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Introducing TntMPD 3.0

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Introducing TntMPD 3.0

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Welcome to TntMPD 3.0! This exciting new release offers great new functionality! There are more than 150 new features and improvements. A few of these are major improvements. View the 16-minute, fasten-your-seatbelts upgrade overview.

Previously you could view an individual contact's address on Google Maps. Now you can view the entire Current Group, as well as any Saved Group, or list of contacts in the Task/History Views.

TntMPD 3.0 improves the Outlook Sync. It works better when husband and wife each have their own email or mobile phone. More MPD-related information is also included with each contact.

Read more about the Outlook Sync feature on the Beta Testers discussion page.

Read More > Help me sync Outlook with Android or iPhone

In TntMPD 3.0, married contacts now have separate phone, email, and business address information. This not only makes it easier to manage their information, but if you send your contacts to Outlook, they will go as separate contacts--great for mobile phone access!

Tip: You may want to update your contacts. You will need to manually correct the phone numbers, as well as remove any phone number labels you no longer need.

Read More > New contact features for married contacts

TntMPD 3.0 brings the long-requested "E-Newsletter" option. Now, instead of just a "Send Newsletter" checkbox--which is still there--you can define which kind of newsletter: paper, electronic, or both. (And there are even some helpful tools beyond that, for example, a e-mail newsletter with a paper option "backup plan" if their email address becomes invalid.) And, you can now select the Newsletter type when entering a new contact.

Tip: If you have been using Saved Groups or the User fields to manage your email newsletter list, you may want to move all of them to the new Email newsletter type. You can move all contacts at the same time using the "Mass Change a Field" feature. Select the Expanded Newsletter types link below for instructions.

Now that TntMPD knows who you prefer to send an email newsletter, it does a much better job of synchronizing with MailChimp.

Read More > Expanded Newsletter types

If you are using Dropbox to store your database, and/or share that database with your spouse, then you will love the new Dropbox features! TntMPD 3.0 has a new "conflicted copy" detection tool. Every time you open TntMPD, if it recognizes your database as stored in Dropbox, it will automatically check for conflicted copies AND walk you through a resolution wizard to fix the conflicts!

Tip: There's a new Dropbox button on the button bar. If you do not have Dropbox, pressing the button will help you create a Dropbox account and move your database. If you do have Dropbox, pressing the button will check for conflicts. Even better: The tiny green checkbox will become a red "X" if TntMPD detects a conflict even while you are working!

Read More > Improved Dropbox features

This handy new field appears on all contacts marked as an Organization. If you have an organization contact (often a church, but could also be a business), you probably have a specific person you contact and/or send your newsletter to. Previously, you had to put this person's name in the Address field. Now there is a field just for this.

Similarly, for any contact, if you have a Business Address, the "Business Name" field now appears separately from the address block.

Organization Contact Person

Business Name

Tip: You may want to modify any organization contacts or business addresses for people contacts.

Read More > New Organization/Company Contact info

There are more than 50 improvements and new features related to how tasks and history are recorded. You can see the whole list below, but here are a few of the key items...

New task types: Email Newsletter, Present (that is, a non-financial gift you give or receive), MailChimp, Note, Unscheduled Visits (example: for when you bump into a partner at church), Facebook, Text/SMS.

All tasks can now be recorded as a Thank, whether it is a phone call, letter, email, or even face-to-face. That is, you no longer need to choose between the HOW (letter, call, email) and the WHY (thank). Similarly, you can record any task (letter, appointment, etc.) as a "Challenge" for partnership.

History is recorded by the person who performed the task. This is especially useful for couples who work on MPD together, and for teams who use TntMPD to manage donations to their local ministry.

Automatically created tasks have several improvements (these 3 are not the only improvements!):

TntMPD will not repeat the same automatic task for a person (e.g., "Call to check on status of financial commitment"; it will just update the date to the current date.

If you are downloading gifts and new tasks are automatically created, TntMPD will tell you how many new tasks were created and let you go right to your task list.

Gifts given by existing partners in response to Special Asks now appear as "SPECIAL" gifts instead of "EXTRA", the same way those gifts appear when they are given by non-partners (people who get your newsletter but do not give regularly)

Finally—though this is certainly not the end of the list—you are already aware that you had to create a new password when upgrading your database to TntMPD 3.0. Previously, TntMPD had a "simple" password, just to keep casual lookers from entering your database. But to protect your ministry's critical data, TntMPD 3.0 offers a much stronger password system. Because of this powerful tool, TntMPD 3.0 also offers a way to retrieve your password by giving you 3 questions only you can answer.

Read More > New database password

Want to know more?

Here is the list of more than 150 user improvements--changes to the things you see and do.

NOTE TO BETA TESTERS: The following list of features will all be hyperlinked to the relevant help topic when 3.0 is fully released.

Contact details and features

New Email newsletter option, and expanded ways to identify newsletter recipients with bad addresses

New newsletter icons to display contact's newsletter preference--and whether the desired newsletter is deliverable

Added "Send Newsletter" and newsletter type to the name/address edit box (e.g., for new contacts)

Added Business Name to Business Address for contacts.

Added Contact Person (Attn: or c/o) to Organization addresses for contacts.

Added Salutation field to contacts (separate from the "Greeting").

Added Spouse-specific contact information: Phone numbers, email addresses, and Business Address

Added a scroll bar to the F12 "Magnified Address" window and made it resizable.

If your ministry updates a donor's name, deceased or memo, these changes are automatically logged in the contact’s history.

Several improvements to the Contact | View Details screen regarding giving/contact history for donors/contacts

Next task area changed to show two to 3.5 tasks at a time.

Renamed the "Personal" tab to "Family", and reorganized it.

Duplicate contact improvements

You can accept address/phone/email info from a new duplicate contact just added or imported (previously this was just ignored)

If a manually entered contact is a duplicate, the duplicate contact is shown immediately.

When importing contacts, if a duplicate is found, the duplicate record is left in the grid for further attempts.

When importing contacts, if a duplicate is found, the confusing prompt to update name/address/phone is removed.

Improved the entry screens for name & address, phone numbers, and email/web information

MPD Phase drop down is color-coded to match the colors in the Contact List.

New "Accept Update" dialog that allows you to see and change which field in TntMPD will be updated.

New donor fields: his/her email, his/her mobile phone, deceased, memo, hyperlink. (*If your organization supports these changes)

Orange/Bold is now used instead of Red/Bold to indicated unreviewed donor address/phone/email information.

Redesigned the "Organization Info" dialog for viewing the donor information from your organization

In the Organization Info box, the "Account List" shows accounts in orange that contain unreviewed information (especially helpful for donors who have multiple accounts, only one of which may have unreviewed information)

User fields on the User tab can have a minimal set of drop-down values provided via the "Options" dialog. (Previously, all of the custom user fields displayed only the values you had already entered in those fields.)

User tab caption can be customized via the "Options" dialog.

Lookup improvements

Many more types of Newsletter Recipient lookups added, based on media preference. This helps you select just the right group to send your newsletter to.

Changed phrasing of "Address/Phone Out of Sync" lookup to "Unreviewed Account Info" instead. This is because there will often be times when they are out of sync but you want them to stay this way.

Lookup favorites that return zero contacts can now be edited and re-saved.

When lookups return zero contacts, the Contact view offers an alert message so you can change the filter that produced no results.

Gifts improvements

Added "Payment Method" and "Memo" to the gift information received from the organization (if the organization provides this information)

Added Last Gift [Payment Method, Organization, Donor ID] to Contact Details dialog. (Contact | View Details)

Removed decimal point and extra zeros when displaying monetary amounts in many places.

Tasks & History improvements

"Schedule Group Task" and "Log Group History" now provide sub-menus to specify which task type before bringing up the details box.

"Schedule Task" and "Log History" menus are re-ordered and categorized.

Added several new task types:

"E-Newsletter" (this is a mass-mailing, like "Newsletter", and can be hidden from the history view)

"Unscheduled Visit" (great for when you see someone at church, or any casual contact that is not an official "MPD Appointment")

"Note" (because sometimes you want to record a note about the contact that was not a result of a call or visit; this task type is also used automatically by TntMPD when donor information is updated by your organization's donor system)

"Facebook", "Text/SMS", and "MailChimp" (though not automatic, there may be times when you want to manually transfer this information into your history log)

"Present" (to record when you receive or send a non-financial gift (like a wedding or baby gift) from/to a partner)

Improvements after gifts are downloaded from your organization:

If new tasks are created automatically during the download, an option is provided to "View Tasks" (default=yes).

If new tasks are created automatically during the download, an option is provided to "Show Auto-Task Options".

After the gift download, the "Congratulations!" message will include the number of new tasks.

Automatic thank you tasks of the same kind won't be duplicated for the same contact (new task will replace old task).

Improved the order of "Automatic Actions" on the Options dialog to better fit the MPD cycle.

Clearing a task now gives you the opportunity to specify which user did it.

Color coded the task type drop down box when editing task/history. (The drop-down now has the same colors as they appear in the task/history list.)

The Task list is color coded like the History list (but old items and mass mailings never turn gray).

Ctrl+A will now select all items in a task/history list. (In the past you could only select all by using the mouse and shift+clicking.)

New gifts linked to an appeal will never trigger auto-task of "Research gift of ... which is smaller".

New gifts linked to an appeal will trigger a thank-you for a SPECIAL gift. (Previously, financial partners were never assigned a "Special" gift thank you.)

Removed "If No Task Scheduled" color/icon options from contact list.

Right-click on individual task/history list and all "New <x>" items are now in a submenu.

Right-click on task/history list for an individual to "Link Item(s) to a Different Contact...". (Helpful for those times you accidentally record a task/history for the wrong person, or for when you want to merge two contacts.)

Task and History editing dialogs redesigned (more details, such as making each task a "thank", a "challenge", assign a user, etc.)

Saved Descriptions are now listed in a drop-down instead of in a separate dialog box. (This allows you to use auto-fill from saved descriptions. Tip: Scroll to the bottom to edit the list)

Special Gift Appeal box moved to the details tab.

Task and History View can now be filtered by contacts in the current group.

Task and History View redesigned with a search box that searches any text shown in the description plus notes.

Task/History can be "Shared with MPD Coach". (Right-click. If you assign this, the item will be added to the "Send MPD Weekly Update to Excel".)

Task/History can be assigned to a user (useful for couples and teams that share a TntMPD database).

Task/History can be tagged as "Mass Mailing". ("Newsletter" and "E-Newsletter" are tagged as a mass mailing by default.)

Task/History can be tagged as "Thank". ("Thank" tasks are tagged by default. This not only updates the "Last Thank" field in the Contact | View Details, but also allows you search for all "Thanks" in history, regardless of the method used.)

Task/History can be tagged as a "Partnership Challenge"; (Appointments are tagged by default.)

Task/History tagged as "Mass Mailing" appear gray and don't affect any Contact.LastActivity fields.

Task/History tagged as "Thank" (but not "Mass Mailing") affect Contact.LastThank field.

Tasks can have "Due In (days)" specified. Tasks overdue turn red.

Tasks that have been sent to Outlook will display a little Outlook icon until they are resolved in Outlook and re-synced.

Automatic thank you tasks will be "Due In" 28 days so they turn red after that many days.

Tasks with an Importance of Low appear gray. Tasks with an Importance of High appear bold.

Under a contact's "History" tab, "Appeals Since Last Gift" appears red if > 4.

Under a contact's "History" tab, you can view "Challenges Since Last Gift"; this appears red if it is > 2.

Under a contact's Task/History tabs, double-click the "Current Group" button to view the items in the History view.

Unless a task was assigned, new history is assumed to be done by the current user.

When a contact has a new gift come in, "Call to check on status..." tasks will be cleaned up.

When a contact has a new gift come in, "Research gift of ... which is smaller" tasks will be cleaned up.

"Lookup all these contacts" can exclude selected contacts by right-clicking. (This is a reverse lookup... "Lookup all BUT the selected contacts.")

Analysis view improvements

Analysis View now has a chart with a flat appearance and a different color background.

Special Gift / Appeal tracking improvements

"Appeal" now appears as "Special Gift Appeal" in many places to make its purpose more clear.

Appeal Tracking screen: Added "Memo" column to Gifts grid.

Appeal Tracking screen: Added Payment Method and Memo to gift export fields.

Appeal Tracking screen: Hides Designation Name and Motivation Code from export if not "Pro" mode.

Auto-thanks for gifts associated with an appeal now include the name of the appeal in the description.

Auto-thanks for gifts associated with an appeal now appear as a "SPECIAL" gift thank you, even for financial partners (in the past, a special gift always generated an "EXTRA" or "SMALLER" gift alert).

Calendar improvements

Schedule View renamed to "Calendar".

Calendar can now display multi-day events.

Dropbox improvements

[File | Resolve Dropbox Conflicts] to automatically resolve Dropbox conflicts.

Added Dropbox button on button bar, which shows status of Dropbox database.

Dropbox dialog automatically detects when Dropbox is installed and changes display accordingly.

Added guidance to "Resolve Dropbox Conflicts" dialog to help user install Dropbox and move database.

The default for "Dropbox Mode" is now turned on.

When TntMPD starts, it will alert you if it detects Dropbox conflicts.

Google Maps improvements

Google Maps integration with all major Views (Contact, Groups, History, Tasks). When you are in one of those views, press the Google Maps button and Google Maps will appear in the main window, with all of the selected contacts mapped.

Main screen: Added Map button to the bottom left.

If contact has a valid address (that Google Maps can map), TntMPD stores the GPS coordinates for the address in the Contact | View Details. This field is exportable whenever you select "Export Current Group"

Mac-specific improvements

Most of the Mac changes are related to the hardware, to ensure that TntMPD will run on your Mac.

Installation on Mac requires "TntMPD for Mac" 3.0 or newer (Wine 1.5.21 or newer).

Installation on Mac requires 2 GB of system memory.

Installation on Mac w/ CrossOver requires CrossOver 11 (XI) or newer (Wine 1.4 or newer).

Mac: Made it easier to select "Use this Address on Map Instead" menu for Other Address.

Backspace key will work the same as Delete on a task/history list (better for Mac keyboard).

Ctrl+A now selects all items in a table (such as tasks/history) instead of relying on the mouse

Mail Merge improvements

"Mail Merge to Email" uses "Email Greeting" and "Email Salutation" for Greeting and Salutation fields.

Mass Email dialog: Added Salutation field to export.

When primary contact and spouse both have preferred emails, an email merge will send a separate email, with a separate greeting, to each spouse. (Previously, both would receive an email with the same greeting, such as "Dear Clark and Lois,".)

Outlook synchronization improvements

Contacts are auto-split into two Contacts in Outlook when spouse has phone/email info. (Now you do not need to rely on labels to discern which phone/email is for which spouse.)

Sending contact info to Outlook, to send to your mobile.

Some MPD information is now exported to Job Title (can be turned off).

Nicknames are combined for split contacts (and optionally for combined contacts).

Referral information is now exported to Department (can be turned off).

Titles are exported as blank (can be turned off).

Synced contacts are indicated with an Outlook icon in the top right of the Contact view.

The ampersand (&) is now used for "and" (can be turned off).

To preserve Contact note rich text formatting, you now need Outlook 2010 or newer.

Email addresses are applied to selected contact when manually matched.

When synchronizing, you are given the option to delete items that used to be in TntMPD.

iCloud: TntMPD now syncs correctly with the iCloud provider in Outlook.

Journal items can now be imported into TntMPD as History items.

Previously synced contacts are auto-sent to Outlook when changed (only if unchanged in Outlook).

Tasks/Appts: Contact Name is added to the Subject of Tasks and Appointments.

Tasks/Appts: Mailing Address, Preferred Phone and Email added to Task Notes.

Tasks/Appts: Mapping Address, Preferred Phone and Email added to Appointment Notes.

Tasks/Appts: Right-click (one or many tasks at a time) to "Send to Outlook".

Tasks/Appts: Items synced with Outlook are indicated in the task list with the Outlook icon.

Tasks/Appts: TaskType is added to the Subject of Tasks.

Password improvements

"Database Password Recovery Key" system is in place to help users who forget their password. (This can be stored both on www.tntmpd.com and your own hard-drive. Note: Your database cannot be recovered except by you.)

Databases are now AES-128 encrypted with a user-provided password.

Reporting improvements

MPD Progress statistics are internally recorded every week.

The "MPD Weekly Update" will include all shared tasks from the next MPD week and prior.

The "MPD Weekly Update" will only include shared history from the current MPD week.

TntSync improvements

TntSync now has "Manual", "Auto (Interactive)" and "Auto" modes. (Automatic modes always select the newer of any two conflicts.)

When viewing a changed record, only the changed fields are shown by default. (This helps you see the exact items changed, instead of the whole list of unchanged fields.)

When viewing a list of changed records, the fields that changed are listed. (So you do not have to double-click to see the exact field.)

General tools improvements

Added [File | Utilities | Merge With Another Database...] to automatically combine two databases (such as when two singles get married). Note, this is a one-time only procedure.

Changed naming of "Input [Addresses/Gifts] from Web" under Tools menu to "Update [Address/Gift] Info".

Added color coding to the "Pledge Fulfillment" report and lookup. (The displayed dot is the same color that appears on the contact's gift summary.)

Improved Auto-Backup retention strategy to preserve more of recent databases.

Tools | Options screen has been greatly reorganized and improved.

Added Back and Forward buttons on Community browser title bar. (Improves navigation on the integrated browser.)

Database is opened exclusively when upgrading or rebuilding to ensure no conflict with other users.

MailChimp improvements

"required" on list fields is temporarily turned off while syncing.

Added "Receives Email Newsletter" field in addition to "Receives Paper Newsletter".

Added optional address, phone and feedback fields.

Bounced emails handled for all contacts (if email was duplicated across contacts).

Merge field labels are only set when creating a field (so user can later customize).

More options to control which fields are synced.

New (default) option for syncing with a list: Only Sync With Email Newsletter Recipients.

Organization added to First Name field.

Right-click on import list to manually rematch.

The "Public" field attribute is only set when creating a field (so user can later customize).

TntMPD-specific emails are given option to export to MailChimp or unsubscribe in TntMPD.

Unsubscribed emails handled for all contacts (if email was duplicated across contacts).

Unsynced custom list fields are now shown at the end with right-click option to delete.

When importing/creating a new contact: address, phone and feedback are also imported.


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