New Database - Adding People¶
Use these instructions for adding people to a new database. That is one in which you have not inserted people records using either the Insert People Spreadsheet or by Conversion. For all other cases, you should always add people in context - as a new member to an organization, as a guest, etc.
See also
Important
After you have initially populated your database, you may want to add the setting MenuAddPeople and set it to false. This will disable the Add Person link from the main menu, and require that all new records are added in context. You will want to read more about this and why it is important.
- Step 1
In the main menu, select People > Add Person
- Step 2
Click Skip Search, Add New button
Caution
Do not use this button under normal circumstances. Always search the database first before adding a new people record. You do not want to create duplicate records.
- Step 3
Complete the form for the basic person information. You can enter
nafor certain fields, if you do not know the information. NA will not display on the person’s record, it is just an indicator that you are not inserting information there.Important
Gender, Date of Birth and Marital Status are very important as this information will help prevent duplicate records in the future. It is also used to setting the correct family position.
Click Submit.
- Step 4
Enter the family phone and address information.
Tip
For the address, you can enter the Street and Zip, then click Submit. The address will be automatically verified and adjusted to comply with the US postal database of addresses (assuming that it is a US address). The correct City and State will be added.
Click Submit Again again to accept the address changes.
- Step 5
If you have other members of this same family, click Add to Last Family button and repeat above steps. This will put the family members in the same family with the same home address and phone number.
If you have finished with one family, click Commit and Add.
Important
It is only after clicking Commit and Add that the records are actually created.
This video shows adding a guest to a meeting. That is what we mean by ‘in context’.
Once your database is populated and you are using it to record attendance, maintain groups, record contributions, etc, only add new records after searching properly. This video demonstrates the best practices for maintaining a clean database, free of duplicate records.