Acknowledgment/Mail functionality in RENXT

Samantha Foster

Hello,

I know that the "Mail" function from Database view is not going to be migrated to RENXT webview.

We have been using a conditional merge document that pulls information from the Excel cvs file that is exported from the Mail tab in database view.

Is there a way to pull the same information and Export that information in Webview?

If so, I am guessing that merge fields will need to be updated in our Acknowledgment letters, as Database view and Webview call various fields different things.

Thanks for information provided.

Crystal Bruce

Hi @Samantha Foster thank you for posting! I see it has been a bit with no answers as of yet from the community, so I'm going to try tag some All-Stars to see if they can offer any insight and also reach out to my team. @Miki Martin @Hallie Guiseppe @Carlene Johnson

Carlene Johnson

Samantha - great question!

Currently, the Export module only exists in database view. It is being actively developed for WebView and is currently being referred to as "Single Row Query" where you would be able to write the criteria for the group of gifts you wish to acknowledge and then select the fields you wish to export. You would then be able to use mail merge as you currently do.

Blackbaud is also working on developing mail functions in WebView for things like receipts, acknowledgments, and reminders as well as the ever popular Quick Letters that exists in DBV. My understanding is that the plan is to allow for both the generation of letters within the system as well as exporting a file for merging.

You can learn more here at the Features Grid. The Communications tab talks about Ack Letters & Receipts and Analysis, Query, and Reports shows information about Export.

Hopefully that helps answer your question! If not, let us know what else you are curious about!

Samantha Foster

This will only be helpful if we are able to use a filter in the Query that is "Needs Acknowledgment", as this is one of the 3 choices in the drop down menu in the Batch template.

Carlene Johnson

https://community.blackbaud.com/discussion/comment/315890#Comment_315890

Yes, you can filter on that field in both Database View and Web View Query.

Samantha Foster

I need to be able to choose "Needs Acknowledgment" as it shows in the Acknowledgment status… When doing a Query, I do not see that this is an option. Your choices are, under field criteria Acknowledge, Acknowledged, Not Acknowledged or Do not Acknowledge. There is a difference in what the system looks for. Since the Batch drop down has "Needs Acknowledgment", this needs to be an option in Query.

Carlene Johnson

@Samantha Foster, regardless of the terminology, they are all pulling from the same table and there is no difference in functionality of those fields from DBV to WV.

Here is an outline of how they appear in different places:

Hopefully @David Springer, through the work with moving Export (Single Row Query) to WebView, can help get those items highlighted in Yellow changed to be consistent throughout RE. Or maybe @Anthony Gallo through his work on all things Gifts and Grid Batch can address this.

In the meantime, I would keep doing your exports through Database View and wait to see what is being rolled out in Web View for both Mail Functions and Export.

Does that help?

David Springer

Thanks for looping me in, Carlene! Yes, we tried to use web view field renaming across Query for the most part, but have a few that we missed and still need to get to. I've added these to that list.

Carlene Johnson

https://community.blackbaud.com/discussion/comment/315911#Comment_315911

To be clear, @David Springer, I think everyone would MUCH prefer if we used the DBV language instead of the WV language.

Miki Martin

@Crystal Bruce thanks so much for tagging me! Sorry I didn't see it sooner.

I think @Carlene Johnson did a brilliant job of laying out things. We will eagerly await further development of the mail options in web view. 😊