Next Steps in CFF
Everyone should be receiving the User’s Manual this week. Look it over, concentrating mainly on Part III (page 18) – the actual instructions for using Church Future Finder. I went through an hour of training yesterday afternoon over the phone, but it honestly was not as helpful as reading the manual. I’ve detailed the next few steps in the CFF process below, and you can read more about them on the pages I’ve noted (there are also plenty of illustrations of the various windows). Also, skim through pages 99-125. This section will give you an idea of what your CFF Report will look like, and may help you to understand this part of the process a little better.
Step One: Sign Up and Log In (page 20) – When you go to http://www.churchfuturefinder.org you will see a screen with a box in the lower right corner that says “New Users” with a button that reads “Sign Up”. Click on this button. (If you are a returning user, use the box on the lower left.) You will be taken to a new page with a registration form. Choose a username and password that you can easily remember, and complete the rest of the form. Click submit and accept the user agreement that appears. When you have complete the registration process you will receive an e-mail containing your username and password. Go back to the main page and sign in as a Returning User. (You can logout at any time by clicking the “Logout” button at the top of the screen.)
Step Two: Join a CFF Group (page 27) – Everyone needs to join a group (your congregation). To do this you will need the group name and code that were e-mailed a few weeks ago. When you log in you will be taken to your “dashboard”. The second section is labeled “My Groups”. Click on the link that says “sign up for a group”. You will be taken to the group sign-up page. Enter the Group Code you were assigned into the appropriate field and click “join”. (Remember that the code is case-sensitive, meaning that it is important to enter capital and lower case letters appropriately.) Once you have successfully joined, your congregation’s name should appear under the “My Groups” heading.
Step Three: Create a Congregation Study (page 29) – Everyone needs to create a congregation study. (Note: you cannot create a study without joining your group, so make sure you don’t skip step two.) The bottom section of your “dashboard” is labeled “My Studies”. You will need to click on the link that says “Create New Study”. This will take you to the “Choose a Group (for your study)” window. Select your congregation’s name (It should be the only group listed). DO NOT click the “Create a study outside of any group” link. Next, you will need to create a name for your study (ex. PMC_LMC_Cluster1_Church Name_2006_Your last name), click submit. Next, select your congregation from the list by clicking the “select” link at the end of the corresponding row. You will then be taken to your congregation study’s table of contents.
Step Four: Become Familiar with the CFF Windows (page 34) – The congregation study table of contents is where you will spend the majority of your time. Clicking the “Go” button beside any of the sections will take you to new windows dealing with that particular section. Each section has areas for you to complete – this is where you will work with census data, enter results from the listening team interviews, etc. DO NOT declare a section complete until you are sure that you have entered all of the information that you need to. The manual will contain more information on each section, with instructions and special notes (like do not use commas when entering data – you’ll receive an error message if you do).
If you have any questions during this process, let me know. If I can’t answer it, I will find someone who can and get back to you.
Step One: Sign Up and Log In (page 20) – When you go to http://www.churchfuturefinder.org you will see a screen with a box in the lower right corner that says “New Users” with a button that reads “Sign Up”. Click on this button. (If you are a returning user, use the box on the lower left.) You will be taken to a new page with a registration form. Choose a username and password that you can easily remember, and complete the rest of the form. Click submit and accept the user agreement that appears. When you have complete the registration process you will receive an e-mail containing your username and password. Go back to the main page and sign in as a Returning User. (You can logout at any time by clicking the “Logout” button at the top of the screen.)
Step Two: Join a CFF Group (page 27) – Everyone needs to join a group (your congregation). To do this you will need the group name and code that were e-mailed a few weeks ago. When you log in you will be taken to your “dashboard”. The second section is labeled “My Groups”. Click on the link that says “sign up for a group”. You will be taken to the group sign-up page. Enter the Group Code you were assigned into the appropriate field and click “join”. (Remember that the code is case-sensitive, meaning that it is important to enter capital and lower case letters appropriately.) Once you have successfully joined, your congregation’s name should appear under the “My Groups” heading.
Step Three: Create a Congregation Study (page 29) – Everyone needs to create a congregation study. (Note: you cannot create a study without joining your group, so make sure you don’t skip step two.) The bottom section of your “dashboard” is labeled “My Studies”. You will need to click on the link that says “Create New Study”. This will take you to the “Choose a Group (for your study)” window. Select your congregation’s name (It should be the only group listed). DO NOT click the “Create a study outside of any group” link. Next, you will need to create a name for your study (ex. PMC_LMC_Cluster1_Church Name_2006_Your last name), click submit. Next, select your congregation from the list by clicking the “select” link at the end of the corresponding row. You will then be taken to your congregation study’s table of contents.
Step Four: Become Familiar with the CFF Windows (page 34) – The congregation study table of contents is where you will spend the majority of your time. Clicking the “Go” button beside any of the sections will take you to new windows dealing with that particular section. Each section has areas for you to complete – this is where you will work with census data, enter results from the listening team interviews, etc. DO NOT declare a section complete until you are sure that you have entered all of the information that you need to. The manual will contain more information on each section, with instructions and special notes (like do not use commas when entering data – you’ll receive an error message if you do).
If you have any questions during this process, let me know. If I can’t answer it, I will find someone who can and get back to you.
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