ProDon:Categories vs Customized Fields vs Characteristics

Categories vs Customized Fields vs Characteristics

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CAUTION : This document is for VERSION 5 of Prodon. To go to the document for version 4, click here.

WARNING : This document is currently being edited/revised, it is possible that some parts are missing or obsolete.

Introduction

When designing ProDon, general information that is essential for the majority of organizations was integrated. Also, the software has been developed to allow the users to configure and customize the options according to their specific needs.

There are 3 ways to customize the different management of the software ("Client Management", "Transaction Management", "Donation Occasion Management", etc.). Depending on the future use and where the customization is necessary, one of the 3 methods could be more adequate. To know the cases where customizations can be used, see this section.

The 3 different methods to customize the system are the following:

• Client categories
• Customized fields
• Characteristics

The first questions to ask yourself in order to find the most appropriate customization method, are the following:

• For which type of information this customization is necessary? (Is it for clients, transactions, donation occasion activities, etc.)?
• Is a start date and/or end date necessary?
• Is it possible that I need to use this customization more than once for an element? (For instance, a volunteer can have the "professional competence" in accounting, and the "professional competence" in reading.)

It is also possible to conduct a search or apply a filter on those customizations and to use them in custom reports.

NOTE: It is important to know that the customization methods can be complementary amongst themselves. More than one customization can indeed be used at the same time in a single filter and it is possible to combine them to fields of the database. For example, I could search all the clients in the Toronto area (Field in the database), who are volunteers (client category) and who are available on Saturday night (Characteristic).

Client Categories

Only available in the "Client Management", this type of customization is actually a checkbox, a piece of information on the client that will be useful for internal purposes. That is the easiest one to use, but the most limited one; since it does not allow for keeping a long-term history. It is therefore advisable to use this type of customization only if the present time is important. For instance, if a client is a volunteer and decides not to be one anymore, you must uncheck this checkbox. Once the box is unchecked, you do not have any means to know that the client was a volunteer in the past.

Client categories are visible in the client files and can be used to retrieve client lists or filters containing one or more categories, for example, "Volunteer".

Positive and Negative Points of the Client Categories

• Can be used to create filters
• Cannot be used in custom reports
• Cannot be configured to be compulsory in information entry
• Cannot be  visible in the management grid and are not available for search purposes
• Cannot keep a history of the past since it is only a checkbox

To learn how to create and use client categories, see the ""4-Categories" Tab" section of the "Client Management" document.

Customized Fields

This type of customization is actually a customized field containing:

• A name
• A response value

Customized fields are available in several ProDon's managements. They can be created to manage information specific to:

• Clients
• Donation occasion activities
• Transactions
• Expenditures

Positive and Negative Points of Customized Fields

• Can be used to create filters
• Can be used in custom reports
• Cannot be used more than once (a customized field is valid only once and has only one response value)
• Can be configured to be compulsory in information entry
• Can be used as merge fields in master documents
• Can be visible in the management grids and are available for search purposes
  NOTE: To learn how to make a customized field visible in a management grid, see the "View Management" document.

To learn how to create and use customized fields, see the "Customized Field Configuration" document.

Characteristics

This type of customization is actually a customized field containing:

• A name
• A description
• Response values
• Start date (optional)
• End date (optional)

This is the most flexible customization and, in doubt, probably the most appropriate. It can also be part of a grouping of characteristics in order to add a lot of them in one easy operation.

Characteristics are available in many ProDon's managements. They can be created to manage information specific to:

• Clients
• Donation occasion activities
• Prospecting and commitments (requires the "Prospecting and Commitments" module)
• Transaction batches (in the "Analysis and History" management)
• Task and history
• Transactions

Positive and Negative Points of the Characteristics

• Can be used to create filters
  
• Can be used in custom reports
  CAUTION: To be able to use a characteristic in a custom report, the characteristic must allow only one value per record (see point E of the ""General" Tab" section of the "Characteristic Management" document) and must be visible in the management grid (see point H of the ""General" Tab" section of the "Characteristic Management" section).

• Can be used more than once (the same characteristic can be entered more than once in order to document several response values)
• Can be configured to be compulsory in information entry
  CAUTION: To be able to configure a characteristic so that it becomes compulsory, it must first allow only one value per record (see point E of the ""General" Tab" section of the "Characteristic Management" document), it must always be present (see point I of the ""General" Tab" section of the "Characteristic Management" document), then it can be defined as compulsory (see point J of the ""General" Tab" section of the "Characteristic Management" document).

• Can be visible in the management grid and are therefore available for search purposes
  NOTE: To learn how to make a characteristic visible in a management grid, see the "View Management" document.
  CAUTION: To become visible in the management grid, the characteristic must first allow only one value per record (see point E of the ""General" Tab" section of the "Characteristic Management" document), then it can be visible in the management grid (see point H of the ""General" Tab" section of the "Characteristic Management" document).

• Can be used as merge fields in master documents (only the response value is entered by default, but it is possible to configure the merge field so that other elements of the characteristic are entered, for instance, the start date, the end date, etc.)
• Possibility to specify a default response value, if desired

To learn how to create and use characteristics, see the "Characteristic Management" document.

Summary of Previous Explanations

The following chart quickly demonstrates the way in which the 3 types of customization can be used and the managements in which they are available.

CAUTION: Read the notes below the chart.

	Client Categories	Customized Fields	Characteristics
Check box	X
Can be used to create filters	X	X	X
Can be used in custom reports		X	X (See note 1)
Can be used more than once			X
Can be configured to be compulsory in information entry		X	X (See note 2)
Can be visible in the management grids		X	X (See note 3)
Available as merge fields in master documents		X	X
Possibility to specify a default response value			X
Locations where customizations can be used
Client Management	X	X	X
Task and History Management			X
Donation Occasion		X
Donation Occasion Activities		X	X
Transactions		X	X
Prospecting and Commitments			X
Batches			X
Expenditures		X

NOTE 1: To be able to use a characteristic in a custom report, the characteristic must allow only one value per record (see point E of the ""General" Tab" section of the "Characteristic Management" document) and be visible in the management grid (see point H of the ""General" Tab" section of the "Characteristic Management" document).

NOTE 2: To be able to configure a characteristic so it becomes compulsory, it must first allow only one value per record (see point E of the ""General" Tab" section of the "Characteristic Management" document), always be present (see point I of the ""General" Tab" section of the "Characteristic Management" document), then it can be defined as compulsory (see point J of the ""General" Tab" section of the "Characteristic Management" document).

NOTE 3: To be visible in the management grids, the characteristic must first allow only one value per record (see point E of the ""General" Tab" section of the "Characteristic Management" document), then it can be visible in the management grid (see point H of the ""General" Tab" section of the "Characteristic Management" document).

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Document name: ProDon:Categories vs Customized Fields vs Characteristics
Version : 4.6.7.23

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