Web-Based Church Management System

WEB-BASED CHURCH MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR
ASOKWA PENTECOST
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.0 Project Overview

1.0.1 Introduction to Church Management System
Church management system is the system for Asokwa church of Pentecost. The
Authorities of the church will use this system for the better performance of the work.
This system will provide the online facilities for the members of the church and also
for the Administrator.
Features of the systems are:-
1. Online members registration
2. Members can check the church’s upcoming events and seminars.
3. Members can send their problems and prayer request.
4. Members can check the church’s financial status.
5. Download the church’s Sunday’s sermons.
1.1 Existing System

The management of the church is currently following a manual procedure. The user has to check
the availability of the required item by querying to the management. The management has to
check the availability from the register manually. After getting the availability status the user has
to fill up the membership and other forms manually. The management then checks the validity of
the forms and after checking it books the item against the respective request. The information
about the item is kept in a temporary register. When the user submits the entire necessary
document, the management enters the details of the request in the main register of item details.
Currently each member has a file on which vital data or information about a member or
management is kept in. Apart from this the member information or data is also written on papers
and in booklets which are then stored in shelves. Other documents such as transfer sheet, report
Web-Based Church Management System Page 1

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forms and registration forms are also kept in files and stored in shelves. Therefore the institution
has several problems with their record keeping. Since their records can be destroyed at anytime
by natural environmental hazards or conditions which comes from nowhere. It then causes the
church to lose a large amount of resources and required more management staffs.
1.0.2 Problem Statement

The problem definition for the system is to launching the online system for the church of
Pentecost, Asokwa. The whole church process is carried out in a manual order. Since it’s a
manual system it has the drawbacks such as time consumption, inefficient resource utilization.
Some of the drawbacks of the current system are:
I. The members have to collect the membership and other forms by hand from the
church premises. This consumes a valuable amount of time of the management.
II. An unmanageable tangle of papers within the office.
III. Wasted clerical effort searching for information.
IV. Loss of important operating information.
V. Extravagant use of high cost office space and equipment.
VI. Loss of valuable historical records through destruction or neglect.
VII. Difficulties in finding members and management information when needed.
VIII. A lot of time is spent in the generation of reports since they are using the old system.
IX. A lot of time is spent in collecting data about members and management.
1.2 Proposed System

From earlier system the members have to keep in touch with the management about the
availability of the items. The proposed system is a web based online system. The user can apply
online from any place and also at any time. The main base of the proposed system is the
database, which keeps all the information about the availability status of the church. Based on
this information the user can easily get the availability status at any time without coming to the
church premises. The software also allows user to fill up the membership form and submit it

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online which will save a lot of user’s valuable time. Along with the availability status the
database also keeps the information of the Issue details and the transaction details against the
respective request .This database also keeps the information of user’s personal details, based on
which the management can check the validity of the user and it’s request. Based on all the above
information the management can efficiently respond all the user queries.
The main activities will be performed by the system are.
 Online submission of the membership form by the members.
 Automation of the procedure performed by the management.
 Report generation.
1.2.1 Objective of proposed system

The main objective of the proposed system is to overcome the drawbacks of the existing system.
The prime benefits are:
 To create a comprehensive database that provides the information on the
availability details and the issue details along with the member details.
 Development and implement of information retrieval system for the members
and the management of the church.
 To automate the entire range of activities or processes that needs to be performed
by the management before a request.
 To put the information on Internet for easy access not only for the managements
but also for the members from various places.
 To make the system more user friendly and easy to use.
 Utilize the IT to increase the efficiency/productivity.
1.2.2 Advantages of the proposed system

The proposed system is a computerized system. This system has lots of advantages over the
existing system. Some of them are:

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1. The user can log onto the church website from anywhere to check the availability status
and issues related to the church. This saves a valuable amount of member’s time.
2. All the data relevant to member information are stored in the database. So the
management can get rid of the tedious job like manually searching for an available and
issue date.
3. The database contains the cost information of the various items offered by the church.
So, the management can get help from the proposed system as most of the cost
calculations are done in a computerized manner and the results are again in the database
at it helps in the generation of bills.
1.2.3 Scope of the proposed system

The “Church Management system” software is being developed as accurate and efficient online
software for the user such as the members and also the administrator i.e. the management of the
church. In this system the record of the each request details are preserved along with their status
and transaction related to them. The system is also made secured as all the updates of the system
can be done by the authorized person i.e. the administrator only.
The automation of an organization system such as educational system is of no news in this
technological era. It makes sure that there is easy access: large amount of data can be stored and
accurate information and data is available to the institutions. The introduction of the automation
enrollment management system also enhances diversity and a server client relation in the
institution or organizations.
In terms of information technology, where there are problems, I.T is there to solve these
problems. Therefore automation management system will solve all problems pertinent to solving,
retrieving and generation of report for the institution. It will also help in keeping of record
accurately.
1.3 Methods used in the project development

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Developing top of the grid efficient standard application requires proper implementation and
proper implementation begins with a good design. Ultimately, a good design also starts with
a thorough analysis. The process of analysis and design is quite complex. Many
methodologists have developed methods of the design process. A software development
methodology refers to the framework that is used to structure, plan, and control the process
of developing an information system. A wide variety of such frameworks have evolved over
the years, each with its own recognized strengths and weaknesses. One system development
methodology is not necessarily suitable for use by all projects. Each of the available
methodologies is best suited to specific kinds of projects, based on various technical,
organizational, project and team considerations. In the development of this Project, the
waterfall model is used.
1.4 Tools used
The application tools used are:
 HTML
 PHP
 MYSQL Server

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CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 Key Words
Church, Records Management, Church management software, Web development and

Web-Based Church Management System
2.1 Definitions
2.1.1 Church
FROM THE CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA, The term church (Anglo-Saxon, cirice, circe;
Modern German, Kirche; Swedish, Kyrka) is the name employed in the Teutonic languages to
render the Greek ekklesia (ecclesia), the term by which the New Testament writers denote the
society founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ. The derivation of the word has been much debated. It
is now agreed that it is derived from the Greek kyriakon (cyriacon), i.e. the Lord's house, a term
which from the third century was used, as well as ekklesia, to signify a Christian place of
worship.
Also church is defined (Wikipedia) as a Christian religious organization made up of a
congregation, its members and clergy. They are organized more or less formally, with

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constitutions and by-laws, maintain offices, sometimes seek non-profit corporate status in the
United States and often have state or regional structures. Church bodies often belong to a broader
tradition within the Christian religion, sharing in a broad sense a history, culture and doctrinal
heritage with other church bodies of the same tradition.
2.1.2 Records Management
Usually about the only time records management is discussed in a church staff meeting is when
some crisis has occurred. Either files cannot be found, records are lost or have been destroyed, or
all of the filing cabinets are full and no more storage space is available. Unfortunately, churches
seldom initiate actions to manage their records in a more effective and efficient manner (Bill
Sumners).
Records management is defined (by Bill Sumners in Southern Baptist Historical Library and
Archive) as "the application of management techniques to the creation, utilization, maintenance,
retention, preservation, and disposal of records undertaken to reduce costs and improve
efficiency of recordkeeping." The entire program of the church can benefit by improving its
control of the records it maintains and creates.
Records management (RM) is defined as the practice of identifying, classifying, archiving, and
methodical destruction of records. Simply, records management includes all the processes
involved in making records findable, usable, and savable or destroyable (Missouri Baptist
Historical Commission).
Also records management is defined in the United Methodist Church GCAH as “the attempt to
systematically control the growth and disposition, or destruction, of office, committee and other
official records.” Its basic purpose is to help answer that nagging question of what do I keep, for
how long do I keep it and when can I remove it from my office.
The world we live in revolves around information recorded on paper, film, tape, and disk—this
includes the life of the local church. Correspondence, invoices, contracts, minutes, reports,

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financial records, and hundreds of other records provide the information that moves the wheels
of our institutions.
Today the volume of paper records—a fair share of it generated by computers, fast printers,
copying machines, and other advanced methods of duplication—shows no sign of decreasing.
Just to keep pace with the information explosion, an average company or institution today may
double its entire volume of records every 10 years. This same statement applies to churches.
With growth such as this, it is essential that church records be handled efficiently (Bill Sumners
in Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archive).
2.1.3 Church management software
Church management software is a specialized software that assists churches and other
[1]
religious organizations in organization and automation of daily operations. These packages
typically assist in the management of membership and mailings, fundraising, events, and report
generation. Churches use the packages to reduce the cost of operations and track the growth in
their congregations. The growth in the church management software business coincides with the
growing trend of using computers for religious activity (Wikipedia).
2.1.4 Web development
Web development is a broad term for the work involved in developing a web site for the
Internet (World Wide Web) or an intranet (a private network). This can include web design, web
content development, client liaison, client-side/server-side scripting, web server and network
security configuration, and e-commerce development. However, among web professionals, "web
development" usually refers to the main non-design aspects of building web sites: writing
markup and coding. Web development can range from developing the simplest static single page
of plain text to the most complex web-based internet applications, electronic businesses, or social
network services.

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For larger businesses and organizations, web development teams can consist of hundreds of
people (web developers). Smaller organizations may only require a single permanent or
contracting webmaster, or secondary assignment to related job positions such as a graphic
designer and/or Information systems technician. Web development may be a collaborative effort
between departments rather than the domain of a designated department.
Web development history:
Since the mid-1990s, web development has been one of the fastest growing industries in the
world. In 1995 there were fewer than 1,000 web development companies in the United States,
but by 2005 there were over 30,000 such companies in the U.S. alone. The web development
industry is expected to grow over 25% by 2010. The growth of this industry is being pushed by
large businesses wishing to sell products and services to their customers and to automate
business workflow.
In addition, cost of Web site development and hosting has dropped dramatically during this time.
Instead of costing tens of thousands of dollars, as was the case for early websites, one can now
develop a simple web site for less than a thousand dollars, depending on the complexity and
amount of content. Smaller Web site development companies are now able to make web design
accessible to both smaller companies and individuals further fueling the growth of the web
development industry. As far as web development tools and platforms are concerned, there are
many systems available to the public free of charge to aid in development. A popular example is
the LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP), which is usually distributed free of charge. This fact
alone has manifested into many people around the globe setting up new Web sites daily and thus
contributing to increase in web development popularity. Another contributing factor has been the
rise of easy to use WYSIWYG web development software, most prominently WebDev, Adobe
Dreamweaver, Netbeans or Microsoft Expression Studio. Using such software, virtually anyone
can develop a Web page in a matter of minutes. Knowledge of HyperText Markup Language
(HTML), or other programming languages is not required, but recommended for professional
results.

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The next generation of web development tools uses the strong growth in LAMP, Java Platform,
Enterprise Edition technologies and Microsoft .NET technologies to provide the Web as a way to
run applications online. Web developers now help to deliver applications as Web services which
were traditionally only available as applications on a desk based computer.
Instead of running executable code on a local computer, users are interacting with online
applications to create new content. This has created new methods in communication and allowed
for many opportunities to decentralize information and media distribution. Users are now able to
interact with applications from many locations, instead of being tied to a specific workstation for
their application environment.
Examples of dramatic transformation in communication and commerce led by web development

include e-commerce. Online auction sites such as eBay have changed the way consumers
consume and purchase goods and services. Online resellers such as Amazon.com and Buy.com
(among many, many others) have transformed the shopping and bargain hunting experience for
many consumers. Another good example of transformative communication led by web
development is the blog. Web applications such as MovableType and WordPress have created
easily implemented blog environments for individual Web sites. Open source content systems
such as Alfresco, Typo3, Xoops, Joomla!, and Drupal have extended web development into new
modes of interaction and communication.
In addition, web development has moved to a new phase of Internet communication. Computer
web sites are no longer simply tools for work or commerce but used most for communication.
Websites such as Facebook and Twitter provide users a platform to freely communicate. This
new form of web communication is also changing e-commerce through the number of hits and
online advertisement.
2.1.5 Web-Based Church Management System

Before the implementation of the system, the literature reviews have been done on topics that are
related to the Web-Based Church Management System (WCMS). Most of the studied

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information obtained from electronic and non-electronic data media. The review of previous
research studies and works gives more understanding and knowledge to develop this project. The
primary research was the implementation of online Church Record Management. Previous
studies reviewed included those for Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand, The
United Methodist Church, NJ, USA, Greenock Presbytarian Church, St. Andrew’s, New
Brunsnick, Canada and Churchwide Office Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
(Avery, Dommeyer, Ha, & Kasiar, 2006). The reoccurring factors for using an online system
were response rates, quality, anonymity, and flexibility. These were important considerations for
the development of WCMS, especially with the intent of integrating the system into multiple
members.
 Flexibility
For many churches, the days when the church secretary or pastor was able to keep track of
members and their vital statistics with a pencil and paper are long gone. And, with advances in
computers and software, it’s not likely anyone is missing those days too terribly (by: Marc S.
Botts, editor 9/10/2003).
Church Management System (CMS) allows a congregation to keep tabs on information related to
activities of the church. It uses a database to store information and typically includes a set of
programs or modules to manipulate the stored data.
One of the main benefits, said Free Grafton, a customer service representative for Colorado
Springs, Colo-based Church Community Builder, is the systems allow the pastors to spend time
ministering rather than managing information.
"I think that is the goal of a church management system is to try and help you think through and
automate as many processes as you can," Grafton said.
 Ease of use

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CMS solutions, with graphical user interfaces, offer ease of use that other solutions, such as
internally developed spreadsheets, do not. They also provide a degree of stability because they
do not require a high level of technical expertise.
We see that all the time where a church was dependent on a computer guru or technical expert,"
said Paul Schuster, president of Union, Ky.-based HelpMate. "It may have been a volunteer or
somebody on staff but they left and now they are in complete disarray. When you depend
internally on a product or some way of managing that system and that person is no longer
available to the organization that can be a real detriment. "
Several factors can play into the ease of use of the WCMS application, including the ability to
reuse information, the ability to add instructor-supplied news, and the ability to return and make
changes, to name a few. Paper-based CMS require more communication among involved parties
to add and reuse information’s, whereas online CMS provide an easy interface for instructors to
directly add the information or reuse others that exist in the database. In creating that interface,
Krug (2006) suggests keeping most Web pages limited to one page in length, as many visitors
will not scroll below the fold to see the additional information. Additionally, if changes are
necessary, the ability to change information’s on the paper-based form again requires more
communication among several people, as compared to online CMS that save the settings for each
instructor and are updateable until they are sent out to be completed.
 Quickness of Use
Krug (2006), states that Web sites that feel effortless are more usable than those that do not.
Providing a straightforward interface allows users to quickly find what they are looking for and
accomplish the task at hand. Mc-Cracken and Wolfe (2004) contribute to this, stating that
improved productivity through speed and efficiency provides a more user-centered Web site. In
moving towards a more user-centered approach, comparing paper-based to online-based CMS,
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paper-based results take days to process and return to the instructors, whereas, online CMS
provide the results in real-time. This puts the user at the center of the design, providing quick
access to necessary information.
 Response Rate
In most cases, the response rate of members completed online request dropped when compared
to the existing traditional paper-based version. In the study conducted at The United Methodist
Church, NJ, USA, the response rate was 32.8% for online request and 60.6% for in-Church. It
should be noted that this decrease in the response was not necessarily attributed to the instrument
used to complete the request; rather, online request were usually completed outside of church
whereas paper-based were completed in-church (Dommeyer, Baum, & Hanna, 2004). The
average response rate for in-church paper-based request ranged from 61–82 percent; for that
reason, the desired response rate for online request was to be within this range (Avery, 2006).
One approach to increase the response rate was to send reminder emails to non-responders. At
Greenock Presbyterian Church, St. Andrew’s, New Brunsnick, Canada, three email
reminders were sent and an increase in the response rate from 60 to 87 percent was observed
(Ha, Marsh, & Jones, 1998). At Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand, the online
system was in place for three years and overall response rates increased reaching an average of
68.1 percent for all request (Avery, 2006).
 Quality
Based on the literature reviewed, the quality of the responses between online and paper request
did not have a significant difference (Leung & Kember, 2005). Other research noted that the
quantity in comments for open ended questions were greater for online systems versus paper
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versions. A study calculated a ratio of 186 words per members using online versions compared to
25 words per members for paper versions (Kasiar, Schroeder, & Holstad, 2002).
 Anonymity
A common concern expressed among members who used CMS was whether they remained
anonymous when completing request. To address this issue, WCMS needed a privacy statement
detailing anonymity and security concerns expressed. In some cases, paper-based request
compromised anonymity if hand written responses were not transcribed. Having the comments
typed initially using the online system prevented this issue and eliminated the need to transcribe
the responses.
Schuster said “Password protected areas make it easier to change information securely, although
privacy is a concern for many people.”
"The most common concern we hear, mostly from older people because they don't fully
understand the Internet, is that they are concerned about their name being 'out there,'" said
Church Community Builder's Grafton. "They don't know where out there is, but they know their
name is on someone's computer and that is not at the church."
To allay those concerns, his company uses secure servers and databases that are only accessible
by the server. As an added protection, passwords require at least one numeric character and the
system locks out a user after five failed logon attempts.
 Training, Support

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The Indianapolis Center for Congregations, an organization that helps congregations of various
sizes and denominational affiliation with computer and ministry issues, cautions that not getting
proper training is the most frequent mistake new CMS users make.
Because churches don’t take full advantage of training options, many of a package’s most helpful
features may go unused.
The center recommends churches include plans and a generous budget for training, which
providers may offer onsite, regionally, by telephone or over the Internet. Many providers have
online user groups that can be helpful for both new and experienced users.
Support is also a key consideration. The center recommends that congregations purchase and
maintain the support offered by a vendor.
Dunlap agrees that support is something churches should be able to rely on.
"It gets kind of frustrating when you are trying to load something up and you can’t call
somebody and say, ‘Hey, this error message came up,’" he said.
Some companies, such as People Driven Software, provide free upgrades as an incentive to
purchase annual support packages.
2.2 Outcome of the Review

Based on the reviewed, most of the studied information obtained from electronic and non-
electronic data media of the church management system were windows application. The
reoccurring factors for using an online system were response rates, quality, anonymity, and
flexibility. These were important considerations for the development of WCMS, especially
with the intent of integrating the system into multiple members.

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CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY
3.0 Introduction
A software development methodology refers to the framework that is used to structure, plan, and
control the process of developing an information system. A wide variety of such frameworks
have evolved over the years, each with its own recognized strengths and weaknesses. One system
development methodology is not necessarily suitable for use by all projects. Each of the
available methodologies is best suited to specific kinds of projects, based on various technical,
organizational, project and team considerations. The framework of a software development
methodology consists of:
 A software development philosophy, with the approach or approaches of the software

development process
 Multiple tools, models and methods, to assist in the software development process.
These frameworks are often bound to some kind of organization, which further develops,
supports the use, and promotes the methodology.
Every software development methodology has more or less its own approach to software
development. There is a set of more general approaches, which are developed into several
specific methodologies. These approaches are.
 Prototyping: iterative framework type

 Spiral: combination of linear and iterative framework type
 Waterfall: linear framework type

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Fig. 3.1 Three software development patterns mashed together
3.1 Software prototyping
Software prototyping, is the framework of activities during software development of creating

prototypes, i.e., incomplete versions of the software program being developed.
A prototype typically simulates only a few aspects of the features of the eventual program, and
may be completely different from the eventual implementation.
The conventional purpose of a prototype is to allow users of the software to evaluate developers'
proposals for the design of the eventual product by actually trying them out, rather than having to
interpret and evaluate the design based on descriptions. Prototyping can also be used by end
users to describe and prove requirements that developers have not considered, so "controlling the
prototype" can be a key factor in the commercial relationship between solution providers and
their clients
The process of prototyping involves the following steps
1. Identify basic requirements

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Determine basic requirements including the input and output information desired. Details,
such as security, can typically be ignored.
2. Develop Initial Prototype
The initial prototype is developed that includes only user interfaces.

3. Review
The customers, including end-users, examine the prototype and provide feedback on
additions or changes.
4. Revise and Enhance the Prototype
Using the feedback both the specifications and the prototype can be improved.
Negotiation about what is within the scope of the contract/product may be necessary. If
changes are introduced then a repeat of steps #3 and #4 may be needed.
Concurrent
activities
Initial
Specification version
Outline Intermediate
Development versions
description
Final
Validation version
Fig. 3.2 Software Prototyping Process From Sommerville, Software Engineering, 7th Edition

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Types of Prototyping
Software prototyping has many variants. However, all the methods are in some way based on
two major types of prototyping: Throwaway Prototyping and Evolutionary Prototyping
Throwaway prototyping
Also called close ended prototyping. Throwaway or Rapid Prototyping refers to the creation of a
model that will eventually be discarded rather than becoming part of the final delivered software.
After preliminary requirements gathering is accomplished, a simple working model of the system
is constructed to visually show the users what their requirements may look like when they are
implemented into a finished system.
In this approach the prototype is constructed with the idea that it will be discarded and the final
system will be built from scratch. The steps in this approach are:
1. Write preliminary requirements

2. Design the prototype
3. User experiences/uses the prototype, specifies new requirements
4. Repeat if necessary
5. Write the final requirements
6. Develop the real products
The most obvious reason for using Throwaway Prototyping is that it can be done quickly. If the
users can get quick feedback on their requirements, they may be able to refine them early in the
development of the software. Making changes early in the development lifecycle is extremely
cost effective since there is nothing at that point to redo. If a project is changed after a
considerable work has been done then small changes could require large efforts to implement
since software systems have many dependencies. Speed is crucial in implementing a throwaway

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prototype, since with a limited budget of time and money little can be expended on a prototype
that will be discarded.
Another strength of Throwaway Prototyping is its ability to construct interfaces that the users can
test. The user interface is what the user sees as the system, and by seeing it in front of them, it is
much easier to grasp how the system will work.
Prototypes can be classified according to the fidelity with which they resemble the actual product
in terms of appearance, interaction and timing. One method of creating a low fidelity Throwaway
Prototype is Paper Prototyping. The prototype is implemented using paper and pencil, and thus
mimics the function of the actual product, but does not look at all like it.
Evolutionary prototyping
Evolutionary Prototyping (also known as breadboard prototyping) is quite different from

Throwaway Prototyping. The main goal when using Evolutionary Prototyping is to build a very
robust prototype in a structured manner and constantly refine it. "The reason for this is that the
Evolutionary prototype, when built, forms the heart of the new system, and the improvements
and further requirements will be built.
When developing a system using Evolutionary Prototyping, the system is continually refined and
rebuilt.
This technique allows the development team to add features, or make changes that couldn't be
conceived during the requirements and design phase.
Evolutionary Prototypes have an advantage over Throwaway Prototypes in that they are
functional systems. Although they may not have all the features the users have planned, they may
be used on an interim basis until the final system is delivered.
In Evolutionary Prototyping, developers can focus themselves to develop parts of the system that
they understand instead of working on developing a whole system.

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Advantages of prototyping
There are many advantages to using prototyping in software development – some tangible, some
abstract.
 Reduced time and costs: Prototyping can improve the quality of requirements and
specifications provided to developers. Because changes cost exponentially more to
implement as they are detected later in development, the early determination of what the
user really wants can result in faster and less expensive software.
 Improved and increased user involvement: Prototyping requires user involvement and
allows them to see and interact with a prototype allowing them to provide better and
more complete feedback and specifications. The presence of the prototype being
examined by the user prevents many misunderstandings and miscommunications that
occur when each side believe the other understands what they said. Since users know the
problem domain better than anyone on the development team does, increased interaction
can result in final product that has greater tangible and intangible quality. The final
product is more likely to satisfy the users desire for look, feel and performance.
Disadvantages of prototyping
Using, or perhaps misusing, prototyping can also have disadvantages.
 Insufficient analysis: The focus on a limited prototype can distract developers from
properly analyzing the complete project. This can lead to overlooking better solutions,
preparation of incomplete specifications or the conversion of limited prototypes into
poorly engineered final projects that are hard to maintain. Further, since a prototype is
limited in functionality it may not scale well if the prototype is used as the basis of a final
deliverable, which may not be noticed if developers are too focused on building a
prototype as a model.
 User confusion of prototype and finished system: Users can begin to think that a
prototype, intended to be thrown away, is actually a final system that merely needs to be

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finished or polished. (They are, for example, often unaware of the effort needed to add
error-checking and security features which a prototype may not have.) This can lead them
to expect the prototype to accurately model the performance of the final system when this
is not the intent of the developers. Users can also become attached to features that were
included in a prototype for consideration and then removed from the specification for a
final system. If users are able to require all proposed features be included in the final
system this can lead to conflict.
 Developer misunderstanding of user objectives: Developers may assume that users

share their objectives (e.g. to deliver core functionality on time and within budget),
without understanding wider commercial issues. For example, user representatives
attending Enterprise software (e.g. PeopleSoft) events may have seen demonstrations of
"transaction auditing" (where changes are logged and displayed in a difference grid view)
without being told that this feature demands additional coding and often requires more
hardware to handle extra database accesses. Users might believe they can demand
auditing on every field, whereas developers might think this is feature creep because they
have made assumptions about the extent of user requirements. If the solution provider has
committed delivery before the user requirements were reviewed, developers are between
a rock and a hard place, particularly if user management derives some advantage from
their failure to implement requirements.
 Developer attachment to prototype: Developers can also become attached to prototypes

they have spent a great deal of effort producing; this can lead to problems like attempting
to convert a limited prototype into a final system when it does not have an appropriate
underlying architecture. (This may suggest that throwaway prototyping, rather than
evolutionary prototyping, should be used.)
 Excessive development time of the prototype: A key property to prototyping is the fact
that it is supposed to be done quickly. If the developers lose sight of this fact, they very
well may try to develop a prototype that is too complex. When the prototype is thrown

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away the precisely developed requirements that it provides may not yield a sufficient
increase in productivity to make up for the time spent developing the prototype. Users
can become stuck in debates over details of the prototype, holding up the development
team and delaying the final product.
 Expense of implementing prototyping: the start up costs for building a development

team focused on prototyping may be high. Many companies have development
methodologies in place, and changing them can mean retraining, retooling, or both. Many
companies tend to just jump into the prototyping without bothering to retrain their
workers as much as they should.
Basic principles
Basic principles of prototyping are:
 Not a standalone, complete development methodology, but rather an approach to

handling selected portions of a larger, more traditional development methodology (i.e.
Incremental, Spiral, or Rapid Application Development (RAD)).
 Attempts to reduce inherent project risk by breaking a project into smaller segments and
providing more ease-of-change during the development process.
 User is involved throughout the process, which increases the likelihood of user
acceptance of the final implementation.
 Small-scale mock-ups of the system are developed following an iterative modification
process until the prototype evolves to meet the users’ requirements.
 While most prototypes are developed with the expectation that they will be discarded, it
is possible in some cases to evolve from prototype to working system.
 A basic understanding of the fundamental business problem is necessary to avoid solving
the wrong problem.
 Mainframes have a lot to do with this sort of thing that consist of: PB&J

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3.2 Spiral Model
The spiral model is a software development process combining elements of both design and
prototyping-in-stages, in an effort to combine advantages of top-down and bottom-up concepts.
Also known as the spiral lifecycle model (or spiral development), it is a systems development
method (SDM) used in information technology (IT). This model of development combines the
features of the prototyping model and the waterfall model. The spiral model is intended for large,
expensive and complicated projects.
Steps
The steps in the spiral model iteration can be generalized as follows:
1. The system requirements are defined in as much detail as possible. This usually involves
interviewing a number of users representing all the external or internal users and other
aspects of the existing system.
2. A preliminary design is created for the new system. This phase is the most important part
of "Spiral Model". In this phase all possible (and available) alternatives, which can help
in developing a cost effective project are analyzed and strategies to use them are decided.
This phase has been added specially in order to identify and resolve all the possible risks
in the project development. If risks indicate any kind of uncertainty in requirements,
prototyping may be used to proceed with the available data and find out possible solution
in order to deal with the potential changes in the requirements.

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3. A first prototype of the new system is constructed from the preliminary design. This is
usually a scaled-down system, and represents an approximation of the characteristics of
the final product.
4. A second prototype is evolved by a fourfold procedure:
1. Evaluating the first prototype in terms of its strengths, weaknesses, and risks;
2. Defining the requirements of the second prototype;
3. Planning and designing the second prototype;
4. Constructing and testing the second prototype.
Determine objectives,
Evaluate alternatives,
alternatives and
identify, resolve risks
constraints Risk
analysis
Risk
analysis
Risk
Opera-
analysis
Pr ototype 3 tional
Pr ototype 2 protoype
Risk
analysis Pr oto-
REVIEW type 1
Requirements plan Simulations, models, benchmarks
Life-cycle plan Concept of
Operation S/W
requirements Product
design Detailed
Requirement design
Development
plan validation Code
Unit test
Integration Design
V&V Integration
and test plan
Plan ne xt phase test
Acceptance
Service test Develop, verify
next-level product
Fig. 3.3 Spiral Model Process from Sommerville, Software Engineering, 7th Edition
Basic principles of Spiral model are:

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 Focus is on risk assessment and on minimizing project risk by breaking a project into
smaller segments and providing more ease-of-change during the development process, as
well as providing the opportunity to evaluate risks and weigh consideration of project
continuation throughout the life cycle.
 "Each cycle involves a progression through the same sequence of steps, for each portion
of the product and for each of its levels of elaboration, from an overall concept-of-
operation document down to the coding of each individual program."
 Each trip around the spiral traverses four basic quadarants: (1) determine objectives,
alternatives, and constraints of the iteration; (2) Evaluate alternatives; Identify and
resolve risks; (3) develop and verify deliverables from the iteration; and (4) plan the next
iteration.
 Begin each cycle with an identification of stakeholders and their win conditions, and end
each cycle with review and commitment.
Risk-driven spiral model, emphasizing the conditions of options and constraints in order to
support software reuse, software quality can help as a special goal of integration into the product
development. However, the spiral model has some restrictive conditions, as follows:
(1) spiral model emphasize risk analysis, but require customers to accept and believe that much
of this analysis, and make the relevant response is not easy, therefore, this model is often adapted
to large-scale internal software development.
(2) If the implementation of risk analysis will greatly affect the profits of the project, then risk
analysis is meaningless, therefore, spiral model is only suitable for large-scale software projects.
(3) Good software developers should look for possible risks, an accurate analysis of risk,
otherwise it will lead to greater risk.
First stage is to determine the stage of the goal of accomplishing these objectives, options and
constraints, and then from the perspective of risk analysis program, development strategy, and
strive to remove all potential risks, and sometimes necessary to achieve through the construction

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of the prototype. If some risk can not be ruled out, the program to end immediately, or else start
the development of the next steps. Finally, evaluation results of the stage, and the design of the
next phase.
3.3 Waterfall model
The waterfall model is a sequential development process, in which development is seen as

flowing steadily downwards (like a waterfall) through the phases of requirements analysis,
design, implementation, testing (validation), integration, and maintenance. The first formal
description of the waterfall model is often cited to be an article published by Winston W. Royce
in 1970 although Royce did not use the term "waterfall" in this article.
The principal stages of the model map onto fundamental development activities:
1. Requirements analysis and definition: The system's services, constraints and goals are,
established by consultation with system users. They are then defined in detail and serve
as a system specification.
2. System and software design: The systems design process partitions the requirements to
either hardware or software systems. It establishes an overall system architecture.
Software design involves identifying and describing the fundamental software system
abstractions and their relationships.
3. Implementation and unit testing: During this stage, the software design is realised as a
set of programs or program units. Unit testing involves verifying that each unit meets its
specification.
4. Integration and system testing: The individual program units or programs are
integrated and tested as a complete system to ensure that the software requirements have
been met. After testing, the software system is delivered to the customer.
5. Operation and maintenance: Normally (although not necessarily) this is the longest
life-cycle phase. The system is installed and put into practical use. Maintenance: involves

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correcting errors which were not discovered in earlier stages of the life cycle, improving
the implementation of system units and enhancing the system’s services as new
requirements are discovered.
Requirements
definition
System and
software design
Implementa tion
and unit testing
Integration and
system testing
Operation and
maintenance
Fig. 3.4 Waterfall Model Process From Somerville, Software Engineering, 7th Edition
To follow the waterfall model, one proceeds from one phase to the next in a sequential manner.
For example, one first completes requirements specification, which after sign-off are considered
"set in stone." When the requirements are fully completed, one proceeds to design. The software
in question is designed and a blueprint is drawn for implementers (coders) to follow — this
design should be a plan for implementing the requirements given. When the design is fully
completed, an implementation of that design is made by coders. Towards the later stages of this
implementation phase, separate software components produced are combined to introduce new
functionality and reduced risk through the removal of errors.

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Thus the waterfall model maintains that one should move to a phase only when its preceding
phase is completed and perfected. However, there are various modified waterfall models
(including Royce's final model) that may include slight or major variations upon this process.
Criticism
The waterfall model is argued by many to be a bad idea in practice. This is mainly because of
their belief that it is impossible for any non-trivial project to get one phase of a software
product's lifecycle perfected, before moving on to the next phases and learning from them.
Designers may not be aware of future implementation difficulties when writing a design for an
unimplemented software product. That is, it may become clear in the implementation phase that
a particular area of program functionality is extraordinarily difficult to implement. If this is the
case, it is better to revise the design than to persist in using a design that was made based on
faulty predictions and that does not account for the newly discovered problem areas.
Even without such changing of the specification during implementation, there is the option either
to start a new project from scratch, "on a green field", or to continue some already existing, "a
brown field" (from construction again). The waterfall methodology can be used for continuous
enhancement, even for existing software, originally from another team. As well as in the case
when the system analyst fails to capture the customer requirements correctly, the resulting
impacts on the following phases (mainly the coding) still can be tamed by this methodology, in
practice.
The idea behind the waterfall model may be "measure twice; cut once", and those opposed to the
waterfall model argue that this idea tends to fall apart when the problem being measured is
constantly changing due to requirement modifications and new realizations about the problem
itself. A potential solution is for an experienced developer to spend time up front on refactoring
to prepare the software for the update. Another approach is to use a design targeting modularity
with interfaces, to increase the flexibility of the software with respect to the design.

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Supporting arguments
Time spent early in the software production cycle can lead to greater economy at later stages. It
has been shown that a bug found in the early stages (such as requirements specification or
design) is cheaper in terms of money, effort and time, to fix than the same bug found later on in
the process. To take an extreme example, if a program design turns out to be impossible to
implement, it is easier to fix the design at the design stage than to realize months later, when
program components are being integrated, that all the work done so far has to be scrapped
because of a broken design.
This is the central idea behind the waterfall model - time spent early on making sure that
requirements and design are absolutely correct will save you much time and effort later. Thus,
the thinking of those who follow the waterfall process goes, one should make sure that each
phase is 100% complete and absolutely correct before proceeding to the next phase of program
creation. Program requirements should be set in stone before design is started (otherwise work
put into a design based on incorrect requirements is wasted); the program's design should be
perfect before people begin work on implementing the design (otherwise they are implementing
the wrong design and their work is wasted), etc.
A further argument for the waterfall model is that it places emphasis on documentation (such as
requirements documents and design documents) as well as source code. In less designed and
documented methodologies, should team members leave, much knowledge is lost and may be
difficult for a project to recover from. Should a fully working design document be present (as is
the intent of the waterfall model) new team members or even entirely new teams should be able
to familiarize themselves by reading the documents.
As well as the above, some prefer the waterfall model for its simple approach and argue that it is
more disciplined. Rather than what the waterfall adherent sees as chaos, the waterfall model
provides a structured approach; the model itself progresses linearly through discrete, easily
understandable and explainable phases and thus is easy to understand; it also provides easily

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markable milestones in the development process. It is perhaps for this reason that is why the
waterfall model is used.
It is argued that the waterfall model in general can be suited to software projects which are stable
(especially those projects with unchanging requirements, such as with shrink wrap software) and
where it is possible and likely that designers will be able to fully predict problem areas of the
system and produce a correct design before implementation is started. The waterfall model also
requires that implementers follow the well made, complete design accurately, ensuring that the
integration of the system proceeds smoothly.

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CHAPTER 4
SYSTEM SPECIFICATION
4.0 Introduction
The system specification of this project deals with the software specification and the hardware
specification required in the accomplishment of the final output of results which is the overall
project.
4.0.1 Hardware Application

Since there is advancement in technology to replace the existing system, there would be some
major hardware specification to enable the application to run very effectively and efficiently
since it is a computer base. Below are the standard hardware requirements for the church
management system.
Hardware Specification
Processor : 1.70 GHz and Above
Main Memory : 512 MB.
Hard Disk : 20 GB.
Disk Space : 100 MB.
Floppy Disk Drive : 1.44 MB.
Keyboard : ANY

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Mouse : ANY
Monitor : ANY
CD ROM Drive : 52x Samsung CD ROM
4.0.2 Software Specification
Software Specification
Operating System : Windows or LINUX
Software : PHP, JAVASCRIPT, HTML, Apache
Data Base : MYSQL
4.0.3 System Architecture

The system we have developed is mainly a web based system. The three-tier architecture is
followed in the development of the system. A three tier architecture has three separate
components: a client, an application server and a database server. In implementing a three tier
architecture the number of choices is more than the traditional client server architecture. The
communication protocol used to communicate between the client and the application server can
be different from that used to communicate between the application server and the database
server. The workload distribution among the three components can vary widely across
applications.
Most web-enabled database relies on a three-tier model. Typically, an existing database server is
made available for web-based access. To make the database available, the server must be
accessible via an external network. To provide this network access, a second server is commonly
used as a firewall, restricting the kinds of commands that can be passed to the database server.
The application server can act as a firewall.

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Request Command
APPLICATION DATABASE
CLIENT SERVER SERVER
Reply Result
The above figure shows one possible configuration for a web enabled system. The client is a
computer with access to the Internet, running a browser. The client communicates with the
application server via the Hypertext Transfer Protocol(HTTP). The application server in turn
executes commands against the database, formats the result in Hypertext Markup
Language(HTML), and return the result to the client.
In this configuration, the application server provides authentication services (to make sure the
client is allowed to initiate the request), database connection service, and application processing
service. The client’s role is to initiate the request and display the result returned, while the
database serves as the repository for the data
4.1 Software description
4.1.1 PHP
Introduction:
PHP is a server-side scripting language for creating dynamic Web pages. You create pages with
PHP and HTML. When a visitor opens the page, the server processes the PHP commands and
then sends the results to the visitor's browser, just as with ASP or ColdFusion. Unlike ASP or
ColdFusion, however, PHP is Open Source and cross-platform. PHP runs on Windows NT and
many Unix versions, and it can be built as an Apache module and as a binary that can run as a
CGI. When built as an Apache module, PHP is especially lightweight and speedy. Without any
process creation overhead, it can return results quickly, but it doesn't require the tuning of
mod_perl to keep your server's memory image small.

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In addition to manipulating the content of our pages, PHP can also send HTTP headers. We can
set cookies, manage authentication, and redirect users. It offers excellent connectivity to many
databases (and ODBC), and integration with various external libraries that let us do everything
from generating PDF documents to parsing XML.
We used the PHP in our Web pages to enable user information to kept in our database and
moreover to verify the database if you are the right person login into the system. This is a block
of PHP code :
<?php
if(isset($_GET['err'])){
if($_GET['err']==1){
echo "please either your name or password is wrong";
}elseif($_GET['err']==2) {
echo "Please you need to log in before having access to the page";
}elseif($_GET['err']==3){
echo "You have successfully logged out";
}elseif($_GET['err']==4){
echo "You have successfully Deleted your account";

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}else{
echo "Please Login";
?> which is checking if your username and password is correct.PHP's language syntax is
similar to C's and Perl's. You don't have to declare variables before you use them, and it's easy to
create arrays and hashes (associative arrays). PHP even has some rudimentary object-oriented
features, providing a helpful way to organize and encapsulate your code.
4.1.2 JavaScript
JavaScript Introduction
JavaScript is a technique for manipulating HTML documents in the browser. This is often called
client-side scripting. It allows the page author to incorporate facilities such as buttons that
change in appearance when you move the mouse over them and menus that expand. It also
provides facilities to manipulate the browser window in various interesting ways.
It is used by incorporating programmers in parts of HTML pages known as scripts. Browsers

must include JavaScript interpreters. It should be noted that JavaScript has nothing whatsoever
to do with the Java programming language. We used the JavaScript to enable some of our menu
and content to change their behavior on mouse hover and to restrict user to provide the right
information for instance, by not putting figures at place that require alphabet and also we
JavaScript to validate data before it is submitted to a server. This saves the server from extra
processing.
4.1.3 HTML

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Introduction to HTML
HTML or Hyper Text Markup Language is designed to specify the logical organization of a
document, with important hypertext extensions. It is not designed to be the language of a
WYSIWYG [WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET] word processor such as Word or
WordPerfect. This choice was made because the same HTML document may be viewed by many
different "browsers", of very different abilities. Thus, for example, HTML allows you to mark
selections of text as titles or paragraphs, and then leaves the interpretation of these marked
elements up to the browser. For example one browser may indent the beginning of a paragraph,
while another may only leave a blank line.
HTML instructions divide the text of a document into blocks called elements. These can be
divided into two broad categories -- those that define how the BODY of the document is to be
displayed by the browser and those that define information `about' the document, such as the title
or relationships to other documents. The vocabulary of these elements and a description of the
overall design of HTML documents are given in the rest of Section 2. The Last part of the
section also describes standard naming schemes for HTML documents and related files.
The detailed rules for HTML (the names of the tags/elements, how they can be used) are defined
using another language known as the standard generalized markup language, or SGML. SGML is
wickedly difficult, and was designed for massive document collections, such as repair manuals
for F-16 fighters, or maintenance plans for nuclear submarines. Fortunately, HTML is much
simpler!
However, SGML has useful features that HTML lacks. For this reason, markup language and
software experts have developed a new language, called XML (the Extensible Markup
Language) which has most of the most useful features of HTML and SGML.
Moreover, our content interface in the web page, the Web presentations with synchronized text,
images, audio, video, and streaming media both timed and interactive we used HTML.
These blocks of code enable us to create a form for Login interface:
<html>
<body>
<form>

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<table align="center" width='200px'>

<tr>
<td>Username:</td>
<td><input type="text" name="username"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>password:</td>
<td><input type="password" name='password'></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2" align='center'><input type="submit" value='submit'></td>
</tr>
</table>
</form>
</body>
</html>
4.1.4 MySQL
MySQL is a database system used on the web. Basically, a MySQL database allows you to create
a relational database structure on a web-server somewhere in order to store data or automate
procedures. If you think of it in comparison to Microsoft Access, MySQL is what holds all of
your tables, PHP acts as your queries (among other things), and your forms are basically web
pages with fields in them. With all of this combined, you can create truly spectacular projects on
the web.
MySQL is also open source in that it’s free and falls under the GNU General Public License
(GPL). Chances are, if you are getting your own web-page or already have one – your host
supports MySQL and PHP. They are generally associated with (though not limited to)
Unix/Linux based servers. If by chance you are considering getting your own page and want

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MySQL and PHP support check out Dreamhost – I’ve been using them for years and they
absolutely can’t be beat.
Interacting with a MySQL database is a little weird as you don’t have the tried and true
WYSIWYG [WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET] interface that something as easy as
Microsoft Access affords. When creating tables, you’ll either have to create them by using SQL
Statements, or by using another open-source tool available online called PHPMyAdmin.
PHPMyAdmin gives you an easy-to-use interface that allows you to create tables and run queries
by filling in a little bit of information and then having the tables created for you. This is good if
you’re either lazy, or don’t feel like bothering with big and complicated SQL Statements.
In our webpage MySQL database was used as our database system where we keep record of all
members in church, other related information and also enabling us to update our website easily.
4.2 Feasibility Study and System Analysis

4.2.1 Feasibility Study
Feasibility can be established sometimes using investment appraisal techniques so that a detailed
analysis of the existing system is conducted. Feasibility study is referred to as the likelihood that
the system would be useful to the organization or institution. This stage is very important
because it produces the results of all investigations which are determined by the system. The
feasibility study is assessed in three main ways. They are:
 Economic feasibility
 Technical feasibility
 Operational feasibility
Economical Feasibility Study

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This type of feasibility study deals with resources; some of which are time factor, cost involved
in terms of hardware, training employee and the cost of the software. All these are considered
during the development of the software application.
A system that can be developed technically and that would be used if installed must also be a
good investment for the organization. These financial benefits must equal or exceed the costs.
Some questions to be asked are:
1. Are there sufficient benefits in creating the system to make the cost acceptable?
2. Would the software be beneficial to speed up transactions and also reduce stationary for
record keeping?
A system financial benefit must exceed the cost of developing that system, i.e. a new system
being developed should be a good investment for the organization. Economic feasibility
considers the following:
i. The cost to conduct a full system investigation.
ii. The cost of hardware and software for the class of application.
iii. The benefits in the form of reduced cost or fewer costly errors.
iv. The cost if nothing changes (i.e. the proposed system is not developed).
The proposed “Church Management System” is economically feasible because
i. The system requires very less time factors.
ii. The system will provide fast and efficient automated environment instead of slow and
error prone manual system, thus reducing both time and man power spent in running the
system.
iii. The system will have GUI interface and very less user-training is required to learn it.
iv. The system will provide service to view various information for proper managerial
decision making.
Technical Feasibility
The technical feasibility study is the large part which determines resources. Can the work of the
project be done with current equipment, existing software technology and available personnel? If
new technology is required, what is the likelihood that it can be developed? These are some very
important questions that need to be answered to ensure the technical feasibility of a system.
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The software demands no sophisticated equipments for its implementation. Users only require
slight training to use it effectively. Also the development of the software application was based
on the current existing technology equipment. The technical resources are easy and the user will
not find it difficult in using them.
Technical feasibility centers around the existing computer system (Hardware and
Software) whether it can support the addition of proposed system, if not, to what extent it can
support and the organization’s capacity to acquire additional components.
Our proposed system is technically feasible because:
 The hardware and software required are easy to install and handle (The necessary
hardware configuration and software platform is already there).
 The system supports interactivity with the user through GUI.
 Expandability will be maintained in the new system. New modules can be added later on
the application, if required in the future.
 The application will have User-friendly Forms and Screens, all validation checks. So the
new system guarantees accuracy, reliability, ease of access and data security.
Operational Feasibility
This type of feasibility study is dependent on the human resources that are available. It mostly
consists of how the projects are beneficial if only they are turned into information systems that
would be able to meet the organizations operations requirements. Behavioral feasibility is tested
with answers to questions like:
1. Will the system be used if it is developed and implemented?
2. Will there be resistance from users that will undermine the possible application benefits?
3. Will the system to be produced receive maximum support from the management and
workers of the institution?
If the application is developed and implemented, there will be no resistance from the users that
will undermine the possible application benefits.

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Behavioral feasibility determines how much effort will go in the proposed information system,
and in educating and training the employees on the new system, along with the new ways of
conducting the business. Behavioral study strives on ensuring that the equilibrium of the
organization and status quo in the organization are not disturbed and changes are readily
accepted by the users.
The proposed system is behaviorally feasible because of the following:
 The executives of the church will accept it because they are already acquainted with
computers.
 This system is also meant for the general user i.e. church members. Nowadays the
Internet is almost familiar to everyone. So, it is not difficult for the user to use the system.
 Most of the members are familiar with the web browser and the process of browsing the
website will be simplified for the members. The organization is definitely ready to
welcome the computerized system.
4.2.2 System Analysis

System analysis is the process of gathering and interpreting facts, diagnosing problems and using
the information to recommend improvement to the analysis. The system analysis specifies what
the system should do at a particular time. Design states the process involved in how to
accomplish the objectives. System analysis is an activity that encompasses the tasks. In terms of
this project, it will be the system development life cycle. The process of system analysis is
conducted with the following objectives in mind:
 Identify the need of computerization of the church information system
 Evaluate the system concept for feasibility
 Reform economical and technical analysis
 Allocate function of hardware, software, database and other system elements
 Establish cost and schedule constraints
 Create a system definition that forms the foundation for all subsequent production work

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CHAPTER 5
SYSTEM DESIGN
5.0 Introduction
The design state involves how to accomplish the objectives of the project. This then includes the
architecture aspect of the system as well as the developing process of the software application.
5.1 Design of the component
Church
1
Member Function
2
Administrator Function
1.3
Check church
1.1 1.2
finances
Check Register for
events membership
2.1 2.3 2.4 2.5

login Cancel Update the Change
Registration site password
Fig. 5.1 Functional Decomposition Diagram

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5.2 Database design

Table Design
1. Login
This table holds the information about the administrator who authorized to do the desired task
FIELD NAME FIELD TYPE REMARKS

username Text NOT NULL
password Text NOT NULL
2. Members
This table contains all information about the members of the church.
FIELD NAME FIELD TYPE NULL KEY DEFAULT EXTRA

memberid Int(5) No PRI None auto_increment
title Text No None
fname Text No None
mname Text Yes Null
lname Text No None
sex Text No None
dob Date No None
email Varchar(20) No None
raddr Varchar(15) No None
location Text No None
religion Text No None
cellphone Int(15) No None
pic Varchar(15) No None
session Text No None
wings Text No None
3. Request
This table contains all the comments and request from members.

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FIELD NAME FIELD TYPE NULL KEY DEFAULT EXTRA

forumid Int(5) No MUL None
text Varchar(200) No None
4. Forum
This table contains the information about the members registered to join forum.
FIELD TYPE FIELD TYPE NULL KEY DEFAULT EXTRA

forumid Int(5) No PRI None auto_increment
title text No None
fname text No None
mname text Yes Null
lname text No None
email Varchar(20) No None
username Varchar(10) No None
password Varchar(30) No None
cellphone Varchar(15) No None
5.3 Data dictionary

The data dictionary provide the following information about the data used in the database
 By what name it is referenced in the system
 Where it is used in the system
Element Name Element Description Element Source

username The user id of the user. User/administrator
password The password through User/administrator
which the
user/administrator log into
the system.
title The title of the member. User

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fname First name of the member. User

mname Maiden name of the User
member.
lname Last name of the member. User
dob Date of Birth of the member User
email Email of the member. User
raddr Residential Address of the User
member.
location Location of the member. User
religion Religion of the member. User
Cellphone Cellphone number of the User
member.
pic Picture of the member. User
session Session of the member. User
wings Wings of the member. User
5.4 Physical design (physical files and their descriptions)
The files used in the project can be described by their work. They are the files used for the user
interface development for user interaction i.e. the .php files.
The .php files used are:
Files Descriptions
index.php ………….. Home page for members to login
index1.php ………….. Home page after login
about.php ………….. Page for the overview of the church
event.php ………….. Page for the church’s upcoming events
forumreg.php ………….. Page that allow user to login or register at forum
forum.php ………….. Members form for forum registration
login.php ………….. Members form to login to the forum
contact.php ………….. Page that contain information of help personnel’s
photo.php ………….. Page of the church photo gallery

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details.php ………….. Members page to verify their details

finance.php ………….. Page for the church financial forms
memberedit.php ………….. Members page to view their details and edit them
membership.php ………….. Members form membership registration
membermng.php ………….. Member form to edit, delete and add their details
register.php ………….. Page for confirmation after forum registration
request.php ………….. Members form to send their comments or prayer request
5.5 User Interface of Church Management System

Screen Design:
1a. The home page - is the central point of navigation to the various pages the site is made
up of. Authorized and unauthorized users have access to this page and the navigation links
are displayed based on access rights of the user. . Only users who are authenticated can get
pass this page to the other pages that are not listed when the site is first visited.
1b. The home page after login – The authenticated uses can have access rights to new links.

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2. Add new members: This page is for addition of new members to the database.
As user clicks the register button, it submits the member’s information to the database.
3. Finance: This page show the church’s financial forms.

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6. Forum – This page enable users to register or login to forum.

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This is forum registration page.
This is forum login page.

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This page enables members to send their request or comments.

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5.6.0 Testing and implementation

5.6.1 Testing
Overview:
The aim of testing process is to identify all defects in a software product. Testing is any activity
aimed at evaluating the software for quality results it produces and the quality of results it can
handle. Testing is an operation to detect the differences between the expected (required) result
and the actual result.
Testing a program consists of subjecting the program to a test inputs or test cases and observing
if the program behaves as expected. If the program fails to behave as expected, then the
condition under which failures occurs are noted for later debugging and correction. There are
many stages of testing depending on the complexity of the software.
Levels of Testing:
The basic levels of testing are:-
1. Unit Testing.
2. Integration Testing.
3. System Testing
4. Acceptance Testing.
The levels of resting attempt to detect different types of faults. The relation of faults introduces
in different phases and the different levels of testing are shown.
Employee Needs Acceptance Testing

Requirements System Testing
Design Integration Testing
Code Unit Testing
Unit testing:

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Unit testing has been under taken when a module has been coded and successfully reviewed.
Unit testing is the testing of different units or modules of system in isolation. It is programmer’s
responsibility to think of the advantage of doing unit testing before integration testing is that it
makes debugging easier. If an error is detected when a module is being tested along with several
modules, it would be difficult to determine which module exactly has an error.
In the current system “Church Management System”, unit testing has been exclusively done after
finishing every module.
Integration testing:
Once a program or module has been unit tested, the programmer can then work with integration
it with other programs.
The primary objective of integration testing is to test the module interfaces in order to ensure that
there are no errors in the parameter passing, when one module involves another modules. During
integration testing, different modules of the system are integrated in a planned manner i.e. the
order in which they are combined to realize the full system.
The various approaches of integration testing are:
1. Big Bang Approach.
2. Top-Down Approach.
3. Bottom-Up Approach.
4. Mixed Approach.
Out of the above four approaches Mixed Approach has been used for the proposed system. A
mixed approach integration testing follows a combination of top down and bottom up testing
approach. In the top-down approach, testing can start only after the top level modules have been
coded and unit tested. Similarly, bottom up approach can start only after the bottom level
modules are ready. The mixed approach overcomes these shortcomings of the top-down and
bottom-up approaches. In the mixed testing approach, testing can start as a when modules
become available.

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For the proposed we have also extensively used regression testing. Regression testing is the
practice of running an old test suite after change to the system or after each bug fix ensure that
no new bug has been introduced as a result of the change made or bug fixed.
System testing:
System testing is actually a series of different test whose primary purpose is to exercise the
computer based system, all work to verify that system elements have been properly integrated
and performed allocated function.
Its focus is to prove that the completed system does what it should. This test is conducted in a
formal manner. The testers use scenario-based system test scripts that have predicted outputs.
The test results are recorded in structured test logs. The structured test logs and scripts drive the
system testing process.
System testing activities are intended to prove that the system meets its objectives. Testing
proves that the system meets its requirements. This is not entirely true unless one considers
acceptance testing as a type of a system testing because the purpose of acceptance testing is to
demonstrate that the system meets the user requirement. Acceptance testing is validation process.
System testing in the strictest sense is a verification process. Regardless of whether it represents
verification or validation, system testing represents an external view of the system.
This is true because requirements represent the eventual system users of the system (an external
view). Users do not understand nor do they care about how the system works as long as it is
usable. System testing should be approached from this perspective.
As far as the proposed “Church Management System” is concerned it meets this requirement.
Performance testing:
Some of the performance testing done for the proposed system are: -

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1. Stress Testing: - Stress testing is done to evaluate system performance when it is

stressed for short periods of time. Providing a range of abnormal and even illegal
input condition so as to stress the capability of the software. Input data volume, input
data rate, processing time, utilization of memory etc are tested beyond the designed
capacity.
2. Volume Testing: - This testing is done to check whether the data structures have been
designed successfully for extraordinary situation.
5.6.2 System implementation
Once the system was tested, the implementation phase started. The term implementation has
different meanings, ranging from the conversion of a basic application to a complete replacement
of a computer system. Implementation is the process of converting a new or a revised system
design into an operational one.
Implementation includes the activities that take place to convert the older system to the newer
one. The new system may be totally new or replacing an existing system. In either case, proper
implementation is essential to provide a reliable system to meet organizational requirements.
System implementation describes how the different parts of the system are interacting with each
other to give us a feasible software solution.
Implementation of the system includes conversion process. Conversion is the process of

changing from the old system to the new system. The four methods of system conversion are:
 Parallel Approach: the old system is operated with the new system
 Direct Method: the old system is replaced with the new system

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 Pilot Approach: the working version of the system is implemented in one part of the
organization and based on its feedback, changes are made and the system is installed in
the rest of the organization by one of the methods.
 Phase-in Method: the phase-in method gradually implements the systems across all users.
The proposed system “Church Management System” is not fully implemented as development of
some modules are not completed. It will be implemented after the completion of other modules.
The parallel approach will be used for the system conversion. This is because the old version
cannot be discarded right away since the users are novice in computing.
CHAPTER 6
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
6.1 Summary
The web enabled system “church management system” on successful completion enables the
members of church to view the status of the records. It will also provide the facility to the
user so that they can send their request online. The Authority of the church will be also
benefited by the proposed system, as it will automate the whole registration procedures,
which will reduce the workload for the Authority.
Since every system has some limitations, so the proposed system is also not untouchable in this
regard. Although it includes many features but still it would not be sufficient as the user
requirements are not always same. The change in the requirements will need some changes in the
system to fulfill the requirements. The security of the system will be one of the prime concerns
once it will be made online.
This program would enhance the running of the church information. The existing system will be
used alongside the new system to ensure that the church does not loose valuable information
when switching to the new system.
6.2 Conclusion

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The result of this project leads to the conclusion that if this software is introduced and
implemented, it would help the church achieve the objectives above and also help eradicate the
paper work from the system.
6.3 Recommendations
We recommend that any group or persons that wish to further improve upon this project may
incorporate:
 Online facility for member and other users to donate to the church.
 Provide facilities for members to communicate online.
 Provide facility to signal members birthday and anniversaries.
REFERENCES
1. ^ "Software manages while pastors minister.". Church Central.

http://www.churchcentral.com/nw/s/template/Article.html/id/16811. Retrieved 2008-04-
11. "Church Management Software (ChMS) allows a congregation to keep tabs on
information related to activities of the church. It uses a database to store information and
typically includes a set of programs or modules to manipulate the stored data."
2. ^ "Software solutions for growing churches". Church Central. July 5, 2005.
04. "With more than 7,000 members and an office staff of 75, Asbury United Methodist
Church of Tulsa, Okla., relies on church management software to help run the
administrative side of the church."
3. ^ "What can church management software do?". Church Central. 21 February 2005.
04.

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4. ^ David Gonzalez (July 24, 1994). "The Computer Age Bids Religious World to Enter".
The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?
res=940DE6DB133EF937A15754C0A962958260. Retrieved 2008-04-04. "Specially-
designed software for church management, to track contributions and membership, can
be used by savvy pastors to minister to their congregants, said Pat Faudree, a
spokeswoman for Shelby Systems, which is a leading church management software
company."
5. http://www.wikipedia.com
6. www.php.net for complete reference of php.
7. The Complete Reference Java J2SE 5th Edition—Herbert Schildt (Tata McGraw
Hill 2005).
8. HTML,DHTML,JAVASCRIPT,Perl CGI - IVAN BAYROSS.
9. Beginning Java Server Pages – Wiley Publicaton
10. Professional Java Server Programming J2EE 1.3 Edition-Apress
11. Java How To Program—Deitel & Deitel(PHI—2004).
12. Mastering SQL Server 2000—Mike Gunderly, Joseph L Jordan.
13. Fundamental of Software Engineering—Rajib Mall (PHI).
14. Database System Concepts—Silberschatz,Korth,Sudarshan (McGraw Hill—2002).
15. System Analysis and Design—Elias M. Awad (Galgotia Publications—2004).

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16. Software Engineering 7th Edition– Ian Sommerville 2004

17. http://www.google.co.in
18. www.php.net
19. http://javascript.internet.com/
20. http://www.mysql.com/tutor.htm
21. Web as Ministry: Discipleship. (n.d.). United Methodist Communications. Retrieved
October 25, 2005 from http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?ptid=1&mid=4842
22. United Methodism 101. (updated 10/14/05). United Methodist Communications.
Retrieved October 25, 2005 from http://www.umcom.org/pages/news.asp?
class=1&Type=2&ID=932&product_id=0
23. LaRue, J.C. Jr. (1999, Mar/Apr). The Wired Pastor. Your Church. Retrieved October 25,
2005 from http://www.christianitytoday.com/yc/9y2/9y2080.html
24. Brown, V. (2005). Online Communities Connect Christians in Cyberspace. United
Methodist Communications. Retrieved October 25, 2005 from
http://archives.umc.org/interior_print.asp?ptid=20&mid=6476&pagemode=print
25. ^ "Web Application Security". DocForge.
http://docforge.com/wiki/Web_application/Security. Retrieved 17 December 2008.

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WEB-BASED CHURCH MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR

1.0 Project Overview

1.1 Existing System

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1.0.2 Problem Statement

1.2 Proposed System

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The main activities will be performed by the system are.

 Online submission of the membership form by the members.

 Automation of the procedure performed by the management.

1.2.1 Objective of proposed system

1.2.2 Advantages of the proposed system

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1.2.3 Scope of the proposed system

1.3 Methods used in the project development

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2.0 Key Words

Church, Records Management, Church management software, Web development and

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2.1.2 Records Management

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2.1.3 Church management software

2.1.4 Web development

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Web development history:

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Examples of dramatic transformation in communication and commerce led by web development

2.1.5 Web-Based Church Management System

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2.2 Outcome of the Review

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 A software development philosophy, with the approach or approaches of the software

 Prototyping: iterative framework type

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Fig. 3.1 Three software development patterns mashed together

3.1 Software prototyping

Software prototyping, is the framework of activities during software development of creating

The process of prototyping involves the following steps

1. Identify basic requirements

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The initial prototype is developed that includes only user interfaces.

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1. Write preliminary requirements

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Evolutionary Prototyping (also known as breadboard prototyping) is quite different from

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Using, or perhaps misusing, prototyping can also have disadvantages.

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 Developer misunderstanding of user objectives: Developers may assume that users

 Developer attachment to prototype: Developers can also become attached to prototypes

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 Expense of implementing prototyping: the start up costs for building a development

Basic principles of prototyping are:

 Not a standalone, complete development methodology, but rather an approach to

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3.2 Spiral Model

The steps in the spiral model iteration can be generalized as follows:

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Basic principles of Spiral model are: