TOPS Home E-Zine; Issue #32 - January 2005

Welcome to TOPS Home, the web site e-mail magazine (e-zine) for the TOPS Community Web Site Service.

In this issue:

Web Sites: A Special Thank You Gift

New Release: TOPS Administrator Forum

What's New: 9 New Updates to Your Web Sites

Upcomming Events: Online Payments Live Chat

Tips & Tricks: 10 Tips for a Great Community Web Site

Contact: Contact Information for TOPS Software

WEB SITES: A Special Thank You Gift!

TOPS had such a terrific 2004 Web Site Sales Year that we wanted to extend a big THANK YOU to our web site clients. As our way of saying thanks, we’re offering to any of our management company clients that have at least 20 web sites, a 50% reduction in set up fees for new communities signing up between now and February 15th.

With so many of your clients having budgeted a community web site, this is the perfect opportunity to move forward. Each of your associations would be saving at least $50 and your management company will continue
to benefit as we do reduce the cost of your management company site by $5.00 for each association signed up for the service.

We’ve got some exciting plans for 2005 and we’re looking forward to making you shine! Please call our Sales Team at 1-800-556-7852 or email us at websales@topssoft.com and we’ll get you started!

NEW RELEASE: Introducing YOUR Administrator Forum!

Do you ever want to communicate with other web site administrators? They might just have some good advice on using your web site(s). This month we're announcing a brand new web site, one we've created exclusively for our community web site administrators! You can now go to http://www.topshome.net/admin where we'll bring you even more up-to-date information and announcements regarding the TOPS Interactive web site service!

We have taken care to add features to this web site that will help you improve the quality of the web site(s) that you administer. Some of the features we think you will find most interesting include:

MESSAGE BOARD: This is the primary purpose and central feature of the Administrator Forum. Use it to share ideas, ask questions, suggest improvements, etc.
CLASSIFIED VENDORS: We are pretty excited about this one, and we think you will be too! Classified Vendors is a database of vendors broken down by service area, who are interested in paying for classified advertising on community association web site(s). This is an excellent opportunity for you to supplement your web site(s) through advertising revenue!
LIVE CHAT: About once a month, we will be hosting scheduled live chats on specific topics relating to TOPS Interactive Web Sites. This is a great forum to ask questions of the web support technicians, and to hear from other administrators and bounce ideas off each other.
FEATURES: The Features module contains a complete breakdown of the various features available with a TOPS Interactive web site. We detail what each feature is, what it does, how you can use it, whether it's a keeper, and recommended security levels. Additionally, we have provided links to articles and knowledge base topics related
to each feature.

And More! To get started, just go to http://www.topshome.com/admin and complete the "Login Request" form, and we'll email you a login name and password for the Admin Forum. Give us your feedback, or email us your questions - we can't wait to hear from you!

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WHAT'S NEW: Nine New Updates to your web site(s)

We now allow communities to specify a number of days that message board threads will be deleted by if no new postings are made to the thread. (defaults to NEVER) *Please call support to enable this feature*
Added some easier integration for new Online Dues Payment feature.
Added the ability for administrators to customize the text at the top of the "Online Dues Payment" feature using Feature Descriptions.
Changed the sort order on messages under “whats new” to be by posting date/time instead of alpha (most recent posting at top).
On the west coast, the “today” tab now properly handles the shift from one day to another in the proper time zone.
Fixed problem with single quote in eForm names not allowing export of form submissions.
Changed the order of items in "subject" line of email bulletins sent from the Announcement feature....now putting the short description of the Announcement first.
Implemented a method to allow web site links at bottom of email bulletins to be set in a consistent way.
Added code to Account Info screen showing “Pay Now” link next to the account balance if the Online Payments feature is activated.

UPCOMING EVENTS: Online Payments Live Chat

We will be hosting our first scheduled live chat for TOPS Web Site Administrators on Thursday, February 3rd at 2pm EST.

We will be discussing Online Payments through eRentPayer. We have had some recent issues pop up with credit card processing, and there have been a lot of questions about how to get your web site up and running with online payments. This chat will be a perfect opportunity for you to ask questions, share your opinion, and get the inside skinny on this popular service.

The chat will be hosted at our new TOPS Administrator Forum web site. Please let us know that you will be attending so we know how many people to expect. You can email your RSVP to websupport@tossoft.com, or submit it on the site at
http://www.topshome.com/admin. You must have a login name and password to access the site and attend the chat, so be sure to visit the web site and request your login info today.

TIPS & TRICKS: 10 Tips for a Great Community Website!
By Sharon Baron, Community Administrator For Imagination Farms

Find someone in the community to administer your community website that can keep it fun and engaging. If the site is all business, it will not get as many repeat visitors.
Change the private front page as much as possible. Always keep it fresh and timely with new pictures and up to date news. If residents sign on to see a stagnant site week after week, they will stop signing on.
When someone requests their login information from the web administrator, capture their email address and enter it in their User Profile. Whenever an important bulletin goes out, more neighbors will be informed, and you will get more visits to the web site.
It is a good idea to limit email bulletins that are sent to the entire community. You don't want residents to block incoming bulletins. I send only one per month with meeting dates and other brief information. They can then sign on to the site to find out more. Only send more to the whole community if there is an emergency such as a robbery or lost pet.
Promote your site with signage. We have one at the front of the development, and a Yard of the Month contest where the winner gets to place a sign (containing the web site address, of course!) in their yard.
Talk about the site at board meetings. We always update the homeowners to our login rates each month at meetings.
Pictures are very important. Find a resident that loves to shoot digital pictures and post them on the site regularly. Residents love to see themselves on the site.
Don't limit your site to just telling just good news. We had a rash of burglaries in our community this fall and I posted a link to a television news story on our private home page. We had an incredible open exchange about this in our message boards. (Our residents are free to talk about the good and the bad in our community, just so long as people are civil to one another.)
Raise money with classified advertising. We have businesses advertise on our site and pay a yearly fee. Our proceeds go to our annual block party to rent a bounce house and slide for the kids.
TOPS is there for support. The TOPS Interactive Website Service is easy enough for a novice to learn. Have your web administrator email TOPS Support with any questions. They will help make your community website a success.

Sharon Baron is the community web site administrator for Imagination Farms, a 415 home community in Davie, Florida. Sharon's efforts with the Imagination Farms web site have yielded a 74% log-in rate from community residents, and have contributed to an unprecedented level of resident participation in the community. Check out the web site at: http://www.imaginationfarms.org.

Did you know that TOPS Software will provide you with a free
community web site CD demo? Follow this link to apply for your free demo today!

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Here is a list of some of the most common contact data for TOPS Software:

Department	Contact	Email	Phone
Software Sales	Nicole Sezov	sales@topssoft.com	800-760-9966
Web Site Sales	Susan Sanders	websales@topshome.com	800-556-7852
Technical Support	Jeanne Plennert	support@topssoft.com	800-899-5689
Web Site Support	Brandon Kelley	websupport@topssoft.com	800-899-5689
Accounting	Cande Estrella	billing@topssoft.com	301-869-8144

Designed by TOPS Software, LLC. Copyright© 2005 TOPS Software, LLC, 364-C Christopher Ave, Gaithersburg, MD 2879. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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TOPS Home E-Zine; Issue #32 - January 2005

Experience TOPS Interactive Web Sites for Yourself!