Merging Records vs. Deleting Records

[lcrawford]

There are times when a person gets entered into the system more than one time, for various reasons. Am I right that there is no way to "merge" these profiles? Instead one has to be deleted? In which case any attendance or giving data would have to be manually re-entered into one record or the other prior to deleting?

[Jeff]

Just a short teaser. Version 11.5, which is getting ready to go into beta, is adding a merge duplicate profile option. It will merge people including contributions, activities, attendance, ministry service records, etc. If you merge everyone in the household, it will then give you a prompt to merge the household information as well.

If you would like to participate in the beta, email support@powerchurch.com.

[NeilZ]

There are times when a person gets entered into the system more than one time, for various reasons. Am I right that there is no way to "merge" these profiles? Instead one has to be deleted? In which case any attendance or giving data would have to be manually re-entered into one record or the other prior to deleting?

Currently that is correct, which is why I verify the database for duplicates at least twice a month. I've found the cause for this is a lack of training.

First off, you need to find out who is entering the duplicate data. We used to have a problem with our contributions entry people. The way we found around that was to train them to first do a search on the LAST name. In contributions entry, the dialog comes up in the 'add a contributor' function asking for a last and first name. I had them putting in the LAST name only. If ANYONE in the database has that last name, the program will tell you, and ask if you want to EDIT them. Click on the EDIT button, and you'll get a list of all those in the database with that last name and their address. Usually, you can then find that the person IS in the database, but does not have an envelope number, which can then be assigned.

Once you can figure out where the problem is occurring, you can train them properly.

Now, as to merging the record. You're right about the attendance data, however, you can merge the contribution data easily. All you need to do is use the Reassign an envelope number function under the Contribuhtions menu. In order for this to work, you need to Move the duplicate personal profile record under the correct Mailing List Profile. You can then reassign the envelope number to the one on the original personal profile, then delete the duplicate.

If you need to move the attendance for a particular activity, say Sunday Worship, I'd use the Details of Personal Attendance report under the Attendance reports to get the details from the duplicate record. Then I'd add that data using the Attendance Maintain Attendance Data function against the original personal profile.

As I said, I check the database twice a month for dupes, then clean them out before they get much of a history.

Hope this helps.

Jeff ... I wasn't going to mention that, but since you've let the cat out ... this new merge function is one that many people have been asking for. I also hope that I need not have to ask to be added to the beta test group

[lcrawford]

What does is mean to be added to the test group? We used a different data management system at a previous church I attended and had a merge option...it was AWESOME!!

When you say to check for duplicates a couple times/month, is there a report or some function you run for that?

[NeilZ]

What does is mean to be added to the test group? We used a different data management system at a previous church I attended and had a merge option...it was AWESOME!!

When you say to check for duplicates a couple times/month, is there a report or some function you run for that?

When you're in the test group, you'll have access to a Beta http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_r ... cycle#Beta software version of Powerchurch. This is a pre-release version that is offered by the developers to testers as well as regular users to test the functionality of the new software in a number of ways:

1. Make sure that the system still works the same way in those areas that have not been changed, and that no 'bugs' were added by accident.
2. That the new functionality added works as expected, that is, if the function is to merge records, that the data is actually merged, and nothing is lost that shouldn't be.

Being a beta tester usually means that you will install the software in a separate directory, and NOT in a production environment (don't let everyone in the office access it). You have a responsibility to work with the software, to test it, to try all the functionality, and report any issues you may have. The more testing done in Beta, the less time the developers will spend having to fix bugs that weren't found when it goes to release.

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When I say check a couple times a month, I usually just run a All Families, Alphabetical report from the Mailing List reports, and view it without printing. I scan it for duplicate last names, then see if the first name and address is the same, then go merge what I need to.

i also do a Selected Names, Addresses, Phones report from the Personal Profiles reports just in case someone added a personal profile and stuck it under another mailing list record.

[Jeff]

Neil,

You were the first person on the beta list.

[NeilZ]

Neil,

You were the first person on the beta list.

Aw shucks ....

[tborgal]

How did I miss this beta test? Looks like it will be shipping soon from what I have read so I would assume the beta test is finished.