After logging in, select "My Profile" under the "My Account" tab and set up the following items (you will only have to do this once, although you will be able to update and modify the information whenever you like). Vendor versus Vendor OwnerAs a Vendor Member of Master Wedding Planner.com (MWP), you may have two different roles. First, when a Wedding Planner creates an Event within MWP that you are involved in, you will have all the functionality of a Vendor as defined within the system. However, there are times where no Wedding Planner is involved with an Event and you will still want to use MWP to manage all of your activities and to be able to combine the information for all of the Events you are involved in, so unless another Vendor has already created the Event in MWP and added you, you will be the one to create the Event within MWP. When that happens, you will be the "Event Owner Vendor." As the Event Owner, you will be the one to add the Event Participants, assign them permissions, and add other Vendors to MWP so you are all working on the same page with the same information. Consequently, as you read the next four sections, you should keep in mind that you may be either the Vendor or the Event Owner Vendor. Timeline Groups Use this section to set up your Event Timeline Groups. As indicated above, you can create as many as you need. Then once you create a new Event, just select the Timeline Group that you want and they will all be associated with your event. You can then delete any Timeline Items you did not want for that Event or add new ones. Finally, once you create a Timeline Group, if you want to create a similar Group, simply copy (shown as Clone) one Group into a new Group with a different name and then add, modify delete items in the new Group until it is as you like. And as mentioned above in the discussion of Vendor or Event Owner Vendor, you may want to create two separate Timeline Groups, those you will be adding to the Event as a Vendor (items specific to you) and those you will be adding as an Event Vendor Owner (items that would apply to the entire Event). Add New Timeline Item screen Checklist Groups Use this section to create a list of all the things that need to be done by not only the wedding party, but the vendors as well. With a Checklist item, not only can you assign responsibility to a specific individual, you also specify how far out in front of the event (in weeks) the Item should be completed, and when you want an email reminder. Additionally, when adding Event Participants, you will be able to automatically assign responsibilities. For example, if a Bride has responsibility for 15 items in a specific Checklist Group, when you create an Event and add a Bride to the Event, a simple check in a checkbox will add all 15 items to the Bride. Finally, you can create Clone copies of Checklist Groups without having to create them from scratch similar to the description above. Again, you may want to set up two types of Checklist Groups, those for a Vendor and those for the Event Owner Vendor. Add New Checklist Item screen Budget GroupsCreating these items is limited to when a Wedding Planner or a Bride is the Event Owner and creating the Event. MWP is designed to prevent one Vendor from knowing the dollar amounts and dollar details of another Vendor so the only dollar Budget information that will be available to you is that which applies to your involvement. Consequently, you do not have Budget Groups. However, we are providing screen samples so you will see what is available to Wedding Planners and Brides. However, if the Event Owner is either a Wedding Planner or a Bride, you will be able to access the Contract Details and Payment Plan screens contained in the Vendor Quick Start Guide for Managing and Event. Add New Budget Item screen Acceptable Payment Methods Enter the types of payments you accept. For example, do you accept credit cards. This information might help another vendor that is looking for someone that accepts credit cards. Available Services Same as with Payment Methods above. Enter the types of Available Services you offer. Tracking your EventWhen an Event Owner first creates an Event, the status of the five items below will be created as "General." However, if you would like to keep track of the source of the referral, type of service you will be providing, the status of the contract, etc., you can modify the Event information as it applies to you and update it to reflect more specific status. To do that, you need to create appropriate entries in the next five sections so they will be available to you once the Event has been created by someone else, or if you are the Event Owner, by you. Event Contract Status Options Use this section to categorize your contracts. For example, you could enter "Inquiry" to show it was not really a confirmed contract yet, but you could still keep track of all the pertinent information. Also, when you create an option, you can indicate whether it will appear on the main page of My Events or on a secondary page. Event Type Options Enter the types of Events you are involved in. For example, Wedding, Bar Mitzvah, Anniversary, Graduation, etc. Having entered an option here enables you to select it when you create a new Event. Event Services Provided Options Enter the types of Service you offer and generally bill for. For example, Package 3, Full Service, Day of Service only, Hourly, etc. Again, having entered them here enables you to select then when creating a new Event. Event Referral Source Options Enter the sources of referrals you would like to track. Be as specific as your needs dictate. For example, you might list magazines, or if you need to know, list specific magazine titles. You could also enter Friend, Internet, Phone Book, etc. This will enable you to generate a Referral Report indicating the source of all your Events and let you know where your advertising dollars or marketing efforts are best spent. Event Primary Locale Options Enter the locales where you participate in Events. Again, be as specific as your needs dictate. You could list a general category for churches, or list specific churches. Having this list will enable you to select this option when creating a new Event, but will also enable you to locate vendors who have participated with you at the same locale -- possibly an indication of someone that is familiar with that locale. My Staff If your membership includes multiple users, select "My Staff" under the "My Account" tab. You can add as many Active staff as indicated in the Add New Staff link. If a staff member no longer works for you, simply move them to the Inactive list by unchecking Active and you will have one more available staff member to add. Also, when adding a new staff member, you can set their permissions based on their role. For example, you might give a new intern "View/Add" permissions for a specific function, "None" for another, and "View" for the rest, whereas you might give your partner "View/Add/Modify/Delete" permissions for all functions. Also, if your staff member prefers not to receive emails (from others or system reminders), simply check "No Emails." Add New Staff screen My Vendors Use this section to select or enter the Vendors you are working with. For Vendors that are Members of MasterWeddingPlanner.com, it is as quick as selecting their name and they will automatically be available to you for selecting for future Events. For Vendors that are not yet members of MasterWeddingPlanner.com, you must enter basic information about them and they will be added to your list of Available Vendors. To do this, select "My Vendors" under the "My Account" tab. You will see a list of all Available Vendors you have previously added (none initially) from which you can select for an Event. Click "Add New Vendor" and you will then select the State and Vendor Type. Finally, you will see a list of the Members of MasterWeddingPlanner.com to select from or you can add the Vendor as a Vendor Guest with far fewer options available to Members, however, they will still be able to perform most operations for your Event. Note: As a Guest Vendor, their ID and Password will only work for the Events you select them for -- if another Wedding Planner or Vendor adds them to their list of available Vendors, they will have a separate ID and password for their Events. Add New Vendor screen My Contacts Use this section as a Contact Manager to manage all the contact information across all Events. Whenever you want to track and be reminded of conversations, commitments, due dates, etc., create a Contact here so they will be available to select for any of the Events you are associated with. Once you enter your Contact's information, you can then enter Action Items that need to be tracked or you can set up reminders by creating a Follow-up Schedule where you can be reminded once, weekly, monthly or yearly for a specific period of time or indefinitely. To set up your contacts now, select "My Contacts" under the "My Account" tab and begin entering their names. You will obviously return to this section often as you establish new contacts. Add New Contact screen View Contact screen Add New Follow-up Schedule screen You are now ready to begin entering Events by clicking on "My Events" under the "My Account" tab. You can also review the Quick Start Guide (Managing an Event) to assist you until you become more familiar with all the functionality contained in MasterWeddingPlanner.com