We have been a little delayed in getting labs.missionresearch.com up and running so I thought I would post a little bit of what I have been working on.

The are many aspects that customers find appealing about GiftWorks....the user interface is simple, clean, and intuitive, the features are plentiful, and the price is unbeatable.  Another great aspect of GiftWorks (and virtually unknown to our customers) is the ability to easily add new functionality to GiftWorks.  Over the next year, we hope to generate awareness and excitement about the "add-in" features of GiftWorks so that computer hobbyists, vocational software developers, and technical consultants can add customized and useful functionality to meet the specialized needs of GiftWorks users.

The first step I have taken to introduce you to GiftWorks add-in functionality is an add-in called DonorPics for GiftWorks.  This add-in simply allows you to add pictures to your donors.  I was prompted to develop this add-in after hearing a few customers ask if GiftWorks has this feature.  Well, the basic installation of GiftWorks does not have this feature, but this add-in adds the feature seamlessly.

In this post, I will introduce you to the functionality and the installation...in my next post, I will begin to break down how things work.

Installing DonorPics for GiftWorks

You can download the DonorPics for GiftWorks add-in by clicking here.  Run the installation and then start GiftWorks.

At the signin screen to GiftWorks, click the Help menu and choose Manage GiftWorks Addins...

In the filename box, enter: c:\program files\mission research\DonorPics\module.xml and click the Install button.

You should see DonorPics for GiftWorks

Taking a look

When the add-in is installed, the donor screen looks a little different.  Notice the Picture section at the bottom.

The Add a picture link allows you to browse and look for a picture to associate with this donor.  You can add as many pictures as you like.

If you hover over a picture, you will see additional options: 

The two options are Delete and  Set as donor picture.  Delete simply allows you to delete the picture from this donor.  The Set as donor picture option allows you to set the image in the upper left corner of the screen to be an actual picture.  Here is how it might look:

Some notes

Pictures that are added to GiftWorks are stored in a "DonorPics" folder that is located in the same folder as your GiftWorks database.  The location of your pictures can be changed, along with other options, by going to the Settings area of GiftWorks.

Setting the picture location

Setting picture properties

Wrapping it up

In my next post, I will begin to go into detail about how DonorPics works and how you can build add-ins for GiftWorks too.  Please feel free to leave comments on DonorPics or other add-in functionality.