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Idea Board

 

Your ideas are so helpful and valuable!

Please note: We have to juggle multiple – oftentimes competing – priorities, time and resource limitations, and most importantly consider what is best for the product as a whole (aka the greatest number of users). As a result, sometimes your ideas move quickly into the product, other times more slowly, and occasionally they are cancelled.

Thanks for being an active part of our community – keep those ideas coming!

The Idea Board page of the Customer Portal is a place for MinistryPlatform customers to vote, comment and propose ideas for consideration in future MinistryPlatform development planning!

Roadmap

The Roadmap shows the most recent 20 Ideas across all MP applications that are in planning, in progress and recently completed.

  • Planned // Idea is slated to be worked on sometime in the future (can vote and comment).
  • In Progress // Idea is actively being worked on by our Dev team in preparation for release.
  • Complete // Idea has been added to MP and is or will be part of a recent or upcoming release!
Not all MP enhancements we are planning and working on will be listed on the Roadmap. We have to keep a few fun surprises under wraps!

Ideas

Search

To search for an Idea, enter a word or phrase in the search box. A list of matching Ideas will be presented. Select the desired Idea to see more details, vote or comment.

Idea Statuses

Ideas statuses include:

  • New // Posted recently and being reviewed by MP (can vote and comment).
  • Under Consideration // Reviewed and being considered (can vote and comment).
  • Planned // Idea is slated to be worked on sometime in the future (can vote and comment).
  • In Progress // Idea is actively being worked on by our Dev team in preparation for release.
  • Complete // Ideas has been added to MP and is or will be part of a recent or upcoming release!
  • Won't Do // Idea will not be pursued (will drop off board after 14 days, always found in search, can comment).
Add an Idea

To add an idea:

  1. Choose the desired Application (e.g. Check In Suite).
  2. Click New Idea. 
  3. Start typing a brief Title for your idea.
  4. If your title sounds like an existing Idea, suggested matches will appear.
  5. Select to see details, vote or comment.
  6. If no existing Ideas match your Idea, click Add New.
  7. Choose the component of the application the idea relates to (e.g. Classroom Manager).
  8. Describe the problem you are trying to solve.
  9. Attach a screen shot for context, example, etc. (optional).
  10. Click Save Changes.
Tips
  • Finish the phrase: The User should be able to....
  • Focus on the problem, not the solution. We want to hear where you are getting stuck, and let our Dev team come up with awesome ways to remove roadblocks!
  • Detail the:
    • Context of what you're trying to do (e.g. Selecting records in the Platform)
    • Roadblock you are running into (e.g. Need to select multiple/a section, but not all, of the records returned in the search or view.)
    • Use Case that provides a clear scenario/example of the roadblock (e.g. Sally is inviting new Participants to a Picnic with the Pastor event. She selects the Added This Month view, sorts by Last Name and needs to select those with last name A-G. She has to select one by one, search for various terms, or create a custom view.)
  • Ask yourself:
    • What is your end goal?
    • What are you trying to accomplish that you currently can't?
    • What is the "problem" this Idea would solve for your ministry?

Following these tips when submitting Ideas will ensure that other churches understand your Idea so that they can vote and comment appropriately. Also, it is critical for our team understanding the need and coming up with a solution that would benefit all MP churches.

Vote

When you add a new Idea, your vote is automatically added to the Idea. Each church receives one vote per Idea.

To add your vote to an Idea:

  1. Open the desired Idea.
  2. Click +Vote

To remove your vote from an Idea:

  1. Open the desired Idea.
  2. Click  Un-Vote

Voting is disabled for Ideas with a status of 'Complete' or 'Won't Do'.

Votes are super helpful to us in planning as they bring high value enhancements to the top of the list for review! However, just because an idea has a lot of votes does not mean that we will pursue it as we have to consider the MP product as a whole, our roadmap and current goals/focus, our resources, etc. Thanks for understanding!
Comment

You can add your comments to all not-complete Ideas to provide alternative use cases (scenarios), highlight a particular part of the suggestion or simply voice your enthusiasm. Once an Idea is Complete, comments will be disabled. To comment:

  1. Open the desired Idea.
  2. Enter your comment (up to 1,024 characters).
  3. Click Add Comment.

Comments can be edited or deleted up to 15 mins after being posted. To delete, click Delete. To edit:

  1. Click Edit.
  2. Make the desired changes.
  3. Click Save.

Commenting is disabled for Ideas with a status of 'Complete'.

Comments should not change the scope or end result of the original Idea. If another church's idea gives you a tangential idea, great! Add it as a new Idea!
Users

Users on Think Ministry staff will be identified with the MP logo next to their name and photo.

Users on the Data Honor Roll (top percentile of Data Report card this month) will be identified with the gold star next to their name and photo.

Notifications

If you want to be notified when you when comments or status changes are made to your Idea(s) or Idea(s) you have commented on, set the desired frequency on the User Profile page.