Version 2.16.2

Public Release Date: March 4, 2019

Listed below are the new features and updates that have been added to all Get Connected, Community Connect, Corporate Connect, Campus Connect, and ReDI sites as version 2.16.2. For enhancements specific to connected sites (those using the Galaxy Link), jump to the end of this article.

Limit initiatives to certain agencies (including across domains)

If you're holding a large-scale event like MLK day, you can now prevent selected agencies from submitting needs for it. You can even do this across domains if your site is connected to another site with the Galaxy Link. Use this when you have an agency that hasn't completed important steps in applying for the event or when you don't want to distract agencies with information that isn't relevant to them.

Cloning a need lets you change its date type

Previously, when you cloned needs, the clones had to use the same date types (for example, "happens on") as the original need. This requirement has been efficient in some cases, but it's been inconvenient in others. You can now choose a new date type when you clone a need. As an example, you can clone a "happens on" need to be a shift need, or a shift need to be an "ongoing" need.

"Phrase" search is now more prominent

We've updated the look and feel of the search options on the front end of the site so that the "phrase" search is more obvious. Users will find needs faster because this search option is now easier to find.

Additional language overrides

A number of terms have been added to the language overrides. You can ask Customer Care to set any of them up for you, and you can see the full list in our article on language overrides.

"Causes" requirement can be removed from sites altogether

If your site does not use causes (either because you are a single-cause agency or because they are just not a good fit for you), you can have the causes hidden from your site. This means that causes will not appear for users, on the agency form, or elsewhere. This will mostly apply to smaller Community Connect clients, such as Habitat for Humanity affiliates. Contact Customer Care if you would like to have the causes feature hidden on your site.

New template key for need comments

Sometimes a site manager wants to let need respondents know about a critical piece of information, but they don't want that information to appear publicly. If you add that information in the need's Comments field on the need-posting form, you can now have the comment included in the Need Response Thank You notification. Use this for things like sharing specific addresses or for sensitive use cases. Click here to learn more about editing notifications.

Enhancements for Sites Using a Galaxy Link

Below are the 2.16.2 enhancements that apply specifically to Galaxy Link sites. To learn more about connecting to other sites via a Galaxy Link, see About the Galaxy Link.

Back-end and front-end filters for domain

Managers on the back of the site and users on the front of the site can now search needs by domain they come from. This will help them when they are looking for local data or when they want to get a better idea of where the content on the site is coming from. State sites and universities will get the most benefit from this features.

Managers can add hours when remote users respond to their needs

When two sites are connected using the Galaxy Link, there have been some limitations on one site's ability to add hours for users from the other site. These limitations have been removed, and a site can add hours for any user who has responded to its needs, even if the user comes from another domain. This enhancement will be especially useful to United Way site managers who work with universities.

Managers can exclude sharing sites from accessing initiatives

If two sites are connected, all of the needs from one site flow to the other. Currently, if you want to stop all of an agency's needs from flowing to the other site, you can do that by stopping sharing for that agency. Now you can do the same thing with initiatives. Blocking an initiative will block all of the needs within that initiative from being shared.

Note: You can also share an initiative but block certain agencies on a connected site from adding needs to that initiative, as explained above.