Vereniging 2.0

What is Vereniging 2.0?

Verenging 2.0 is a software which is used to manage member lists of clubs and associations. This are not only addresses, phone numbers, etc., but for example also information about the work of the members, so other members can view this data. A big advantage of Verenigng 2.0 is, that members can manage their own data. The member system offers other functions like the generation of serial letters and the management of email lists.

What does the name mean?

The name Vereniging is Dutch and means club or association.

Where did it originate?

During my university time, I was a member in the student community K.A.V. Alcuinus. Here the member list was an Excel spreadsheet, with the obvious disadvantages like who has the current version of the list, where can changes be entered, etc. To solve these problems, I started developing a member management system using PHP and MySQL, which grew steadily with more and more functions over some years. This system is still in use today and is meanwhile also used by the alumni-club K.A.V. Alcuinus, while both clubs are using the same database.

After I became a member of the German-Dutch Community Aachen, I also wanted to use the system here. Since the structure of this community was different and the source code needed some revision, I rewrote the complete system bit by bit. Within the DNG this new system is operational since 2008. Unfortunately the changes where that large that it was not possible anymore to use these in the original system.

This is why I decided to rewrite the complete system once more, so both clubs can use the same system. This also enables other clubs to use the system. With this in mind, I also created these pages.

Problems with the old systems

Both systems have been developed specially for a certain club, which is a few disadvantages:

• The layout is directly connected to the internet site of the club.
• The structure of the club can be found directly in the database structure and can't be changed.
• It is not possible to move the system to another server, since several settings always have to be changed manually.
• There is no documentation, which makes it very difficult to understand the system and write own modules for it.

Planned features

In the new system, which I named Vereniging 2.0, the following features are planned:

General

• Felxible strucure, so the system can be adapted to the structure of the club.
• Separation between content and layout, so the system can be adapted to the layout of the clubs internet page.
• Simple integration of additional languages and an integrated translation system.
• User rights system, so the users can get different rights for features in the system.

Data management

• Storage of all member data which is needed for the club to function.
• Member access so members can view and update their own data.
• Management of board and team functions.

Other features

• Management of MajorDomo mailing lists.
• Generation of serial letters.
• Picture list of the members.
• Export of data in several formats, e.g. PDF member list or member list for the treasurer.
• Management of club documents, intenally only for board members, but also for other members.