• 1 Overview
• 1.1 Listing your Organization
• 2 Searching the Directory (new!)
• 2.1 Simple Search
• 2.2 Search Results
• 3 Updating your Directory Profile (new!)
• 3.1 Editing your listing
• 3.2 Editing additional fields

Overview

The Community Directory is an online marketplace to bring together MFIs and Specialists in the Mifos community.  MFIs seeking support for deploying or running Mifos will be able to connect with Mifos Specialists providing support and implementation services.  List your organization now to let the community know that you want to be a part of Mifos as well; if you're already registered please continue to update your directory profile so you can share your Mifos experiences with all of us.

Listing your Organization

If you're an MFI considering deploying Mifos or an IT Specialist interested in providing Mifos deployment and support services, you should list yourself in the Community Directory.  As you become more involved with the Mifos Community you can further expand your directory profile. 

First-time Users

If you're new to the Mifos community and have yet to create a user-id for mifos.org, you can list yourself in the directory by clicking the join link at the right hand corner of the page.  Once you've created your log-in and been authenticated, please follow the link on the screen to list your organization in the directory.

Returning Users

If you've already created a user-id for mifos.org but have yet to list your organization in the directory, you can do so by clicking the "list your organization" link found on the Search page for the Community Directory. 

Once you've created your directory profile it will be submitted to a site administrator who will review your request for approval.  You will be notified within 1 -2 business days if your request has been approved.    

* Tip

The user-id you create will be used in the url for your directory profile.  For example if your user id is: johndoe, the url for your directory profile will be as follows:

http://www.mifos.org/community/directory/members/johndoe

To maintain the most professional profile possible, you might want to create a separate user-id solely for the purposes of maintaining your directory listing.  For example if your organization is Microcredit Unlimited, your user-id could be: microcreditunlimited and your url would be:

http://www.mifos.org/community/directory/members/microcreditunlimited

Searching the Directory

The primary purpose of the Community Directory is to bridge the divide between MFIs and Mifos Specialists - through its convenient search tools MFIs seeking assistance will be able to identify and partner up with a qualified Mifos Specialist providing support.

MFIs, no longer must you endure costly support from far away time zones; as the community grows, you'll be have access to services of a local IT Specialist in close proximity to your organization.  Search now! as new organizations are being added every day.

Simple Search

There are numerous ways to search through the Mifos Specialist and MFI profiles listed in the Community Directory.  Please see the following screenshot and explanations for an overview of the simple search functionality of the directory:

1. Keyword or Organization Name Box - Search queries from this box will yield results based on terms found within the organization name and description fields. (can be left blank)
2. Membership - Use this field to limit your search to return either only MFIs or only Mifos Specialists.
3. Region - Use this drop-down to limit your search to a certain region of the world.
4. Country - Use this drop-down to limit yoru search to a particular country.
5. MFI Status - Specialists can limit their search of MFIs based on the status of MFI - whether they're seeking deployment support, ongoing maintenance, etc.
6. Organizational Services - MFIs can limit their search of Specialists based on the services offered to the community.

Search Results

The sample search results below were returned when using the search criteria of Eastern Africa for the region.

1. Name of organization - Click on this to go to the organization's directory listing
2. MFI Symbol
3. Specialist Symbol
4. "Map it" - Click here display this listing on a Google Maps mashup
5. "map results" - Click here to display all the search results on a Google Maps mashup (will be functioning soon)

Updating your Directory Profile

Your profile in the Community Directory is your chance to share yourself with the entire Mifos community. 

• Are you an MFI considering deploying Mifos but need to find a Mifos Specialist to coordinate your deployment?
• Post a description of the services and desired qualifications you're looking for in your Directory Profile
• Are you a Mifos Specialist trying to find MFIs in need of support?
• Update your profile with your experiences and services that you can offer the Mifos Community.
• Are you an MFI whose succesfully deployed Mifos and would like to share your personal experiences?
• Update your profile and describe the impact that Mifos has across your organization.

These are some of the many ways in which you can use the Community Directory to help you connect with others in the Mifos ecosystem.  This is your face to the Mifos community so take your time in being as descriptive and detailed as possible.  Your directory listing is only as powerful as you make it! 

To access your directory profile to update additional information, you can click the "my listing" link in your personal bar at the right-hand side of the page.  This will take you to your directory profile, scrolling down you will see several options:

• Edit your listing - see below for more information
• Edit additional fields for this profile - see below for more information
• Edit metadata fields for this profile - please ignore as changes here don't affect Directory profile
• Change your location on the map - directory listings can be displayed on a GoogleMaps mashup but location but must be set manually on the map.
• Add image - feel free to add your company logo or image to your profile (displayed on your profile - not the results summary page) - dimensions must be approx 200x200 pixels.

Editing your listing

From this link you can edit the basic information you set up initially for your directory profile.  The Description field is very important to let others know who your organization is and what is does.   Please make sure your contact info such as phone number, fax, email address and web site are all up to date.  Make sure the URL for your website is accurate; you'll then be able to track how often users click through to vist your website. 

Editing additional fields 

Clicking on edit additional fields will give you access to several additional fields that you can use to strengthen your directory profile and make it stand out.

Microfinance Institutions

• Organization Size - You have the option of adding in the number of branches, clients, loan officers, and IT staff to give the rest of the community a better sense of the size of your MFI
• Operational Methodology  - List the lending methodology for your organization to help Specialists better serve your needs.
• Current MIS System - Give Mifos Specialists a better perspective of what deployment at your MFI will entail by listing the current MIS system you have in place - whether it is a software or paper-based system.
• MFI Status - Update this field to let Mifos Specialists better understand at what stage of evaluating Mifos you are currently at; this is a useful distinction to Mifos Specialists who can search through MFIs based on what their status is. You can select from the following options:
• Considering Deployment - Select this option if you're an MFI interested in Mifos and evaluating if its the right option for your organization.
• Actively Deploying - Select this option if you've made the decision to deploy Mifos and are seeking implementation support or if you are currently in the initial stages of deploying Mifos with a Mifos Specialist
• Running Mifos - If you've successfully deployed Mifos and are currently running it, select this option to let Mifos Specialists know that you may be interested in support and maintenance services
• No longer seeking Deployment (inactive) - Select this option if you've evaluated Mifos and decided that at this point in time it is not the right MIS for you and that you don't want to be in communications with any Mifos Specialists.
• Services Needed - Use this field to briefly describe any specific services you are looking to hire a Mifos Specialist for - whether it be you need to contract out a Specialist to assist with ongoing support and maintenance or the development of a new feature or configuration, post the details of the services you are seeking here.

For those MFIs who have already deployed Mifos, your Directory Profile gives you the chance to showcase the impact that Mifos has had on your organization:

• Description of Deployment - Use this field to give a firsthand account of how your Mifos deployment went.  An important part of the Mifos community is the sharing of knowledge so any experiences and stories you can share from your implementation will useful to other MFIs facing similar situations.
• Specialist Services Utilized - Feel free to list the various Specialist services you've utilized so the community can better know to what extent you've been using Mifos and its channel of support
• Impact of Mifos on your Organization - Has Mifos helped improved efficiency and business processes at your organization?  As the entire microfinance industry tries to overcome the challenges of MIS, please share with the community the impact and effect that Mifos has had at any level of your organization from loan officers out in the field to senior management analyzing branch performance.
• Suggestions for Mifos - As an open source community, everyone benefits from the shared knowledge as more and more users interact with the Mifos system. Without a doubt as you deploy Mifos, you'll come across challenges and will have learned many lessons and tips on ensuring a successful deployment.  Share these with your fellow members of the Mifos commmunity so MFIs can have a smooth deployment and benefit from the lessons you have shared.  Feel free to also suggest any ways in which you feel Mifos could be improved to better serve the needs of the microfinance industry.

Specialists

• Organizational Services - Use this field to select which services you are willing and able to provide to the Mifos community - this is a searchable field so MFIs can seek out Specialists based on the services they are providing.
• Domain Experience - Use this to select which industries your organization has experience in
• Number of Employees - List the number of employees you have working at your firm

The following fields can be updated as your involvement level with the Mifos Community grows, you will have the chance to showcase your contributions and knowledge to the Mifos Community through your Directory Profile:

• Current Deployments Working On - Please list any deployments you are currently working on or any MFIs that you are currently providing Mifos support services to.
• Previous Deployments Coordinated - Please list previous deployments or MFIs that you have provided Mifos support to.
• Contributions made to the Community - Here you can highlight any signficant contributions you've made to Mifos including feature development, custom configurations, improvements to user documentation, etc.
• Tips on Deploying Mifos - As you become more involved with Mifos and your knowledge and expertise grows, please list any short and useful tips that MFIs could benefit from while deploying Mifos.