients.

Added Fast Loading Option to VicNet Schedule - December 7, 2023

By default, the VicNet Schedule page loads a full month of schedule information at a time. While this can typically load very quickly for most accounts, some accounts with a larger number of Assignments experience long load times for the VicNet schedule. To help speed things up, we've introduced a Fast Loading option to the VicNet Schedule Page settings. Enabling this feature forces VicNet to load schedule details for each day only as they are needed instead of for a whole month at once.

November

Addressed Range Errors for Store - November 20, 2023

We introduced features to properly catch and handle values that were outside of an acceptable range in the Store system.

Addressed Range Errors for Login - November 14, 2023

We introduced features to properly catch and handle values that were outside of an acceptable range in the system that handles logins for the Volgistics system.

Corrected Hours Email Placeholder - November 13, 2023

Resolved an issue that caused the [[Hours]] placeholder for email messages to show the incorrect value.

Various VicNet Bug Fixes - November 13, 2023

We addressed a number of small bugs in the VicNet volunteer portal. These fixes included corrections to Assignment description links, displaying in-app notices properly, tweaks to the Service page display, and more.

Database Maintenance - November 9, 2023

Adjustments were made to small pieces of the Volgistics database to cleanup items that were no longer required.

Resolved VicNet Volunteers Page Problem - November 8, 2023

A small number of accounts were experiencing issues with Coordinators loading the Volunteers page in VicNet and the Volunteers Page setup page in Volgistics proper when all the section headings were left blank. This update resolved the issue for those accounts.

Corrected VicNet Operator Preview Issue - November 7, 2023

We remedied an issue that was causing Operators to receive an error message when previewing VicNet from a volunteer or Coordinator record.

Fixed VicNet 500 Errors - November 7, 2023

An update was made to the VicNet portal to address Error 500 that many users were experiencing due to an issue with the key that is used to authenticate users.

October

Schedule Reminder Text Message Fix - October 30, 2023

We corrected an issue that occasionally caused schedule reminders sent by text message to show information for the wrong date.

Various Small Bug Fixes - October 30, 2023

With this release, we corrected several small bugs across the system. These fixes range from correcting graphical issues in the VicTouch Theming options to properly handling flag emojis in email messages.

VicNet Bug Fixes and Improvements - October 27, 2023

We made some graphical improvements to several features in VicNet to make information more readable, made it possible to print service information from the VicNet app, and fixed some minor bugs.

New Help Topic Library - October 24, 2023

The Volgistics help topic library was converted to a new system to modernize the online documentation and improve access to those documents. The new system also makes it easier for the Volgistics Team to keep these documents up to date with the latest changes to the system.

Batch Report Operator Name Mix Up - October 24, 2023

We corrected an issue that would cause a different Operator's name to appear on batch reports than the Operator that actually posted the associated batch of service.

Fixed Report Fields Tab Error - October 18, 2023

In very rare cases, the Fields tab of reports would cause an error that prevented the user from customizing or running that report. This issue was the result of a problem with floating subtotals which was addressed in this release.

Post Page Default Service Measure Fix - October 13, 2023

The default values for service measures were not being recorded for service entries recorded via the Post page if the service batch did not specifically include that service measure. A fix was released to correct this issue.

Report Fixes - October 11, 2023

Resolved a few issues with the process that generates reports. These included fixes for separate reports being created with the exact same file name and for an issue that could cause the report to fail.

Database Conversion - October 6, 2023

Conversion run on the database to improve security.

SMS System Maintenance Adjustments & Removal of Legacy Code - October 4, 2023

Adjustments were made to the process that performs maintenance on the SMS system. We also removed legacy VicTouch code that is no longer used.

VicTouch Framework Update - October 4, 2023

Updated the framework used for the VicTouch system to ensure continued compatibility.

September

Fixed VicNet iOS Add to Calendar Feature - September 29, 2023

This release fixed an issue that prevented the Add to Calendar feature from adding new events to the user's personal calendar on iOS devices.

Private Key Updates - September 29, 2023

For security, the private key used to authenticate Volgistics products needs to be updated periodically. This process was modified to make it seamless for users that already have active sessions when the key is swapped.

Retire Legacy VicNet - September 27, 2023

The legacy version of VicNet was permanently retired and removed from the system. All links to the legacy version will now point to the new version of the module.

Adjusted Daily Availability Field in VicNet - September 26, 2023

Accounts whose Daily Availability field was set up as read-only in the legacy version of VicNet had this setting brought over to the new version which no longer allows that field to be read-only. This prevented volunteers from editing that field. This release adjusted those settings to make the field editable again.

Various VicTouch and Application Form Bug Fixes - September 26, 2023

Corrected several issues with Application Forms and the VicTouch module. These included fixing an issue that prevented applications from being submitted if they were set up to send alerts by text message, and resolving a problem that prevented volunteers with certain Statuses from signing-in.

New VicNet Temporary Password Issue - September 25, 2023

An issue was resolved that caused temporary passwords to no longer work for volunteers that were previously unable to access the legacy version of VicNet.

VicNet App Email Notification Fix - September 25, 2023

Resolved an issue that caused the VicNet app to generate notifications when a volunteer was sent an email. The app should only send notices when the volunteer is sent a VicMail message.

iOS VicNet App Status Bar Fix - September 21, 2023

The status bar for the VicNet app on iOS was made transparent unintentionally. A fix was released to ensure it matches Theming settings.

VicNet and VicTouch App Testing Improvements - September 21, 2023

We made adjustments to the VicNet and VicTouch apps to streamline testing procedures for these apps.

Improved Volunteer and Coordinator Password Security - September 18, 2023

Modifications were made to the system to make volunteer and Coordinator passwords more secure.

Modifications to SMS System - September 15, 2023

We made modifications to the system that processes and sends text messages to prevent abuse of the system by malicious users.

Internal Support System Updates - September 11, 2023

Updates were made to the internal system used by the Support Team to address small bugs.

Post Page Assignment Fix - August 11, 2023

Resolved an issue with the Post page when service was posted for Assignments with larger internal identifiers.

Resolved Database Locking Error - September 7, 2023

Addressed an issue that was causing the database to lock, making it impossible to complete commands.

VicNet Schedule Loading Fix - September 7, 2023

Fixed an issue that would prevent certain dates from loading in the VicNet schedule when navigating through several months in quick succession.

August

Made it possible to link documents to application forms for prospective volunteers to download.

Legacy VicNet retirement Notice - August 30, 2023

Added a banner message to the legacy version of VicNet to notify users of the new version and to alert them of the upcoming retirement of legacy VicNet.

Legacy VicTouch Components Removed - August 28, 2023

Some components from the legacy version of VicTouch were still on the system. This release removed those unnecessary components.

Preparations for Database Conversion - August 28, 2023

Updates were made to the system to prepare for upcoming changes to databases.

Resolved Document Upload Error - August 25, 2023

Resolved an error that would prevent certain documents from being uploaded to volunteer volunteer records.

Addressed Application Form Errors - August 22, 2023

Made adjustments to application forms to properly handle errors that were caused when application form values were outside an acceptable range.

Small Improvements Throughout the System - August 21, 2023

Implemented a variety of improvements to the system. Added Next and Previous buttons to Assignment records to make navigating between Assignments easier. Added report descriptions. And made it possible to change the sort order for Assignments in volunteer records.

Various Bug Fixes - August 18, 2023

Resolved several problems in the system. Reduced excessive logging, fixed an issue with posting service based on the schedule, and addressed a malfunction in the automated overnight maintenance routines.

System Operator Password Security Improvements - August 11, 2023

Modifications were made to the system to improve security for System Operator passwords.

Framework Updates - August 9, 2023

Updates were made to the framework used for the Support system, Setup, and Opportunity Directory.

Fixed Mandatory Service Issue - August 4, 2023

Fixed an issue that would cause a service entry to count as over 71 million hours toward a volunteer's mandated service.

Bug Squashing - August 4, 2023

This release addressed various small bugs throughout the system, including some display issues in Setup and handling fields with no options on application forms.

Fixed Application Form PDF Truncation - August 3, 2023

Resolved an issue that caused the PDF of completed application forms to truncate, leaving some of the applicant's information off the document.

Addressed Report Errors - August 3, 2023

Errors were being generated by reports when values were outside of acceptable ranges. This update addressed circumstances where this could happen to properly handle them.

Require Comment Fields on Application Forms - August 1, 2023

Updated application form settings so that it is now possible to make Comment fields required.

July

Report Fixes - July 31, 2023

Adjustments were made to a couple types of reports that would show or exclude information they shouldn't in rare cases.

Resolved Time Zone Issue with the "Add to Calendar" Function in the VicNet App - July 27, 2023

We resolved an issue that caused the "Add to Calendar" function in the VicNet app to add shifts to volunteer schedules in the wrong time zone.

New Version of VicNet Leaving Beta - July 21, 2023

With the mobile app completed and the final adjustments made, the new version of VicNet is now ready for a full release! The beta testing period for the new version has officially ended, and the new version is now the primary supported version of the VicNet module. The legacy version will be permanently retired on September 27, 2023, so we recommend switching over to the new version before then.

VicNet Mobile App - July 18, 2023

We're excited to announce the release of the new VicNet mobile app! This app functions the same as the new version of VicNet viewed in a web browser on a mobile device, but it's now easier than ever for volunteers and Coordinators to access the portal. All they have to do is download the app, enter their email address, and select the organization they want to log in for. It's no longer necessary to provide them with a unique link. And once they log in, they'll stay logged in, even after closing the app.

The app is available on iOS and Android devices and can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play:

Download on the App Store Get it on Google Play

May

Service Measures & Service Notes at VicTouch - May 15, 2023

Now that the new version of VicTouch has been fully released for a while, we're able to start adding more and more features to it. In this release, we've made it possible for volunteers to record service measures and service notes when they sign-out at VicTouch. Now you no longer have to edit service entries to add this information afterward.

April

Self-Scheduling: Volunteers Can Add Schedule Notes - April 18, 2023

With this release, it is now possible for volunteers to add their own schedule entry notes to their shifts. This is possible through the new version of the VicNet portal. Volunteers can add a note when they first sign-up for a shift and edit notes for their existing shifts. You can control this feature in your Self-Scheduling settings, and you can enable or disable this feature for individual Assignments on the Rules tab.

VicTouch Sign-In Based on the Schedule - April 10, 2023

To streamline the VicTouch sign-in process, it's now possible to have volunteers sign-in based on their schedule rather than just the Assignments that they are assigned to. If you set up VicTouch this way, volunteers will see the Assignment they are scheduled for at the top of the list and won't need to scroll through their full list to find the right one. You can even set up VicTouch so volunteers can ONLY sign-in for the Assignments they are scheduled for. That way a volunteer cannot sign-in if they are not scheduled to serve.

Ability to Add, Edit, and Remove Roles for Multiple Volunteers - April 6, 2023

We updated the Tags page and Volunteers tab of Site, Place, Assignment, and Coordinator records so Operators can more easily add, remove, and edit Assignment Roles for multiple volunteers at once.

March

VicNet Security Update - March 31, 2023

We released an update to the new version of VicNet to improve the security of the login process.

Various Bug Fixes - March 30, 2023

We squashed some more minor bugs. This included minor fixes for automatic reports, Schedule and Service reports, emails, and the Post page.

Accounting Updates - March 28, 2023

We released an update to the backend of the system to improve the process for posting payments.

Characteristic Fields in VicNet - March 27, 2023

We resolved an issue that cleared Characteristic fields that were not included on the Profile page of VicNet.

Volunteer Dropdown for Emails - March 24, 2023

We released an update that fixed an issue which occasionally prevented the Volunteer dropdown from loading when creating a new message in the Out Box.

Addressed Issue With Posting Service From the Schedule - March 14, 2023

We corrected an issue that prevented service entries from being posted when recording service based on the schedule.

Various Bug Fixes - March 13, 2023

We addressed several small issues throughout the system, including some uncommon bugs with Service reports and the VicNet and VicTouch modules.

Additional Changes to Address Reports Page Issues - March 13, 2023

We made further adjustments to the system to address continued issues with the Reports page not loading for some users.

Various Bug Fixes and Minor Adjustments - March 6, 2023

We released a fix for a variety of small bugs and also made some minor adjustments in the system. Included in these changes, the Tickler page was renamed Checklist and the Print page was renamed Reports to better represent what these pages are used for.

February

New VicNet Theming Adjustments - February 22, 2023

We made a correction to the new VicNet Theming settings to use the correct color for field inputs.

Updated Vic Tab Access Message to Reference New VicTouch - February 20, 2023

After the release of the new version of VicTouch, the message on the volunteer Vic tab still indicated whether the volunteer was eligible to access the legacy version. This release updated that message to correctly reference the new version.

Various Fixes to the New Version of VicNet - February 20, 2023

We made further adjustments to the new version of VicNet to correct minor issues.

Updates for Improved Testing - February 17, 2023

Released updates to the system to enhance preliminary, automated testing procedures.

We addressed an issue that prevented the Print page from loading for some users.

Corrected Issue with Site Level Operators and Application Forms - February 9, 2023

We released a fix for Site Level Operators being unable to see the PDF version of an applicant's completed application form in certain circumstances.

Legacy Application Forms Retired - February 8, 2023

The legacy version of the online application forms feature has been removed from the system. All users must use the new version of application forms. Any legacy forms that were not cloned to the new version already have been cloned to the new version automatically.

Post Page Skipping Issue - February 3, 2023

Addressed an issue on the Post page which posted a page of service instead of skipping it.

January

Correction to VicTouch Schedule - January 30, 2023

Fixed a bug that caused the schedule for February to be skipped on the Schedule screen at VicTouch.

Corrected Issue with Saving Daily Availability in VicNet - January 26, 2023

Corrected an issue that could cause volunteer availability to save incorrectly after making changes when certain Daily Availability settings were in use.

Documents Tab Button Positioning - January 20, 2023

A small change was made to the positioning of buttons on the Documents tab of the Mailbox. These were moved so that they lined up better with their corresponding columns.

Logging Updates - January 19, 2023

Small changes were made to backend logging to cleanup unnecessary log entries.

Tag Volunteers from Documents Tab of Mailbox - January 18, 2023

It is now possible to tag volunteers from the Documents tab of the Mailbox. This allows users to search for volunteers that have particular documents uploaded to their records, tag them, and perform further tasks.

Legacy VicTouch Retired - January 17, 2023

The legacy version of the VicTouch time clock module has been removed from the system. All VicTouch users will instead use the new version of VicTouch moving forward.

Updated Default Fields and Settings for New Trial Accounts - January 13, 2023

We updated some default fields and settings in new trial accounts based on the needs of current volunteer programs.

New Message Templates Feature - January 11, 2023

The Out Box tab of the Mailbox was updated to add email templates, so now users can create message templates for messages that they send frequently. The contents of a template can be quickly imported into new messages, so it isn't necessary to manually re-enter these messages each time they are sent.

Require Volunteers to Schedule for Shifts a Set Number of Days in Advance - January 11, 2023

A new option was added to the self-scheduling feature to require volunteers to schedule for shifts in advance. By default, volunteers can schedule for shifts up until the time they take place, so the new setting allows you to place some restrictions on this. You can require volunteers to schedule up to a week advance with this new setting.

Corrected Problem with DOLA When Posting Service - January 6, 2023

Fixed a bug that prevented the Date of Last Activity from updating when posting service from the schedule.

Replaced Tags Checkbox with a Graphic - January 3, 2023

Replaced the checkbox to tag and untag volunteers with a graphic to demarcate the tags feature from other checkboxes appearing on pages.

2022

December

Fixed Auto Sign Out Problem in VicTouch - December 28, 2022

Fixed a problem with the VicTouch time stations that caused volunteers to be signed out automatically too early in some time zones.

Corrected VicNet Self-Scheduling Bugs - December 27, 2022

Corrected problems with the self-scheduling feature in the new version of the VicNet portal.

Fixed Post Page Crash - December 23, 2022

Fixed a problem that caused the Post page to crash when the post contained a large number of volunteers.

Improvements and Bug Fixes for New VicNet - December 22, 2022

Improved functionality and fixed some bugs in the new version of the VicNet portal.

Preparation for VicNet App - December 19, 2022

Updated volunteer record database for change required in the VicNet app project.

Service Posting for a Month at a Time - December 15, 2022

Organizations that use the Post page to post service for all scheduled volunteers can now post up to 31 days of schedule information at once!

Preparation for Legacy VicTouch Retirement - December 13, 2022

Released groundwork to handle the transition of active legacy VicTouch sessions to the new version when legacy VicTouch is retired on January 17, 2023.

Corrected Problem with Logo and Headings for Reports - December 7, 2022

Corrected a bug that prevented the logo and heading from showing on PDF report files when the report was set up to start a new page for each report category.

Password Reset Update - December 6, 2022

Fixed a problem that prevented volunteers from resetting their VicNet passwords when using certain mobile web browsers.

New Application Forms Are Out of Beta - December 5, 2022

We're thrilled to announce that the new version of the application forms is now out of the Beta period of testing and development. This means the new forms are now the primary, supported version of applications and the legacy application forms will be retired on February 8, 2023.

The new application forms are fully updated with responsive design for mobile devices, built-in color theming, improvements to field layout, electronic signatures, drag and drop design, and document upload if VicDocs is part of the account's service level.

When the retirement date arrives, we'll convert any legacy forms that are not already converted to the new version, plus forward any legacy form links to the new URL address for the forms. However, we still recommend switching your forms before February 8th so you can customize your color choices and add new features such as the electronic signature and document uploads. See our blog post for a video showing how to make the transition.

November

SMS Message Failure Corrected - November 30, 2022

Fixed a problem in the overnight maintenance cycle that caused some automated reminders not to be sent by text.

Report Generation Fix - November 29, 2022

Corrected a problem that caused some report files to fail.

New Signature Field on Application Forms - November 29, 2022

We've added an exciting new improvement to the new version of application forms. It's now possible to collect electronic signatures from prospective volunteers when they submit one of these forms. We've had many requests for this kind of feature, but up until now, we've only been able to provide an I Agree checkbox to have applicants indicate their acknowledgement or agreement to volunteer policies. Now you can get a more official agreement from applicants with a signature, and that signature will be saved on the PDF version of the applicant's completed form with the rest of their information.

VicTouch iOS App - November 28, 2022

To make it easier to launch and run VicTouch on Apple iOS devices (like iPads and iPhones), we've developed a new iOS app. The app lets you sign-in with System Operator credentials to start up a VicTouch station. This can be used alongside the Guided Access feature to set up a kiosk-like station for volunteer sign-in.

New VicNet Mobile Update - November 21, 2022

A big part of the new version of VicNet was to make it easier to use on mobile devices. This update has pushed this even further by making adjustments to the layout of the volunteer portal. On mobile devices, the navigation options now appear at the bottom of the screen rather than in a drawer on the side of the screen. This should make it easier for mobile users to move through the portal. Additionally, the Service History and Time Sheet pages were merged together to keep all the service information in one place. And lastly, the Profile page was moved to the user dropdown menu at the top right of the portal along with the Account page.

Along with these larger layout changes, some other aesthetic adjustments were made to clean up several different areas of the portal.

New VicNet Updates - November 14, 2022

Based on user feedback, a Week view was added back to the Schedule page of new VicNet for volunteers. In addition, we resolved a variety of small issues with the new version of VicNet.

Site Level Operator Document Access - November 7, 2022

Resolved an issue that prevented Site Level Operators from seeing certain documents in volunteer records.

Improved Logging Efficiency - November 3, 2022

Logging processes were moved to improve efficiency and to prevent slow downs in other processes.

Additional Logging Tweaks - November 2, 2022

Suppressed certain log entries that did not provide useful information.

Tweaks for Database Error Logging - November 1, 2022

Adjustments were made to database logs to better detail certain database errors.

October

Report Log Fix - October 31, 2022

Corrected an issue that was generating an error in report logs.

Backend Report Logging - October 28, 2022

Logging was added to the backend of the system to better track issues with reports that were taking an excessive amount of time to complete.

New Application Form Setup Fixes - October 26, 2022

Corrections were made to some small issues on the new application form setup page.

New VicNet Schedule Updates - October 25, 2022

A variety of adjustments and fixes were made to the Schedule page in the new version of VicNet. This included corrections to how the schedule was displayed in specific scenarios and ironing out some issues with how Assignment schedule rules were interpreted.

Upload Alerts for Site Level Operators - October 24, 2022

Corrected an issue that prevented Site Level Operators from seeing the alerts generated when a volunteer or Coordinator uploads a document through VicNet.

Database Updates - October 24, 2022

Updates were made to some database components to improve security and reliability.

Preparation for Legacy Support System Retirement - October 21, 2022

Adjustments were made to the backend of the Volgistics support system to prepare for the retirement of the legacy support system. These aspects were used by the Volgistics Support Team to respond to help inquiries and have been replaced by a new system. This does not have any front-facing effects for Volgistics users.

Added Upload Alerts - October 20, 2022

Recently the document upload feature was added to the Home page in the new version of VicNet so volunteers and Coordinators could upload documents to their own records. With this release, we've expanded on that feature to notify System Operators when particular types of documents are uploaded. These upload alerts can be enabled in the Documents Tab Settings.

New VicNet Updates - October 18, 2022

Small adjustments were made to several pages throughout the new version of VicNet. Several small issues were resolved on the Schedule page as well as some minor tweaks to the Account page and the session expiration process.

New Application Form Updates - October 18, 2022

We released a fix for an issue that was discovered with the date of birth field on the new version of application forms.

Security Updates - October 17, 2022

Various updates were made to the system to improve security.

New VicTouch Is Out of Beta - October 12, 2022

We're happy to announce that the new version of the VicTouch time station is leaving the Beta period of testing and development! The new version is now the primary, supported version of the module and the legacy version will be retired on January 17, 2023.

The new VicTouch module boasts many improvements including responsive design for mobile use, customizable color schemes, a QR code so volunteers can launch the sign-in keypad on their phone, as well many new ways to launch the time stations including an app for launching on Android tablets! The new version functions very much like the previous version and volunteers will use their same PIN. This will make the volunteer's transition to the new version relatively seamless.

Please transition to the new version before January 17, 2023!

New VicTouch Updates - October 5, 2022

This release includes various fixes and changes for the new version of VicTouch. Minor adjustments were made to the schedule screen to improve clarity. A new printable, static QR code was added to make it even easier for volunteers to clock-in and clock-out with their smartphones, even if you aren't able to set up a VicTouch station. The Switch Assignment option was added. And an assortment of other minor bug fixes and adjustments.

September

Service Sets and Report Fixes - September 30, 2022

This release corrected an issue with service Set rules based on Assignment clusters returning the wrong volunteers. Adjustments were also made to Service reports to better handle PDF reports with a large number of columns.

Even More New Application Form Updates - September 29, 2022

We are steadily rolling out more and more updates to the new version of application forms. This update focused on addressing some minor issues with the Customize Form Content setup page and application form theming.

We corrected an issue that caused some Assignment Description links in the new VicNet schedule to go to the wrong Assignment's profile.

More Updates for the New Application Forms - September 23, 2022

Our Development Team continued to plug away at eradicating bugs with the new version of application forms. The adjustments made in this release corrected some issues with the PDF copy of submitted forms, the application form setup pages, and the way fields are displayed and managed.

Service, Report, and Tags Fixes - September 22, 2022

Some additional issues were discovered and corrected after the release of the Service Notes feature. These caused problems with some reports, merit hours, and navigating between tagged volunteers.

New Application Form Updates - September 22, 2022

Further development was made on the new version of application forms. This release introduces some fixes for minor bugs.

Service Notes Database Change - September 21, 2022

Corrected an issue that caused entries to be made in the service notes database even when no service notes were entered.

New VicNet Updates - September 21, 2022

Additional minor bug fixes and small adjustments to the new version of VicNet.

Service Notes - September 20, 2022

It is now possible to include notes with volunteer service entries! The new service notes feature lets you and your volunteers add up to 500 characters of text to service entries posted from the Service tab of your volunteer records or the Time Sheet page in the new version of VicNet. Now in addition to knowing which Assignment a volunteer served in, you can collect other narrative details about their service. This new feature can be enabled in your account's Service Tracking Ground Rules.

More Updates to New VicNet - September 15, 2022

A variety of adjustments and fixes were made with this release. The Theming setup pages for VicNet and all of the other new features (Opportunity Directory, Application Forms, VicTouch) were updated with some new tools, and several visual and small functional bugs were resolved.

New VicNet Schedule Updates - September 14, 2022

The Schedule page in the new version of VicNet was restructured to streamline and simplify information for volunteers and Coordinators. This restructuring brought the new VicNet schedule more inline with the schedule in the new version of VicTouch. These changes should make it easier for volunteers and Coordinators to review and manage their schedules.

New Application Form PDF Bug Fix - September 12, 2022

We resolved a bug that caused the PDF copy of a completed application form to be blank on rare occasions.

New VicNet Updates - September 12, 2022

With this release, a couple of adjustments were made to the new version of VicNet. The document upload feature on the Home page was given a new form factor, and the Account page was updated to let volunteers manage all of their message preferences, not just their text messaging preferences.

Application Form and VicNet Setup Fix - September 9, 2022

A recent update caused the headings for application form and VicNet sections to display improperly in Setup. This release resolved the display issue.

Security Updates - September 2, 2022

Various measures would put in place to improve system security and prevent vulnerabilities.

New VicNet Coordinator Schedule Fix - September 1, 2022

We resolved an issue that prevented the schedule from loading for Coordinators in the new version of VicNet when they were assigned to a large number of Places.

August

Document Uploads on Application Forms - August 24, 2022

We're very excited to announce that it's now possible for you to collect documents from your applicants through the online application form feature. If your account's service level includes the VicDocs module, you can add upload fields to the new version of application forms to collect documents from applicants.

Now applicants can upload resumes, reference letters, and any other documents you need to collect, right when they submit their application form. When the application is received into your database, the applicant's uploaded documents will be added right to their Docs tab automatically.

Still More Updates for New Application Forms - August 17, 2022

Our eager development team made even more updates for the new application forms.

  • We added JavaScript code to the Application Form Setup Page to adjust the height of the form automatically when the form is embedded on a webpage of your organization's website.
  • Removed bug icon used in debugging and testing to indicate a possible problem.
  • Updated application form setup pages to make new sections the active section.
  • Made deleting or merging Contact kind fields update those fields if the field was included on application forms.
  • Added dialog warning if a System Operator attempts to leave a Setup page without saving their changes.
  • Radio button option for ranked Schedule field choices removed.
  • Made background for collapsed form sections follow theming when viewed on a mobile device.
  • Adjusted field height for Assignment Preference fields.
  • Improved the appearance of fields with multiple options.

More Updates for New Application Forms - August 16, 2022

We made some more updates to the new version of our application forms.

  • Fixed a bug that prevented the text option from showing in the application submission alert settings when an operator has opted-in to receive text messages.
  • Fixed the PDF of completed applications so it does not list each Assignment Preference if the applicant does not make any selections, and contacts are now listed side-by-side when more than one of the contact types is submitted. Also, updated the PDF for legacy application forms so the logo is displayed at the top of the first page.
  • Updated Schedule fields to allow more than 30 days worth of entries.
  • Adjusted width settings for date of birth fields so all fields are displayed when the field is set to not ask for a year or the account's date settings are set to DD/MM/YYYY format.
  • Updated the form to show the Assignment Preference selection as invalid if the field is set to ask for importance, but the applicant does not select a choice for importance.
  • Corrected the invalid field error message so it does not show if an applicant returns to a field and makes a selection after trying to submit the form without a choice for a required Characteristic field.
  • Fixed bugs with fields set up with a default value. One was that the default value was not shown in the field if the field was included on the form. The other is that volunteer records created after the application was submitted did not have the value when the field was not included on the application form.

Bug Fixes New Application Forms - August 4, 2022

Our development team has been busy fixing some bugs found on the new application forms. Here's what was updated:

  • Removed Times and Assignment headings when no unfilled openings are available in the time period selected for Schedule Fields.
  • Fixed a bug that created another duplicate beta application form if the web browser's Back button was used immediately after cloning a legacy form to a beta form.
  • Corrected a problem that caused the invalid field count to show in the wrong section heading on application forms that had 10 or more form sections.
  • Corrected a problem that caused the instruction fields for form sections to not save updates when a new beta form was started.
  • Updated Preference fields to follow correct theme selection.
  • Prevented buttons from overlapping on the theme set up page when viewed on a narrow screen.
  • Updated PDF of completed applications to remove unnecessary white space.
  • Corrected a bug that prevented Site from being added to volunteer records when the application's Site Selection was configured to assign the Site based on the applicant's preference field choice.

Fixed Bug for Volunteer Schedule View - August 1, 2022

We fixed a bug on the Schedule page for volunteers in the new version of VicNet that caused other volunteers scheduled from being listed separately.

July

Updates for the New VicNet Portal - July 29, 2022

We made some more updates to the new version of the VicNet portal. Some involve the Setup for the portal inside the account, and others are for the portal itself. In the portal, we updated the Profile page so the warning alert color selected in the color theme is used when someone tries to save invalid information in a text field. We also made a correction on the Service History page where service entries were not always sorted chronologically.

We made these changes related to the Schedule page:

  • Fixed problem with Schedule page display in the portal when the account is set to allow viewing other scheduled volunteers.
  • Updated the Setup page for self-scheduling to always leave the advanced options expanded when advanced options are used.
  • Fixed the filter so that it correctly displays which Assignments are selected.

We made these updates on the Time Sheet page:

  • The label for the time input field was changed to Hours instead of Duration.
  • We removed automatic calculation of hours if the Time Sheet is set up to collect service in a date range, but the Hours field is hidden.
  • Corrected problem where Assignment dropdown was filtered by the volunteer's Site after Site Level Access was disabled.

For Coordinators, we updated the Volunteers page to fix an input problem when the Date of Birth field was set to read only but the year was optional or unavailable. We also corrected a problem that prevented a Coordinator from updating a volunteer's Role in Assignments.

We also made changes to the fields used by volunteers and Coordinators to update their passwords to prevent passwords with spaces from being created.

Various Bug Fixes - July 27, 2022

We corrected some bugs throughout the system.

  • The country field for text message opt-in now follows the country default set in the account in the legacy version of VicNet.
  • Corrected problems that prevented some reports from processing.
  • Fixed a problem with message sending when the Find option was used to search for records on Volunteers page.
  • Corrected a bug that prevented service information from showing in the new version of VicTouch.

We fixed other bugs specific to the new version of the VicNet portal.

  • The Potential Conflict warning message for group scheduling will no longer show once scheduling is completed.
  • Corrected problem with data export feature on the Service History page.
  • Fixed problems that caused some conflicting and potential shifts to not show when the list view is used for the Schedule page.
  • Updated the Time Sheet page so Assignments are filtered when the volunteer is assigned to a specific Site.
  • Updated notification messages so they do not block buttons.
  • Fixed bug that prevented My from being used to start page titles.
  • Corrected a problem with Assignment Preference fields when they are set to Read only.
  • Removed non-functioning return navigation links.

Improvements and Bug Fixes for New Application Forms - July 26, 2022

Our development team made some improvements and fixed some bugs for the new version of application forms to make the applicant's experience better.

Improvements - - All form sections are now collapsed if form submitted with an invalid or blank field that is required. This makes it easier for the applicant to find the item(s) that need correcting.

  • Date field widths are now standardized.
  • Title of form added to confirmation page.
  • Improved appearance of required field indicator.
  • Added field validation for field used to input the number of hours the applicant would like to serve.
  • Removed phone from label of phone number fields.

Bug Fixes - - Fixed problem with Comment field instructions.

  • Made refreshing confirmation page work correctly.
  • Corrected error message if password confirmation field is left blank.
  • Fixed problem with Participation field default for groups.
  • Corrected truncated message descriptions on the PDF file of the completed application.
  • Fixed problem with Ok to call fields showing when the fields are hidden in the account.

Improvements and Bug Fixes for New VicNet - July 25, 2022

Our development team made some improvements and fixed some bugs for the new version of the VicNet portal to make the user experience even better.

Improvements - - We added an Expand All button to the Coordinator's Volunteers page so they can quickly view more details for all of the volunteers listed.

  • We also added a Print button to the Volunteers page for Coordinators so they can print the page if they'd like.
  • We added a Goal column to the volunteer's Service History and Time Sheet pages. This will show the program service was applied to if the volunteer has mandatory service.

Bug Fixes - - Made YTD total use fiscal year.

  • Made password strength requirements use beta settings.
  • Made date of birth update when changed.
  • Made Start date stay blank if no start date recorded.
  • Made all selected phone numbers display on Volunteers page for Coordinators.
  • Made Site and Place names show in Service History when selected.
  • Corrected bug with shared email addresses and Coordinators.

Corrected Instruction Fields Bug - July 21, 2022

Corrected a bug that prevented instruction fields from showing for the new versions of the VicNet portal and application forms.

Released Security Enhancements - July 20, 2022

We released a few minor updates to augment our current system security.

Fixed Self-Scheduling Bugs in VicNet and VicTouch - July 19, 2022

Fixed self-scheduling bugs in the VicNet portal and the VicTouch time stations.

Setup Page Updates for Application Forms and the VicNet Portal - July 18, 2022

Volgistics has been releasing new versions of the volunteer-facing aspects of the system to modernize their appearance, improve functionality, and add new features. We're excited to announce that we've released our first change for volunteer managers (System Operators).

We've totally overhauled the Setup pages operators use to add and manage the content of new application forms as well as the Profile and Volunteers pages of the new VicNet portal. The new update will make setting up the portal and application forms more intuitive because it will be easier to find each setting and see how the pieces all fit together. Some of the improvements are:

  • Consolidated Pages. We consolidated the separate Setup pages for different form parts (sections, volunteer fields, contact fields, etc.) into one comprehensive page.
  • Drag and Drop Design. We made the pages with drag and drop design to make things such as adding and removing fields and choosing the order of form sections easier.
  • Customizable Field Order. We added the ability to choose the order that fields appear on the completed form. For example, you can now have the Date of Birth field from the Profile tab appear above the Last name field from the Core tab in the same form section.
  • Rows. We introduced rows that allow you to group fields together on the same line of the form. For example, you could put the City, State, and Zip fields altogether on one row of the form to decrease the length of the page.

Please contact support if you have feedback or questions about the new pages. We look forward to hearing from you!

Minor Improvements - July 11, 2022

We made a variety of minor improvements to the system. This includes some small changes to the backend of the Volgistics support system. For Volgistics users, the following changes were made:

  • Increased logo and VicNet Home page image file size limits. You should now be able to use higher quality images for your logo and for images that you include on the Home page of VicNet.
  • Added "full" to the Archive button when the archive storage limit has been reached. When you've filled up the archived portion of your volunteer database, the Archive button would be grayed out and disabled, but it wasn't always clear why. We added "full" to the button to help clarify why you are not able to archive more volunteers.

New VicNet Bug Fixes - July 11, 2022

We performed another round of bug fixes for the new version of VicNet. Most of these fixes were associated with time zone and Daylight Saving Time issues. Date and scheduling features should now function much more consistently for all time zones.

Updated Service to Allow for Dates in 2023 - July 6, 2022

In preparation for next year, we released an update to make it possible to post service for 2023.

Checklist Report Fix - July 5, 2022

We addressed an issue that prevented users from changing the Checklist filter on stock reports and existing custom reports.

June

More Bug Fixes for New VicNet - June 29, 2022

We corrected an issue that prevented volunteers from accessing new VicNet even though they were eligible. We also fixed an issue that caused the Date of Birth field to display with the wrong date format.

New VicNet Bug Fixes - June 23, 2022

We resolved some display issues on the Home page of new VicNet, and updated the VicNet document upload feature to sync up with other changes.

Updates for Help Response System and VicNet Bugs - June 23, 2022

We expanded the system we use for answering customer inquiries to allow new users. We also fixed bugs in the VicNet portal that prevented some headings and buttons from showing, and documents from being uploaded.

Improved Communication Between Front and Back End of VicNet - June 21, 2022

We improved the method used to retrieve and deliver data between the front end of the VicNet portal and the source account. This fixed a bug that prevented the portal from loading for Safari users if the portal was embedded in a webpage, and will improve data delivery going forward.

Corrected Cumulative Hour Total Bug - June 17, 2022

Fixed a problem with the overnight maintenance cycle that prevented the system from updating the cumulative hour total for some accounts.

Internet Explorer Support Dropped - June 15, 2022

Internet Explorer (IE) is no longer a supported web browser for Volgistics. Microsoft discontinued support for the browser on June 15, 2022 so Volgistics also stopped supporting IE. Organizations and their volunteers will need to use a supported browser for Volgistics or any of its related components (online application forms, the Opportunity Directory, the VicNet portal, and the VicTouch time stations).

Updates for ADA Compliance and Bugs for New Application Forms - June 14, 2022

Revised the new application forms to work better with screen readers for visually impaired individuals. Also fixed various bugs including input validation for phone numbers and email addresses, duplicate form submissions when the confirmation page was refreshed, and the display for message type descriptions.

Corrected Logging Error - June 8, 2022

Adjusted the internal logging used to monitor the system to remove an error.

Fixed Time Zone Bug - June 2, 2022

Corrected a problem where volunteers in certain time zones were signed-out of the time clock earlier than the account's preset interval.

Various Bug Fixes - June 1, 2022

Released fixes for bugs related to links to the Assignment descriptions in the Opportunity Directory, handling of duplicate volunteer numbers, and issues with the internal system for answering help inquiries.

May

Source Code File Restructuring - May 31, 2022

We restructured the file system used to hold the source code for Volgistics.

Send Automatic Reports by Email - May 26, 2022

You can now have your automated reports sent by email to any email address you choose! This makes it easy to create monthly or weekly data feeds about your volunteer program to others in your organization.

If you have feedback or questions about this new feature, please submit an inquiry to let us know.

Internet Explorer Alerts - May 25, 2022

Microsoft will discontinue support for Internet Explorer on June 15, 2022 so we will also discontinue support on that date. We added an alert to switch to a supported web browser to the VicTouch time stations, the VicNet portal, and to the main Volgistics account System Operators access.

New VicTouch Beta - May 24, 2022

We've been hard at work updating the volunteer-facing portions of the Volgistics system, and we've now made a new version of the VicTouch module available in a Beta release. The new version was built from the ground up with a modern and responsive design. VicTouch should now look and function better than ever before!

While the New VicTouch is available as a Beta the legacy version will still be available for you to use. So you can feel free to test it out while volunteers continue to use the legacy version. The two versions are accessed using different URLs.

You can learn more about the new version in our Introductory Video.

We have done extensive testing on the new version, and we believe that most users will have a trouble-free experience. However, please remember that this is a Beta release, and you may encounter issues with the new version as we continue to make adjustments and improvements. We welcome your feedback about the new version, so please share your experience to let us know what you think.

Document Upload for VicNet - May 20, 2022

Your volunteers and Coordinators can now upload documents to the Docs tab of their record in your account with the new version of the VicNet portal. In order to enable this, your account's service level must also include the VicDocs document storage module.

We welcome your feedback about this new feature. Please submit an inquiry to let us know what you think.

Updates for New VicTouch - May 13, 2022

We made some more behind the scenes updates in preparation for the release of our new version of the VicTouch module.

Updates for New Application Forms - May 10, 2022

We squashed some bugs that were found in our new application form feature.

Updated Internal Support System - May 6, 2022

We made an update to improve the efficiency of the platform our support team uses to respond to inquiries.

Updated Submission Forms on Website - May 5, 2022

We updated the free trial and support pages on our website to make the forms work better for Internet Explorer users.

Updates for New VicTouch - May 4, 2022

We made some behind the scenes updates to prepare for the release of our new version of the VicTouch module.

April

Testing Changes for Internal Support System - April 27, 2022

We added some functionality to our internal system to make future changes that will improve our testing process.

Changes to Prepare for New VicTouch - April 26, 2022

We released some updates that will make pave the way for a new version of the VicTouch time clock in the future.

Updated Password Messages for the Legacy and New Versions of VicNet - April 22, 2022

We updated the system so there are separate ways to send out password messages for the legacy version of the VicNet portal and the new version of the portal. See Send Password Message to Tagged Volunteers and Send Password Message to a Volunteer or Coordinator for more information.

More Updates for New VicNet - April 19, 2022

Additional updates were made to the new version of VicNet. These changes specifically focused on making improvements to the schedule with a focus on how Coordinators interact with the Schedule page. Some of these changes include:

  • Volunteer names in the schedule now link to their profiles for Coordinators.
  • Added in measures to prevent Coordinators from accidentally scheduling volunteers for overlapping shifts when editing shifts.
  • Improvements to the Assignment filtering feature in the schedule.

Support System Update - April 9, 2022

An update was made to the backend of the Volgistics support system to improve the speed at which inquiry history can be loaded and queried.

Further Updates for New VicNet - April 5, 2022

Minor modifications were made to the new version of VicNet. These updates were primarily made on the Schedule page to improve usability and to resolve some minor bugs.

March

More Updates for New VicNet - March 31, 2022

This release made some further adjustments to the new version of VicNet. This release primarily focused on resolving some small bugs on the Time Sheet and Profile pages and adding clarity to some of the messages that show in the module.

New VicNet Bug Fixes - March 29, 2022

Recent VicNet updates inadvertently introduced some issues with the Profile, Volunteers, and Schedule pages which were then resolved.

Resolved Permissions Issue for Automated Processes - March 29, 2022

Released a fix for an issue that occurred during overnight maintenance that prevented some automated processes from running.

New VicNet Updates - March 29, 2022

We implemented some changes and fixes for the new version of VicNet. Below is a list of the major changes:

  • Volunteers can export Service History to Excel
  • Various fixes to managing substitutes in the Schedule as a coordinator
  • Week view days stick to top of the screen when scrolling down
  • Added a new Daily Agenda view to schedule
  • Added ability to change the view that shows after clicking a day cell on the Month View (now defaults to Daily Agenda for new accounts)
  • Instruction fields are back on all pages
  • Drastic loading speed improvement to Volunteers page for coordinators

Updates for System Testing - March 28, 2022

Made some small changes to the system to make improvements to product testing.

Fixed Report Generation Issue - March 24, 2022

Released a fix for an issue that was preventing reports from generating properly for Site Level Operators.

Filter Reports for Specific Checklist Dates - March 24, 2022

You can now filter reports to show date information for just certain Checklist items.

We released some changes to our website to improve marketing and fixed some links to video tutorials.

Fixed a Problem With Self-Scheduling - March 17, 2022

Released a fix for a problem that prevented volunteers from self-scheduling in the VicNet portal.

Schedule Page Improvements and Bug Fixes for New VicNet - March 16, 2022

We made some more improvements to the Schedule page in the new version of VicNet as well as fixing a few bugs on the page. Changes to the overall schedule for both volunteers and Coordinators include:

  • We merged the graphical element showing separate openings on the daily view when the openings are for the same Assignment, date, and times and the user is a volunteer.
  • We added the number of volunteers still needed to the list view of the volunteer's schedule.
  • We improved the schedule functionality for visually impaired individuals who use screen readers.
  • We made several visual improvements including fixing a problem where some cells appeared taller than others on the month view, wrapping the text for long Assignment, Site, or Place names, keeping start and end times on one line for schedule entry details, and making Assignment names that start with a backslash visible.
  • We fixed some problems when shifts span two different dates including preventing volunteers from signing up for conflicting shifts when using the daily or weekly view, and loading overnight shifts when the shift occurred on the last day of the month.

The big improvement specifically for Coordinators on the Schedule page is that they can now select a setting in the filter to make the monthly calendar list the volunteers scheduled during the month. We also fixed a bug for Coordinators that didn't allow them to filter the schedule for just one Assignment that they oversee.

Website Updates and Various Bug Fixes - March 16, 2022

We made some SEO changes to our website and fixed some bugs including correcting a problem that prevented System Operators who are limited to a Site from viewing automatic reports.

New Opportunity Directory Leaving Beta - March 7, 2022

After several months of Beta testing and receiving feedback, we are ready to make a full release of the new Opportunity Directory. The full release introduces new setup pages that allow you to have more control over customizing the new Opportunity Directory. These settings are now separate from the legacy version and include new Theming options. This release also includes fixes to prevalent issues.

You can learn more in Get Started With the Opportunity Directory.

February

Updates to Internal Support System - February 25, 2022

Improvements were made to the system used by the Volgistics Support Team to help with issue tracking and reporting.

Further Corrections for Coordinator Schedule Reminders - February 22, 2022

Released fixes for several additional issues that were preventing Coordinator schedule reminders from being sent correctly.

Fixed Issues with Accounts Reactivating After Being Placed on Hold - February 21, 2022

Corrected an issue that some accounts were experiencing which prevented them from changing their service level after reactivating their account from being on hold.

Extended VicTouch Session Times - February 17, 2022

VicTouch sessions were extended to last for up to 96 hours (4 days) of inactivity to help resolve issues with sessions timing out.

Fixed Issues With Coordinator Schedule Reminders - February 11, 2022

Updated schedule reminder messages sent to Coordinators to prevent schedule information for duplicate or incorrect Assignments from being included.

Corrected System Operator and VicTouch Conflict - February 9, 2022

Fixed a conflict that prevented System Operators from logging in if they previously used their credentials to launch VicTouch.

Various System Improvements - February 8, 2022

We released several changes to improve the system.

Changes for VicTouch Sessions - February 7, 2022

Extended VicTouch sessions to last 24 hours and changed how sessions are handled when the web page is refreshed.

Fixed a Problem With Help Inquiry Attachments - February 3, 2022

Corrected a problem that caused files and screenshots submitted with help inquiries not to be delivered.

New Application Forms - February 3, 2022

We're excited to announce we've released a new version of our application forms! These forms were built with responsive design so they'll automatically resize to the user's screen size if the applicant is using a phone or tablet. They also include theming options so you can color coordinate the forms with your organization's color scheme, and fields were redesigned to improve user interaction.

The forms are available to you now in a beta version and more changes are planned for the future.

Please watch our Introductory Video to see how the new application forms can improve the recruiting process for you!

Fixed a Bug With Hibernating VicTouch Devices - February 1, 2022

Corrected the system to keep VicTouch time clock sessions active if the device being used sleeps or hibernates.

January

Improved Handling of Orphaned VicTouch Sessions - January 24, 2022

We updated the system to locate and close VicTouch time clock sessions that were no longer in use.

Fixed Bug for Calendar in Legacy VicNet - January 20, 2022

We corrected a bug that prevented the Help Wanted icon from showing on dates with opportunities available. This bug was specific to the calendar view in the legacy version of the VicNet portal.

More Bug Fixes and Improvements for New VicNet - January 18, 2022

We released some additional updates for the new version of VicNet.

Sample Account View - Fixed a problem that prevented the Volgistics sample accounts from displaying updates for new VicNet.

Mail Page - Users can now show or hide the Mail page for volunteers and Coordinators.

Time Sheet Page - Corrected a problem that prevented service information from being submitted when Assignment information is not collected.

Coordinator Schedule Page - Improved the experience when Coordinators schedule substitute volunteers.

Switch Users in Embedded View - Users with the same email address are now able to switch between user logins when VicNet is embedded in the organization's webpage.

Internal Changes to Help System and Marketing Updates - January 5, 2022

We made some changes to the help system the support team uses to answer customer inquiries, plus made some marketing changes for trial account conversions.

2021

December

Various Bug Fixes - December 21, 2021

Fixed some bugs including problems with using a Set to filter Volunteer Profile reports, the volunteer dropdown list when composing an email message, the volunteer list on the Volunteers tab of Assignments when viewed by a Site-Level Operator, and spare fields formatted as dates.

Time Dropdown Display Bug Fix - December 20, 2021

Corrected a bug that caused the time dropdown displays in the new VicNet portal to show P.M. times as A.M.

Additional Improvements and Bug Fixes for New VicNet - December 17, 2021

We released more improvements and bug fixes for the new VicNet portal. Here's some of the changes.

  • Assignment Descriptions and the Opportunity Directory - We added links to Assignment descriptions in the new Opportunity Directory so volunteers and Coordinators can learn about the job and even see a map of the Assignment's location. Links are now available in the Assignment Preference field on the Profile page, on the Home page, and on the Schedule page when it's in list view. In addition, Coordinators can view profiles for Sites and Places.

  • Group Records - Fixed a bug that prevented group leaders from scheduling more group members when some were already scheduled.

  • Schedule View - Improved graphical representation of the schedule by merging identical events.

  • Mobile Bugs - Fixed a problem with the Login page when it is embedded and volunteers use a mobile device. Plus, corrected a photo upload problem when the Firefox mobile browser is used.

Internet Security Updates - December 10, 2021

Made several updates to enhance system security.

Various Bug Fixes - December 3, 2021

Fixed bugs with mandatory service display, schedule note input on openings, and source information on Service Detail reports.

November

Corrected Bugs on Reports - November 23, 2021

Fixed a formatting error in Volunteer Profile reports and a setting for starting a new page for each volunteer on Service Detail reports.

Schedule Page Updates - November 19, 2021

We've changed the Schedule pages to make it easier to use schedule openings as well as adding new ways to schedule volunteers. These changes will make the scheduling features more consistent throughout Volgistics. Learn more (and watch the video) on our blog!

More VicNet Beta Improvements and Bug Fixes - November 5, 2021

Our development team continued to make improvements to the new version of the VicNet portal. Here's some of the updates in this release:

  • Overall Portal - Fixed the scaling when an organization's logo is wider than usual, and made the web browser's back button close dialog windows on mobile devices.

  • Login Page - Improvements to the Login page included adding a Remember email feature to streamline the login process, navigation to a specific page of the portal even when a temporary password is used, and the ability to see password characters as they are entered.

  • Schedule Page - Removed opacity for holiday theme colors to make text easier to read and made color show behind the volunteer's name when a volunteer is scheduled to serve on the holiday. Added wrapping to prevent instructions from fragmenting words at the end of a line. Made navigation buttons appear on the same line when schedule is viewed in landscape orientation on a mobile device. Fixed a problem in the Setup pages that prevented the Volunteers needed count from being disabled. And prevented the notification snackbar from being included in printed copies of shifts that were just added.

  • Service History Page - Hid fields related to service mandates if the field is blank, and corrected a display issue where mandatory service fields extended into the page margin on mobile devices. We also made the date order for listing yearly entries sortable by ascending or descending order.

  • Volunteer Profile Page for Coordinators - Added loading indicator when the Coordinator oversees a large number of volunteers, and fixed problem that prevented volunteer photos from showing.

October

VicNet Beta Improvements and Bug Fixes - October 25, 2021

We made a round of improvements to the new version of the VicNet portal based on customer feedback and fixed some bugs that escaped extermination during testing. Here's some of the notable changes:

  • Overall Portal - Changes to the overall portal included removing some unnecessary spacing, improving the visibility of the scroll bar, fixing some display issues caused by slashes and unicode characters, and correcting some error messages.

  • Profile Pages for Volunteers and Coordinators - Corrected problem that prevented contact information (such as emergency contacts) from showing and gave Coordinators the ability to search based on the Site, Place, or Assignment where the volunteer serves.

  • Schedule Page - Made more improvements to the schedule load times, added Place names and notes to schedule information, fixed problem where unfilled opening slots were not displayed if an Assignment's Rules tab allowed volunteers to choose their own times, and fixed a display issue that prevented volunteers from viewing other scheduled volunteers when the account uses Site Level Access.

  • Time Sheet Page - Updated Time Sheet page so it shows new service added in the Recent Service section.

  • Service History Page - Improved the load time and the ability to print just one year of service.

  • Legacy VicNet - Corrected problems with loading the My Schedule tab as well as volunteers seeing unfilled opportunities.

September

Fixed Bug for Site-Level Operators - September 30, 2021

Corrected a bug that prevented Site-Level Operators from seeing all the volunteers in a Set on the Volunteers page.

Bug Fix for Volunteers Page and Cosmetic Change for Help System - September 29, 2021

Fixed a bug that prevented the Volunteers page from returning all volunteers in a Set for accounts with a large number of volunteer records.

Corrected a problem that prevented the copyright symbol from displaying correctly in the Volgistics help library.

VicNet Beta Updates and Backend System Improvements - September 27, 2021

We made some updates to improve the new version of the VicNet portal. We made some initial improvements to the load time of the Schedule page, and added a link to the Assignment's description in the new Opportunity Directory. This allows volunteers and Coordinators to learn more about an Assignment from the Schedule page of the portal. More information

We also made some changes to make tracking customer payments easier for our accounting team.

Restore All Deleted Volunteers and Bug Fix - September 24, 2021

Squashed a bug that prevented the Volunteers page from showing volunteers who are included in a Set.

Also made a change with restoring deleted records. When you delete volunteer records, Volgistics keeps the records for five days so you can restore them in case they were accidentally deleted. We added the ability to restore all of the deleted records at once in case more than just a few records were mistakenly deleted. More information

New VicNet Beta - September 20, 2021

We've updated the online VicNet volunteer portal and we're excited to announce the new version is now available in beta. This new version uses a different URL address than the legacy version of the portal so you can easily try it out with a pilot group while your other volunteers continue to use the legacy version.

You can learn more and see the new version of VicNet in action in our Introductory Video.

Please remember the new version of VicNet is being released in beta right now. While we're confident the majority of users should have a trouble-free experience, we're going to monitor it and address any issues before we permanently replace the legacy version.

We welcome your feedback about the new version so please share your experience to let us know what you think.

Updated Handling for Log In - September 2, 2021

Improved handling for access to system, and added logging changes.

August

Certificate Code Update - August 30, 2021

Updated software to reflect certificate code for new email server's certificate.

More Minor Bug Fixes for Opportunity Directory and Volgistics Help System - August 26, 2021

Fixed display problems with Assignment Cluster, Job Title, and spare dropdown fields in new Opportunity Directory. Corrected page loading problems in help system for the Volgistics support team.

Minor Bug Fixes for Opportunity Directory - August 24, 2021

Fixed problems with new Opportunity Directory where Characteristic fields were not showing and the menu was not available when the directory was embedded.

New Opportunity Directory Available - August 24, 2021

We released a brand new version of our Opportunity Directory to help you publicize the volunteer opportunities available at your organization. The new directory is mobile responsive with improved aesthetics and many new features such as schedule information and maps. More updates will be made to the directory in the future.

Watch our Introductory Video to learn more. There's also helpful information in Get Started With the Opportunity Directory.

Miscellaneous Updates in Internal Help System - August 24, 2021

Released some new features and squashed some bugs in the help system the support team uses to respond to customer inquiries.

July

Miscellaneous Updates and Bug Fixes - July 30, 2021

Updated directions on several pages in the system, made the Log In page available to search engines, and removed beta access to VicNet for sample accounts.

Calendar Year 2022 Available for Posting Service - July 28, 2021

Update to allow service entries for calendar year 2022.

Minor Bug Fixes - July 27, 2021

Fixed a link to the Volgistics Store from the Setup menu inside Volgistics. Corrected a problem that prevented Site-Level Operators from filtering the Volunteers page based on Tags or the volunteer's last name.

Updated Data Export Feature - July 26, 2021

Improved the data export feature to handle exports for large accounts with a lot of VicDoc documents more efficiently.

Fixed Bugs With Tags - July 22, 2021

Fixed bugs on the Volunteers page that prevented System Operators from creating a message for a group of tagged volunteers and scrolling through a list of tagged volunteers.

Security Updates - July 19, 2021

Improved code injection prevention, removed account number from landing page after trial account sign up, and prevented new account holders from skipping the Getting Started Interview

Corrected Error Alert Delivery Bug and Added Logging for Posting Service - July 16, 2021

Fixed a problem that prevented alert messages regarding service entry errors from being delivered to the Volgistics IT team. Added logging to verify that service entries from the Post page are processed correctly.

Fixed Bugs With VicNet Access and Email Processing - July 14, 2021

Corrected log in problem for VicNet when the same email address is used for a volunteer and Coordinator. Fixed bug that prevented VicNet password reset emails from being delivered. Updated backend email processing to correct problems with receiving bounce messages from email providers. These messages are used to track if volunteers received an email message.

Released Groundwork for New VicNet Portal - July 8, 2021

System changes to prepare for introduction of the new VicNet portal.

General Bug Fixes - July 2, 2021

Updated VicTouch instructions to prevent hyperlinks and fixed problem with message truncation. Corrected problem with placeholders in schedule reminders to Coordinators. Revised emoji display in sent messages. Added border for boxes on VicNet Home tab. Removed HTML code showing in the PDF of completed applications. Prevented unexpected cursor movement when using the rich text editor.

Various Bug Fixes - July 01, 2021

Corrected problems with emojis when viewing a sent message, truncation of messages and hyperlinks in VicTouch, display problems on the VicNet Home tab, HTML code showing in PDF files for completed applications, cursor movement when composing messages, and placeholder information in schedule reminder messages to Coordinators.

June

Fixed Site Level Access Bug - June 28, 2021

Corrected a bug with the Site Level Access feature that assigned volunteers to a pseudo Site.

Security Changes for Store Access - June 24, 2021

Changes to how the Volgistics Store can be accessed to improve security.

Export for New User Messages - June 17, 2021

Added an export to get new System Operator contact information for training video delivery.

General Bug Fixes - June 16, 2021

Added error alerts to system backup, adjusted sent message display, fixed message delivery when text left blank, and corrected problem with Message Preference page.

General Bug Fixes - June 10, 2021

Adjusted cross-site scripting prevention for email messages, fixed a problem with email and text delivery, corrected error message with service auditing, prevented overlapping text on reports, and removed blank text in boxes on VicNet Home tab.

Copying and Pasting Bug Fixes for Email and Rich Text Updates - June 04, 2021

Fixed some bugs having to do with the display and delivery of messages. These included problems caused by copying and pasting content from an outside source such as Facebook or Microsoft Word, or from the rich text editor pages themselves.

May

Still More Bugs Squashed from Email and Rich Text Updates - May 28, 2021

Fixed some more bugs related to the updates for email and rich text. These included fixing a problem that prevented Internet Explorer users from copying and pasting text into an email message, decreasing the sensitivity for cross-site scripting recognition so valid URL addresses are not seen as malicious, fixed an error that caused the first page of Schedule reports to be blank, and corrected a problem that prevented the In Box from opening if it contained too many items.

Squashed Some More Bugs from Email and Rich Text Updates - May 26, 2021

Ironed out some more bugs from the email and rich text updates. These included a formatting fix for the daily schedule reminder email messages sent to Coordinators, added line breaks to receipt confirmation messages composed before the new release, fixed the Save button when a field is hidden on the Description tab of Assignment records, and enabled hyperlinks to volunteer and Coordinator records on In Box alerts.

Squashed Some Bugs from Email and Rich Text Updates - May 21, 2021

Ironed out some bugs introduced by the email and rich text updates including preventing multiple clicks on the Send now button for email messages saved to send later, making text visible for In Box alerts, and viewing sent messages composed with plain-text before the message update.

Improved Email Features, Plus Added Rich Text Almost Everywhere! - May 20, 2021

We've improved our email feature with a new rich text editor and many new enhancements. Some of these include:

  • Images. You can now upload (or drag and drop) picture files directly into your email messages, plus format how the text will flow around the photo.
  • Placeholders. We've added more placeholder codes to personalize your messages with each recipient's information. The placeholder codes are available with a convenient dropdown so you do not need to remember each code.
  • Autosave. Your email messages are now automatically saved while you're composing them so if your session expires you won't lose your message.
  • Message Size. We've increased the character limit for email messages so messages will not be truncated if they're larger than normal.

In addition to the email changes, we also added rich text features to just about every free-form field in the system! This means you can do things such as:

See our blog post announcement for more information about these upgrades.

State Field Bug Fix - May 17, 2021

Fixed a bug that prevented the State field from being automatically populated during the Getting Started Interview.

Overnight Maintenance Program Update - May 10, 2021

We updated our overnight maintenance program to fix a bug that was preventing some closed accounts from being automatically purged by the system.

April

Updates for Email Validity and URL Addresses for Blog - April 16, 2021

Updated the processes used to determine email address validity to work better with new email server software. Also, updated links to the Volgistics blog in the headers and footers of some Volgistics web pages.

Web Page Banners and Drip Campaign Groundwork - April 15, 2021

We updated most of our banner images to include a sign up link. In addition, we laid some groundwork for a drip campaign to help new users become familiar with the system.

March

Web Content Update and Support Ended for Microsoft Edge Legacy - March 17, 2021

We restructured some public web content for easier maintenance and updates.

Microsoft ended support for the legacy version of its Edge web browser. You can read more about this on Microsoft's blog. Because of this, Volgistics will no longer support the legacy version of Edge. Volgistics users who use Edge (legacy) should update to the new Chromium version of Edge, or another supported web browser.

New Software on Volgistics' Email Servers - March 8, 2021

Volgistics changed the software used to process email on our message servers. These servers are used to deliver email messages to your volunteers and Coordinators. This is the first in a series of changes to improve email deliverability. The new software provides DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail). DKIM is an email authentication method used to make sure the message is coming from the source reported as sending it.

DKIM also makes it possible for Volgistics to use DMARC (Domain Message Authentication Reporting and Conformance), which is an email validation system. This will protect the Volgistics.com email domain from being used for spoofing, phishing scams, and other cybercrimes.

Challenge Added for Trial Account Sign-up From Public Domains - March 2, 2021

When an email address from a public domain (@gmail, @hotmail, @yahoo, etc.) is used to sign-up for a trial account a challenge question was added asking if the person is a volunteer or a volunteer manager. This was done to reduce the number of trial accounts accidentally started by volunteers who want to sign-up to serve at an organization.

January

Post Page Bug Fixes - January 26, 2021

Squashed some input verification and display bugs on the Post Page.

New Default Action to Help Prevent Accidental Opening Deletions, Getting Started Update for Public Email Domains, and Bug Fix - January 8, 2021

Deleting a schedule opening by mistake can be tough to fix so we added a new default action that will only close an opening slot instead of deleting the entire opening. More information

The Getting Started interview presents an option to have Verified First (our partner for background screening integration) contact the account holder. We removed this option if the account holder used an email address at a public domain to sign up because these users were often volunteers who started a trial account by mistake. More information

Fixed a bug that prevented the zip file of documents for a deleted volunteer from being opened from the In Box of the Volgistics mailbox.

View a Completed Application Before Receiving the Volunteer Record - January 5, 2021

We've added the ability to view the PDF file of a completed application form before receiving the pending applicant's record into your database. This will make it easier to determine if you want to create a volunteer record for the applicant, plus allow you to see contact information if you need to get in touch with the applicant while their record is still pending. More information

2020

November

Updates for Easier Absence Tracking and Improvements for Posting Hours for Groups - November 11, 2020

In Volgistics, the volunteer's schedule shows when the volunteer is expected to serve in the future, and the volunteer's service shows when the volunteer served in the past. You've always been able to build a Set to find volunteers scheduled on a certain date with no service hours recorded for the date, which means they may have no showed. Previously, the Set had to be updated for each date you needed to check. Now we've added an option to have the Set dynamically look at the schedule and service on the previous day so it does not need to be updated each time you use it.

Similarly, you've always been able to record volunteer absences using a Service Measure, but it had to be done separately for each volunteer. We've made changes to the Post page so now you can make service entries for all the volunteers who were absent at the same time. Together, these changes will make the process of tracking absences much easier. More information

We've also improved the Post page to automatically track the total hours for a group of volunteers even when you do not record a start and stop time for the group. Previously, you had to calculate the group's total hours yourself when making an entry without a start and stop time. More information

August

Organizations Can Now Suspend Their Account - August 3, 2020

Volgistics recognizes that due to the COVID pandemic many volunteer organizations are in flux. Volunteers may not be serving, and funds are more limited. In response, we've introduced a way for account holders to suspend their account for one to twelve months without losing any information or paying any service fees. Once things return to normal, the account can be reactivated and resume normal operations. This feature will also allow accounts used for annual festivals to make their accounts dormant for the part of the year when volunteers are not actively serving. More information

May

Details Added for Deleting Custom Reports - May 15, 2020

We've added details about the date a custom report template was created, the date it was used last, plus the System Operator who completed the action, to the interface for deleting multiple report templates at once. We've also added an icon if the template is for a report set to run automatically. These changes will make the process of finding and deleting unneeded reports easier when you delete more than one template at once. More information

Export Account Information Locally - May 1, 2020

Now you can easily export the information in your account to your local computer. We've added the ability to get an Excel spreadsheet of all non-archived and archived volunteer data in your account, as well as a zip file of documents stored in your account. Documents include the PDF version of completed application forms. If your account includes the VicDocs module, the file will also include all documents uploaded to the Docs tabs of volunteer, Coordinator, and Site, Place, and Assignment records.

These files provide a way to store your account data outside of Volgistics in the case you lose internet service, want to reference information that was changed in your Volgistics account since the backup file was saved, or import information from your Volgistics account into another program or application.

The export process is built-in to clearing your account and account cancellations, plus it can be run on its own by any System Operator with access to Setup on the menu. More information

April

Firefox Can Now Be Used for VicTouch Kiosks - April 09, 2020

With the release of version 71, the Mozilla Firefox web browser now includes a native kiosk mode that can be used to launch the VicTouch sign-in stations in a secure fashion. More information

2019

November

Keyboard Input Added for VicTouch - November 12, 2019

The VicTouch module is used to provide on-site sign-in stations where your volunteers clock-in and out to make service entries automatically. In addition to the keypad display, VicTouch now accepts keyboard input. This means the volunteer's PIN can be entered with a keyboard, a 10-key numeric keypad, or a barcode reader. Barcode readers eliminate the need for volunteers to remember their PIN because they scan a name badge or label instead of manually entering their PIN. More information

October

Improved Applications Tab for Site Level Access, and Added Date & Time to VicTouch Display - October 8, 2019

Headquarters level System Operators in accounts using the Site Level Access feature can now see the Site selected by applicants, filter the tab to show applicants based on the Sites selected, as well as add Sites to volunteer records when applications are received into the account. Several other minor changes were made to improve usability even if accounts do not use Site Level Access. More information

Accounts using the VicTouch sign-in stations can now have the day of the week, date, and time displayed on the screens volunteers see while using the station. More information

June

Added Ability to Update Accounting Access Code and Your Account Name on Reports - June 25, 2019

Your account has an accounting access code that allows people other than Administrators to access the Volgistics Store. We've added the ability to update this code in the event of turnover in your organization. More information

Your account's name appears automatically as the subtitle on stock and custom reports. If your organization's name changes and you need to update the account name, the system can now automatically update the subtitles of the reports. More information

May

Improvements for Attachments with Email or Vic Messaging - May, 9, 2019

We've made several improvements for attaching documents to your email and VicMail messages. You can now add new documents while you're composing the message, plus have more than one attachment per message! More information

Applicants Can Now Opt-In to Text Messaging When They Apply - April 18, 2019

If your account's service level includes the VicNet portal, and text messaging is enabled, you can have prospective volunteers opt-in to receive text messages when they fill out your application form. You will need to receive the applicants into your database before you can send messages to them if you audit incoming applications. More information

April

PIN Can Now Be Displayed in VicNet, Logo Option Added to Name Tag Reports, and Code Available to Adjust Embedded Application Forms Dynamically - April 2, 2019

If you use both the VicNet and the VicTouch modules, you can now display the volunteer's PIN in VicNet. You can find directions on how to add this in the How Volunteers Access VicTouch section of Getting Started with VicTouch.

The Page Design tab for Name Tag reports now has an option to add your organization's logo to the nametags. More information

New code was added that dynamically adjusts the height of embedded application forms. This makes it so scroll bars will not appear if new fields or new form sections are added, or if the static height was not set to an adequate number of pixels. More information

February

Pending Applications That Are Deleted Can Now Be Restored - February 4, 2019

Previously if an application was accidentally deleted from the Applications tab when processing applications there was not a way to recover the information. We now hold deleted applications for 5 days before they are permanently removed. This gives account holders time to restore the application if it was deleted in error. More information

January

Improved Customer Support Process and Added Information to Schedule Conflict Messages - January 16, 2019

We made improvements to resources for customers such as adding separate menu items for the help library and contacting support, improved alerting when answers are sent by the support team, and more. You can learn about the changes on our blog.

Volgistics includes a feature to prevent volunteers from being scheduled at overlapping times. We improved the content of the message that appears when there is a conflict to include more information to help identify the problem. More information

2018

November

Automatic Report Icons and Expanded Nickname Options for Reports Added - November 19, 2018

We added a new icon to make it easy to identify a custom report that is setup to run automatically. This makes locating and stopping an automatic report that is no longer needed simpler, plus makes it easy to find your automatic reports in case they need to be modified. More information

The Fields tab of custom reports has always included aggregate name options that allow you to combine name related fields (such as Title, First Name, and Last Name) into one field for the report. We expanded the name related fields available for this to include the Nickname field. The More information link explains how this works for Name Tag reports, but the new feature is available for all report styles. More information

Multi-Site Level Access Introduced - November 5, 2018

Accounts that use the Site Level Access feature can now assign System Operators to up to ten Sites instead of just one Site. This gives the operators the ability to switch their view between one of the ten Sites without exiting the account and logging back in. More information

September

Added Assignment Information to the VicNet Home Tab for Coordinators, Expanded Details for Service Entry Changes in the Event Log, and Included VicNet Last Access Date on Reports. - September 4, 2018

Coordinators will now see assignments they oversee on the VicNet Home tab as long as the tab is setup to show your volunteers their assignments. A volunteer is considered to have an assignment if they have a Role in the assignment. More information

We updated Event Log entries for edited or deleted service entries to include the identification number for the volunteer record where the service was recorded. More information

The date a volunteer accessed VicNet last is now available on a variety of reports. More information

March

Application Forms Updated to Meet WCAG/ADA Compliance - March 9, 2018

Online volunteer application forms were updated to meet the AA level of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 for HTML and CSS technologies. Most feel these guidelines will be used as the framework to write the web content standards for the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Due to application forms being customizable, customers may need to make changes in their accounts to meet the standards.

2017

October

Improved Searching by Phone Number, Removed Hidden Fields from Volunteers Page, and All Records on Coordinators Page Automatically Loaded - October 19, 2017

We enhanced the search functionality for phone fields on the Volunteers page to make it easier to find volunteers with a certain telephone number recorded. More information

Hidden fields were removed from the table that shows on the Volunteers page when multiple volunteer records are listed. Now if a field is hidden for System Operators with a certain user level, they will no longer see a column for the field. More information

When you select Coordinators from the menu, the system will now load all Coordinator records in your account automatically. You can still use the row of letters at the top of the page to filter the view to show only Coordinators with last names that begin with a certain letter. More information

September

Volunteer Profile Reports Overhauled, and Read-Only View for Full-Page Who's Here Display Added - September 28, 2017

The Volunteer Profile reports received a complete overhaul to improve their usability and appearance. Because of this, the revamped reports will look different from Volunteer Profile reports run before the update.

The Who's Here page gives a real-time view of the volunteers currently serving who signed-in with the VicTouch module. This page can be opened in a full-page view to allow people other than System Operators to see the page. We added an option to open the full-page view in read-only mode. More information

2016

December

Volgistics Now Supports Microsoft Edge - December 19, 2016

Microsoft Edge has been added to the list of web browsers Volgistics supports for use with the system. More information

July

Send Screenshots, or Other Files, with Help Inquiries - July 22, 2016

You can now provide a screenshot of what you're seeing, or a document that you are referring to, when you submit a question to the Volgistics Support Team. More information

May

New Stock Reports Available - May 26, 2016

We've added new stock reports to the robust array of stock reports already available. Stock report categories were created for Name Tags, Statistics, and Volunteer Profiles. Also, a new Service Summary by calendar year report was added. More information

Updated Methods for Setting and Sending Passwords - May 6, 2016

Volgistics made updates to the way passwords are set and reset. Temporary passwords can no longer be sent by email. Instead, a link is sent by email to set or reset the password. Recipients sign-in to their email account and click the link to set their own passwords. The link remains valid for 24 hours. If the recipient does not click the link within 24 hours, she can click the Forget your password? link on the login screen to have a new link sent. More information

April

Added Options to Limit Service Reports to Active Assignments, Control Service Measure Wording, Re-evaluate Checklist Items, Turn off Session Expiration Alerts, and Choose if Opening Notes Appear on Applications - April 8, 2016

You can now configure Service Detail and Service Summary reports to show hours for just active assignments, just inactive assignments, or both active and inactive assignments. More information here and here

If you allow volunteers to enter Service Measure information on the Time Sheet in VicNet, you can now control the wording that shows along with the Service Measure. More information

When you use the Tickler feature to find volunteers due for a Checklist item, you can re-evaluate if your volunteers are due before you search. More information

You can now turn off the alerts that warn when your session will expire on an operator-by-operator basis. This will not prevent the operator's session from expiring, but the operator will not see the warnings pop up. More information

If you use Schedule Preference fields on your online application forms, you can now select to include, or not include, opening notes. More information

February

Upload Documents to Volunteer, Coordinator, and Assignment Records - February 19, 2016

Phases three and four of the new VicDocs feature have been released. You can now go paperless by storing electronic documents on volunteer, Coordinator, and Site, Place, and Assignment records. Due to the increases in bandwidth, storage, and administrative costs, you will need to add VicDocs to your account's service level in order to utilize it. We have tried to keep the increase in fees for VicDocs as small as possible. More information

January

Volunteer & Assignment Matching Feature Updated - January 24, 2016

The Volunteer & Assignment matching feature is designed to help you find volunteers who meet certain requirements you enter on assignment records. This can make it easier to place new volunteers in assignments they are qualified to fill. This feature has been re-worked to be easier to use while producing more predictable results. More information

2015

December

Added New Features to Volunteers Page - December 9, 2015

New features were added that give you more control over how many, and which, records are displayed on the Volunteers page. This makes finding just the records you want much easier. More information here and here

November

Added Mobile Friendly View of VicNet - November 6, 2015

A mobile friendly view of VicNet is available. There is a guide to show volunteers how to use this (no longer available). We've also added options in Setup to allow Administrators to customize what their volunteers and Coordinators will see.

October

PDF File of Completed Application Automatically Saved - October 16, 2015

Phase two of the VicDocs electronic document storage feature has been released. This phase automatically saves a PDF file of the completed online application form to the new volunteer record. More information

July

Change to Volunteer Search During Record Combination - July 2, 2015

We replaced the dropdown list of volunteer names used when two volunteer records were combined with a new feature that displays potential matches after the first two characters are entered. The search is narrowed down as each additional character is entered, which will make the correct record easier to locate. More information

March

Added Feature to Print a Blank Application Form and Added Application Name column to Applications Tab - March 27, 2015

You can now print or save a PDF of any of your application forms that are setup in your Volgistics account. This allows you to use the form for prospective volunteers who do not have Internet access, or create forms to hand out at activities such as volunteer fairs. More information

The Applications tab of the Volgistics mailbox allows you to preview some basic information about applicants before accepting their volunteer record into the database. We've added a new column to this tab that shows the internal name of the application form the applicant submitted. This will be helpful in cases where your organization uses multiple forms because it you will be able to identify the form used by the applicant without receiving the record into your database. More information

January

Added Ability to Clone an Application Form - January 16, 2015

You can now take an existing application form and make a new one that has the same settings selected. You can then modify the new form that was created. This allows you to quickly make new forms that have the same basic settings. More information

2014

October

Added Features for Deleting Multiple Tagged Records and Restricting Access to the VicNet Time Sheet Tab - October 17, 2014

In March, Volgistics added the ability to restore accidentally deleted volunteer records during a five day hold period. Because of this added ability, Volgistics has added a new feature to delete multiple non-archived records at the same time by using the Tags feature. More information

The VicNet Time Sheet tab allows volunteers to input their own service information from any computer with an Internet connection. You can now limit access to this tab to selected volunteers based on their Type or Flag without changing which volunteers can access the entire VicNet module.

September

Set Rule Added for No Postal Mail Field - September 19, 2014

The No postal mail box on the Core tab of the volunteer's record is used to prevent the volunteer's information from being included in Address Label Reports. This can be used when the volunteer (or your organization) wants to prevent postal mail from being sent. For instance, if more than one person in the household volunteers with your organization, or the volunteer has been dismissed but you still need to keep a record for him or her. A Set Rule has been added that allows you to indentify records that have this box checked, or un-checked. More information

The "Their schedule" Set Rule Can Now Be Limited to a Specific Site, Place or Assignment - September 12, 2014

You can now limit the Their schedule Set rule to look for just volunteers who are scheduled for a specific Site, Place or Assignment. This allows you to find the volunteers who were, or are, scheduled on a certain date, or in a certain time frame, for the Site, Place or Assignment. More information

August

Text Messaging Now Available - August 8, 2014

System Operators can now send outgoing text (SMS) messages to their volunteers and Coordinators. This service is offered free-of-charge but does require the VicNet module as part of the account's service level because regulations require users to opt-in to text messaging.

You can send volunteers and Coordinators custom text messages. Depending on your account's setup, volunteers can also receive schedule reminders by text as well as reminders when annual or periodic Checklist items are due. Additionally, Coordinators can receive schedule alerts via text when volunteers add or remove themselves from the schedule. System Operators can also have texts sent for application alerts to let them know when an application form has been received.

The following video has more information on the text messaging feature: Here

There is also more information on the text messaging feature in the following help topics:

May

Procedure Change for Forgotten Passwords - May 23, 2014

We changed the way forgotten passwords are delivered as part of our commitment to continually enhance security. When a user forgets her or his password, the system now sets the password to a temporary, random password, which is sent to the user by email. This password must be changed to a permanent password that meets the password strength rules setup for your account when the user signs-in using the temporary password. The following help topics explain more about passwords and how the system handles forgotten passwords:

Search for volunteer records based on their country - May 12, 2014

A new Set rule was added that allows you to search for volunteer records based on the information in the Country field on the Core tab of the record. More information

March

Restore deleted records feature added, session expiration warning added, Site Selection field enabled for all application forms, and ability to hide information popup icons for a System Operator added - March 3, 2014

A feature was added to hold deleted volunteer records for five (5) days before permanently deleting them from the system. During this hold period, a System Operator can restore a deleted volunteer record if it was accidentally deleted. More information

System Operators will now receive a warning message approximately 10 minutes before their current Volgistics session expires and after the session ends. More information

The Site Selection field is now enabled for online application forms even if Site Level Access is not in use for the account. This allows an application form to show Assignment Preferences for just one specific Site as long as the form is setup to apply to the Site. More information

The information popup icons that appear through-out the account to give more information about fields and features can now be hidden, or disabled, on an operator-by-operator basis. More information

January

Travel Time Merit Hours feature added and Group sign-in added for VicTouch - January 10, 2014

Volgistics has always had a feature to use Merit Hours to add time to a volunteer's regular service hours automatically. This is useful in situations where you want to award extra service because the volunteer served on a holiday or weekend. Many organizations also used this feature to give volunteers credit for the time they spent traveling to and from the facility. This use had some limitations, though, which have now been addressed with our new Travel Time Merit Hours feature. This feature is designed specifically for giving credit for travel time and allows you to give the same number of hours and minutes for all volunteers, or hours and minutes based on up to six zones. More information

Group leaders can now sign-in to the VicTouch module and record the number of volunteers who are serving in their group. This eliminates the need for a System Operator to go back and edit the service entry to contain the number of volunteers because the number will automatically be recorded. To start using this new feature, you will need to shut down VicTouch and then re-start the module.

2013

December

Volunteers field for posting service for groups added to Post page, Edit link added for service record auditing, and Middle Name field added to Volunteers page - December 4, 2013

You can now enter the number of volunteers who served in a group when entering volunteer service for multiple records on the Post page. More information

When you review service entries setup for auditing, you can now edit a service entry directly from the Service tab of the Volgistics Mailbox. More information

The Middle Name field was added to the fields available to show on the Volunteers page. The field will appear in the Name column at the end of the "Last Name, First Name" entry if you select to show it. More information

October

You can now go directly to a volunteer record and tag volunteer records from the Who's Here page. More information

When using the tags feature to add Madatory Service to multiple records at a time, you can now add any Service Measures setup to be recorded for the mandate. More information

Mailbox and message history updates, date selector calendar revision, Date of Last Activity added for System Operators, and VicNet access date field added to Volunteers page - October 18, 2013

To ensure efficiency and clean up the list views for System Operators, changes were made to the Volgistics Mailbox and to the message history on volunteer records. These changes affected alert and report storage on the In Box tab, message storage on the Out Box tab, and the message history stored on volunteer records. More information

The date selector calendar for adding dates to date fields was totally revised to make it easier to use. More information

A Date of Last Activity field was added to System Operator records to help determine when the operator logged into Volgistics last. In some cases, you will need to use this field in conjunction with your account's Event Log to accurately establish the last date the operator accessed Volgistics. More information

The Last VicNet Access date field from the Vic tab of volunteer records was added to the fields available to show on the Volunteers page. The Last VicNet Access field records the last date a volunteer signed into the VicNet portal for your account. More information

August

Getting Started help topic and manual updated - August 27, 2013

The Getting Started help topic was completely redone to meet the needs of new users. The revised help topic includes many additional help topics previously not included, enhancements to some of the previously included help topics, brand new help topics addressing account setup, and a reorganization of the order help topics appear in to match the procedure of setting up an account more closely. More information

The Getting Started manual, a PDF file compiled from the help topics in the Getting Started help topic, was also updated. Changes include the addition of all help topics used in the Getting Started help topic, a table of contents, indexes organized by help topic number and alphabetically, clickable links to navigate within the PDF document, and page numbering. No longer available

May

New Assignment Profile reports available and "All Sites" option added on Print page - May 23, 2013

The new Assignment Profile report feature makes it possible to create PDF files that include Assignment and Coordinator information. The reports have optional Summary Pages outlining the information included in the report and/or Assignment Detail Pages for each Assignment depending on the options you choose when you create the report. More information

An "All Sites" checkbox was added to the Print page to allow headquarters level operators to see, modify or delete reports created by Site-Level Operators. More information

January

Delete multiple reports, wildcard search and VicNet time zone features added - January 21, 2013

Before you were only able to delete a single custom report at a time. The new feature allows System Operators to delete multiple reports at one time. More information

New wildcard search options were added to help you find volunteer records when you only know part of the information for the search field, or are unsure of the spelling. More information

New settings were added to the VicNet Time Sheet tab to allow volunteers in time zones where the date is different than the date for your account's time zone to enter service.

2012

November

Event added for Set changes and Nickname added to Who's Here page - November 3, 2012

The Event Log will now show an entry for "Edited Set Record" whenever the Finished button is clicked on the Define a new set page. This will track when a new Set is created if the button is clicked to complete the action, or when a Set rule is added, modified, or deleted from an existing Set. If an operator clicks the button without making a change, this will also cause the entry to be made in the Event Log. More information

The Who's Here page will now include the information in the Nickname field on the Core tab of the volunteer record. For example, if a volunteer named Theodore Smith has Teddy entered in the Nickname field, his name will now appear as Theodore Smith ("Teddy") on the Who's Here page. There is a setting to enable or disable this feature under Settings on the Who's Here page. More information

September

Import Utility program updated and "Re-evaluate now" button added to Tickler - September 28, 2012

The Import Utility program used to transfer volunteer records from spread sheet files into new accounts was updated to improve usability. The update also includes a re-write of the Import Utility Manual to address program changes, as well as adding usability features such as links to Help topics and clickable links to navigate within the PDF document. More information

A Re-evaluate now button was added to the Awards section of the Tickler feature. Previously, a volunteer's eligibility to receive an Award was evaluated only during the overnight maintenance cycle or if you visited the History tab of the volunteer's record. The new button allows you to check who is eligible for Awards without visiting each record, or waiting for overnight maintenance. This is helpful if you recently added service entries that may make a volunteer eligible for an Award. More information

August

Reference manual updated and information buttons added - August 29, 2012

Volgistics includes a reference manual in PDF format that is a compilation of Help topics. This manual was updated to include Help topic edits and new Help topics added since it was published last. Other changes to the manual included adding a table of contents, indexes organized by Help topic number and alphabetically, clickable links to navigate within the PDF document, and page numbering. More information

Information buttons were added throughout Volgistics in locations where more information might be needed about a setting, button, field or function. If you move your cursor over an information button, a window appears with advice. The window may also have links to Help topics with more information. You can click the link to open the Help topic in a new window, or move your cursor off of the button to cause the window to no longer be shown.

July

Control VicNet display options for completed Mandatory Service items - July 18, 2012

Previously if organizations selected to include the progress chart for Mandatory Service items on the VicNet "My Service" tab, completed Mandatory Service items were shown for six months by default. The latest release allows organizations to select if they want completed Mandatory Service items to be displayed, and if they do for how long the completed items will be shown. There are settings to display the item for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 months after the item has been completed. Accounts that had the item set to be displayed will have the 6 month option selected automatically. More information

Sort columns on the Volunteers page and new features on the Print page - July 2, 2012

By default, the list of information on the page you see when you select Volunteers from the Menu is sorted in alphabetical order based on the record's last name. The new change allows you to click on the headers that appear at the top of each column to sort the page by that column. More information

The layout of the page you see when you select Print from the Menu has been changed to make finding the reports you need easier. Reports that are created with rows and columns of information appear under "Table Style Reports." Reports designed to be printed on labels appear under "Label Style Reports." Schedule reports appear under "Other Reports" because they can be in calendar, list or table formats. Any custom reports previously in your account will still be found under the link they were originally created under.

Another change to this page is that if you place your cursor over a stock report link, a thumbnail image with an example of this report will appear. If you place your cursor over the thumbnail image, an expanded view of the image appears. This change will make it easier to identify the report you need.

June

Sort birthday list by date and insert current time into entries on the Who's Here page - June 4, 2012

By default, the birthday list is sorted alphabetically by the volunteer's last name each time you visit the Welcome page. With the latest update, a button has been added to allow you to quickly sort the list by date order instead. More information

When you edit service entries on the Who's Here page, you can now simply click a button to insert the current time into 'Time-in' or 'Time-out' fields. More information

April

New HTML Email Features available - April 23, 2012

New HTML emails features were added to allow more flexibility in creating email documents with HTML formatting. The HTML format for email messages offers many advantages that will help your messages get noticed such as font choices; bold faced, underlined or italicized text; text colors; graphics, pictures and more. If your organization uses these emails to send newsletters or announcements, this can help eliminate the need to send an additional email attachment. More information

January

New schedule reports available - January 6, 2012

New schedule report features were added to allow more flexibility in creating PDF documents with schedule information. Monthly, weekly and daily time frames are available along with the option to include a range of dates. The reports include six stock reports, but can also be customized to meet different needs. More information

2011

December

New password strength rules available - December 5, 2011

New password strength rules were added to allow account Administrators to have more control over passwords System Operators must use to log-in. More information

The update also allows Administrators to have more control over the passwords volunteers use when they log-in to the VicNet portal. More information

October

Delete archived volunteer records by Flag - October 3, 2011

Archived volunteer records can now be deleted based on a particular Flag. This allows operators to pin point archived records to delete when making mass deletions. More information

August

New web site look and self-scheduling alerts - August 1, 2011

The Volgistics web site has new cosmetic and navigation changes designed to improve the look and functionality of the site. Page names are more user friendly and the page footers on each page contain quick links to commonly used pages.

New self-scheduling alerts are available to let Coordinators and System Operators know when a volunteer adds and/or removes herself from the schedule through VicNet or VicTouch. The alerts are customizable on an assignment-by-assignment basis on the Rules tab of each assignment. More information

March

MS Word 2007 documents supported and retroactive Service Measures available - March 9, 2011

Microsoft Word 2007 document formats (.docx) can be uploaded to the Documents tab of the Volgistics Mailbox. More information

You can now apply a default value for a Service Measure retroactively to volunteer records. This eliminates the need to manually enter information on past records when you create a new Service Measure. More information

February

Group records now available and customizable Volunteer List page - February 18, 2011

The latest release introduces Group records to Volgistics. These can be used in place of Individual records if a group of volunteers serve and you do not want to track individual service hours or contact information. The Group records contain many of the same features as Individual records, but have additional fields designed for scheduling and recording service for multiple volunteers at once. More information

You can also customized which fields of information will appear on the Volunteer List page. This is the page that comes up after you select Volunteers from the Menu. More information

2010

December

Insert volunteer information in email messages - December 12, 2010

Added the ability to imbed volunteer information into email messages. Messages personalized with the volunteer's name have been shown to improve response rates. This feature also allows items like the volunteer's VicNet password and/or VicTouch PIN number to be included in the message. More information

October

Clear spare (custom) fields throughout account - October 12, 2010

Added ability to clear all data from any of the spare (custom) fields on the Profile tab of volunteer records. This action deletes all data entered into the field for all volunteer records throughout the account no matter if they are regular, archived or restricted to a certain site. Operators must confirm they wish to make the change by entering their credentials. More information

September

Add All States or Provinces at once to State or Province dropdown list - September 17, 2010

By default, Volgistics only puts the State or Province an account originated in as an entry in the State or Province dropdown list because this is often all that is needed. Previously new States or Provinces had to be added individually. This feature allows all States or Provinces to be added in one step. More information

July

New Schedule Features - July 30, 2010

The New Schedule Features include:

Track specific tasks or locations on the schedule
Streamlined schedule opening management Coordinator schedule view in VicNet
Improved calendar views
Improved navigation
Optionally place new applications directly on the schedule

May

Sender ID email authentication - May 21, 2010

Volgistics now supports "Sender ID" email authentication for the email messages you send to volunteers and coordinators through Volgistics. Email authentication helps ensure that your email is delivered, and helps prevent your email from going into spam folders. More information

January

Get alerts for new volunteer applications - January 28, 2010

You can have an alert sent to a designated Volgistics system operator each time someone submits an online volunteer application. To setup these alerts:

  1. Choose Setup from the menu.
  2. Select Online forms.
  3. Select Volunteer application forms.
  4. Click on the name of the application for you would like alerts sent for.
  5. Under "Alerts," choose the name of the system operator who should receive the alerts, and choose to receive the alert in your Volgistics mailbox and/or by email.
  6. Click the save button.

An alert will be sent each time a new online application is submitted through this online volunteer application form. If you use several different online application forms, alerts may be sent to a different system operator for each form.

New annual Checklist items - January 2, 2010

When you setup Checklist items in Volgistics you can now create items that expire annually based on a volunteer's date of birth, or the anniversary of their start date. More information