This document presents a non-technical overview of CiviCRM 5.0, emphasizing its goals such as improved performance, flexibility, and user experience while avoiding technical jargon. It discusses key components that make CiviCRM function, available resources for development, and the challenges faced in upgrading the codebase. Lastly, it encourages community involvement and feedback for enhancing the software.

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Techies
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CiviCRM 5.0 for Non-Techies

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This is a NON-TECHNICAL presentation.
Everyone is welcome but technical talk, code
monkey slang and intentional geek culture
references are not permitted.
If you want to geek out you can go watch Tim’s talk from CiviCon London:
http://j.mp/civi50london

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CiviCRM 5.0 for Non-
Techies
Next Major Release
Theoretical
Still very much in
R&D
Community & Core
Team Effort
Lots of work!
Salad!

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CiviCRM 5.0 for Non-
Techies
Geek Speak - Common CiviCRM Terms
CiviCRM – Why we’re all here… the world’s greatest
constituent relationship manager.
CMS – Content Management system. CiviCRM (usually)
requires one of the following Drupal, Wordpress or Joomla.
Open Source- The core tenet of the CiviCRM project and our
community.
PEBKAC Error- Common diagnosis: Problem exists between keyboard
and chair

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What makes CiviCRM Work?
Apache
Web server software.
Makes stuff show up in
your browser
MySQL
Open source relational
database. This is
where all the “stuff”
goes
Linux
Open source operating
system. Runs the show
PHP
Programming
language that is base
of CiviCRM and CMSs
OTHER STUFF
HTML, CSS,
Javascript

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CiviCRM 5.0

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CiviCRM 5.0 for Non-
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• Less code
• More flexibility
• Improved
performance
• Easier customization
• More robust API
• Better tools
• More efficient
• More flexible
• Sexy
• Like Salad ???
Goals of CiviCRM 5.0 Project
More efficient
codebase
Empower developers Improved user
experience
Simple
01 02 03 04

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The Civi 5.0 Salad

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CiviCRM 5.0 for Non-
Techies
Simple
Anyone can make
them (almost)
Easy to consume
(given proper utensils)
Tasty!
However, there is some disagreement on
the salad.

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CiviCRM 5.0 for Non-
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The Salad Debate
The Otten Salad The Kurund Salad The Tony Salad

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Good software, like good salad is flexible.
And is better with vodka…

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The Form Story
There once was a form that did amazing data gathering… and then he got
old and boring ate a salad with too much vodka and died 

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CiviCRM 5.0 for Non-
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Forms Story
View Contact Profiles Event Registration
• Displays summary of
contact record
• Display needs are different
for each organization
• Reorganizing the display
currently requires coding
• Fields for each block
must be on separate
lines
• Waste of space
• Poor user experience
• Individual focused
• Multiple person
registration is awkward
• Mixing transaction types
can be difficult
It is currently very difficult to configure forms to meet your organization’s needs.

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CiviCRM 5.0 for Non-
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It Can Be Done
Webform_civicrm Module (Drupal) CiviCRM + Gravity Form plugin
Recent form module integrations for CiviCRM demonstrate where we’d like to take forms with CiviCRM 5.0
https://www.drupal.org/project/webform_civicrm http://civivip.com/
But we want to go even farther…
• CMS Agnostic
• Sexier (Drag & Drop, red beards,
etc.)
• Part of core software

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So how do we get to CiviCRM 5.0?

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CiviCRM 5.0
Resources
• Time
• Money
• Humans
Techie Stuff
• Doctrine
• Angular JS
• Etc
Community
Lorem ipsum dolor sit
amet, consectetur

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CiviCRM 5.0 for Non-
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Challenges
A significant amount of the codebase has to potentially be re-written.
Limited resources.

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CiviCRM 5.0 for Non-
Techies
Now that you know about CiviCRM 5.0
Share your feedback and ideas on CiviCRM. Usability matters
and it’s the job of the techies to create software that works for you.
Donate time, money and people to the project. Especially money.
• Make It Happen Campaigns
• CiviCRM Partners Program
• CiviCRM Membership
Here’s how you can help!

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Any questions?
Non-Technical (of course)

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CiviCRM 5.0 for Non-
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Thank You!
Tony Mazzarella tony@webaccessglobal.com
http://www.webaccessglobal.com
@tonymazz