Offsite Services
This page is a summary of all the off-site/third-party/could services utilized by Asmbly and how we use them.
Current Systems
Neon
Neon is our member management system. We intend for it to be the sole interface for administrative tasks and the source of truth for member authentication and authorization. We've been pretty successful at the latter, less so with the former -- board members and some volunteer leads still juggle multiple dashboards to some extent.
Neon account creation starts with the Join Form on the website. Existing users may log into Neon at https://asmbly.z2systems.com/login.jsp
Neon is a cloud service and has an API
OpenPath
OpenPath is our access control system. It has its own user database, but that database is automatically synced with Neon account information. Board members and some stewards have permission to access the OpenPath dashboard to modify user permissions, view access logs, and suchlike.
OpenPath is a cloud service and has an API
Skedda
Skedda is the group calendaring tool we're using to schedule access to the space.
Skedda has its own credential database that requires manual management of user permissions. It also unfortunately lacks any kind of published API. We have a medium-term goal of implementing some mechanism to update Skedda automatically based on member status changes in Neon, but no work is being done on that project at this time.
For permission to book Asmbly spaces on Skedda, you must first sign up using the private invitation link you can find in your subscription acknowledgement email or the members-only message area of Discourse. https://yo.asmbly.org/t/skedda-invite-link/203. You might be signed into Discourse and you must be a member of the "makers" (paying members) group to view the link.
Once you have created your Skedda account, you can log into Skedda directly at https://asmbly.skedda.com.
Discourse
Discourse is the software that powers the Asmbly discussion site https://yo.asmbly.org/
Discourse maintains its own credential database that requires manual management of user permissions. We have some periodic maintenance scripts that update Discourse users automatically in response to member status changes. As of now we don't plan to change Discourse to authenticate directly against Neon, because we can have Discourse users who are not and have never been Asmbly members and we don't want to put a bunch of non-members in Neon.
Asmbly Discourse is hosted off site and has an API
Mediawiki
The Asmbly wiki runs on Mediawiki, as does the legacy ATXHS wiki. We're keeping the ATXHS wiki online for historical interest but not adding any new users.
The Asmbly wiki authenticates users via Discourse -- if you have an Asmbly Discourse account, you also have a wiki account.
Both wikis are hosted off site.
SignNow
Some time back we switched our e-sign stuff from Smartwaiver to SignNow. New-and-improve features include emailing signers copies of their documents, and uploading them to Asmbly's Gdrive. SignNow *kind of* has an API -- it can trigger Zapier, which is good enough for us.
Zapier
Zapier is a sorta no-code cloud workflow automation service. It supports limited webhook-style automations, but fortunately one of the actions is "execute arbitrary Python code" so we can do whatever we want in response to a SignNow document or Google Forms submission.
Mailchimp
Mailchimp is used for our email announcements and monthly(ish) update / newsletter mailings.
Users may sign up for the list here Users may unsubscribe from the list using personalized links in the footer of each Mailchimp email.
( Administrative question: Are users automatically added to the mail chimp list at some point in the signup process? )
Mailchimp is a cloud service and has an API
Wordpress
The public-facing website runs on Wordpress.
Wordpress is hosted off site and has an API
QuickBooks
We use QuickBooks for our banking and accounts payable. Instructors are paid via QuickBooks.
PayPal
We use PayPal for generating miscellaneous invoices, including Co-Working and storage rentals. This is partially a workaround for the fact that Neon doesn't support multiple concurrent subscriptions for a user (ie you couldn't have both a membership subscription and a storage rental subscription that both automatically renew month-to-month)
Google Workspace
Space leadership uses Google Workspace for mail, document sharing, the usual office stuff. As a non-profit organization we can use it free of charge.
Slack
Space leadership uses Slack for day-to-day operational communications.
Deprecated Services
Smartwaiver
We used to use Smartwaiver for tracking liability waivers from members and visitors. All active e-sign documents have been moved to SignNow, but we maintain our SmartWaiver account so we can access the document archive.
Freshbooks
ATXHS used to use Freshbooks for member invoicing before they switched to Neon. We still have some old-school members who never bothered to make Neon accounts, so we're keeping Freshbooks around as long as they keep renewing their memberships.
Since a Neon account is required for facility access via OpenPath, any remaining Freshbooks members are basically inactive supporters. We appreciate them!
