Posted by jdcreativity on February 20, 2013 at 3:48am
We're starting to do some configuration in CiviCRM on our CM-site.
I'm wondering if there are any agreed upon configurations or best practices in the CM / Civi world.
In particular I am wondering:
Do you create new CONTACT TYPES in Civi?
What kind of GROUPS are you creating?
How are you using TAGS?
How do you prevent your CiviMail from landing in SPAM folders?
Thanks,
Jason
Comments
I wouldn't say we have an
I wouldn't say we have an ideal setup at Portland Community Media. But we have been using CiviCRM for a few years so we do have some experience with our setup.
Do you create new CONTACT TYPES in Civi?
No custom types used. We use the default Individual contact primarily, Organizations a bit and Households rarely. I would say we could do much better tracking our participants, but for our needs the default types work fine.
What kind of GROUPS are you creating?
We are using groups for most of our contact organization needs. We have groups for our "Certifications", our newsletter, and outreach events. We have found groups to be more flexible than tags in that once you have over 50 contacts in your tag, you cannot send them bulk mail directly.
How are you using TAGS?
We don't use tags much and don't incorporate them into our daily workflows. I'm sure we could be using them for something, we just haven't found it yet.
How do you prevent your CiviMail from landing in SPAM folders?
By far the best thing you can do to prevent your mail from landing in SPAM folders is by making sure your domain name has a correctly configured SFP record. This will tell the mail servers that your server is allowed to send mail on behalf of your domain name.
CiviCRM Config Answers
CiviCRM is a vital component to managing our membership data.
Do you create new CONTACT TYPES in Civi?
Currently, we only use individual and organization contact types. In the future there might be a need for additional types or subtypes but right now the default types are fine. Since we are membership based, membership types more important.
How are you using TAGS?
We use them sparingly because they just don't provide as much functionality as groups. Our primary use is to waitlist members for workshops.
What kind of GROUPS are you creating?
We use groups for many of the same functions as coderdan. Some uses of groups include:
1. Confirm eligibility to take workshops.
2. Identify show providers.
3. Certifications.
4. Unsubscribe group to track individuals who have opted out of receiving mass mailings.
I think you'll find groups very helpful in managing your workflow and tracking various activities.
This screencast explains how to sync Group roles created in CiviCRM with Drupal roles:
http://blip.tv/open-media-project/civicrm-group-roles-sync-3994717.
How do you prevent your CiviMail from landing in SPAM folders?
Again, I agree with coderdan. Configuring your mail correctly-especially your domain name SFP (Sender Policy Framework) record- is very important to avoid being tagged as a spammer.