Key iMIS Glossary Terms
We've handpicked our favourite iMIS terms and association concepts from the new ASI Glossary list. To continue your learning access via the ASI site .
A-C
Activity - An iMIS record of a predefined type of interaction with a customer. For example, a cash donation generates a GIFT activity, conference attendance generates a MEETING activity, a solicitation generates a REQUEST activity.
Advanced Solutions International - The company behind iMIS. The year 2020 marks its 29th year in business, having served more than 4,000 clients.
Annual conference site - An out-of-the-box site, designed to support critical projects such as an association’s annual conference. This site maximizes the impact of the project without affecting the main association site or micro sites from different years, while still seamlessly integrating content between the various sites.
Batch - A group or collection of transactions of the same general type, identified by a unique name or number. The transactions might be batched together by date or by other parameters.
Bill Begin - Projected begin date for an individual dues or subscription product. Refers to the first date of a term through which the item has been billed, whether or not payment has been received.
Bill to ID - Refers to whomever is responsible for paying the registrant's event fees. This might be the registrant or, as in many cases, a third party such as the registrant's company or employer. When a Bill to ID party is identified, all accounting and invoice transactions are tracked under the Bill to ID ID. However, all participation history continues to be tracked under the individual registrant's ID (if represented in the customer database).
Breadcrumb - Text showing the sitemap of a visited page that appears automatically on every site. These navigation areas must be enabled globally in the website’s sitemap.
Business object - A collection of self-contained data that represents an entity or process, and shields the physical data.
Business object designer - An administrative tool for viewing, editing, and creating iMIS business objects that provides a graphical user interface to the properties related to business objects.
Chapter - Method to organize contacts by regional areas.
Communities - An online forum that lets a group collaborate on projects, share knowledge, communicate and connect with others, and stay in touch using email subscriptions.
Company flow down - A way to join customers through the organization ID. You can flow down data such as address, phone, and so forth, from the organization ID to the customer record joined by the organization ID.
Confirmation - A letter or notice that is sent to a registrant, confirming receipt of a registration and listing any fees. A confirmation usually lists all of the functions the registrant selected and other details and instructions the registrant included, such as guest information. It might show the current status of the registration and include specific or general comments about the upcoming event, such as instructions for signing in on arrival and reminders of what materials to bring to the event.
Contact - Contacts are searchable, can be edited and updated, and can be linked to companies, committees, and workflows.
Contact status - Method to indicate standing within the organization for specific actions, communications, and workflows. Includes the following defaults:
A – Active
S – Suspended
I – Inactive
D – Mark for Deletion
Core Content – Standard, out-of-the-box pages which provide core functionality and are generally shared across multiple websites.
Shared Content – Pages shared across multiple websites so layout and content changes can be made in one place.
Website-specific content – Pages that are designed specifically for the needs of a single website (can still be shared with others).
Content authority group - A special type of iMIS security group whose members have permissions that are specific only to iMIS content management functionality. Content authority groups are also used to enable content authoring workflow.
Content code - A tool used to help differentiate content records stored in different content folders with the same Publish file name.
Content gallery - The location of the iMIS content items as well as traditional content types.
Content items - The unique components of core iMIS functionality that can be placed together on a content page. They are flexible, re-usable and powerful. Most core iMIS functionally is available as content items.
Content layout - An iMIS definition object that contains information for how the content zones of a content page will be arranged. A content layout defines only the arrangement of elements that will be displayed for a content page within the main content area. A content layout does not define the overall layout of the website, which is defined by the site's master page.
Content Management System - A software application that manages digital assets, typically web content. iMIS is the only software product for associations with a built-in CMS, called RiSE, so business system and websites come from the same source with countless benefits.
Content page - An iMIS definition object that contains the content layout information and content items needed to render a web page.
Content record - An iMIS definition object stored in the Document System that specifies all the information needed to render a web page for an iMIS-controlled website.
Content tagging - A method of categorizing website content that helps users retrieve information.
Content type - A registered content item definition that includes the information required by RiSE to configure, publish, and display the content item.
Continuous Performance Improvement Machine - A software system that automatically advances an organization towards achieving its goals, operating with the efficiency of a Machine.
Continuum - The reporting system for iMIS. Can be accessed through the Staff site.
Customer type - Categories of membership that define the membership levels and amount charged for membership, or dues and subscriptions.
D-Q
Dashboard - The landing page for each of the main navigation areas of the staff site. It provides a quick view of important, up-to-date association contact and membership figures. This information-management tool visually tracks, analyzes and automatically displays key performance indicators (KPIs), metrics, and important data points to monitor the health of an organization, department or specific process. Typically, dashboards can be tailored easily to meet specific needs.
Database - An interactive collection of related information that is organized into meaningful units (files, records, fields, graphics, and photos) for storing and accessing in order to facilitate searching and updating information.
Data Silos - Separate, unconnected data files resulting in inefficiencies and duplicate effort.
Deferred income - The principle of accounting in which the recording of income is deferred until the accounting period when the costs are incurred, related to the generation of the income. For example, for an event, the deferred income is recorded during the month in which the event occurs. For a subscription or membership, it is typically spread evenly across the span of service.
Due To-Due from processing - A means of correcting balancing problems when a payment is received and is deposited to an account that is owned by an entity other than the owner-entity of the gift or pledge. Due To-Due From entries are generated when transactions are sent to the General Ledger.
Dues - Membership fees charged to customers.
Easy edit - An icon that enables staff users to edit and configure content items and content directly, rather than through the formal content management process.
Effective date - The date used to determine which customers will be billed. Normally, a customer or subscriber will be billed if they have met the billing selection criteria, their Paid Thru date is before the Effective Date, and if a renewal has not already been generated. If you want to override the Effective Date, make the change after selecting a billing cycle. If you change the Effective Date and then select a billing cycle, the Effective Date reverts to the default.
Engagement Management System - A Modern System like the iMIS EMS platform, designed to evaluate and increase the level of involvement of its constituents.
Engagement Scoring - An automatic method of measuring the level of engagement of an organization's constituents.
Event code - A tool used to help differentiate event records stored in different content folders with the same Publish file name.
Event coordinator - An individual who is responsible for managing the planning and/or operation of the event or some aspect of the event.
Event showcase - The detailed display of information about an event. The showcase can include images and a variety of information.
Field - An individual data element contained within a record. A field might appear in a data maintenance window in the form of a labelled text box or option. The components of the customer name in the Customer Portfolio, for example, are all fields. Note that field might be referred to as a column in certain cases.
General ledger - The final record of the transactions affecting an entity. The ledger contains one page for each account.
General/lookup validation table - A table an administrator creates in the iMIS database that contains the valid values for a given field. See General lookup tables for more information.
GL account - An individual account within the Chart of Accounts that is used to record a financial amount in a journal entry.
Guided performance scorecard - A feature in Continuum which measures organizational performance. A report that provides a visual representation of association performance in several key areas including recruitment, engagement, and growth.
ID - The numerical representation assigned to a customer or organization.
Dynamic content items - Also known as iParts. The unique components of core iMIS functionality that can be placed together on a content page (similar to widgets). They are flexible, re-usable and powerful. Most core iMIS functionally is available as dynamic content items. It is an ASP.NET web part control designed for integration with iMIS that allows users to view and, in some cases, create and edit content.
iMIS - ASI's flagship software product, used by more associations than any other product.
iMIS EMS Platform - The latest version of the iMIS system — a purpose-built EMS with CRM functionality for associations that operates without a desktop presence. Among its many benefits are automatic updates.
iMIS website - Any website that is installed or updated as part of the iMIS standard installation or upgrade process - Core sites and Quick Start Sites. Changes to these websites (including navigation and related content) are always overwritten by subsequent upgrades.
iNNOVATIONS - ASI's yearly conference where ASI Staff, Partners and Clients meet to explore the latest company and iMIS product developments.
IQA - Intelligent Query Architect. The query-building tool used to extract data from the iMIS database.
Join date - Date on which an individual became a member of a group.
Member responsive site - An out-of-the-box iMIS site that renders a version of the Member site that is optimized for Responsive Web Design. This version is formatted to be accessed across a variety of devices, and respond dynamically to the variations in device screen sizes. This site is accessible by your association members and by your staff who are working remotely or with a mobile device.
Object - In IQA, the self-contained element that consists of instructions to manipulate data. For example, a business object or query object.
On behalf of - Performing an action in place of another person.
One Source of Truth - The data requirement that must be there to enable correct decision making. Data must be accurate and comprehensive coming from every aspect of the system, including finance and activity history. Data must be up to date and easily accessible. Data must be secure and PCI-compliant.
Page Builder - A content management tool that allows organizations to build and manage pages of text, multimedia files, and iMIS content items; used for building web pages comprising content items in the Content Gallery. Formerly known as Content Designer.
Paid Thru - Refers to the expiration date of the membership or subscription, or the period through which the customer has paid. It is always the last day of the month.
Personalized Web Experience - The ability to deliver automatically different content suitable to different profile groups or individuals.
Quick start sites - Out-of-the-box iMIS websites that are easily copied in order to create customized sites for an organization. Sites include Member Responsive, Donor, Annual Conference, and Annual Conference Mobile. These ready-to-go sites and site templates get you up and running in hours, instead of weeks or months. Formerly known as Sample Sites.
R-U
Record - A record is an individual unit within a table that consists of a collection of fields, which are consistent in number and type from one record to the next. For example, there is separate record for each individual or company whose information is contained in iMIS. Records are sometimes referred to as table rows.
Recruit, Engage, Measure and Grow - The cycle of activities important to every association advanced by the Continuous Performance Improvement Machine that is the iMIS product.
Reporting - A set of tools in iMIS that can be used for a wide range of tasks. Reports span a broad range of outputs, for all of the iMIS modules, including rosters, status summaries, letters, badges, and statistical reports.
RiSE - The website content management system that is a native, integral part of iMIS.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - The process of affecting the visibility of a website or a web page in a search engine's natural search results. iMIS users can customize their websites using tags, article titles, quality content, and intuitive links to maximize their SEO.
Staff site - Offers an easy, cloud-based, convenient way for staff to manage association business from the web. Staff can complete transactions and updates for contacts, assist in renewal, registration, and purchasing. The site also allows staff users to run reports, create and manage events, and utilize the robust RiSE tools, all on the way to moving to a fully web-based system.
Tagged list - Listing of content tagged with a specific keyword and, optionally, related tags. A content item which aggregates content pages that contain specified tags and satisfy other defined criteria into a display list. The tagged list definition includes an association with a tagged list format that defines how the aggregated content will be displayed.
User-defined field - A method to add metadata to content and to filter search results.