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Global Filters

  • Global Filters restrict the data grid to one Congregation at a time to enhance data organization.
  • You may grant Users access to a single Congregation or multiple Congregations. If there are no Global Filters configured for a particular User, they can access all Congregations.
  • Global Filters only apply to the Pages for which you configured them.
  • You can also apply Global Filters to sub-pages.
  • Users with access to multiple Congregations can change the current filter at any time in the masthead.
  • In the Batch Manager Tool, Global Filters only apply to the selection of Congregations, Programs, and Events when you create and edit Batches and Donations. Global Filters do not affect Donors and Envelope Numbers on a User record, although you can search for them.

Enable and Disable Global Filters

To completely disable Global Filters, clear the Global Filter Page field on Domains. To re-enable Global Filters, set this field back to Congregations. Use Refresh Cache in the About dialog box to make changes to take place immediately.

Note: We do not recommend or support setting the Global Filter Page field to a value other than Congregations.

Configure Global Filters

You may also add a Global Filter to any Page or Sub-Page whose Records you can trace back to a Congregation using the Table Lookup Convention. To configure Global Filters, enter information in the Global Filter ID field on the Page or Sub-Page record.

Note: You must use a fully qualified (table.column) name to set this value. Advanced Search may help you generate the correct expression.

Examples

  • Households are closely related to Congregations, so you can express Global Filters as Households.[Congregation_ID].
  • In contrast, Contacts don't directly refer to Congregations. However, using Table Lookup Convention, you can express the Global Filter as Household_ID_Table.[Congregation_ID].

How Global Filters Apply

To apply Global Filters to any Page or Sub-Page, you must explicitly define the Global Filter ID field. If you add an expression to one Page (for example, Pledge Campaigns), it does not affect another Page (for example, Mission Trips).

Global Filters aid in data organization. However, there are exceptions to keep navigation easy and consistent across the Platform. Global Filters never affect the following:

  • Saved Selections, including Selections transferred from other Pages, Sub-Pages, or Users. Global Filters limit records available to be selected.
  • Searching inside Tools.
  • Data grids inside Sub-Pages.

Use Cases

Global Filters may greatly benefit churches with multiple locations for staff members to focus on only one to two Congregations at a time, rather than all of them. The limited results in the data grid allow staff to focus on caring for members of specific Congregations.

Alternately, a staff member can access all Congregations, but switch their current filter throughout the day to accomplish different tasks. For example, Susan may apply one Global Filter to email all Small Group Participants from the South Campus, then switch filters to quickly email all Donors from the Downtown Campus.

Troubleshooting

If an "ambiguous column" error appears after you apply a Global Filter, the field name was not fully qualified. Specify table.column in all cases.

Assign Global Filters

Tip:
  • To grant permission to all Congregations, don't apply filters.
  • If you grant access to the *Not Assigned Congregation, Users can see Records with an empty related Congregation field. This is applicable only when Congregation is not a required field (for example, Households).
  • All Congregations show in the drop-down list, regardless of End Date.
  1. Go to Administration > Users.
  2. Open the record of the User you want to add a Global Filter for.
  3. On the Global Filters tab, click New.
  4. Select the Congregation from the drop-down list.
  5. Click Save.
  6. To add multiple Congregations, repeat these steps.