Integration

Has anyone changed their criteria when linking records via integration to manipulate the "add as" feature?

Corrie Leonard — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:18:39 GMT

Blackbaud's APIs and PHP

Anthony Power — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:23:27 GMT

Has anyone here had success working with the any of Blackbaud's APIs using PHP?

I'm trying to integrate our PHP based website with the SIS API, but I'm running into some issues doing everything I need. Because Blackbaud doesn't "offically" support anything other than VB, its been difficult to find any useful documentation. So I was curious if anyone has add any success using PHP.

Thanks.

SIS API with PHP

Anthony Power — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:00:51 GMT

Does anyone have any experience accessing the SIS API with PHP? Or any Blackbaud API with PHP for that matter? If so, I'm running into a few "bumps in the road" and I'm hoping someone could offer some advise. Particularly with the PHP COM class.
I searched online and found a code snippet where someone used PHP with the RE API (http://www.blackbus.org/forum/api-vba/3662-using-raisers-edge-api-integration-w-web-app.html), but haven't found much beyond that.

Need to Track changes made in Sync - Not reported on Integration Report

Terri Cibula — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:26:56 GMT

I am trying to implement Integration and one requirement of our users is that they know what fields were changed during the synchronization process. Especially with many users reporting fields are changed that should not have we would like to know what was changed. The description of the Integration report is misleading. It states that data conflicts will be reported but they are only reported prior to linking a record per Blackbaud. I am doing testing and keep changing various data fields and nothing shows up on the report except when sync started and ended. Blackbaud today said they would file this as a suggestion. Has anyone found a way to determine what fields were changed on linked records after running sync?

Thanks -

Success with integration b/w RE and EE without creating constituent records for spouses

Corrie Leonard — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 13:46:14 GMT

I am working on linking parents b/w EE and RE and the current students have been linked and synchronization seems to be going well. Once we started linking parents, we had an issue with parents who are nonconstituents on RE side and relationship links being broken on EE side.

We are unique because in the setup we couldn't check the box to not create a constituent record for the spouse b/c in RE it's not consistent on who has the constituent record. It may be the wife or the husband.

So once the records were linked I went into RE and broke the link on the constituent record so that the nonconstituent info. stayed on the spouses record and saved it. When you went back to the Integration grid it looked correct. However, the relationship record between the nonconstituent record from RE was broken on EE side with current students.

Does anyone else have this issue and been successful linked records while keeping nonconstituent records without using the initial integration setup up "do not create a constituent record"

Simple Integration with RE

Kate — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 23:20:40 GMT

When bringing the external data into RE, I create a comma-delimited file with column names = RE import field names. When this file is opened from Admin->Import->New, the fields are automatically matched and then import is done with a button click. Is there any way for me in Admin->Import or anywhere else in RE to create a template to make the export easy too? I tried creating a blank .imp file with RE field names delimited by comma and then create a new import but as long as I select Create import file, the fields matching is gone. Thank you.

Integrating RE & EE and the effect it has on parent records

Tracy Reid — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 18:49:48 GMT

Hello all!

I work at The Barstow School in Kansas City and I have been put in charge of integrating RE and EE. As I am going over everything, I ran into a question I am hoping someone can answer. In EE each individual has his/her own record. In RE, we have one record for married couples with one of them being the record holder and the other being spouse. So I am thinking that when integration happens either the spouse will be lost (if we only integrate the record holder in RE) or duplicate records will be created for the spouse. When integrating is there anything I can do to make sure information is not lost and/or additional records are not created?

Also, if anyone has any suggestions on things to do to avoid pitfalls when integrating, I would love to know. My phone number is 816-277-0422.

Thanks!

Relation Types & Integration

Tracy Reid — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 18:55:00 GMT

In EE we have relations of son/daughter and father/mother. In RE we have child and parent. Has anyone else had this problem? If so, how did you solve it so integration would run smoothly?

Thanks as always for your help!

Tracy Reid

Integration Readiness Assessment - Useful or waste of money?

Tracy Reid — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 19:27:40 GMT

If you have done the Integration Readiness Assessment, do you think it was useful or a waste of money? I am trying to convince my boss that it is worth it but want to be sure.

Thanks

Tracy Reid

The Barstow School

Policy Manual/Style Guide post-Integration?

Tracy Reid — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 18:29:24 GMT

Has anyone created a policy manual/style guide for how data is best entered once integration is complete? If so, could you please send me a copy at treid@barstowschool.org?

Thanks

Tracy Reid

The Barstow School

Looking for option to Net Community for Online Giving

Alison Geer — Tue, 05 May 2009 17:14:00 GMT

Does anyone use Raiser's Edge and a non-Blackbaud product for online giving? If so, I'd love to hear your comments about the product, specifically it's integration with Raiser's Edge.

Integrating RE7 & SIS (EE) - Name Issue

Trevor Dueck — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 22:27:46 GMT

We have been working at getting our RE7 and Registrar's office "integrated" at our University for the last year. We seem to run into new problems every step of the way.

The latest hurdle is to do with the synchronization of names. Our Registrar's office requires that in order for a person to have their name changed on any official documentation (eg. transcripts) they need to have provided proof of said change (valid photo ID, etc...). However, our development department always wants their most current name. The main field needed for linking the records is the name, thus we cannot have Development able to update the name that appears on a transcript.

What have others done in this situation? Any suggestions or pointers?

Trevor

Upgrade implications

Natalie Merriman — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 01:24:55 GMT

If we are to upgrade our Raiser's Edge, what implications will that have on Education Edge since we are integrated? If anyone has any advice, we would be most appreciative.

Natalie Merriman, The Gunnery, Mr. Gunn's School, Established 1850, 99 Green Hill Road, Washington, CT 06793, www.gunnery.org

No Valid Address in RE - and Linked Records in EE

Candace Chesler — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 01:21:24 GMT

I'm doing some address clean up - and have stumbled across a conundrum. I have non-custodial parent addresses that have mail being returned. Can't get an updated address from the spouse. So - rather than delete the record, we've marked them in Raiser's Edge as "has no valid address"
But what happens in EE? Next time we synchronize - the EE record should be updated - but for the life of me - I can't figure out where that note would appear in the record.
When I searched Knowledgebase to find out how to mark a record as no valid address with Registrar's Office as my selected product - I got results that relate to Raiser's Edge.
I suppose I could create a new address type called "No Valid Address" - change the bad address in EE to that type - and then on the next synchronization - the preferred address in RE would be the type of "No Valid Address"
Hmmm - isn't there a better way to do this?

Convio online gift tributes...

Ray Mauder — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 19:39:47 GMT

We use Convio and have run into an issue and are not sure how to proceed. We'd like to use the Download option on reports but cannot figure out how to handle tributes. Up to this point we've been doing the gifts one at a time manually. However, the volume has significantly increased and dong it like this just isn't practicable. However, we have the Tribute module and cannot figure out how to handle the recording of these in RE without setting the tributes up manually. Has anyone figured a way to do this or at least a workaround?

Policy for restoring from backups when EE & RE are integrated

Rachel Welsh — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:10:25 GMT

Today we dodged a bullet .... there was an RE utility which was not run correctly and caused global problems in the database. We initially thought that we might have to restore RE from a backup. We were advised by BB that if RE was restored that EE would also have to be restored -- from back-ups that were taken at the same time. The obvious problem was that EE would loose all data entered -- including any grades and attendance. While we didn't have to go this route it occurred to me that we need a policy about running utilities/plugins while the other databases are "in use". Has anyone expereince something similiar? Does anyone have such a policy already who would be willing to share it?

Regards,

Rachel

Integrating RE and Jenzabar?

Leah Yevseyev — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 18:34:15 GMT

Does anyone have experience integrating RE with the accounting module of Jenzabar?

Raiser's Edge and Quickbooks integration

Roger Kjos — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 17:14:49 GMT

I was wondering is anyone has had experience with integrating Raiser's Edge data into Quick Books. We have successfully created and export file in Excel, but for some reason our bookkeeper is having trouple importing it into Quickbooks. Roger Kjos, Mercer Island, Washington.

Agencies with Both FE/RE Intergrated

Jose Hernandez — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 13:13:58 GMT

If there are any non-profits who have both systems integrated could you please tell me how you handle gift entry. Currently, our organization has its own gift entry department.

Sharing Addresses and Contact Types when Integrating EE and RE

Susan Bearden — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 20:23:48 GMT

My school is preparing to integrate EE and RE during the next few months and we are wondering if anyone who has already integrated the two programs would share their experiences with regard to Sharing vs. Not Sharing Addresses and Contact Types. At least one person I have spoken to who has been through the process has recommended that we unshare addresses and contact types prior to integration. Does anyone else have any recommendations on this issue?

Merging records

Tara Tatasciore — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 15:27:58 GMT

In August, our Student Billing was upgraded are we are preparing to merge student and individual records between SB and EE. For those who have recently gone through this process, did you tackle this job in house? We are considering using Staffing Solutions to do the work because we don't have a Database Manager and nobody has the time to work on this with our other responsibilities. Has anyone used Staffing Solutions to complete this process, and if so, how did it go?

I read the RO/SB Integration post and wanted to ask a few more questions. If you merged these records yourself, how long did this process take? When was the work completed? We'd like to wait until the summer, but we understand that the longer we use the database with two collections of records, the more of chance we have for inaccurate data. I'm just concerned that there are more people in the database now verse July. If we are doing are daily work while some records are merged and others are not, this makes me nervous.

If we do the work ourselves, would you recommend merging the students first and then the parents? Or, vice versa? Maybe it doesn't even matter. We are hoping to let the EE record be the primary one because the SB office puts in a minimal amount of data. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

RE and FE Integration

Mary Sinmany — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 16:54:44 GMT

Hello!

I am a new RE user, but work mainly in FE. This integration requires most of the integration to come from RE, but I'm not too familiar and learning as I go.

Does anyone have both of these systems integration successfully? If not, yourself, would you happen to know any other organization that does?

Thanks,
Mary

Synchronization Issues

Candace Chesler — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 00:05:39 GMT

The following May 2nd post from Sonja Miller under the heading of Integration with EE and RE caught my eye:

"Hi, we have used the RE and EE integration and have had some success in pulling information over. However, in saying that each time we run synchronization something enviably goes wrong. One of our challenges was that after synchronization was run duplicated address would appear in both data bases. BB has finally been able to fix this for us. This weeks problem has been after sync was run, there is unlinking between email, phone and cell numbers. We have made a case out it and hope to hear about a fix. I am hesitant to run synchronization incase something more detrimental happens. Does anyone else feel the same way?. Who else out there has the same problems? "

I thought I would create a new thread - because the synchronization problems are a different - and in my opinion - much larger - issue than Integration. On March 28th I ran a synchronization that caused a number of problems - including the address record information being unlinked on a number of students and mothers. It happened randomly - in some cases unlinking all the address fields for all the children within a family - in other's unlinking just the phone number of one child. The extremely frustrating part was - there is not a query you can run to find the records that are unlinked. The History tab of the records that were changed does not record the unlinking of the address fields. I reported this to Blackbaud, sent them two copies of my database (pre and post synchronization) - and then had to keep sending them names of students and mothers that had been unlinked as I found them - for troubleshooting purposes. Apparently the developers are also unable to create a query to identify records that have a relationship but the address records are not linked. In the meantime, we continue to check records and re-link the students - one at a time.

Looks like Sonja had exactly the same problem in May that I reported in March. I have not run a synchronization since March - which concerns me. I've run Integration to add in the new families coming to our school for next year. However, I'm not willing to synchronize.

I'm curious to hear from anyone else who has reported this issue of records being unlinked. Any success in getting a fix?

Ticketmaster Vista to RE Special Events

Stacy Moore — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 21:29:38 GMT

Hi all,

I am challenged with integrating Ticketmaster Vista into RE special event. Has anyone had any success with doing this? How long did it take? What are some of the challenges you faced in the integration?

Any and all responses would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Stacey

Integration with Ektron?

Ann — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 20:41:55 GMT

Our IT department purchased a new CMS, Ektron. Does anyone who uses RE have experience trying to integrate with Ektron? I would have loved to have had the opportunity to put NetCommunity on the table before that decision was made, but... I'm trying to figure out what I'm in for with regard to maintaining RE with activity in Ektron.