SOAR

SOAR now supports automated event mailing lists. When you create an event where you accept signups, the system can manage a mailing list for that event. Behind the scenes, SOAR keeps the list continuously updated as members register for events.

To use this capability, first enable the Signup feature for the event. Then fill out the "Automated Email List" section in the Signup Administration panel by checking the box and providing a mailing list name, such as "camporee2025". Once you've done that, authorized senders can send an email to camporee2025@yourdomain.mytroop.us (for example) and it will get routed to all registered attendees for the event.

Roster Import takes a CSV file in a particular format. If that CSV file was generated by Excel for MacOS, the user would see an error reported during the Verify or Import steps that the first row is missing from the CSV file.

This has been resolved, and Roster Import now works with CSV files from any source.

All MyGroup sites have been out of service since the 3/25/23 system-wide SOAR crash. Though we were able to bring MyTroop and MyPack sites online as quickly as possible, MyGroup has continued to remain offline until today.

We are now happy to announce that MyGroup is back online! Previous MyGroup sites have been restored and site owners have been notified via email.

As always, thank you for your patience as we worked through the myriad issues to bring MyGroup back to life. We are grateful for your ongoing support.

Following the server crash on 3/25/23, Meridian Computing took ownership of SOAR and transitioned the system to completely new infrastructure. Today we completed beta testing and began the process of restoring all troop and pack websites in batches.

Thank you for your patience during the recent site outage. The transition of company ownership and service restoration took some time, and we are grateful to those who stuck with us. Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you see issues related to your website or have suggestions for future improvements.

And now... Welcome back, and enjoy your website!

Security of the SOAR website services are of utmost importance to us. We do the following to ensure the security of your unit website and its data.

• All SOAR servers are dedicated servers. No other companies share space on our servers.
• All dedicated servers have firewalls to prevent administrative access from outside our offices.
• The operating system and all software components are kept up-to-date on any patches/upgrades.
• The SOAR service is based on an open source Content Management System (CMS) that is used widely across the internet and has been thoroughly tested.
  

Now that you know how to add graphics/images to content on your SOAR website, there are some more settings you may want to use to further control the behavior of displayed images.

Go back to the Rich Text Editor for a page. Click the Insert Image button.

The following options are available for your use:

Image URL

You can also type in the web address (URL) of an image already on the Internet. We recommend that you upload any images you want to use directly into your SOAR website though. This way you are guaranteed the image is available for your use. If you link to images on the Internet, they may disappear at some point without your knowledge.

Now that you have found and uploaded graphics/images to your SOAR website, it is time to add one of them to the content of one your your website pages.

For demonstration purposes we are going to add a graphic/image to your About Us page. The procedure below can be used anytime you see the Rich Text Editor.

Step by Step instructions

• Login to your SOAR website using an account that has Add Account/Leader or Administrative rights.
• On the Menu on the left, click on the About Us item.
  • Note: You may have changed the name of this page, find the page that is Public and describes your unit.

The easiest way to use graphics/images on your SOAR website is through the Rich Text Editor.

Do the following to turn on the Rich Text Editor for your SOAR website

Step by Step instructions

• Login to your SOAR website using an account that has Add Account/Leader or Administrative rights.
• On the Administrative menu on the left, click on the Control Panel menu item.
• Click on the Default Editor button.
• Click the checkbox for Rich Text
• If you want to use the Rich Text Editor for Announcements, also click the chekbox for "Use Rich Text Editor" in the Announcements section.
  

Now that you have a collection of graphics/images on your local computer, you need to get those images/graphics up on your SOAR website so you can use them.

For an image/graphic to be used on your SOAR website, it must be already on the Internet someplace. What better place to store them than directly inside your SOAR website.

SOAR provides two upload tools for you use to move graphics/images from your local computer onto your SOAR website.

Site Graphics

• This should be the primary tool you use for uploading graphics/images, unless you are uploading photos from a digital camera.
  

The first step is to find graphics/images that you want to use on your website.

If you already have images on your local computer that you want to use, congratulations you can skip to the next step.

Lets go find some graphics/images on the Internet that you can use.

Step by Step instructions

• Find a photo/image you want to use on the Internet in your browser
• Place your cursor over the image, and right-click the mouse
• A menu will come up with quite a few options
• Select the "Save Picture As" (Internet Explorer) option
  • For Mozilla this option will read "Save Image As"