Glossary of Terms

A (Address) Record

A record that translates your domain name to the IP address of the server hosting the web site for that domain. For example, when you type in www.mydomain.com it is your A record that points your browser to the correct web server to open your site.

Account Name

The name that identifies your Directra account and appears in the top right corner of each page after you log in.

Your account name is not the same as your iPanel name.

Your iPanel name is visible to iGroup members. Your account name is only visible to you and Directra support.

Account or User Account

Settings Directra uses to identify you independent of any iGroup of which you might be a member. In your account you can specify your user preferences (name, email address, password, etc.) and the alerts you want to see. You can also view all iGroups of which you are a member.

Administrator

The person who is responsible for creating and maintaining an iGroup. Only an administrator can add members, update iGroup properties and perform other actions specific to the iGroup. To give another member administrator authority, assign the Admin tag to that member. An iGroup can have any number of administrators, but it is recommended that this number be kept small.

Alert

A message from Directra broadcast to all users. Alerts appear at the top of each Directra page until canceled by the user.

Announcement

A way in which the iGroup administrator can communicate to all iGroup members using the web site. Announcements can be dislayed on the iGroup home page and on the Communicate tab.

App Login

Your email address and password for logging into Directra.

You can login with any validated email address.

Attendees

Members of an iGroup who have been or will be invited to a specific iGroup activity. After you create a calendar event you can send an email invitation to those you want to attend. In turn, those members can RSVP to the invitation and indicate if they will be attending.

Auto-Assign

The process where members are grouped into families based on their last name. When you first create an iGroup member Directra will automatically add that member to a family with others who have the same last name. Admins turn on auto-assign by checking the Allow Family Relationships option in the iGroup Properties section of the iGroup Settings page.

Auto-Detect

An iPanel setting telling Directra to determine if a phone number can be used for text messaging. The first time Directra attempts to send a blast to this number it will change this setting to Enabled if the message is successfully sent, or to Not Available if the message cannot be received.

Banner

The top portion of each iGroup web page. The banner displays the iGroup logo, long name and description.

Blast

A telephone, text or email message sent to one or more members of the group. Blasts offer a way of communicating with a large number of people quickly and effectively.

Block

Prevent Directra from sending text messages to a particular phone number. Messaging is blocked on a per-iGroup basis. In other words, you can allow messages to a phone from one iGroup but block messages to the same phone for another iGroup.

Bulk Import

For iGroup administrators, a way to add many members to your iGroup at one time. Directra uses standard CSV files for data import and export.

Calendar

Also called the Monthly Calendar, a month-to-month display of games, events and other activities of your iGroup. You can view your calendar in the common calendar format or as a list, showing upcoming as well as recently completed activities. You can export your calendar to a file or sync it with your Google calendar.

Calendar List

A view of your Directra calendar which displays upcoming events and recently completed events in a line-by-line layout.

Call Blast

A telephone message sent to selected members (defined in a member list) of your iGroup. You can create a voice blast using your phone or by typing in the message from your iGroup's web site. Directra will call each of the selected members with your message.

Caller ID

Transmission to and display of a caller's phone number (and perhaps name or location) on the receiver's telephone before the call is answered.

Cancel

Mark an item canceled, but continue to display it in the calendar with the name struck through (like this). Since deleting an item removes it from the calendar, you may want to use Cancel rather than Delete so there is no confusion as to why an item does not appear on a particular date.

Catch-All Address

The address used when email sent to your domain or Directra subdomain does not match any routing address you have defined. Most commonly you will use a default address (e.g. other@yourdomain.com) or you will leave the catch-all address blank. In the former case all email will be sent to the address you specify. In the latter case, any email not addressed to an address you have defined will be discarded.

Category

The method by which Directra lets you see your team record in various sections. For example, you can track individual tournaments, league games and playoff games separately from each other. You have complete flexibility in determining the choices available on the Category list. You set them up for your team using the Record Categories option in the iPack Properties section of the iGroup Settings page.

Child iGroup

An iGroup subordinate to another iGroup. For example, a team may be a member of a league, both of which are iGroups. The team's iGroup is a child of the league's iGroup.

Click-to-Call

Directra's feature that lets you call any member of your iGroup simply by clicking the phone icon displayed in their iPanel. When you click the icon Directra provides instructions that guide you through making the call.

Click-to-Email

Directra's feature that lets you email any member of your iGroup simply by clicking the email icon displayed in their iPanel or by their name in the Members list.

Click-to-Text

Directra's feature that lets you sent a text message to any member of your iGroup simply by clicking the text-message icon displayed in their iPanel or by their name in the Members list.

CNAME Record

Defines an alias for a web URL, allowing you to route a primary domain name to another domain name. For example, say you own the domain mydomain.com and you want to have www.mydomain.com open your Directra website, mydomain.directra.com. Through your domain registrar you would redefine the CNAME record for your domain to point to the Directra subdomain.

Conference Call

A phone call in which there are two or more participants. Directra makes it easy to set up such a call with members of your iGroup, or even members of the general public.

COPPA

The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, a federal regulation that prohibits web site providers (like Directra) from allowing children under the age of 13 to provide personal information about themselves unless prior parental permission has been obtained. Directra is fully compliant with COPPA. Children under the age of 13 have view-only access to the site, allowing them to visit any part of the site but not to provide any input. When a child turns 13 the view-only status is removed.

Cover Flow

An iTunes- or Mac-like display of photos in Directra. In particular this is used when placing the Members or Photoflow gadget in the home page center column.

Crop

Remove the unwanted parts of parts of a photograph. Directra provides a tool to allow you to crop your iPanel photograph, editing out the parts you don't want displayed.

CSV File

A Comma-Separated Value file for importing and exporting Directra data. Fields are separated by commas and optionally enclosed in quotes to preserve commas in the data.

Phone, Address
555.1212, Main St
555.1213, "Main St, SF"

Custom Gadget

A home page gadget and linked web page for which you provide all the information. You can name the page, provide whatever information you like, and display the information on the home page and as a separate item on the iGroup menu tab.

Delete from Calendar

Remove an item from the calendar so that it is no longer displayed.. Compare this to canceling an item, where the items remains on the calendar is struck through (like this.

Description

A word or phrase which further defines your iGroup name. The description is shown at the top of each web page, directly below your iGroup's long name.

Digest

A summary of changes made to your iGroup's web site. If you have Notifications enabled then the daily digest for your iGroup will be emailed to you. The digest is also available as an RSS feed or a podcast.

Directory Dial

A feature offered by Directra that enables a member of an iGroup to call another member of that iGroup. The member calls a phone number provided to the iGroup by Directra, follows the verbal prompts and is connected to the specified iGroup member.

Division

A description of the age group or level of competition for a team. For example, U14, Bantam, Bronco, Varsity, Senior, AAA

DNS

The Domain Name System, the system used to translate human-readable names (e.g. www.mydomain.com to IP addresses, which are recognizable and usable by computers.

Domain or Domain Name

In general terms, a group's or an individual's unique name on the Internet. More specifically, the domain is the part of a URL or email address just to the left of the period, together with the extension which follows the period. For example, in the email address info@directra.com, the domain name is directra.com. In the web address, www.mydomain.net, the domain name is mydomain.net.

Domain Registrar

An organization or company that provides domain name ownership, usually for a small annual fee. The process of establishing ownership of a domain using a domain (or domain name) registrar is called domain registration.

Download

Move an object (video, photo or other file) from the Directra server to your computer.

Email Blast

An email message sent to selected members (defined in a member list) of your iGroup.

Email Routing

Taking an email message sent to one address and forwarding it (routing it) to another email address. Directra can route email addresses sent to your domain or Directra subdomain to any address you like. For example, you can tell Directra to route all emails sent to mydomain.directra.com to your personal email address myaddress.com.

Enabled

An iPanel setting telling Directra that the phone number listed supports text messaging and and is available for receiving messages from Directra.

Event

A calendar entry for an activity of interest to the iGroup. Examples of events are numerous: special practices; dinners or get-togethers; trips. Upcoming events can be displayed on the home page and on the iGroup calendar.

Export

To save your Directra calendar to an external file for use by other calendar programs. You can export a calendar file for an individual iGroup or for all your iGroups.

External Calendar

A calendar (e.g. Google, Outlook, Apple iCal) independent of your iGroup calendar, that you use to track your personal and business activities.

Family

Directra allows you to asssociate members of a family (mother, father, children) together. Family members can edit contact information for other family members. When you view an iPanel for a member of a family you'll see contact information for each family member as well as a link to the iPanel for each family member.

Feature

A category of functionality in Directra. Features include the calendar, photos, videos, blasts ... and many more. Features are enabled by the iGroup admin.

File

Any file on your computer can be uploaded to Directra, allowing others to view and download the file. For example, you might post a monthly newsletter for your iGroup.

Forum

The place where iGroup members can discuss topics of common interest. iGroup members can create new topics for discussion or respond to existing topics.

From (Text)

You can select either a phone number or an email address when sending a Text Blast. There are times when it is more convenient to route text message replies to your email account instead of your phone.

Gadget

Any of a number of user interface tools that you can place on your home page. Examples include Calendar, Send a Blast, Photos and many others.

Home Page

The page where you see at a glance all the important information for your iGroup. To get to your home page, click the Home tab or click on the name of the iGroup at the top of any page. Directra provides your iGroup a public home page and a private home page.

Hover Menu

A menu that appears when you hover your cursor over a link. Directra uses hover menus in many places to make common actions only a single click away.

iCalendar (.ics) File

A text file that contains calendar data in universal calendar format. iCalendar files (which have the file extension .ics) are readable by most calendar programs, including Microsoft Outlook and Google. You can export your Directra calendar as an iCalendar file for integration with other programs or import data from other programs into Direcra.

iGroup

The basic unit of organization in Directra. An iGroup represents a group of people connected by a common interest. Examples are numerous: teams, alumni organizations, neighborhood watch groups, and many more.

iGroup Settings Page

The page where an admin can configure an iGroup. Access this page by clicking the Admin tab.

Import

Also called Bulk Import, for iGroup administrators, a way to add many members to your iGroup at one time. Directra uses standard CSV files for data import and export.

Interests

A list of topics that interest you. Directra enables you to find other people in your iGroups with similar interests.

Invitation

An email message sent to one or more individuals, providing instructions on how to join the iGroup. Invitations can be sent only by iGroup admins.

IP Address

An Internet Protocol address, a number which uniquely defines a resource (computer, server, etc.) on the Internet. IP addresses are a series of four numbers, each between 0 and 255, separated by periods. For example, 192.l68.1.101 is a common IP address for a local area network router.

iPanel

A user's personal information page, which includes the user's photo, contact information and profile.

Location

An address for the iGroup, an iGroup member or the site of an event, game or practice. Click any location and Directra will display this location on a Google map.

Logging In

To access all features available to your iGroup you must log in. From the web site log in from your iGroup home page. To access phone features, call the Directra number and follow the prompts to log in.

Logo

The graphic image displayed in the web page banner. This can be a corporate logo, team or club logo, or any image that you want to use to highlight your web pages.

Long Name

A descriptive name for your iGroup. When an iGroup is created you can give it a long name and a short name. The long name is used as the title of your iGroup web pages.

Media

Photos, videos and files uploaded to an iGroup. Media can be downloaded, viewed within Directra and assigned to albums calendar events and members.

Member

Anyone who is part of your iGroup. Each member has an iPanel where contact and other information is defined.

Members Only

Indicates a Directra object (e.g. a game, a photo, a video, etc.) can be viewed only by logged-in members of an iGroup. An object is either Members Only or Public.

Mini-Calendar

A hompage display of the iGroup calendar that fits in the left column. Individual items are not displayed, but days for which activites are scheduled are highlighted. Click on the mini-calendar to see the full calendar.

Mobile Interface

Directra's blast and conference interface optimized for use by smart phones. Access it as www.directra.com/mobile from your phone or click Mobile at the top of any Directra page.

MX Record

Information that tells the Internet what email server is used to route email that is sent to a domain.

My Calendars

Information from all your iGroup calendars displayed in a single calendar. On the iPanel tab in any iGroup click View My Account and on the page that appears click the My Calendars tab.

Name Server

A computer which handles all Internet requests for a particular domain, translating human-readable names (e.g. www.mydomain.com) to IP addresses. If you own a domain name you can let Directra act as your name server, handling all Internet requests (web, email, VOIP) for your domain

Naming Pattern

The naming scheme Directra will use when automatically assigning an email address to a user. For example, if you select FirstName-LastName then John Doe's assigned address would be John-Doe@yourdomain.com.

Not Available

A iPanel setting telling Directra that the phone number listed does not support text messaging. Directra will never attempt to send a text message to this number.

Notes

Notations that you can make for any calendar entry. For a game entry you might want to provide details of the opponent and a game recap. For an event, say a potluck dinner, you might specify who is to bring what. Notes can be viewed by hovering over an entry in the monthly calendar or clicking the expand icon in the calendar list.

Notification

Information sent to you when an addition or change has been made in your iGroup. Use the Notifications section of your iPanel to specify the types of notifications your want to receive. You can read this information in a daily email, an RSS feed or a podcast.

Object

Something that can be displayed in Directra. Examples of objects include photos, videos, games, events and practices. You can specify whether an object is public or members only.

Page Link

An email you can send to others in your iGroup containing a link (URL) to a specific photo, video, iPanel or other Dirctra object. This can be a handy way to point out something of interest without have to provide instructions as to how to find it.

Parent iGroup

An iGroup superior to another iGroup. For example, a team may be a member of a league, both of which are iGroups. The league's iGroup is a parent of the team's iGroup.

Permanent Conference Room

A 'meeting place' that is always available for use by members of your iGroup. Create permanent rooms on the iGroup Settings page. Compare with Temporary Conference Room.

Phone System Login

Your phone number and optional PIN for logging in to Directra's phone system.

When you call a Directra's phone system from this number, Directra will recognize your caller-ID and log you in.

If you call from a different phone number, you must enter this phone number and your PIN.

PIN

Personal Identification Number used to login to Directra's phone system.

If Directra cannot identify your caller-ID, or you are logging in from a different phone number, you must use the account phone number and PIN to log into Directra's phone system.

Podcast

A set of media (audio and video) files made available by subscription. You can subscribe to a Podcast from your iGroup, then use a podcast reader (e.g. iTunes or Google Reader) to view the latest updates.

Preferences

Your personal account settings as a Directra user. Over time you may be a member of several iGroups, but your preference settings are independent of any iGroup. These settings include your email address and password, allowing you to log in to Directra, and your phone number and PIN, allowing you to use Directra's voice features.

Preview

The initial, abbreviated display of a video in Directra. Previewing videos is a quick way to sort through videos on the Videos tab to find the one you want. By default, the Videos gadget displays a preview of the most recently uploaded video.

Primary Domain

The part of a domain name furthest to the right. For example, in the domain name mydomain.directra.com, the primary domain is directra.com, the subdomain is mydomain.directra.com.

Privacy

Many features, for example photos or announcements, can be made visible to iGroup members only or to the general public. Even if a feature such as photos is open to the general public, individual photos can be restricted to members only.

Private

Indicates a Directra object (e.g. a game, a photo, a video, etc.) can be viewed by iGroup members only.

Profile

Information about a member, written by the member. Use your profile to let others in the iGroup know more about you. For example, what are your interests, or how did you come to be in the iGroup? Your profile can be as short (i.e. no profile at all) or as long as you like.

Protected

One of three security settings for your contact information in Directra. (The others are Visible and Unlisted.) When your phone number or email address is protected, others in the iGroup can contact you but will not see or know your actual phone number or email address.

Protection

Directra is very careful about who can see your contact information. Each member can specify how other members can contact them and what information is made available. Information can be visible (all members can see it), protected (the information is hidden but can be used for contacting the member) and unlisted (only the member and the admin know about the information).

Public

Indicates a Directra object (e.g. a game, a photo, a video, etc.) can be viewed by anyone, member or not. Contrast this with Members Only.

Public Home Page

A home page for your iGroup which is available for viewing by anyone on the Internet. Use the Features section of the Admin tab to specify which gadgets can be made public and which are available to iGroup members only. The public home page is viewed using the URL http://yourdomainname.directra.com.

Related iGroups

iGroups that are connected to each other in a hierarchy. For example, a sports club may have a team for each age group. Each team is its own iGroup and is at the same time related to (in this case subordinate to) the club's iGroup.

Remember Me

Check this box to stay logged in to Directra on this computer. Uncheck if on a shared computer.

Reminder

A blast message sent to selected iGroup members reminding them of an upcoming event.

Room Number

A number enabling entrance to a conference room. The number is displayed in the conference details, available using View Conferences on the Communicate tab.

Roster

A list of the members of an iGroup laid out specifically for a sports team. The Roster view displays team staff members (manager, coach, etc.) and team players.

Routing

Also called Email Routing, taking an email message sent to one address and forwarding it (routing it) to another email address. Directra can route email addresses sent to your domain or Directra subdomain to any address you like. For example, you can tell Directra to route all emails sent to mydomain.directra.com to your personal email address myaddress.com.

Routing Address

An email address defined in Directra which is used as an intermediate email address. Email sent to this address does not remain in Directra (which does not store email messages). Rather Directra takes the message and sends it to the target address defined for this routing address. For example, you can set up a routing address info@mydomain.directra.com and tell Directra to deliver any email sent to this address to, say, myname@myrealaddress.com. In this case, info@mydomain.directra.com is the routing address and myname@myrealaddress.com is the target address.

RSS

Really Simple Syndication, a method of notifying user of changes to web content. Directra uses RSS to notify iGroup members when changes have been made to an iGroup.

RSVP

Answering an email invitation to a game, practice, event or conference call. You can indicate whether you will attend or not and, for all but conference calls, if you're bringing guests.

Season

A period of time during which a specific iGroup, usually a sports team, exists. For example, a league will often use the same team name from season to season. Even though the teams have the same name they are really different teams. Directra uses the season to differentiate among these teams.

Security

Directra's security features allow you to protect your contact information to the degree you like. See Unlisted, Protected and Visible for more information.

Send a Link

Each page in Directra has a unique URL, i.e. a very specific link to that page. Directra allows you email this link to other members of your iGroup. When they get your email and click on the link they'll see the page.

Short Code

A special phone number, shorter than a full telephone number, used to address SMS text messages. The Directra short code is 45997 and must be used when sending Directra text messages from your phone.

Short Name

A brief name for your iGroup. When an iGroup is created you can give it a long name (e.g. San Diego Little League Pirates) and a short name (e.g. Pirates). The short name is used to identify your iGroup in call blasts, as the name for your iGroup calendar when you export it, and several other places.

SMS

Short Message Service, the common communication standard allowing the exchange of short text messages between mobile phones. SMS Messaging is just another way of saying what people commonly refer to as text messaging or texting.

Subdomain

A domain that is part of another domain, indicated as the part of a domain to the left of the primary domain name. For example, in the domain name mydomain.directra.com, the primary domain is directra.com and the subdomain is mydomain.directra.com. In Directra every iGroup is a subdomain of directra.com. Directra will assign the subdomain name automatically when the iGroup is created but you can override this and assign the name yourself using the Domains section of the Admin tab.

Subscribe

To register a web site (in this case your iGroup's site) with a browser or other program that reads the RSS feed or podcast from the site. In Directra, use the Subscribe to RSS Feed option on the iGroup tab or the Subscribe to Podcast on the Media tab.

Subscribe to Calendar

To register your Directra calendar with an external calendar such as Google, Outlook, or Apple's iCal. Once subscribed, updates you make in Directra will automatically appear in your external calendar.

Tab

An entry on the Directra menu bar. For example, click on the Members tab in the menu bar to access the full Members page. Directra comes with several built in tabs, but using custom gadgets you can add your own tabs, which will appear in a drop-down list when you hover your cursor over the iGroup tab.

Tag

An identifier associated with a member of an iGroup. Tags are useful for identifying subsets of the iGroup. For example, a children's soccer team iGroup may identify all parents separately from the players. Simply create a tag for parents and assign this tag to all the parents. Then you can, for example, send an email blast or a call blast to all the parents.

Target Address

The destination email address to which Directra will route email that is sent to your Directra domain. For example, you can set up a routing address info@mydomain.directra.com and tell Directra to deliver any email sent to this address to, say, myname@myrealaddress.com. In this case, info@mydomain.directra.com is the routing address and myname@myrealaddress.com is the target address.

Temporary Conference Room

A 'meeting place' created when you initiate a conference call. This room exists for the duration of the call, then is deleted. Compare with Permanent Conference Room.

Text Blast

A text message sent to selected members (defined in a member list) of your iGroup.

Text Command

A shorthand command at the beginning of a Directra text message that tells Directra you want to send a message to a member (s), text blast (b), or make a voice call to another member (c).

Time Zone

The local time zone for your iGroup. You set the timezone using the iGroup Properties section of the iGroup Settings page. Setting the time zone is important because whenever Directra needs to provide a time (e.g. for a scheduled call blast) it uses the time zone setting.

Topic

An item posted in the Forum which other members can read and on which they can comment.

Unlisted

One of three security settings for your contact information in Directra. (The others are Visible and Protected.) When your phone number or email address is unlisted, others in the iGroup (with the exception of group administrators) will not see this information and cannot use it in Directra to contact you.

Upload

Add to Directra a video, photograph or other file from your computer. Videos and photographs can be uploaded one-at-a-time or in bulk.

URL

Universal Resource Locator. An identifier for accessing a a web page, e.g. www.directra.com.

Visible

One of three security settings for your contact information in Directra. (The others are Protected and Unlisted.) When your phone number or email address is visible, others in the iGroup will see your contact information and can use it to contact you.

Wall

The comment area of an iPanel. This is the place where you can 'drop a note' to a member or have them leave a note or comment on your iPanel.