CLF Alumni Network (WordPress plugin)

Private, members-only alumni network for the Charlotte Leadership Forum. Bold Conviction design.

What it provides

• CLF Alumni role — members can sign in but have no wp-admin access.
• Members-only pages (created automatically on activation):
  • /alumni-login/ — themed sign-in page
  • /alumni-home/ — member home after sign-in: greeting, CLF announcements, upcoming events with RSVP status, newest opportunities, recently joined members
  • /alumni-directory/ — searchable member directory (name, class year, industry) + individual profiles
  • /alumni-profile/ — the member's own profile editor (photo, spouse, class year, bio, work, links, contact visibility)
• Privacy — everything is invisible to logged-out visitors; members choose whether email/phone are shown to other members.
• Admin → CLF Alumni — member list (deactivate/reactivate, resend invites), add single member, CSV import.
• Events & RSVPs — admins create Alumni Events (date, location, capacity, RSVP deadline), invite members (all / by class year / hand-picked), and emails go out with one-click tokenized RSVP links (no login needed). The RSVP form captures name, spouse attendance, total participants, and notes. Members also see upcoming events at /alumni-events/. Every event offers "Add to Google Calendar" and an .ics download. Admins get a per-event RSVP dashboard with CSV export, a manual "remind non-responders" button, and automatic reminders 3 days before the deadline.
• Mentorship — alumni opt in as mentors from their profile (areas of expertise, capacity, "how I can help"). Members browse /alumni-mentors/, filter by area/industry/class year, and express interest — the mentor gets a branded email with the requester's details and note (throttled to one request per mentor per week). Admins see the roster under CLF Alumni → Mentor Roster.
• Opportunities board — members post job openings, business opportunities, or "looking for…" asks at /alumni-board/ with contact method and optional expiry. Filterable by type, newest first; authors can close their own posts. Optional moderation toggle (posts arrive as Pending) on the Opportunities list screen. Members can opt in to a weekly Monday digest of new posts (profile → Email preferences), sent via the same branded email pipeline.
• Nginx note: member photos live in wp-content/uploads/clf-alumni-private/ behind an .htaccess deny (Apache). If the site runs on Nginx, add location ~* /uploads/clf-alumni-private/ { deny all; } to the server config — filenames are randomized, but the deny rule is the real gate.
• Announcements — admins post updates under CLF Alumni → Announcements; published announcements appear on /alumni-home/, newest first.
• Email sender — delivery is handled by the site-wide Gravity SMTP plugin; CLF Alumni → Email Settings sets the From name/address on alumni emails and includes a test-email button.

Install

1. Install via Git Updater: repo tipitoe-ro/clf-alumni, branch main (or upload a zip of this folder).
2. Activate — pages and the role are created automatically.
3. Add members one by one or import the alumni CSV (columns: email required, first_name, last_name, spouse, class_year). One row per person; existing emails are skipped so re-imports are safe.
4. Invite emails contain a set-password link. For reliable delivery, make sure Gravity SMTP is configured (Gravity SMTP → Settings).

Notes

• Site admins automatically have access to the members area.
• Add the "Alumni Network" page to the site menu for signed-in visibility, or share the link directly with alumni.
• Deactivated members can't sign in and disappear from the directory; their data is preserved.