Dojo managment software

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[scarey]

What 3 features would/do you use most in a dojo management program, eg. (student fees, calendar, schedule, student profile)?

[Karo]

Attendance. And a simple PDA version of the software or client just for the attendance, so you can mark attendance on the PDA and then upload/synchronize the files to the main program.

Are you developing the software?

Karo

[scarey]

Yes, I am developing some software but it will be web based. I'm looking to get ideas on the most functional features that would be used as well as how popular something like this might be. Just looking to make life easier :-)

[bulevardi]

- online shopping cart to buy dojo tools like tanto, jo, bokken
- being able to pay subscription fees via paypal
- profiles of members
- avatars on profiles

[scarey]

Thank you for your suggestions, Dirk!

[chillzATL]

Unless you're just looking to code something, check out www.martialmanagement.com.

It does most of what has been mentioned already (profile, dojo directory, announcements, calendar, time tracking, etc), is constantly being improved/refined and the developer is very open to suggestions. oh and it's free. At some point he may charge for some features, but these will be extensions to the core functionality.

[David Maidment]

Hmm... I've written software to do a lot of these individual things over the years. Perhaps I should combine them to make some dojo management software. I've needed a new coding project for a while now.

Off the top of my head, I'd say something that incorporates an eCommerce solution (including payment of dues), basic CMS, calendar, community forum, gallery software... pretty much how AikiWeb is set up, to be honest.

[DonMagee]

Unless you're just looking to code something, check out www.martialmanagement.com.

It does most of what has been mentioned already (profile, dojo directory, announcements, calendar, time tracking, etc), is constantly being improved/refined and the developer is very open to suggestions. oh and it's free. At some point he may charge for some features, but these will be extensions to the core functionality.

WOT (https://www.mywot.com/) lists that url as a spammer.

I'm in the process of designing some software for gyms. It will support web/mac/pc/iphone/android (Web/mac/iphone first). It's in early stages however.

[jonreading]

Money collection, money collection, and...money collection. Automated billing would be my top, followed dojo calendar and communication tool.

[Aikibu]

I have a Filemaker Pro based app I wrote that works just fine and if you want to do a web based management app I suggest a CMS platform like Joomla. It's free and relatively easy to learn and use and if you like to create... code... and stuff.... allot of fun.:)

William Hazen

[Jeff Sodeman]

If you're thinking of making something for yourself, go for it. But if you pick up a few martial arts magazines you'll find them filled with ads for applications/services like this.

You may also find that a higher number of dojos than you would expect don't have internet service.

[bulevardi]

Did I mention Avatars yet? :straightf

[chillzATL]

WOT (https://www.mywot.com/) lists that url as a spammer.

I'm in the process of designing some software for gyms. It will support web/mac/pc/iphone/android (Web/mac/iphone first). It's in early stages however.

It's wrong and if you look at the two sources/honeypots, one of them (arcade) you can't even contact anymore and the other is in Germany. There is NO unsolicited email coming from that domain. The domain isn't listed on ANY of the commonly used, corporate, verifiable blacklist services. WOT is NOT one of those...

[lbb]

You may also find that a higher number of dojos than you would expect don't have internet service.
Internet service? What's that?

Our dojo has a website, but it's for informational purposes. We're simply not large enough to need shopping carts or any other e-commerce paraphernalia. We're also not large enough to need specialized apps to track attendance, dues payments, testing, accounting/bookkeeping, etc. General purpose apps such as Excel and Quickbooks do that well enough for a dojo our size.

[chillzATL]

You may also find that a higher number of dojos than you would expect don't have internet service.

For a web based service like martialmanagement.com, dojos don't need internet service. Students and instructors access it on their own time and the dojo itself doesn't need to be able to access the site directly for that.

[scarey]

Wonderful discussion here. Looks like accessibility seems to be on the mind. I tend to agree with the idea that internet access might be a valid obstacle to work on. I think that is best tackled by having some sort of workflow. As mentioned, the size of the dojo would probably determine the need for something like this.

Another aspect I've been thinking about is the social aspect. The idea behind social software is to enable people to interact online in as much the same way as they do offline. I think dojo management software should offer something that let's people share and discuss much in the same way they do after a seminar, for example. This has the benefit of letting a dojo's culture extend itself beyond what it can physically reach.

[jennifer paige smith]

I have a Filemaker Pro based app I wrote that works just fine and if you want to do a web based management app I suggest a CMS platform like Joomla. It's free and relatively easy to learn and use and if you like to create... code... and stuff.... allot of fun.:)

William Hazen

:) The Filemaker Pro is the best program that I've used. It works for an expanding school population, can segregate billing and stats for dojo management tasks, and is pretty user friendly. I'd never considered
writing my own program, that's beyond my pail, as it were.

[Aikibu]

:) The Filemaker Pro is the best program that I've used. It works for an expanding school population, can segregate billing and stats for dojo management tasks, and is pretty user friendly. I'd never considered
writing my own program, that's beyond my pail, as it were.

Cool Beans Jenn...:) You can also make Filemaker Pro data web accessible too.... and for those who would like students to be able to pay online you can plug in a safe and secure Paypal account for your Dojo.

Anyone who is good with a computer can use Filemaker Pro after a few hours of instruction. It's very user friendly.

Thanks for sharing, and I hope you're enjoying the surf today. :)

William Hazen

[edwilli]

I've created The Dojo Manager (http://thedojomanager.com), for small and medium dojos. It's still in beta, so it's free, but even when it's out of beta the fee will be very small, to allow even small schools to be able to afford it.

It's all online, so no software to install and you can use it from any Internet connection.

Dan

[arjandevries]

I've created The Dojo Manager (http://thedojomanager.com), for small and medium dojos. It's still in beta, so it's free, but even when it's out of beta the fee will be very small, to allow even small schools to be able to afford it.

It's all online, so no software to install and you can use it from any Internet connection.

Dan

Hi Dan,

I am interested but the site does not work. Can you fix this? (Uesd firefox).

Thanks,

Arjan

[Rabih Shanshiry]

Hi Dan,

I am interested but the site does not work. Can you fix this? (Uesd firefox).

Thanks,

Arjan

Arjan,

Try taking the close paranethesis out of the URL.

...rab

[arjandevries]

Arjan,

Try taking the close paranethesis out of the URL.

...rab

That did the trirck... Stupid of me I did not check!

Thanks

[danj]

Slightly OT
I have seen a few setups around the traps, a nice half way point is a book for attendance and collect fees using paypal (its easy to setup). Going to dojo management software means a computer, possibly internet connection, maintaing the computer, backup strategies and probably you still need someone to drive it turn it on/off before and after class. Its all a question of scale I think if the dojo is full time with lots of people coming through the door its probably helpful, but i suspect for the vast majority of dojo its a cool idea but maybe a time sink that distracts from training

[Abasan]

Arjan,

Try taking the close paranethesis out of the URL.

...rab

Let me guess, IT Support. :D

[TreyPrice]

I have always thought it would be good to have a swipe card to track attendance. I am a school principal and swipe cards are great. The alternative is a key pad to enter a "student" number.

I think it would also be good to have seminar information after students train away.

I would love to see what you develop when you are done.

[chillzATL]

Slightly OT
I have seen a few setups around the traps, a nice half way point is a book for attendance and collect fees using paypal (its easy to setup). Going to dojo management software means a computer, possibly internet connection, maintaing the computer, backup strategies and probably you still need someone to drive it turn it on/off before and after class. Its all a question of scale I think if the dojo is full time with lots of people coming through the door its probably helpful, but i suspect for the vast majority of dojo its a cool idea but maybe a time sink that distracts from training

You should look into martialmanagement.com, it avoids most of these problems by not requiring anything at the dojo (though you could have a computer there if you wanted). Once your students are entered in it's just a matter of checking off who was in class. What you choose to enter for each day is up to you. Students can log in on their own time if they want to look at their records, see what content you may have added, read messages, etc.

[lbb]

I have always thought it would be good to have a swipe card to track attendance. I am a school principal and swipe cards are great. The alternative is a key pad to enter a "student" number.

We use a piece of paper where you check off next to your name and under the current date. This seems to work fine for us, although if we had several hundred members an automated system might make more sense.

[edwilli]

Sorry about the bad link try this: http://www.thedojomanager.com

[edwilli]

How important is taking attendance? I guess the real question is what do you get out of it? Is it to find out if people aren't showing up for class? Seems that anything other then an RFID swipe card is going to a lot of extra work. If you've got 20-30 students that's a lot of tracking. If you've got less then that, wouldn't you get a feel for who's not attending?

Do some schools require a specific number of attended classes for a belt? I just don't know what the big payoff is after you collect all that attendance data (I'm not saying there isn't one, I just don't know what it is).

[Walter Martindale]

How important is taking attendance? I guess the real question is what do you get out of it? Is it to find out if people aren't showing up for class? Seems that anything other then an RFID swipe card is going to a lot of extra work. If you've got 20-30 students that's a lot of tracking. If you've got less then that, wouldn't you get a feel for who's not attending?

Do some schools require a specific number of attended classes for a belt? I just don't know what the big payoff is after you collect all that attendance data (I'm not saying there isn't one, I just don't know what it is).
The dojo I where I have been for the last year takes attendance every session. Sensei takes the book home at the end of every month and compiles attendance records (from two dojo in the city).

Each month someone gets an award for the most practices attended. The national federation does gradings based on you having had enough hours of practice to be eligible to test - and this takes the guesswork out (and for those of us who don't record our own training sessions, it takes memory out of the deal, too).
Keeping attendance - the other side of planning - if you keep attendance and someone isn't advancing, you can look at the records, see if they're hardly ever training, and point at that as an issue - if you see that they're training lots and not advancing, you can question your teaching/training method, and look for ways to get through to that person - there are different learning styles (VARK), and the traditional "watch me do it and you imitate" doesn't work for everyone.
Walter

[john.burn]

Dan,

It could be best practice in case someone states they trained with you or at your dojo a few years ago and got injured... How would you know they had or hadn't attended? I've kept records or everyone who's ever attended since I opened 3 years ago. Hopefully it would never happen but you never know.

[edwilli]

Adding an attendance feature it is :)

I never realized so many schools took attendance, maybe my instructors did it and I never knew they were.

I'm thinking of generating a checklist of current students that can be printed and taken to class. Then transferred to the application later.

A mobile site for iPhone/PDAs/smartphones is a great idea as well.

I'm in the process of enhancing my site http://thedojomanager.com (shameless plug), I've got a nice feedback system for users. So if anyone wants to get the exact software they want, all they need to do is ask (then wait until I get the time to implement it). It's in beta, so for now it's free to use.

Thanks for the feedback,
Dan
http://thedojomanager.com

[scarey]

Now that features have been discussed, I'm curious to know what people would be willing to pay.

Assuming the following feature set:
Student profiles (training tracker, social networking)
Ecommerce (dojo store, student fee payment)
Calendar (events, regular schedule)
Curriculum (training topics, test requirements)

Does $1500 sound reasonable as a setup cost? There are benefits to the system to consider:
Ability to use on own domain
Customization of theme
Tailoring the system to individual dojo needs.

Thoughts?

[Lorien Lowe]

Does anyone know of any dojo management software that one can buy one-time, rather than being a monthy, web-based subscription?

[scarey]

Does anyone know of any dojo management software that one can buy one-time, rather than being a monthy, web-based subscription?

Hi Lorien,

What specifically are you looking for?

[edwilli]

Does anyone know of any dojo management software that one can buy one-time, rather than being a monthy, web-based subscription?

KickSoft is one of the only that I know of:
https://www.getphysicalsoftware.com/software/pricing.cfm?software_title=KickSOFT&CFID=3594&CFTOKEN=62232656

I'm not sure if iGo is or not: http://www.igokaratesoftware.com/page/features/ (http://www.igokaratesoftware.com/page/features/)

[chillzATL]

Does anyone know of any dojo management software that one can buy one-time, rather than being a monthy, web-based subscription?

www.martialmanagement.com is free to use. setup an account and try it out. You can email the developer directly if you have questions.