Loss of Queue Module and Functionality

Is anyone else impacted by the loss of the Queue functionality within Blackbaud used to distribute monthly reports to budget owners throughout the school? I believe we can utilize the Report Scheduler functionality as an alternate way to deliver monthly reports. Blackbaud has not been able to give a clear answer on when this queue functionality will be leaving the database and I am trying to gain clarity and/or confirmation on when the functionality is truly leaving. Does anyone have anything definite for when the functionality will no longer being available? Thanks.

Comments

  • Nikki Baldwin
    Nikki Baldwin Blackbaud Employee
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 4 Name Dropper Participant

    @Chelsea Fritz, Sorry for the confusion on this – we have full Queue functionality listed for shut-off in May (should be updated soon) on our Total Web Solution page (under Shared Processes). That notification is for those that are using Queue for export functionality that has not yet been brought over to webview.

    The report scheduling functionality has been available with Report Scheduler for quite some time now, and those only utilizing Queue for that functionality should have moved over to using Report Scheduler in webview. We initially said in the monthly email that it would be shut off (except export functionality) back in August of 2024 but we waited to shut it off until Report Scheduler had the option to email to non-Blackbaud users, as well. With Queue in database view, you could only export those reports to an FTP folder and not directly email – so Report Scheduler not only replaces the scheduling of reports functionality but also updates it with the email functionality! This is detailed in our Out of Scope Knowledgebase solution, as well.

    You can see additional details about the reporting option on this page, for ‘Edit Schedule’, but it's much more of a direct-from-report functionality vs the separate area in database you have to go to with Queue. Hope this helps!

  • @Nikki Baldwin Does Report Scheduler have the functionality to send reports to non-NXT users? I had read somewhere that reports could only be sent to individuals with a NXT access. Thanks.

  • Nikki Baldwin
    Nikki Baldwin Blackbaud Employee
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 4 Name Dropper Participant

    @Kyle Fuchs, yes! It didn't when it first came out, but we've recently released that additional functionality.

  • @Nikki Baldwin
    When will Queue be available in FE NXT? We definitely need it to export our 100s of monthly reports to a file. The scheduling & emailing option is not what we are looking for.

  • Nikki Baldwin
    Nikki Baldwin Blackbaud Employee
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 4 Name Dropper Participant

    @Christi Menefee, yes understood – you are one of the customers who are using Queue for export functionality and therefore are exempt from the current shut off in database view until we have the additional functionality available in webview and there is time to adopt it. Right now, we don't have a specific date to share for when it's coming to webview, but you will continue to access it in database view until then and we will update you with shut off time for Queue in database view when appropriate.

  • @Nikki Baldwin - 2 questions regarding the report scheduler to send reports to non-users:

    • Is this option available in Canada? The Schedule is now but it was rolled out to us after the US users. I can't figure out how to add a non-user email so I'm wondering if we don't have that feature yet.
    • Are there detailed instructions for using the report scheduler in FE NXT? I have searched the knowledgebase and I'm coming up blank, other than a few answers that don't seem to match what I see on my screen.
  • Nikki Baldwin
    Nikki Baldwin Blackbaud Employee
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 4 Name Dropper Participant
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    @Wendy Croker, 1 - Yes, I've double checked with my product team, and they confirmed that the option for external emails in the report scheduler is available for all of our current regions.

    2- Yes, I don't think there is a Knowledgebase article for it, but it is discussed in the Reporting Help Topic, briefly. The best info would be from our on-demand Blackbaud University eLearnings on the topic, though. If you navigate to the Financial Edge NXT Catalog, scroll down to see the search bar under the on-demand learnings, click the magnifying glass so you can type in the search bar and enter ‘report scheduler’, you should see two videos. They both state 10 min duration but the actual videos are much shorter and direct to the instructions at hand, and they have some written instructions, as well.

  • @Nikki Baldwin Awesome, thanks so much for the info! I did look at the links in your post but I still needed some additional info. I'll watch these videos and see if that gets me on the right track.

  • @Nikki Baldwin
    Is there a plan to allow the scheduled reports to be in Excel or Excel data format?

  • Nikki Baldwin
    Nikki Baldwin Blackbaud Employee
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 4 Name Dropper Participant

    @Amy Ariagno, yes! Those plans are on our roadmap, we just don't have any specific dates to share at this time for estimated release.

  • @Nikki Baldwin

    We received an email today from Blackbaud saying that access to database view will be removed by the end of August 2025. Does that mean that Queue will be in FE NXT by then? Or will my team still be able to get to database view after August?

  • Nikki Baldwin
    Nikki Baldwin Blackbaud Employee
    Tenth Anniversary Kudos 4 Name Dropper Participant

    @Christi Menefee, yes that's the plan! We currently have Queue slated for August on our Total Web Solution (TWS) page for databse view estimated shut-off (for customers using it beyond simple report scheduling). Should we not have it available in webview with enough time for users to adopt by then, we will push that shut-off date out as we have been doing all the way through our TWS journey.

  • So what is the best way, with the report scheduler, to run 100s of reports on the same day once my month is closed? But I don't know what day of the month I'm always going to close? The only thing I can think of is to schedule the reports to run daily. Anyone found anything else that works?