Background
The Mifos User Manual is a core piece of documentation to assist users in properly configuring and using the Mifos software on a day to day basis. Functionality in Mifos 2.0, shipping in December 2010 needs to be reflected in the user manual which is currently only up to date with our Mifos 1.5 release. Significant new functionality including question groups, waiving interest, tracking PPI in Mifos, m-pesa integration, tally integration, and executing batch jobs through the UI all must be documented. We're seeking a volunteer with strong documentation/tech writing skills to update the User Manual to provide coverage of latest functionality. Our user manual is now easily maintained and updated in a convenient online tool, FLOSS Manuals.
Status
Documentation on
- Question Groups - In Progress - Donnie Tuck
- Waiving Interest on Early Repayment - In Progress - Bharathi Ram
- Tracking PPI in Mifos - Available
- m-pesa integration - Available
- Tally Integration - Available
- Managing Batch Jobs - Available
Contact
Please email mifos@grameenfoundation.org if you are interested in helping on this project.
Mentor
Ed Cable and Kay Chau
Current Volunteer(s)
We want this to be you!
Time Estimate
5-10 hours per specific functionality
Prerequisite experience
- Previous experience writing user or technical documentation
- Experience writing documentation for business applications/software.
- Knowledge of microfinance or financial services is helpful.
Details
The Mifos User Manual needs new sections written and current sections adjusted to properly document how to use and each of the new features. .
Documentation will be drafted based on the functional specifications which provide a detailed overview of various use cases of how the feature is used. Volunteer will write the following, based on the functional specifications:
- Short overview of each feature
- Update or expand current section in user manual with step by step instructions.
User documentation will be written according to our style guidelines in FLOSS Manuals and will include relevant product screenshots.
Steps
General
- Sign up for a free account on FLOSS manuals
- Visit the Mifos Demo Server (User ID: mifos | Password: testmifos) to understand how these features work and to take screenshots.
- Review functional specifications for these features:
- Read up on the writing conventions for guidelines on formatting/style
- Draft documentation and edit the page in FLOSS Manuals editing interface on Booki (inserting screenshots):
- Question Groups: Replaces Surveys Section
- PPI: Create sub-section within new Question Groups Section
- m-pesa: Add to Bulk transaction processing section, under how to import transactions
- Batch Jobs: Add to Administration Tasks
- Waive Interest: Add to Manage Products>>Define New and Change Existing Loan Products and Add to Loan Accounts>>Make Transactions
- See also:
Below are the specific tasks/processes that must be documented for each new feature.
Question Groups
Will replace current documentation on Surveys
- Brief overview of Question Groups
- How to add a new question group
- How to view or edit existing question groups
- How to add new questions
- How to view or edit existing questions
- How to assign question group to workflow
- How to activate question group (PPI)
Waiving interest on loan repayment
- Add to Admin Section on Creating a New Loan Product
- Details on specifying whether or not interest is waived on early repayment of loan
- How to do an early repayment of loan (showing ability to waive or not waive interest)
- Explain difference between "Repay Loans" versus "Apply Payment"
m-pesa support
See and follow this outline on GoogleDocs.
- Overview of what plugin does.
- How to install and configure plugin
- How to define order to apply transactions
- How to import m-pesa transaction file
- How to cancel or correct errors during import
- How to verify data that has been imported
Tracking PPI in Mifos
See and follow this outline for additional details on what to document
- How to access available PPIs
- How to activate PPI for a specific country
- How to attach and collect PPI survey data
- How to insert PPI Question Group into different stage of workflow
- How to view PPI score and poverty likeliehoods
- How to correct PPI response
Batch Jobs Management
For reference see overview of batch jobs, how to configure and schedule and detailed functional spec on batch jobs.
- How to Suspend Scheduled Batch Jobs
- How to Manually Execute Specific Batch Jobs to Run (and check status)