The User's Edge : batch

11/18 Forums Roundup

Douglas Clinton — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:00:00 GMT

Here are last week's most popular Forums posts as well as unanswered posts:

Most Popular Topics:

Unanswered Posts:

11/11 Forums Roundup

Douglas Clinton — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:29:00 GMT

Here are last week's most popular Forums posts as well as unanswered posts:

Most Popular Topics:

Unanswered Posts:

11/4 Forums Roundup

Douglas Clinton — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:32:00 GMT

We want to know how you use the Forums - please take our poll in Forums Feedback.

Here are last week's most popular Forums posts as well as unanswered posts:

Most Popular Topics:

Unanswered Posts:

10/21 Forums Roundup

Douglas Clinton — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:32:00 GMT

We want to know how you use the Forums - please take our poll in Forums Feedback.

Here are last week's most popular Forums posts as well as unanswered posts:

Most Popular Topics:

Unanswered Posts:

The Raiser's Edge 7 For Beginners: Top 10 Tips

Douglas Clinton — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:30:00 GMT

Here's more from The Raiser's Edge 7 for Beginners. This Top 10 list is right at the front of the user guide and provides solid tips for everyone.

Save your parameter files so you don’t have to recreate reports and mailings each time.
Use Favorites so you can focus on just the parts of The Raiser’s Edge you use everyday.
Customize your workspace by using Home Page.
Use Dashboard to create reports and get a glimpse of how your fundraising efforts are going.
See only the fields and information you want by using Custom View.
Speed up your data entry by using Batch to enter data in spreadsheet format.
Press F1 anywhere in The Raiser’s Edge. The program knows where you are and offers help on the area you’re in.
Set User Options, or rules, to make The Raiser’s Edge behave the way you want on the workstation you are logged into.
Add system-wide Business Rules to help you work more efficiently in The Raiser’s Edge.
Back up your data!

10/14 Forums Roundup

Douglas Clinton — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:30:00 GMT

We want to know how you use the Forums - please take our poll in Forums Feedback.

Here are last week's most popular Forums posts as well as unanswered posts:

Most Popular Topics:

Unanswered Posts:

Bringing Up Batch: Constituent Giving History in Batch

Douglas Clinton — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 15:13:00 GMT

Using history to solve mysteries is a popular trend in entertainment; there's the Robert Langdon books, the National Treasure movies, and The Librarian. The heroes in these stories usually spend a lot of time tracking down some obscure old tome to unlock the secrets of the past. In The Raiser's Edge, you don't have to go on an epic, globetrotting journey to get the information you need; it's all in one place. For instance, you can look at a constituent's giving history while you're entering data in Batch.

To display past gifts in batch, highlight the appropriate row in the data sheet and select Constituent, View Giving History from the menu bar.

From here, you can double-click a row to open each gift record or view a summary of the constituent's giving by clicking Summary and entering the appropriate filters. You can also sort the giving history by clicking the column headers.

This information is also in Knowledgebase solution BB131428.

9/30 Forums Roundup

Douglas Clinton — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:11:00 GMT

Here are last week's most popular Forums posts as well as unanswered posts:

Most Popular Topics:

Unanswered Posts:

8/26 Forums Roundup

Douglas Clinton — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:31:00 GMT

Here are last week's most popular Forums posts as well as unanswered posts:

Most Popular Topics:

Unanswered Posts:

8/5 Forums Roundup

Douglas Clinton — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:08:00 GMT

Here are last week's most popular Forums posts as well as unanswered posts:

Most Popular Topics:

Unanswered Posts:

Bringing Up Batch: Global Change Batch Magic

Douglas Clinton — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 20:18:00 GMT

What makes Batch such a handy tool is that you can enter a large amount of data on one screen to add records to the database en masse. Using Batch, you can save time by selecting prompts to automatically display for each record or by adding default fields for every record in the batch.

Because you can enter so many records into a single batch, making manual changes to data entry rows can be time-consuming. For instance, if you entered a batch of 100 gifts with the 2008 Annual Fund on them instead of the 2009 Annual Fund, going back and changing each record individually would be a chore.

Fortunately, Batch was designed with just such a situation in mind, and you can correct the data quite easily. In this instance, you would follow these steps:

In Batch, open the gift batch to change.
Place the cursor in the Fund field.
Select Tools, Globally Change from the menu bar.
Select the Fund to add to the gifts.
Mark the Overwrite Existing Value checkbox.
Click OK.

Once the change is made, you can commit the batch. If gifts are already committed, making a global change in the batch will not change the committed gifts. To change committed gifts, back up (BB94455) your database and perform a global change (BB76966).

To find this information in Knowledgebase, enter How to globally change a field in a batch, select Raiser's Edge 7, and click Search. It's BB215678.

Bringing Up Batch/Query Qualities Crossover: Cleaning Up the House

Douglas Clinton — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 17:27:00 GMT

You may find yourself hunting through a long list of queries. And you may find yourself scrolling through batches that have lost their relevance. And you may ask yourself, "Well, how did I get here?"

As the days go by, your database will likely accumulate a number of queries and batches. Your organization may have reasons for saving every query and each batch, or they may have been created, committed, forgotten, and turned to clutter.

Deleting loads of queries and batches one at a time is prohibitively time consuming. Fortunately, you can streamline the process by deleting multiple batches or queries at the same time.

To delete multiple batches:

In Batch, select Tools, Delete Multiple Batches from the menu bar.
Select any applicable filters.
Select batches to delete by marking the Delete? checkbox.
Click Delete Now to delete the batches.

To delete multiple queries:

In Query, select Tools, Delete Multiple Queries from the menu bar (or right-click within the query list and select Delete Multiple Queries - The Raiser's Edge only). The Delete Multiple Queries screen appears.
Mark the Only show my queries checkbox as needed.
Indicate the query type and format to delete.
Mark the Delete column checkboxes for the queries to delete.
Click Delete Now in the action bar to begin the process.

Cleaning up your obsolete batches and queries will keep your database off the road to nowhere. You can also find this information in Knowledgebase. The solutions are BB520727 (How to globally delete multiple batches) and BB520787 (How to delete a single query or multiple queries at once).

Bringing Up Batch: Saved!

Douglas Clinton — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 20:43:00 GMT

When it comes to saving batches while you're working in them, you could be Francisco Rodriguez or you could be Manuel Corpas. If your network goes down or your power goes out while you're working in Batch, you could lose loads of data entry. To protect yourself from the frustration of data loss, use the option to save your batches automatically.

In your batch, select Tools, User Options from the menu bar and select the Batch tab. Highlight General on the left and mark the Automatically save batches every [number] minutes checkbox. Enter a number, click Apply, and then click OK. You can also choose to mark the Automatically save batches on close option. Settings are user name-specific, so share this tip with any users at your organization who enter data in Batch.

This information is also in Knowledgebase; it's BB47773.

The answer to the Brain Buster from this month's edition of The User's Edge is zero. It is impossible for Robert to get exactly four of the packages labeled correctly, as the fifth one would also be labeled correctly.

Bringing Up Batch: Adding and Editing Constituents

Douglas Clinton — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 13:35:00 GMT

Like a Swiss Army knife, a gift batch can be used for more than one purpose. If you need to make a change to a constituent's name, address, or other information during gift entry in Batch, you can do so using the constituent window.

To use the constituent window, select Constituent, Define Constituent Fields from the batch's menu bar. Under Available Fields, highlight the fields to include and click Select to move them to the Data Entry Fields grid, and click OK. Select View, Constituent Window from the menu bar, and the constituent window will appear to the right of the data entry sheet.

When adding gifts for existing constituents, move your mouse to the constituent window and click in the appropriate field to make updates. To change the Address, click in Address lines and make the change in Batch.

If the gift is from a new constituent, enter the constituent's name and tab to the next field. On the Open screen, click Add new and select individual or organization. Add the new constituent's biographical (or organizational) information in the constituent window, and then continue adding gifts. You can have both new and existing constituents in a gift batch. As always, you can also find this information in Knowledgebase solution BB55821.

Here's the answer to the Brain Buster from this month's edition of The User's Edge:

There is no missing dollar. The way the question is phrased is misleading. Originally, the guests paid $30, and each received $1 back. They have now paid only $27, and of this, $25 went to the hostess for the table and $2 went to the waiter. So, $25 (to the hostess) + $3 (to the guests) + $2 (to the waiter) = $30 and all the money is accounted for.

Sarah's Shortcuts: The Joy of Batch Templates

Sarah McBride — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 18:52:00 GMT

Unless we're talking about making cookies, cakes, or crepes, I pretty much never like to start from scratch. There may be underlying laziness contributing to my perspective, but I would argue that I'm an advocate for efficiency. Why require extra work when you can reuse something you've already done?

The same principle applies in The Raiser's Edge when you're working in Batch. If you often use the same data entry fields, it makes sense to set up a batch template (BB1761) that you can later recreate with the click of a button, rather than having to reselect each field in a subsequent batch.

To create a gift batch template:

Create a new gift batch.
On the Batch Header tab, enter a name such as "Pledge Template" in the Batch Number field, and mark the Other users may access this batch checkbox.
On the Fields tab, select the appropriate fields.
On the Defaults tab, enter default values and/or hide certain fields, as needed.
Save the batch without entering any gifts in the Data Entry grid.

To base a new gift batch on the template:

Create a new gift batch.
On the bottom right of the Fields tab in the Gift Batch Setup screen, click Load from Existing Batch.
Select the batch template.

And voila! The new batch will automatically include the same data entry fields and setup. Not only will this save you time, but you'll also strengthen your consistency by reducing the likelihood of potential data entry errors the second time around.

As a reminder, if you'll be using the same data as well, rather than just identical fields, take advantage of recurring batches, which Doug Clinton nicely featured in a recent blog post.