Auto Added by WPeMatico

The District Website has moved

/in , , , , , /by

Sometimes you outgrow things, so you have to adapt and move if necessary. The District Website, suffolkmasons.com, has moved to a new host. Realizing that this may bore some, I’ll summarize as much as possible. As the District website grew and had more capabilities added to it, well, the old host (server) it was on just wasn’t delivering, but the price was right, so we kept it there. Continual tinkering with settings and apps to make it all work correctly and smoothly was a constant challenge.

There was a lot of feedback when it came to navigating and the functionality of the site. Finally, the decision was made to move the site to a more robust host that could handle all the functions and then some that we wanted the site to have. A full e-commerce host that was more responsive to support requests and able to handle the site the way we would like it to be.

It took about 2 weeks to complete migrating all and test, and reset functions, but it is now all complete. So, for those who are interested, here are some of the finer details.

  • The site is now hosted with WP Engine – A fully fledged e-commerce host
  • All Suffolk District BAND events are aggregated into the Suffolk District Event Calendar daily – https://suffolkmasons.com/events/
    • If you enter an event on the District Band Calendar, it will be ported over to the District Calendar on the website.
    • So, if you are not inclined to join BAND, you can always check the events calendar, and you will see all events there on a website instead of an app.
  • The Community calendar and community tickets have been updated, tested, and are completely functional.
    • This means you can log in, create events, sell tickets, and the payouts go to your PayPal account (it is recommended you set up a business account for your lodge or organization to use here, along with adding the tax ID of the entity for tax purposes). This is all automated, so you control the event.
  • PayPal – The site uses PayPal as its merchant service for the purpose of collecting and distributing payouts for tickets. However, nobody needs to have a PayPal account to use the service. If you choose to you can add your payment info securely to PayPal’s Fastlane service or not. If you choose not to, you can use the standard Credit/Debit card, PayPal, Google Pay, on an Apple device, Apple Pay to purchase tickets for an event. If you have a PayPal account, add your email on the FastLane, and it will fill in your details automatically.
  • Tickets in general – all should find the experience much quicker and smoother overall. Once a ticket is set on the site and open for purchase, click the number of tickets you wish and get tickets. We do set tickets with required info for each attendee, so if you are buying multiple tickets, a name and a unique email will be required for each. The tickets are sent to this email, and it allows the organizers to see the report on who and how many are attending.
    • We have added a new function called “Wait listing”. This can serve the purpose of alerting those interested in your event before tickets go on sale or when sold out, in case there is an opening or cancellation. you can see a sample of that in use here -> Potunk Lodge’s 100th
  • RSVPs – yes, I know among Masons this is a four-letter word. But you can add an event that is an RSVP and get an automated attendance list, and it’s free, with no fees attached. How good and pleasant it is for Brethren to respond to an invitation and let their brothers know they intend to come to their event!
  • District News – each Monday morning, an email will go to subscribers with any new event added the previous week, as well as any new stories/articles, etc. If you subscribed, thank you. If you want to unsubscribe, see the bottom of the email to do so, and you won’t get this anymore. Please don’t report as junk, as this gums up the sender service.

There is more to come, hopefully for the betterment of all. We are also looking for individuals to submit articles of interests to the District. You can type it up and send it to webmaster. Please include pictures and submit in Word document or similar so it can be parsed and not have to be re-typed.

The real purpose here is to help bring the District even closer to all. All in one place to get info, get tickets, help individual Lodges sell tickets to their events and ensure a smooth process for all of it. We hope you use the resource and take advantage of the technology.

We are always looking for feedback on how it’s going and any improvements or suggestions. Feel free to comment on post/events or send an email to the webmaster and we will see if we can change it or make it happen.

Coming Soon! – A more mobile friendly version of the website for those who only use their phone to check websites

Improvements to the suffolkmasons.com website

/in , , , , , /by

Brothers,

Question: is it possible to be “new” and “improved” at the same time? 

Over the last few years, I have gotten feedback from users of the suffolkmasons.com website regarding several things. The one main theme was that it was slow and cumbersome, especially with ticket purchases for events. The hosting for the district website has been updated and migrated to a more powerful server and will more room to grow and expand. I have also trimmed down the site to the essentials and cut the fat and bloat that will sometimes impact speed. While I do not have the speed test from before the changes, that would be embarrassing, I do have the speed test from recent testing.

So, we’re getting a solid B grade on speed and there is a bit more work to do to get to an A. We are also in process of upgrading with significant improvements to Hiram’s Tickets (online ticket sales). This should be ready for use by Mid December or earlier.

Some other highlights we’d mention:

  • Weekly automated announcements email (this are just the latest and greatest of posts and events coming up)
  • Quarterly District Communication email (too many complaints about the number of emails)
  • Email Archive (missed an announcement? need to see it again? now you can in the Archive)
  • Education Page (here you can sign up for District Courses like the RTE or MDC)
  • The Suffolk District Traveling gavel has its own page! Check the location and travel brothers!
  • Complete listing of Suffolk District Lodges with brief history and meeting times, etc.
  • And of course, the Events page. Check out what is happening around the District, who’s doing what and when. This calendar and the calendar on the District BAND are synchronized to keep all events in the District as widely seen as possible.
  • When arriving at the suffolkmasons.com home page, be sure and scroll down for additional information like a brief list of upcoming events, a link to the Craftsmen Online Podcast and more.

Of course we are still looking for content, so if you have a story or information you would like to share, send it to us and we’ll publish it for all to see. The point of all this is communication Brothers and a website is still one of the best ways to efficiently and effectively get the info out to all. A website requires no username or password to find information or get what you need. There is the calendar of events, informational posts, pages to find who to contact and how to contact a brother in the district. Albeit some of the info is behind a secure wall so you would have to register and be approved to access personal info like emails and phone numbers.

We would invite all brothers to have a look and see what is available, suggest improvements with feedback, comments and create content. If we share what we know with each other, we all get better and that is the point Brothers. We hope this page in combination with the Suffolk District BAND serves the District well and keeps all “in the know”. We are a relatively small but diverse group of gentlemen, and we are always there for each other.

P.S. Don’t forget to subscribe to get this awesome information sent to your email inbox. See the sign up to your right on this page -> 

Welcome to the 2022-2023 Masonic season

/in , , , , /by

Well September is here and it’s time to ramp up Masonic activities. WMs are busy setting up last minute trestle board items, events being schedule and Lodges will be meeting for stated communications.

There were a lot of changes over the last year or so, so please have a look at the events page here -> Events

We have also added a listing up upcoming events on the homepage that are ticketed events so if you want to attend any, click the link and get your tickets.

Want to sell online tickets for your event? Login to suffolkmasons.com and go to your events and create the event, add a PayPal email address and add tickets for sale, voila you are selling tickets online.

Also don’t forget to login to the Suffolk District BAND and all the dates and info is also there and matches the Suffolk District website calendar. If you add and event to the Suffolk District BAND, it will be transferred to the suffolkmasons.com website events calendar automatically.

Not a member of the BAND? Well, you can join by going here and requesting to join by creating and account -> Suffolk Masonic District BAND

There will also be a new page appearing soon on the site for the District Staff Officers and education events. There will be a registration page with details here soon and you can sign up for those courses right here too.

We hope all had a great summer and looking forward to getting back into the quarries!

New feature added! Promoter!

/in , , , , , , /by

Some may have noticed emails send to you from the Suffolk Masonic District Website in recent weeks. In addition, or as a companion to the new ticketing system, we have added a new software suite called Promoter. Promoter has a hook into the suffolkmasons.com events calendar and will setup and deploy event announcements, reminders, ticket sales and almost any kind of email about ongoing or upcoming events.

This service is provided by LIPMA. When creating an event, especially a ticketed event, you can request that a Promoter email campaign be setup for your event. The campaign consists of 4-6 emails sent on a schedule. the 1st will be either an event announcement or a ticket sales announcement. As ticket sales progress additional emails will be sent as event reminders and updates to your event. This feature help promote as the names suggests as well as drive ticket sales for your Lodge or group event. All you need to do is send an email to the webmaster@suffolkmasons.com with the details of your event and that you are requesting a campaign be mounted for the event.

Some advice when it comes to promoting an event. Please post your event as soon as you can. the more time on the site to promote the better. Also make sure you add a flyer or some graphics to the event to make it eye catching to anyone looking. price your tickets, accordingly, always keeping the ticket fees and CC/Debit card fees that will be attached in mind.

We hope you will take advantage of this service and increase your event attendance and fundraising for your Lodge or concordant body.

If you would like to know what Promoter can do can click here -> Promoter | The Events Calendar