Background/Purpose:

The CMNC website should promote the goals of CMNC.  All aspects of the Website should be evaluated with CMNC goals in mind:

CMNC promotes the playing of chamber music by the amateur chamber-music-playing community in the San Francisco Bay area. We do this in two main ways:

  • by putting on three weekend chamber music workshops per year, and
  • by creating various community-building platforms, including the website CMNC.org, the CMNC Membership Directory, the CMNC newsletter The Chamber Musician, and a CMNC newsgroup.

The web site should therefore provide the infrastructure for CMNC music workshops as well as fostering related chamber music activities such as links to other chamber music related sites.

Chamber musicians need to be parts of different ensembles to address the diverse range of chamber music works or because the availability of musicians for ensembles changes in the short and medium terms.   Chamber musicians find that playing is more enjoyable if the members of performing ensembles have similar levels of abilities and where the works being performed are both diverse and match the abilities of abilities of the musicians playing.

[So, chamber musicians need to find other musicians of similar abilities and works consistent with such abilities to enhance their enjoyment of playing various chamber music works].

In evaluating the website and constructing the website, these goals should be kept in mind to increase the enjoyment of Bay Area chamber musicians and leads to the following Key Points of the CMNC website:

  1. Needs to have information regarding its members and their abilities so that ensembles can be formed to perform various works consistent with the abilities of the players
    1. At least in redacted form, this information should be available to Supporting Members to assist them in forming informal ensembles for performances in their homes.
  2. Needs to accommodate the Chamber Music Workshops including but not limited to member services, payment and advertising
  3. Provide information regarding various available works, the types of instruments and the level of abilities of the performers of some of the works.
  4. Provide a Music Library Catalog to help musicians understand the variety of music available for workshops.
  5. Provide newsletters and an archive of such newsletters to preserve organizational memory and celebrate community achievements.
  6. The target of the website should be amateur Bay Area musicians who wish to play in ad hoc chamber music ensembles.

Overall look and feel should appeal to Bay Area amateur chamber musicians.

Information available to members includes contact information, availability, skill and instruments of other members, newsletters, announcements, and workshop committee contact form.  Some information or cost reductions for workshops are only available to paid up members (in order to encourage a wider community).

The new site is an upgrade to current “modern” technology ensuring site usage seems familiar to members.   Infrastructure should be adaptable to new facilities.

New features that were created by the Website Team:

  • Renamed the two membership levels: Basic Membership and Supporting Membership.
    • These things haven’t changed:
      • Basic Membership is free, Supporting Membership is $40/year, and Basic Membership never expires.
      • When a Supporting Membership expires, it automatically reverts to Basic Member.
    • New: A Supporting Member has the option to receive reminders to re-up on subscription and/or auto-renew
    • Plans regarding bringing current CMNC members over to new website:
      • All Life Members will become Supporting Members with no expiration.
      • We can’t bring passwords so everyone will need to relog in and pick new password.
  • Created a Mailing List option where new visitors can opt to be on a mailing and receive emails on workshop announcement.
    • Will be run on MailChimp.
    • Will still need to join as Basic Member or Supporting Member to apply for a workshop
  • Changed name of CMNCList to CMNC Newsgroup
  • Changed the membership to expire one year after the application is submitted.
    • On the current cmnc.org, the Membership year expires on June 30.
      • New Memberships received before 2026-03-01 will expire at the end of this Membership year — 2026-06-30.
      • New Memberships received after 2026-03-01 will expire at the end of the next Membership year — 2027-06-30.
  • We have a new “Order History” feature so members can see past orders (workshops, donations, membership)
    • This can be used by the Board to see all orders and payments status on Board Admin page
  • We have a new “Workshop Hub” feature as a spot for workshop resource information — may supplement all those print outs and emails we do now.
  • Forms:
    • Prefilled form input fields for logged in users.
    • Database tables for each form can be viewed by admin users and exported as csv file.

Still “Work in Progress”

  • “Newsletter Gems” is now “From the Archives” — still going through what to keep from current website but we have some articles posted
  • Coach Bios — we are collecting this information
  • “Look and Feel” — photos, colors, logo are all place-holders for your comments but can be changed
  • Our Tag Line: “Come Play with Us!” is also a place holder — suggestions welcome!
  • General formatting of Forms — still being optimized but your comments welcome
  • Final language for updated Privacy Policy and Website Terms of Use (anyone want to tackle this?)
  • The link between the website data base and the Planner — a big task
  • Implementation of CMNC Newsgroup (formerly CMNCList)
  • Using features of PMPro we have invoices and payment status, know why people haven’t paid a fee (Financial Aid, Recruited to workshop), how they paid and payment status, and amount of donation. This information still needs to be combined with attendance status for each person who signed up for a workshop.
  • …various other minor details.

Known Bugs

There is no need to report these.

  • The application form for “Basic Member” is missing the checkbox titled “Copy the billing address used above”.

Feedback Process

We would like user feedback and plan to do this in two stages:

  • Phase 1: Board feedback (experienced website users and familiar with CMNC) – alpha testers
    • This is YOU. NOW.
    • Pages seen by Board Members are different than those seen by general public. We need your feedback as “members of general public” and CMNC Board Member. Once you have become a CMNC Basic Member or CMNC Supporting Member, please send an email to Carolyn to have one of your memberships be included as a CMNC Board Member and Membership Manager.
    • Would like feedback in 2-3 weeks so we can make updates for phase 2
  • Phase 2: Feedback from non-CMNC Board Members, non-CMNC chamber musicians or newly-minted CMNC members – beta testers
    • Please suggest chamber musician friends from the above description to serve as the beta testers

Our goal is to have this in place some time soon after the June workshop but before the September workshop, so it is important to have as thorough a test as possible.

General Instructions

We would like you thoroughly test the new CMNC website and give us feedback.

As part of this test, you will need to:

  • Create several accounts with different emails (e.g. at least one as Basic Member, at least one as Supporting Member, at least one as just member of the public signing up for the mailing list). See Test email addresses instructions below. We recommend tracking your new email addresses somewhere so you can use and reuse them as you test the website. You can use the same password for all accounts.
  • For any function that requires payment (signing up as supporting member, signing up for workshop, making a donation), DO NOT USE YOUR ACTUAL CREDIT CARD. Instead, use the fake credit card info below, and you can fill in any expiration date and CVC code. (See Credit Card below)
Test email addresses – each membership must have a different email

Thank you for your help

You will need a different email address for each membership.

How to create test email addresses

Use different email addresses for each membership. If you have gmail ( or hotmail, outlook and maybe fastmail ), you can add a “plus” to your name and it will still go to your mail box.

e.g. my gmail account is michigarrison@gmail.com

I can also use michigarrison+1@gmail.com, michigarrison+2@gmail.com, michigarrison+waldo@gmail.com, etc They will all go to my michigarrison@gmail.com inbox.

Credit Card to use for payments ( NOT YOURS )

Thank you for your comments.

For any function that requires payment (signing up as supporting member, signing up for workshop, making a donation), DO NOT USE YOUR ACTUAL CREDIT CARD. Instead, use the fake credit card info below, and you can fill in any expiration date and CVC code.

How to use Test Visa for payments

Use the following Visa test card details during checkout:

  • Card Number: 4242 4242 4242 4242
  • Expiration Date: Any future date
  • CVC: Any three digits (e.g., 123)
  • Zip/Postal Code: Any valid code

Hints:

If you cannot see the header, address bar, or toolbar in Safari on your Mac:

It is likely that you are in Full Screen mode, have hidden the toolbar, or are using a compact tab layout. To exit Full Screen mode press the Esc (Escape) key on your keyboard.

If the font on the forms is too small you can make it larger:
  • If on PC: Press Ctrl+ to make font larger
  • If on Mac: Press Command+)

Hints:

If the font on the forms is too small you can make it larger:
  • If on PC: Press Ctrl+ to make font larger
  • If on Mac: Press Command+)
If you cannot see the header, address bar, or toolbar in Safari on your Mac:

It is likely that you are in Full Screen mode, have hidden the toolbar, or are using a compact tab layout. To exit Full Screen mode press the Esc (Escape) key on your keyboard.

For this test, you will open and fill out these forms:

Form A: Explore Website, provide general feedback

Form B: Look at every page and provide feedback

We value your feedback!

Form C: Check out public website forms (not logged in)

We value your feedback!

Form D: Join as Basic Member and check out website function

Thanks in advance for your comments!

Please use this form at least once (twice for “extra credit” with another email):

  • A “Basic Member” with no donation
  • A “Basic Member” with a donation (not required – “extra credit”)
    • With the donation, you will need to use the Test credit card (see above).
    • If you have already gone through all the below pages as a “Basic Member”, the only page you need to evaluate is the Order History and be sure to look for “Donation” amount.
Form E: Join as Supporting Member check out website function

Thank you for your comments.

Please use this form at least once (twice for “extra credit” with another email):

  • A “Supporting Member” with no donation
  • A “Supporting Member” with a donation (not required – “extra credit”)
    • If you have already gone through all the below pages as a “Supporting Member”, you only page you need to evaluate is the Order History and be sure to look for “Donation” amount.
Form F: Apply for Workshop as Basic Member

We value your feedback!

Please use this form to evaluate workshop signup experience. Please evaluate these sign up options, the emails you received and usefulness of the Member Account page.

Tests: Please use this form at least once (twice for “extra credit” with another email):

  • Test 1:
    • Sign up for workshop Both days
      • As a “new” player
      • Add donation
      • Make one instrument a violin
    • Go to “Workshop Hub”
    • Verify correct workshop sign up
    • Request music from our librarian using the Assigned music request form.
    • Fill out evaluation for workshop Both days
  • Test 2: (not required – “extra credit”)
    • Sign in with different membership account for Saturday
      • As a returning player
      • Preformed group
    • Go to “Workshop Hub”
    • Verify correct workshop sign up
    • Fill out evaluation for workshop Saturday
Form G: Apply for Workshop as Supporting Member

We appreciate your input!

Please use this form to evaluate workshop signup experience. Please evaluate these sign up options, the emails you received and usefulness of the Member Account page.

This will require to different membership accounts so you can try appying to the workshop with and without financial aid.

Tests: Please use this form at least once (twice for “extra credit” with another email):

  • Test 1:
    • SIgn up for workshop Both days
      • As a Preformed group
      • Request Financial Aid
    • Go to “Workshop Hub”
    • Verify correct workshop sign up
    • Fill out evaluation for workshop Both days
  • Test 2: (not required – “extra credit”)
    • Sign up for workshop on Sunday
      • As a new player
      • Add donation
      • No Financial Aid
    • Go to “Workshop Hub”
    • Verify correct workshop sign up
    • Request music from our librarian using the Assigned music request form.
    • Fill out evaluation for workshop Sunday
Form H: Apply to Workshop as “Recruited Player” (A new feature for new website – “extra credit”)

Your input is appreciated!

To become a CMNC Recruited Player on the website, you need to send an email to Michi or Carolyn. They will edit your membership levels to include “CMNC Recruited Player” and let you know you are ready to evaluate signing up for a workshop as a “CMNC Recruited Player”.

Please use this form to evaluate workshop signup experience. Please evaluate these sign up options, the emails you received and usefulness of the Member Account page.

One test:

  • Sign up for workshop on Sunday
    • As a returning player
    • Add donation
  • Go to “Workshop Hub”
  • Verify correct workshop sign up
  • Request music from our librarian using the Assigned music request form.
  • Fill out evaluation for workshop Sunday