Spring Cleaning Your Database Part 3: User Defined Fields

User Defined Fields are fields that are not included by default in your database, but those that your organization needs to track additional information that is relevant to only your organization, and is not captured in standard fields. User Defined Fields can be accessed under the Management tab within your database, under the Database Configuration column.

To see all of the User Defined Fields within your database, you can click the User Defined Fields Report under Tasks. This report will show the name of the field, the location and type, whether it is required and what values are associated with this specific field. You may scroll to the bottom of this report and export it out of the database to have at your fingertips as we review the purpose of each step in the User Defined Fields process.

Each field is listed within a category, and the category works just like the Query and Report categories. They store the User Defined Fields that pertain to that category. When cleaning up the User Defined Fields, start with your Categories. Look over their names and confirm that they are named appropriately. If you believe they should be changed, you can change them by clicking on the name of the category and renaming it. Make sure to click Save And when you are finished.

After the categories are cleaned up, it will be time to tackle the actual User Defined Fields within each category. I like to start at the top and work my way down, but please feel free to dig into them any way you prefer. Start by clicking on the name in Step 1 and confirming it is named correctly, if it is, then keep moving through the steps. I want to point out to you the Help section that is on each one of the steps in creating or editing a user defined field to help you understand what each selection represents.

Step 2 of the User Defined Fields deals with Field Applications. Field Applications control where the data is stored within the Account or Journal.  We recommend for most cases that only one Field Application is selected so that the data is stored in only one place within the database in order to ensure consistent data entry. For example:
 

• If “Constituent” is selected, the field will appear on the Defined Fields page of a Constituent account. That means the field is something relating to a Constituent as a whole, such as Account Type or Mailing Status.
• If “Transactions” is selected, the field will appear on Gifts, Pledge, Payments, etc… This field contains information that is applicable to Transactions in the journal, such as Ticket Quantity or T-Shirt Size.

Field Attributes, which is Step 3 in this process, will allow you to select whether you would like the field to be required. Keep in mind, if this box is marked, the field will need to be filled out before a user can save any other information on the page. This step will also allow you to select if you would like this field to be searchable on the Advanced find page or be visible on eTapestry Mobile.

Step 4, the Display Type step, may be a little confusing, so I want to spend a few moments talking about this. The Display Type controls how you enter information into a field. The Selectable Types will allow you to add standard values to be selected in the field. This allows you to easily query on particular values, The Freeform Text Types will allow you to manually type text into the field.

Finally, look through the Values step and verify they are all correct. For those that are longer relevant to this field, select Enabled under the value, to disable the field. This value will no longer show as an option, but it will keep the data attached to this value intact. If the field is set to a Freeform Text Type, you will not see the values on this step.

Keep in mind throughout your cleanup, if you find fields that are no longer relevant to your organization, you can disable them. Again, you will not lose the data attached to this field, but you will no longer see the field in your list. To see the defined fields that have already been disabled, you can click Show Disabled Fields under the Tasks menu.

Well, that wraps up my final post in this Spring Cleaning your Database series. I hope you have all followed along with cleaning up your Accounts as well as your Queries and Reports. After completing the work for this User Defined Fields cleanup, your database should be up to par and ready for another year in successful fundraising! Enjoy the rest of your Spring, and please feel free to leave your feedback and questions below.