The Manor Lands Board of Directors has wanted to change the website for some time. We're really excited about the new site, and we hope you enjoy it. This page will detail some of the reasons we made the switch, and some of the things that are different.
Special Note: The old site was created an managed by Cyndi Kindred, who volunteered for nearly 15 years, even after she no longer had property in Manor Lands. That kind of dedication and longevity to support our community deserves a lot of thanks, and praise. Cyndi was ready to hand the volunteer job off to somebody else, but we are grateful for all the hard work she put in over the years. Thank you Cyndi, you're very appreciated.
The details below, should not be read as any sort of complaints about Cyndi, but rather a degradation in service quality we received from our previous service provider.
Common issues with the old website and email service
"I'm not getting the emails".
We'd verify the email address was on the Email List for announcements, and that it wasn't in the owners junk mail folder, email deliver just wasn't consistent, and that's not ok. We needed a service that we could count on.
"I can't login, it says my password is wrong".
This could have been caused by a few things, it could be the user forgot their password, was using the wrong email to login, or it could just be that the website was built 15 years ago, and as technology flies, that's a little dated. We wanted to simplify the process, and while we understand that all change comes with a learning curve, we do believe this will be easier to use. Since, your browser is often already logged into your google account, when you access the website, you'll just see the content without having to login separately.
"I can't find what I'm looking for" or "It's hard to find what I'm looking for"
After 15+ years of changes and revisions, sometimes you just need to start from scratch to keep things simple and clean. Website design patterns change over time and the old website served us well for many years.
"The link is doesn't work" or "The information is outdated"
Maintaining a website is difficult, especially keeping up with external links. After 15 years, the website is ready for a refresh.
Other Factors in the change
Security: In todays world, data security is more important than ever, the new change gives us a step up in security. Protecting your data, and the data of all the other owners in MLPOA is important to us and the new website gives us improved security.
Better Collaboration for Board members. The new service, will allow us to maintain and track documents and other details more seamlessly between board member changes. Additionally, we've had limitations with the old service provider that when when you sent an email to the bd@manorlands.org email address, we had to manually forward that on to some board members so they were all kept in the loop. This change takes out the manual process, ensuring nothing gets missed, and everyone gets the information they need in a timely manner.
Lower Cost The service change lowers our annual costs, while expanding security and functionality.
Simplicity The new service is easier to use and configure.
The old service was a hosted WordPress website, where the new site is hosted by Google Sites via Google Workspace. If that doesn't mean anything to you, don't worry, it's not the important part.
Separate Logins for ManorLands.org are no longer required. If you have a login with google the information is shared with your account, and doesn't require a separate password.
If you don't have a google account, you don't need to go and sign up for Gmail, you can setup a google login using your current email (instructions below). Data shows that 80% of internet users have a google account, so most of you are already set to go.
Obviously you can create a Gmail account if you'd like, but here's the setup to create a google account without changing your email address.
Go to the Google Account Creation page: Navigate to the Google Account Login Page and click Create Account. If that link takes you instead to a Welcome page, then you already have a google account. If you want to create another, you can click on the icon in the top right of the window and click "Add Another Account"
Enter your name: Provide your first and last name.
Enter your Birthday and Gender: Some google services have age requirements.
You'll arrive on a page that allows you to pick your Gmail address, click Use your existing email address, it's at the bottom next to the "Next" button.: Click the option to use your existing email address instead of creating a Gmail address.
Enter your existing email: Type in your non-Gmail email address.
Create a password: Choose a password for your Google Account and confirm it.
Verify your email: You'll likely receive a verification code in your email. Follow the instructions to verify your address.
Complete the account setup: Continue through the remaining steps to set up your account, including adding recovery options like a phone number.
Now simply navigate to the Owners Documents Page, sign in with the email and password, or if you're already signed in and you see the Request Access page, simply enter your lot number and name and we'll grant you access as soon as we can.
From there you'll have access to all financial documents, governing documents, proposals, newsletters both current and historical. Additionally, if you use google drive, you'll see a shared folder with the same content and can access the documents and any updates any time you'd like there.
Google has robust password recovery options from the account login page. If you forget your password, you'll need to use those options, as we are unable to reset your Google password. If you have a Gmail and lose the ability to login in to it, you'll need to create a new one and request access again.
If you're still having problems, let us know by emailing admin@manorlands.org, We'll do our best to get things sorted out for you. Keep in mind these are volunteers responding, so be patient and kind.