active network espn
Active Home | Directory | Community | eteamz | Results | Support Support | Event Directors & Organizers
This community only   all active.com

Previous Next

eteamz - the blog

Currently Being Moderated
Ericha_eteamz

 

We're launching a new feature on eteamz today that alerts your site members via email when you make updates to the site. When you update your calendar or upload a new album your members will automatically receive an email with a link to visit the website to view the updates.

 

Now you don't have to spend extra time sending an email to everyone to check out the site for updates - we'll do that for you.

 

If members aren't interested in receiving these emails, they can simply unsubscribe at any time from within the email.   It is currently set as "on" for all members.   We do hope to come out with an on/off feature so that if you don't want your members to receive notifications you can set it to "off."

 

Coming soon: Notification emails sent when posting new messages on the Welcome or News pages.

 

 

When are emails sent?  

 

 

1)   If you add a new album, a notification email will be sent.   It does not send when you add individual images to that album.

 

 

2)  If you add a Game Schedule, Event Schedule or Practice Schedule.     It will not send an email if you edit a game for example.  Just when you add the schedule.

 

 

3)  When you Import games, practices and events.   Only one email is sent per import file.   If you import 100 games for example, your members won't receive 100 emails.    

 

 

3,897 Views


Comments (49)
Apr 7, 2009 1:50 PM cruzer3579 cruzer3579    says:

This is good news.  When does it launch and how do we get it started?
Apr 7, 2009 2:06 PM Ericha_eteamz Ericha_eteamz    says in response to cruzer3579:

Hi - it's actually live now.   There's nothing you (the admin) need to do to set it up, it's automatic.
Apr 7, 2009 2:24 PM Guest Guest  says in response to Ericha_eteamz:

Do I let parents know the website and login or how does it send them the emails?  Do I set it up?

 

Also, how do I find out all the tools available to me using e-teamz?
Apr 7, 2009 2:41 PM Ericha_eteamz Ericha_eteamz    says in response to Guest:

Hi - there is nothing you need to do on your end.  The members will automatically receive an email at the email address they have associated to their account.

 

Most of the features are listed on our comparison chart at:

http://www.eteamz.com/etz/compare/index.html

 

If you have specific questions, you can contact support via the "Contact Support" folder in your Site Admin.
Apr 7, 2009 10:36 PM chucklangley chucklangley    says:

Can this feature be de-activated for a specific site?
Apr 8, 2009 3:58 AM Ericha_eteamz Ericha_eteamz    says in response to chucklangley:

Hi chucklangley - there currently is not an "off" selection.  As I mentioned though, members can unsubscribe if they don't want to receive the notification emails.   At the bottom of the email, they'll see the link.
Apr 8, 2009 11:17 AM erudelis erudelis    says in response to Ericha_eteamz:

Not having the option to disable the automatic feature is a very bad idea!!! This should not have been pushed until we the paying customers have the option(s) of automatic notifications. I have already had multiple complaints of the automatic notifications that are not made clear when we as administrators input personal information. I have had as many as 235 e-mails received from one person on one day!!! Now I will have to remove ALL of my 450+ players information from my website so that they DON'T receive an e-mail when I make updates which are sometime several times daily. I AM NOT HAPPY WITH THIS "NEW" FEATURE!!!!
Apr 8, 2009 11:35 AM Ericha_eteamz Ericha_eteamz    says in response to erudelis:

Hi erudelis  - you do NOT want to remove your members or their information.   If you removed them for example and they had stats entered, all of their stats would be deleted.   If you remove their email address from their account, you won't be able to use any of the other communication features AND they won't receive their invitation, they won't be able to log in to members only areas, etc.




Notifications aren't sent out when you update members. We currently have it sent for calendar and album updates.

Like I mentioned before, if members don't want to receive the notification emails they'll just click the "unsubscribe" link at the bottom of the email received.



I'm curious to know who received 235 emails? What did the text of the emails say? Was it the same thing over and over?


In the future we hope to come out with an on/off selection.
Apr 8, 2009 11:54 AM erudelis erudelis    says in response to Ericha_eteamz:

I am not worried about my players receiving notification. That is where I had my original problems with auto-notification. My family received 4 e-mails, and several others received at least 4, with one of them receiving 235 e-mails. This occurred when I imported all 450+ players info from a spreadsheet. If I had known that, I would have never imported the players. We already have a system to auto e-mail everyone about changes and updates through GotSport. We don't keep stats at all, but we do use the Smart Messaging. If giving the option, I would not want any auto generated e-mails. Kind of defeats the purpose of Smart Message? And, yes all of the auto e-mails were the same message inviting them to join and view our site with username and password. I will have to wait to make any updates to our site until after options are available or pull all my players info from our site. I simply have no choice.
Apr 8, 2009 2:06 PM Ericha_eteamz Ericha_eteamz    says in response to erudelis:

Ah, that isn't the new notification feature I posted about above.  



When you add members (either by hand or via an import) an invitation is automatically sent to them. The invitation gives the link to your site and the username and password they'll use to access it. When you include an email address for the member, the invitation to join is automatically emailed to them. They'll receive that invitation one time only, although if need be you can re-send it.

If you don't include an email address for your members, then the invitation is sent to you (the head webmaster) and you can pass along to the member.



You don't want to delete your members from the site, see my comment to you above for details.



Just to re-cap, the notification feature that I posted about above is not related to the invitations or the smartmessage center.



If one member received 235 emails, then that's an issue we'll have to look into and I'll need further details.


If you have further questions about the invitations being sent, please contact support via the Contact Support folder in your Admin.   Thanks!
Apr 8, 2009 1:46 PM TravisGriffin TravisGriffin    says in response to Ericha_eteamz:

It's a great new feature thanks. I have a comment, not related to this specific feature.

 

Recently when domaindirect.com was purchased by hover.com, we lost the ability to track traffic redirects on our website. Basically while domaindirect.com offered that feature, hover.com does not. And because of eteam's user friendly interface, we can't use the google tracker or other web trackers to get this data. Not a complaint directed at eteamz.com per se, i love the ease of this system, but if you could use your influence to encourage hover.com to give members that feature, it would be much apprieciated. It helps us get sponsors, which in turn help you because we buy the plus and advertisement packages from you.
Apr 8, 2009 2:02 PM Ericha_eteamz Ericha_eteamz    says in response to TravisGriffin:

Hi TravisGriffin,

 

I can ask Hover about that feature and get back to you (I'll contact you via email).

 

For anyone else that has questions about various features, not the email notifications, please contact support via the Contact Support folder in your Site Admin.  Thanks!
Apr 8, 2009 3:43 PM kevinmcl kevinmcl    says in response to Ericha_eteamz:

If I understand this correctly, if I make a change to the calendar or an album, an automatic e-mail will be sent to EVERYONE on my site.  This may include people who have not been involved in our league for 5 or 6 years. 

 

Does a change to the calendar include setting up practices or entering in the team schedules?
Apr 8, 2009 5:03 PM Chris eteam Chris eteam    says in response to kevinmcl:

Hi Kevin,

 

The only time an email will be sent is when you add a new Album or add a new game/practice schedule.  Emails are not sent if you add a picture to an album nor if you add a game or practice to an existing game/practice schedule.  The emails are only sent to Active members on your site, not anyone listed as inactive.  Hope this helps.
Apr 8, 2009 5:58 PM kevinmcl kevinmcl    says in response to Chris eteam:

Chris,

 

I am about to import a partial league schedule. 

Will that send an e-mail to all active members? 

Also, when a game is rained out and then rescheduled, will that send an e-mail to all active members? 

What are the consequences if I change the status of the active members to inactive?

 

The problem I have - and I'm sure others have too -  is that for about 99% of the people who would get the e-mail about a schedule change it would not mean anything to them.

 

Also, why was this feature not advertised on the message boards?  I just kind of stumbled across this and now I am really concerned about the reaction my league members are going to have.
Apr 9, 2009 6:30 AM Ericha_eteamz Ericha_eteamz    says in response to kevinmcl:

Hi Kevin,

 

It's only when you add a schedule, not individual games for example.  It doesn't send when you edit a game either.

 

Is there wording that would make it more meaningful to the members?  

 

If you make a member inactive they won't appear in any of the Pools for assignment and they won't have access to your site.

 

We post on the eteamz blog and in the "What's New" section of your Site Admin (upper right side) when there are important notifications, feature additions, etc.
Apr 9, 2009 7:16 AM kevinmcl kevinmcl    says in response to Ericha_eteamz:

I will just make everyone inactive when I start to import the schedule later this week.

 

There should be a way where you can select the people you want notified about when changes are entered rather then send it to everyone.  I did a quick check yesterday, we have a league site, people who are active are people at some point wanted to post to a message board or some teams added rosters etc..  We have about 400-500 people listed as active.  I would guess a vast majority of those people are not associated with the league anymore because of the team turnovers we have had over the past few years. 

 

I see it also states that soon this will be a feature when a change to the Welcome message or News articles will trigger these mass e-mails.  I strongly suggest that you do not implement those changes until the on/off selection is in place.
Apr 9, 2009 9:07 AM Ericha_eteamz Ericha_eteamz    says in response to kevinmcl:

Hi again Kevin,



As we mentioned, it's only when a Schedule is added (Games - Add/Edit Schedules). Notifications aren't sent when individual games within that schedule are added or edited.

Your members will be sent one email when you do your import.


I wouldn't make all of your members inactive unless they really are inactive.


Yes, notifications will be coming for welcome and news.  Thanks for the feedback.    Is there a reason why you wouldn't want members to be notified when you update the welcome and/or news section?
Apr 9, 2009 9:08 AM Guest Kevin  says in response to Ericha_eteamz:

Like I said before, sending an e-mail to everybody who is considered active would mean that 400-500 people will get e-mails.  These people are classified as active but I have no idea who really is or isnt active.  I would say a vast majority of these people are not even involved in the league anymore because there are some names that go back 5 or 6 years.  We were planning on using Twitter to update the people who want to be updated.  Your system wants to send it to everyone. 

 

As for the future mass e-mails for changes to the Welcome Page and News Articles:

Once the season starts, I will most likely be updating the Welcome page multiple times a day on a daily basis.  Sometimes it may be just to correct a misspelling or to update a ranking etc..  I would hate to think that these people will start getting multiple e-mails a day even if it is just to correct a word that may be misspelled.
Apr 9, 2009 9:09 AM Guest Kevin  says in response to Ericha_eteamz:

Please get the opt out feature in place before adding other fields that will create these automatic mass e-mails.

 

Kevin
Apr 10, 2009 8:43 AM Reds_CSC Reds_CSC    says in response to Kevin:

I agree with Kevin that there should be an opt out feature. This has all the makings of a spam generator.  I routinely add to or edit the site several times a day as time permits.
Apr 10, 2009 1:35 PM TownOffice TownOffice    says:

I'm the Admin for a Town Recreation Program. The Adult Softball program has 25 leagues with 150 teams. Baseball, Soccer, Bastketball, etc all have ETeams sites too.  Every EMail generated by the Town Government must logged and properly archived.  Automatic emails over which we do not have control are not allowed and are possibly illegal.  There needs to be an Admin opt-out option.

 

The Town can not be part of generating unsolicited e-mails.  If I upload 25 leagues, and have a problem with the times all showing 12:00am (which was an ETeams problem), and need to re-upload all 25 again, does that mean that everyone gets 50 unwanted emails that day?    Also, we use the Welcome page to post game cancellations on rainy days.  Updates to the Welcome Page can be made multiple times during a day.  Players that want to know if their game is canceled or postponed look at the site's Welcome Page to get the info they need.    What an annoyance all the un-wanted emails will be!!!!!

 

Admin Must Have SITEWIDE Control.
Apr 10, 2009 1:44 PM Ericha_eteamz Ericha_eteamz    says in response to TownOffice:

Hi TownOffice,

 

As I mentioend above, notifications aren't sent out when you add or edit individual games (practices or events).   If you import, they'll just receive one email.   It won't generate 100 emails if you import 100 games for example.

 

It sounds like the notifications you make on the welcome message would be a perfect time to send notification emails.   In any case,  we do have the on/off selection on our suggestions list.  My guess is that we'll develop that before we turn this on for the welcome and news pages.   No promises of course.

Apr 10, 2009 3:16 PM Paul_N Paul_N    says:

This feature should be OPT OUT and easily configurable by the ADMIN. We do NOT want these emails to go out for many reasons.

 

For example, our team changed some members, but left them with access to web site because it contains information about last year's season, fun, results and so on. But we don't want to keep bothering them with  emails about this year's schedule.

 

There are many other reasons.

 

Please disable this "feature".

 

We will likely go to another provider if it is not fixed.
Apr 10, 2009 6:00 PM Paul_N Paul_N    says:

Where do you make a member active or inactive?

 

Under Access->Members, I see access levels of member, fan and banned. But no where to make someone inactive.
Apr 11, 2009 5:20 AM TownOffice TownOffice    says in response to Ericha_eteamz:

Ericha - Please don't misunderstand me.  I do 25 imports, one for each league.   National, American, Central, Night 1 (Thursdays), Night 2 (Tuesdays), Womens 1 (Wed) etc.   Each league plays 75 games.  Total games on the site are over 1800.  When my schedules are ready to post, I have 25 separate files to import. And then, when I've made a mistake and have to re-import a couple of leagues, or ETeams has an error on the times, I have to re-do each of those 25 imports.  By your own definition, each unsuspecting member received 50 emails,  - each of those emails having an opt-out for that individual.  Had you given us ANY PRIOR WARNING, I could have posted a message on the Welcome Page telling members, "Ignore yourr next 25 emails from ETeams - I'm working on the schedules", and then "Oops, sorry, I reposted all those schedules thinking it was an error on my part, but Noooo, it was an ETeams problem with schedules - ignore all those emails again"
Apr 11, 2009 9:11 AM Ericha_eteamz Ericha_eteamz    says in response to TownOffice:

Hi Paul_N  and TownOffice,

 

Paul - this is on the suggestions list, thanks for the feedback.  As I mentioned above, you do NOT want to make members inactive.   Only do so if they aren't part of your site any longer.  You can do so in the People folder.

 

TownOffice - Your members shouldn't have received 50 emails unless you did 50 separate imports.   The time glitch that happened last week was fixed.  If that occured, please contact support via your Support folder in Admin along with some examples.

 

For anyone else reading this - the ability to turn this feature off is on our suggestions list.
Apr 11, 2009 3:10 PM Chris eteam Chris eteam    says in response to TownOffice:

Hi Town Office,

 

First, I want like to thank you for being a customer and taking the time to write in.  I also want to assure you that we are closely watching this functionality to ensure that it is not negatively affecting the eteamz community.  In your example, a person will only receive an email for whichever league they are in.  If they are in the Night 1 League, they would receive 1 email alerting them that a new calendar schedule has been posted.  If you were to repost the schedule, they would not receive another email because the reposting is under the same schedule (you did not create a new one).  If 1 person was in all 25 Leagues, they would receive 25 emails.  If that person opted out after receiving the first email, they would not be sent the other 24 emails. 

 

To date, we have only turned on the album and calendar schedule notifications.  Only 0.07% of recipients have unsubscribed from the emails and 19.8% have used the emails to visit the updated calendar or album.  If someone receives one email and unsubscribes, they will never receive another one of those emails.    We are trying to meet the needs and requests of all of our customers as quickly as we can.  We had many requests for auto-notification, so that admins didn't need to send updates each time they made a significant change (Photos, News, Calendar, and Home Page).  While building the new customizable template functionality, we had a window to get a minor update to enable limited auto-notification capabilities.  We tried to implement this in a manner that was the most desirable for all users and only enabled the portions we felt had the highest probability of positive customer satisfaction (Albums & Calendar), given the control limitations.  We also wanted to make sure we were transparent with the community by posting it in the blog and allowing customers to sound off on their questions and concerns. 

 

Going forward, we'll continue to monitor the performance to determine if the current notifications are beneficial to the majority of customers, we will not roll out the home page or site news emails until there is an admin or user control for those emails, and we'll continue to have an open dialogue with the community. 

 

My goal is to significantly improve eteamz this year by adding functionality that has been requested for years, making the admin tools much easier to use, and making eteamz the best place for creating team & league websites.  We have new development, QA, and management teams (myself included) to really make some significant changes this year.  I think and hope that you will really like and utilize the new features as we roll them out.  Thanks for your time, feedback, and being a customer.

 

Sincerely,

Chris

General Manager, eteamz
Apr 11, 2009 3:12 PM Chris eteam Chris eteam    says in response to Kevin:

We will do that.  Please see my full note in the comments.  Thanks.

 

Chris
Apr 16, 2009 7:39 PM Musclford69 Musclford69    says in response to Chris eteam:

Hello, This is good news... BUT....... I would want my team / parents notified when I edit a specific game or practice.....

 

This is the important stuff that they need to see asap....

 

For example, A game is canceled, location changed, time changed etc.  That is the very stuff I want them to see ASAP.. Not just when a schedule is added, that's like once a year, Right?

 

Could you at least give us a check box to "update members on edit" when we save or change something?.   IF we are modifiying a crucial change to a game or practice...

 

Or, just a generic... Your site has been updated e-mail to everyone that is registered.. with a link..

 

Thank you

 

Phil
Apr 16, 2009 8:08 PM Musclford69 Musclford69    says in response to Musclford69:

I uploaded a test practice schedule and never recieved an e-mail... when is the trigger actually made... when I click upload?, when I log out of admin? 

 

Thanks

 

Phil
Apr 16, 2009 8:15 PM Musclford69 Musclford69    says in response to Reds_CSC:

EXACTLY... Why not a check box when you click update?  Notify Members...That would be awesome..  That way we can control when the e-mail is sent.....   I sometimes update the welcome page 4-5 times to ensure it looks good... once I'm happy with it... let me click the box... Send update notification.....

 

A major thing like a schedule addition... is not nearly as important to at least our team... as an edit to a time, place, location or cancelation of a practice or game...

 

Sorry to ramble... I've been anxiously awaiting this feature.... only to find out it still isn't going to help with our existing problem....   I upload a schedule, at the beginning of the season... but add games, practices etc... throughout the season...   and that's when the people, IMO need the notfication of the update

 

Phil
Apr 17, 2009 4:05 AM Ericha_eteamz Ericha_eteamz    says in response to Musclford69:

Hi Phil,

 

Thanks for all the feedback.  I've added your suggestions to our suggestions list.   Maybe we can develop something where a selection is made by the admin.  For example:

Send members updates when any calendar/schedule/practice edit/update is made  (yes/no)

Send members x number of emails per day (5,10, etc).

and so on.

 

The notifications have been temporarily turned off for the calendar/practice/schedule updates.
Apr 17, 2009 4:56 AM Guest Phil  says in response to Ericha_eteamz:

Any idea when we can expect an update?  days/weeks/months?  our travel season is over in July pretty much....  I realize Eteamz is for more than just softball, but obviously that is our current focus...

 

Thank you....
Apr 17, 2009 5:08 AM Ericha_eteamz Ericha_eteamz    says in response to Phil:

Hi Phil,

 

I don't have a time frame, sorry.   It really depends on development time and then QA time.   I've learned not to give out time frames unless I'm 100% sure.

 

I would keep your eye here on the blog and the "What's New" section in your Site Admin as that's where we make announcements.   If you haven't already, you can subscribe to the blog by clicking the "Subscribe via RSS" link (upper left).
Apr 25, 2009 7:51 PM WhitesboroXC WhitesboroXC    says in response to Kevin:

I agree with Kevin,  Many times I sign on and make changes that later, I will add to or change again, several times a night.  This feature will lessen the affect you hope to achieve because folks will just start deleting messages once they begin to pile up in their mailboxes.
Jul 12, 2009 7:52 PM Guest Chuck Murphy  says:

It sure would be a nice feature if an automatic update went to the distribution list when game/practice/calendar changes are made!!!

 

Is this planned?
Jul 13, 2009 7:04 AM Guest Phil  says in response to Chuck Murphy:

An automatic update if a game or practice changes wouldn't be bad,

 

but definately give an "option" to send the update.. if a superficial change is made to the welcome page or schedule that isn't significant (color, font etc.)

 

Automatic updates could water down the recipients and potentially flood them with updates they don't care about....  and they would potentialy unsubscribe or just start deleting them.
Aug 4, 2009 7:35 PM Musclford69 Musclford69    says in response to Ericha_eteamz:

Hi Ericha, any update on the e-mail updates ;)... can we expect it for the next season?

 

Phil
Aug 21, 2009 9:14 AM PTACSWIMMING PTACSWIMMING    says:

How do you sign up for it?
Aug 21, 2009 11:39 AM Guest Phil  says in response to PTACSWIMMING:

I would like to know the status of this before I have to re-up my membership for another year...  I really would like to have this option available.

 

Thank You!

 

Phil
Aug 25, 2009 5:55 PM Chris eteam Chris eteam    says in response to Phil:

We're building the notification as requested above (admins can turn it on or off and manually select when to send an update) for photos into our upcoming photo enhancement.  More details on the photo improvements are in the current month's eteamz nation email.  Separately, I'd recommend trying the SmartMessage Center as a means to contact your team with updates and news as well.  Hope this helps.
Aug 26, 2009 10:25 AM Guest Phil  says in response to Chris eteam:

So are you saying that's just for Photo's, or there is an update coming for that as well.

 

Chris, I know you've said that you don't like mentioning a time frame, but I'm sure there is a project plan,, can you at least give a hint as to a week month, 6 months?

 

thanks!
Aug 27, 2009 11:18 PM Chris eteam Chris eteam    says in response to Phil:

Hi Phil,

Sorry for not being clear.  The notifications I mentioned are just for Photo's as part of the upcoming photo release.  I'll add the same type functionality for other parts of the service in the future.  My best guess for launching (but don't tell anyone or the developers will have my head ;-)is about 2 months.  BTW, in reference to your above note, I hope you do renew with us, I've got lots of great improvements coming to eteamz and I hate to lose loyal customers. 

 

Chris
Aug 28, 2009 6:43 AM Guest Phil  says in response to Chris eteam:

I appreciate the clarification...  Really looking forward to that functionality... it will definately make the usefulness of our site that much more worth while...IMO
Aug 28, 2009 7:14 AM Guest Guest  says in response to Phil:

I am still trying to understand how the email updates work?  Can some one please explain where they sign up or do I need to add them somewhere?  I am new  to all this I know the basics and now am  trying to learn more about smart messaging and other things that are offered.  But I'm still not understanding where to start to get the emails activated to receive updates?
Aug 28, 2009 10:45 AM Chris eteam Chris eteam    says in response to Guest:

Hi, you can't do the things (notifications around uploading photos) I was answering Phil about just yet.  Our developers are in the process of building that.  The easiest way to get the team loaded into your people folder is to send the roster template in the Team Messages folder.  You can skip a couple of steps by opening your roster folder and clicking on the image at the bottom of the page regarding the smart message center.  That will open a pre-populated template to send to your team.  All you need to do then is select add contacts, add their email addresses and hit send.  When your team receives the email, they click on the link and add their contact information.  When they hit send, it will automatically show up in your people folder in eteamz.  This saves you from having to enter all their information themselves.  There are other templates for collecting money, team notices, awards, sponsors and more. Hope this helps.

 

Chris
Sep 26, 2009 9:10 AM Guest Lance  says:

Are the automatic e-mail notification upon a schedule upload still supposed to happen?  I uploaded a schedule with over 200 games a few days ago and realized I never got any automatic e-mails and neither did anyone else I checked with.  Thanks.
Sep 26, 2009 10:44 AM Guest Phil  says in response to Lance:

They have turned off the functionality for now... as it wasn't a decision as to whether or not to send the notification...  Therefore, some folks were getting clobbered by e-mail notifications as they would upload a schedule, then turn around and have things to fix and edit/reupload the schedule which would then again send e-mails again.. For sites that have a lot of members, folks were getting pummeled by e-mails.  I believe they are hopefully going to make it so you can decide when updates are sent... I personnaly would like to see something that lets the admins send notifications by choice, as well as send notifications on when someone signs the guest book or uses the sites message boards.  Just like most of the forums work... (Just like I got notified that you replied to this thread.)  How nice would that be....

 

Phil

Actions

Bookmarked By (0)

Popular Blog Posts