Some villages have more than 100 different kinds of services that they offer to members. These can be organized into a smaller number of categories to make them easier to find and manage.
Adding a Category
Navigate to the Control Panel, Services Tab, Setup, Services.
Click Manage Categories.
Click Add Category.
- Enter a category name and select the most appropriate grouping from the standard list.
- Check the Visible box to offer the service category and display it as an option when creating service requests. If you need to stop offering a particular service category in the future, you can uncheck it.
- Check the Transportation Request box if this category will be for transportation-related services. This setting controls which services are displayed for transportation requests and which for non-transportation requests.
- If the “Find a Contractor” module is enabled, check this box to include service requests from this category. This option is typically only checked for service requests being filled by contractors, where a fee applies (see Find a Village Contractor).
- Check the Include in Open Requests Email to include service requests in the category in Automatic Open Request emails (see ).
- Determine if the services in the category will be available to everyone or specific member types only.
When members request a service from their member profile, only categories and individual services that are open to them are shown (see Enabling Member-Entered Requests). When a staff member adds a Service Request from the backend and chooses the member, the system will only show categories available to them.
- You can also select a text and background color for each category. Clicking one of the color options displays a color picker with multiple options. Use the “Web Palette” option to pick a color that can safely be rendered on all types of computers and browsers.
Grouping only appears if your Village participates in the Village Data Sharing Project and you have opted in from the Control Panel > Service Tab > Setup > Service Options. This data sharing allows the Village-to-Village Network to aggregate anonymous data on the services being offered to participants.
Assigning Member Types to a Service
Back on the Service Category screen, for any service limited to specific member types, you'll need to select the member types. Click the Member Types icon and check the boxes next to the member types you want to offer the service to.