Legacy comparison
Staff reference for how Opal maps to JoinIt, Mailchimp, and spreadsheet workflows BSO used before the member platform.
How Opal maps to the old tool split
| Workflow | What BSO used before | Opal today |
|---|---|---|
| Membership and dues | JoinIt for membership status and dues collection | Member bank plus member Dues with Stripe Checkout and admin ledger. See Admin Dues and Dues. |
| Email lists | Mailchimp for orchestra distribution lists | Explicit email groups with Google Workspace sync, drift reconcile, and membership from member detail. See Email groups. |
| Rosters | Google Spreadsheets shared and edited by hand | Per-cycle rosters with clone-from-prior-cycle and section grouping. See Rosters. |
| Attendance | Google Spreadsheets for rehearsal and concert marks | Per-event sheets, admin attendance overview and ledger, and section-leader entry on member routes. See Attendance and Enter attendance. |
| Member registry | Split across JoinIt, spreadsheets, and list tools | One member bank at Players that powers admin work, member sign-in, and integrations. See Players. |
| Seasons and scheduling | Spreadsheet planning and ad hoc calendars | Seasons, concert cycles, events, and the admin calendar in one hierarchy. See Seasons and Calendar. |
| Member self-service | Separate tools and ad hoc email | Clerk sign-in with Home, Concert signups, Dues, Absences, Calendar, Account, and Directory. See Home, Member calendar, Directory, and Absences. |
| Planning handoffs | Manual spreadsheet exports | Admin CSV export from header actions menus on key list surfaces such as Events and Calendar. |
What changes in day-to-day operations
- One member record replaces copying names and emails between JoinIt, Mailchimp, and spreadsheets.
- Roster and attendance stay linked — attendance sheets read from the cycle roster instead of reconciling separate files.
- Dues and rostering connect — cycle dues tables and member detail show payment status for rostered members; roster add is not blocked on payment.
- Email membership is explicit in Opal — groups are managed in the app and synced to Google Workspace; Mailchimp list hygiene is no longer the source of truth.
Still in transition
- Full production adoption on members.bso.nyc and retirement of the JoinIt / Mailchimp / spreadsheet operating split.
- Production Google Workspace address cutover for standing email groups (non-prod uses
opal-dev--*prefixes).
Operating notes
- Use Opal when referring to the product in stakeholder docs.
- Use members-dev.bso.nyc for development review and training demos.
- When reporting gaps, name the old tool habit and the Opal route you expected instead — for example "this used to live in a roster spreadsheet; I expected it on the cycle roster page."