Volunteer Web Portal 16
PBI Web Portal 16 Introduction
PBI Web Portal 16 Staff Interaction
PBI Web Portal 16 PBI Attorney Interaction
Enhancements
Video Help System
Within the menu of the Portal, attorneys have the ability to access a new video-based help system. The menu item is shown in Figure 1 and the actual web help system page is shown in Figure 2.
When an attorney clicks on a link in the Portal Help System, a video shows them how to use the feature. Staff have a similar video help system available to them, shown in Figure 3.
Dashboard
Once an attorney logs on, they are taken to the main menu page. This enhanced page has a dashboard showing various charts relating to the past cases they’ve taken, as well as information on the organization itself. An example dashboard is shown in Figure 4.
Graphs across the top of the dashboard apply only to the attorney. From the left, (1) the number of cases accepted, by month, for the last six months, (2) the total hours provided, by month, for the last six months, and (3) the total number of cases taken. Graphs along the bottom of the dashboard apply to the whole organization. From the left, (1) the number of accepted cases, by month, for the last six months, (2) the total hours provided, by month, for the last six months, and (3) the total number of cases that are waiting assignment.
Redesigned Menu Interface
The menu interface in version 16, has moved from the middle to the top of the screen. The menu shows additional choices when a mouse is placed over it, as shown in Figure 5.
File Upload
In previous versions, an attorney was limited to uploading one document at a time. Additionally, that document had to be 4 megabytes or smaller. Version 16 allows the selection of multiple files for upload. Additionally, those file are no longer subject to the 4-megabyte file size limitation. Figure 6 shows this new interface.
Email Notifications
Email notifications are enhanced. They now contain additional, helpful information, such as the name of the attorney involved, and the name and case number of the client.
Enhancements in Private Bar Portal 16 version 2
Mobile-friendly Responsiveness
Several new enhancements have been made in version 2. The first, major enhancement is a redesign of the website for responsiveness. Every page in the website has been modified to enhance user viewing whether in a desktop or mobile environment. Each web page will change its layout depending on the size of the screen available. Although there are some controls in some pages that cannot be adequately displayed in very small screens, the responsive design makes the use of those controls easier in smaller screens. Please note that as a result of its responsiveness, the images of web pages shown herein are representative only. Each page may appear slightly different based on the dimensions of the screen available. A page viewed on a small mobile device will look remarkably different from the same page viewed on a full-sized, desktop monitor.
Waiting Case Screening
Waiting cases were previously screened using a three-phase process (review of a basic note about the case, review of conflict information, review of client information) with each phase being displayed in a separate web page. Each phase is now taken care of in a single, responsive page, making the process simpler to manage with fewer web pages.
Document Download MIME Mapping
Downloaded documents are now put through a MIME mapping system. This helps the receiving device know the type of the document and what program or interface it should provide to open or display that document. On mobile devices, this can help by displaying the document within the web interface for easy use.
Email Setup
The web system uses email settings to send email notices to you as well as to the attorney (for example, in the event the attorney forgets his password). Since the system will send email, an email account for sending email is necessary. We suggest that this be a “send only” email account. In other words, the email should not be someone’s live account. You may still want to have someone monitor that account occasionally. Some organizations have chosen to establish an account called “DoNotReply”, with a name of “Do Not Reply”, so that the person receiving the email is notified by the name of the sender that they should not reply. So, for example, an email might come from the email address: DoNotReply@YourOrganizationDomain.com For system notifications, for example a new attorney registration or an attorney adding time to a case, we suggest that a group email be established to receive those notifications with more than one staff person being members of that group. Some organizations have chosen to establish a group email called “PBI Website Group”, with email being sent from the Portal to an email address something like: PBIWebsiteGroup@YourOrganizationDomain.com We suggest a group email instead of a single staff person for a reason: if email is sent to a single staff person and that staff person leaves, email notifications may not be received by anyone. With a group, there is the hope that remaining staff people would realize that one staff leaving would necessitate another being added to the group.
System Setup
Some settings are necessary for the setup and use of the system. These settings are stored in a new table called PBIWebPortalSettings using a form named fPBIWebPortalSettings, shown in Figure 60.
The settings shown include the email server settings (address, port, security), credentials of the email “user” that will be sending the email (username, password), the email address that will receive notification emails (address), whether the organization uses PBI Time Slips or Compensated Time Slips, whether the organization wants to track changes to cases in the case notes, what staff number should be used to make entries in the system, and the office number that should be used in entries in the system. The final box must always be TRUE, and it notes that it allows only one row in the table. If you try to add more than one row, you will receive an error. Additionally, the staff number and office number must exist in the system. You cannot use a nonsensical number for either. Generally, these are set to 9999 and entered in the SMEMBER and SUBOFFICE tables.
These settings were, in previous versions, stored in the website itself. However, they have been moved to the database to make them easier to change.
For testing purposes, to ensure your site is working properly, you may have to either (1) hijack an existing volunteer lawyer in your system and use his/her credentials in the website, or (2) create a dummy volunteer lawyer entry (e.g., first name: Test and last name: Test) and use it for your testing. We would suggest a dummy lawyer entry, as it is easiest to recognize entries with a dummy lawyer. The same thing is true for cases, you may want to enter a test client/case in Prime, then use it for testing purposes in the website.