ProDon:Categories vs Customized Fields vs Characteristics
Contents
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:
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 of 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 no 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 of 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
- Task and history
- Transactions
Positive and Negative Points of the Characteristics
- Can be used as filters
- Can be used in customized fields
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 to create 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 | ||
| Situations 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).
Document name: ProDon:Categories vs Customized Fields vs Characteristics
