Daycare Solution For Sharing And Communicating With Parents Online

[Mike]

I do my own website hosting, design, and programming (writing scripts or programs to do certain things), and as many of you know, hope to be going into daycare soon.

Post I made to the thread that made me start this one:

So, many of you share and discuss things with dcps via Facebook or other sites, but I have my own system planned for when I start. At this point in time, it's just ideas in my brain, and my plans were to work on it "someday", but, being a part of this forum has given me much more knowledge to be prepared for that day, as well as ideas of what my sharing program should cover.

Due to previous discussions, it looks like some of you may be interested in my sharing program, so to thank you all for the help you have been, rather than working on my program "someday", I'm moving that plan to the front burner.

My schedule is very erratic, so I don't know how long it will take to do it, but likely somewhere between 1 and 4 weeks. I'm going to start another thread about my idea. Others can give input as far as features and suggestions, and I'll update the thread as my program progresses. At some point, it will be ready for experimenting, then when it's ready to go, it'll be free to anyone here.

Here are the things I have planned for my system:
The system isn't for accounting, bookkeeping, etc, but for sharing and communication. I may, in the future, decide to add more functions to it, but for now, the simpler it is, the sooner it will be ready.
My schedule, and my life, are so erratic that it is possible I may not finish this project, so I'm not making any promises, but unless something drastic changes that makes me give up my daycare plans, I am doing this.

The programs initial purpose...

- sharing photos and videos with parents
- sending notices to parents
- each parent will have their own page where they will be shown whatever it is they have access to

Features it will have...

- multiple options to upload the photos or videos
- mark photos and videos as to which parents have access
- parents can see photos/videos by going to a web page, or you can send them to the parents via email or text (MMS)
- messaging to parents, all or selected ones, also sent via email or text
- calendar of events that parents can look at any time
- event notifications, also sent via email or text, whenever you specify
- optional password protection on parent pages

Possible future additions...

- use to send parents receipts
- quick messaging, like a list of needs to select from, or frequent messages as templates
- option for parents to send you notes from their personal page
- any other ideas you have, but AFTER I get the main program going

How it all will work...

With anything, there will be initial setup steps, but once set up, the sharing and communicating will be as quick and easy as possible. The exact steps may change as I put this together, but here's what I'm thinking.

1. Obvious - install (upload) the program files to your website, or I can host it and give you a link to access it from. If you have your own website and want it there, I can install it for you.
2. Set a URL for your admin or control panel where you go to do various things, either with a password or a unique URL others won't guess
   Examples:
   • yoursite.com/admin with password protection
   • yoursite.com/me4238478 if you prefer not having to deal with a password
     or if you don't have your own website...
   • you.mysite.com/admin with password protection
   • you.mysite.com/me4238478 if you prefer not having to deal with a password
3. Go to, or log in to, your new admin panel
4. Enter each family's data - parents names, kids names, birthdays, phone numbers, cell numbers, email addresses, and select each families preferred method of receiving pictures and messages
5. Set a personal URL for each family
   Examples:
   • yoursite.com/smiths, preferably with password protection
   • yoursite.com/smith389563 with password protection less necessary
     or if you don't have your own website...
   • you.mysite.com/smiths with password protection
   • you.mysite.com/smith389563 if you prefer not having to deal with a password

Initial setup is done. Add or remove families as needed.

When you want to share or update things...

• Upload photos or videos, via...
  • form on your admin page
  • ftp program
  • email to a special email address (might require my hosting to do that, depending on your host)
• Set access rights - just select from list who has access
• Check box to send new photos/videos, or uncheck to just make available through parents pages
• Go to your calendar and enter relevant dates and times
• Select whether or not you want notices sent out for those dates/times, and when to send them, and who to send them to. Messages will then be sent automatically at the specified times.
• To send out notices, go to admin page and type your notice, select who it goes to, and send.

Any suggestions, ideas, or questions?
Anyone want to try this out whenever I have it ready?

[Mike]

Decided to add a poll to see how much interest there is.

[Ariana]

This looks super cool to me and I would be willing to try it!

[Max]

I'm interested! Since I can install it on my website and it's mainly for communication, could I have my Parent Handbook on it?

I want my entire Parent Handbook available on my website but only to enrolled parents

[Mike]

I'm interested! Since I can install it on my website and it's mainly for communication, could I have my Parent Handbook on it?

I want my entire Parent Handbook available on my website but only to enrolled parents

Of course. Any kind of file can be shared, and each file can be shared with all or specific parents.

[Unregistered]

There are many options out there. I use Himama and my parents love it.

[Alwaysgreener]

There are many options out there. I use Himama and my parents love it.

HiMama is another one that just did not fit my needs.

[Mike]

For anyone interested in keeping updated on the progress of my program, or discussing it via email, I've set up a mailing list. I will post updates to this thread as well, but some may prefer a mailing list.

I will email the list when there is news about the progress, or if I have questions for those of you interested, and will let you know when it's ready for testing stage as well as ready to launch. When the program is ready to launch publicly, I will email the list as well as post here, but after the launch, any further updates will go to the list and may not be posted here.

You can join the list in 2 ways:

Web page - Go to http://premierwebsitesolutions.com/m...esolutions.com where you can choose your password and select daily summaries or individual emails.

Email - Send an email to dc-request@premierwebsitesolutions.com with the subject "subscribe" without the quotes.

With either option, you will be sent an automatic confirmation email to verify the subscription, and a welcome email after verifying. The welcome email will give you a URL you can go to set a few options, or to change your email address, password, subscription type, or even unsubscribe.

[Mike]

Update on the progress of this program...

The program is now ready for installation, but doesn't have any features yet. What I did was make it super simple to install. No need to deal with multiple files, file permissions, etc. You simply add 1 file to your website, then go to it and automatic installation begins.

When you first go to that file, it creates a new file that is used to set everything up. It then sends you to that new file. You then specify a few things, submit, and several more files are automatically created. Your system is then ready to use, and you are automatically sent to the next page where you provide your own information.

That's where the program is at right now. The next step is to gather client information, then make it so you can add files, like photos, videos, handbooks, etc, and set up the calendar system. At that point, it will be ready for actual using while I add and improve features.