Extending CRM Core
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The document presents an overview of 'CRM Core,' a set of modules for managing contacts within Drupal websites, highlighting recent enhancements such as integration with Drupal Commerce and improved matching engines. It emphasizes the platform's extensibility through features, detailing available features and best practices for planning and implementation. Additionally, it offers links to relevant resources and tools for developing and managing these features effectively.
Extending CRM Core
- 1. Extending CRM Core Presented at BADCamp 2013 by Michael Haggerty Chief Internet Strategist Trellon, LLC mhaggerty@trellon.com
- 2. Today’s Agenda About CRM Core Adding new features that extend the platform Planning for a feature Resources (including upcoming distros using CRM Core features) http://www.trellon.com
- 3. Today’s Agenda About CRM Core: where are we these days? http://www.trellon.com
- 4. About CRM Core CRM Core is a set of modules for managing contact information in a Drupal website Manages contacts, activities and relationships – and nothing else! Has a common set of tools that make it easier to manage contacts Dynamic form builder, for capturing contact information Contact matching engines, for finding duplicates User synchronization, for associating contacts and http://www.trellon.com users
- 5. About CRM Core Some recent enhancements Added integration with Drupal Commerce Have worked out rules integration, makes it possible to integrate with Mailchimp, Constant Contact Enhanced matching engines, people can now add their own custom tools for identifying duplicates Enhanced performance, added integration with entity_cache for larger sites New Views Bulk Operations for merging, householding, mass contact updates http://www.trellon.com
- 6. About CRM Core Have started releasing features for the system CRM Core is designed to be extended through the use of features Features extend the basic capabilities Features are portable, can be run in any Drupal website Standards for building features ensure there will be no conflicts http://www.trellon.com
- 7. Features that extend the platform Adding new features that extend the platform http://www.trellon.com
- 8. Features that extend the platform There are 4 features available for the system right now from Drupal.org: CRM Core Donation CRM Core Event CRM Core Petition CRM Core Volunteer http://www.trellon.com
- 9. Features that extend the platform What do they have in common? Common UI for deploying forms for integrating with content in your Drupal site Integration with other tools in Drupal: rules, panels, Drupal commerce Reports for each feature, with drag and drop controls for each item Features inline with those of commercial donor management systems http://www.trellon.com
- 10. Features that extend the platform What else do they have in common? Leverage mailhandler for sending HTML thank you emails Leverage Drupal commerce for processing payments Leverage Views Bulk Operations for unique operations Have strong source tracking support Have dates of receipt (in addition to date created) All the core entities are fieldable, can be controlled through Drupal’s web-based interface http://www.trellon.com
- 11. Features that extend the platform How do we keep it all from becoming a big mess? 2008 Trellon, LLC. Proprietary and confidential, not for distribution without prior written consent from Trellon.
- 12. Planning for a Feature Planning for a Feature http://www.trellon.com
- 13. Planning for a feature There are a lot of things that can go into a feature Content types CRM Core entities (contact types, activity types, relationship types) Views Rules Fields that get attached to other entities Custom code The list goes on http://www.trellon.com
- 14. Planning for a feature Planning for a feature involves looking down the road Documenting the various entities you are going to use Being specific about how they are going to be built Getting into details about how you plan to build each component Being specific about permissions and who can work with the feature Communication between developers and business analysts / project owners to make sure it’s going to come out right http://www.trellon.com
- 15. Planning for a feature There are some tools available to make your planning easier Use wireframes to describe your interfaces Balsamiq is a wonderful tool for planning features Take care to make sure they match other UIs in CRM Core Use features planning sheets to keep an inventory of what is going into your feature It is easy to overwrite views, content types, activity types over time Keep a checklist you can use to test against http://www.trellon.com
- 16. Planning for a feature You can ensure your features will work on any Drupal website by taking some simple steps Stick to the standards for building CRM Core Features They are published at https://drupal.org/node/1950984 The big ones to remember are Always use a unique namespace Always stick to the UI conventions Always respect the reserved paths http://www.trellon.com Try not to add fields to contact records
- 18. References CRM Core Project on Drupal.org drupal.org/project/crm_core drupal.org/project/crm_core_profile Features Planning Sheets Basic feature planning sheet: https://docs.google.com/a/trellon.com/spreadsheet/ccc? key=0AptZebevP-4dGhyWEowN2gtS09YZ25KUWxOWlNSbVE#gid=0 Example with contents already populated https://docs.google.com/a/trellon.com/spreadsheet/ccc? key=0AptZebevP-4dEctdm5Ud1BzOXFvUWxBREIybll2THc#gid=0 http://www.trellon.com
- 19. References Features for CRM Core drupal.org/project/crm_core_donation drupal.org/project/crm_core_event drupal.org/project/crm_core_petition drupal.org/project/crm_core_volunteer Install profiles for working with these features drupal.org/project/crm_core_donation_demo drupal.org/project/crm_core_event_demo drupal.org/project/crm_core_petition_demo drupal.org/project/crm_core_volunteer_demo http://www.trellon.com
- 20. References Distributions using CRM Core (besides the demo distros) drupal.org/project/ableorganizer (to be released November 2013) http://www.trellon.com
Editor's Notes
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