11.1C Release

If you're part of the Preferred Client Program, you can download the latest desktop version in the Client Portal.

PDS Formation Office 11.1C, released for desktop and OnDemand 2-29-24, offers the following enhancements.

New and Improved Features

New Class Schedule Reports

Under Class Schedules > Reports > Listing Reports, you'll find two new reports:
- Class/Session Size Report – Shows all (or selected) classes/sessions and the number of students in each.
- Basic Class/Session List – Shows most of the information from the Class List except attendance for all (or selected) classes/sessions.

Matching Fund Entries

When you search for certain fund history information using the Find History Entries function, you'll now see the number of matching entries and the total amount of those entries. These display at the bottom of the dialog box and on the report when you click Print.

Move Fund Entries

Have you ever accidentally posted fund entries to the wrong family... more than once? Now, you can move multiple fund entries to another family and/or fund. Select the entries in the Find History Entries dialog box, confirm that the number and total amount of the entries you want to move, then click Move Entries.

"Quicker" Posting of Payments/Donations

Are you a fast typist? Now, the Payment/Donation Entry can keep up with your pace! Once you add the Fund Number, Fund Year, Date, and Activity name you want to use, click the Fast button. Then, you can quickly enter each ID Number and Amount in the grid. You can also select the option to show Check Numbers if you need to enter them. Press Enter or Tab on your keyboard to move to the next entry.
When you're done, click Apply to copy the information you entered into the quick posting grid. This is much quicker than entering all the information in the grid itself!

Quick Emails/Text Messages

We added the name from the record you chose to send a quick email or text message to at the top of the window. That way, you can confirm that you're sending to the correct person!

Send Replies to Multiple Email Addresses

Now, when you send an email from PDS, you can set replies to go to multiple email addresses. For example, Father Joe wants to send an email to parishioners, and he wants any replies to go to his email as well as his admin assistant. To do that, he would enter both email addresses (separated by a comma) in the Reply Email Address field. You can enter as many email addresses as needed.

Improved Sacramental Registers and Certificates

Based on diocesan feedback, we made improvements related to the Sacramental Registers.
Special Notation for previous marriages: On the Marriage tab and the Prev Marriages tab of the Baptism Register Entry, you can enter any special notations, such as an exception for a previous marriage.
Marriage Permission: On the Marriage Register Entry and the Marriage tab of the Baptism Register Entry, you can enter any marriage permissions.
Confirmation Name: On the Confirm tab of the Baptism Register Entry, you can enter a confirmation name.
Christian Witness: On the Sponsors tab of the Baptism Register Entry, there's a new checkbox to indicate whether the second sponsor is a Christian witness.
Conditional Baptism: On the Baptism Register Entry, there's a new checkbox to indicate whether this is a conditional baptism. If so, "Conditional Baptism" prints at the top on the back of the certificate.
Reason: You can now select a Reason from the drop-down list, or you can enter a reason if the value you want is not in the list. (Note that entering a reason does not add it to the existing list.)
Profession of Faith Certificate: There's a new certificate for Profession of Faith Full Page & Back.

Print Volume and Page on Baptismal Certificates

You can now print the volume and page numbers on the Baptismal Certificate Full Page & Back. If you select the new option for Print Volume and Page Numbers, the Volume and Page print at the bottom of certificates.

Inactive and Deceased Members in Red

Member records that are marked as Inactive and/or Deceased now display in red text on the Student Listing Screen, Parent/Guardian Listing Screen, and in all Easy Lists. This provides a way to distinguish those records at a glance!

Add New Items to the Tops of Lists

Usually, when you add a new keyword, ministry, or safe environment entry on a record, it's added to the bottom of the list. We received feedback that it would be helpful to have new entries added to the top of the list instead. For example, newly added keywords may be more pertinent than a keyword that was added to the record five years ago.
If this sounds like something you're interested in, you can enable the new option we added. In the Initial Setup window, select Add to top of lists (Lists of keywords, ministries, safe env.). After that, any items you add to the following lists will be added to the top instead of the bottom:
- Family, Student / P/G, Personnel, and Clergy Keyword Lists
- Student / P/G List of Ministries
- Student / P/G List of Talents
- Student / P/G and Personnel Safe Environment - Background Check and Other Requirements
- Quick Postings of Family and Personnel Keywords
- Quick Posting of Student Talents
- Quick Posting of Student Ministries
- Quick Posting of Safe Environment - Background Check for Students / P/G and Personnel
- Quick Posting of Safe Environment - Other Requirements for Students / P/G and Personnel
  Note: Enabling this option does not reorder your current lists. It will start inserting from then on at the top of each list.
The new option is disabled by default. If you prefer that it keep working as it has been, you don't need to take any action.

Improved Data Cleanup

In the Clean Up Data process, you can now see how many unused fund activities are present in your Fund Setup. If needed, you can click Remove Unused Fund Activities to delete all unused activities from your database. Note that this only affects the Fund Activities lists since these activities are not used elsewhere in the program.

Quick Posting Logs

More information about certain quick postings is now tracked in the User Log.
- For Pledge Card Entry, it records when the user first accesses the process, when they click Cancel without selecting an existing batch, when they click Finish, and when they click Finish Later.
- For Payment/Donation Entry, it records when the user clicks the Post button, and it records the batch number if the user selects to continue with an existing batch.
This information is mostly tracked for reference and may be helpful for troubleshooting.

Postal Rate Changes

The USPS updated postal rates, effective January 21, 2024. These changes were made in your PDS program and released on Monday, January 22. Next time you run EZ-Mail, you'll receive a message that allows you to download the new postal forms. For details on the changes, see 2024 Postage Price Changes (USPS website).

We fixed issues that were reported internally to our team, as well as the following issue that affected some of our customers:

There was some confusion about how the New Year Fund Setup process worked for families that had multiple rates. Now, when there are multiple terms/rates, the program uses the amount of the most recent pledge.