Tools - May 2024
We have a new tool on the way, along with helpful enhancements to the Add/Edit Sacrament Tool and improvements across multiple tools.
*NEW* Donations and Pledges Import Tool
- If you use a third party service (such as a lockbox company), you may receive a CSV file of donations or pledges. Now, there's a way to import those items so you can track them in MinistryPlatform! On the Donations page, click . Using the tool, you can:
- Specify whether you're importing pledges or donations.
- Select the relevant Congregation/Parish.
- Start from a template or create one with this import.
- Select an existing batch or create a new one.
- Specify how to match Programs and Donor records.
- Review what will be imported before records are created.
- For more information and steps on using the tool, see Donations and Pledges Import Tool.
Add/Edit Sacrament Tool
Note: This tool is available in Catholic instances only. But, we know that other denominations track sacraments and may need to mass enter information. If that's you, please let us know how we can serve your needs by entering your feedback on the Idea Board.
- We updated the label in the Add/Edit Sacrament Tool from Date of Death to Date of Burial. This matches the labeling on the sacrament record so you know exactly what's being asked for.
- The Add/Edit Sacrament Tool now includes a way to select the Ordination Type (Deacon, Priest, or Bishop) when you add or edit a Holy Orders record.
- Fixed an issue where a parish user was not able to select a Celebrant or Sponsor outside of their congregation/parish.
Multiple Tools
- Fixed an issue in the Add/Edit Event tool and the Connection Card tool where the Congregation/Parish drop-down list was only displaying the first 100 records. It now displays all your congregations/parishes, and you can search the full list for an existing one.
Add/Edit Family Tool
- The Add/Edit Family tool now uses the value you defined in the TOOLS, AgeGroupTypeID configuration setting when presenting selections for the Age Group field. That way, you can rename your "Age or Grade Group" type without breaking the drop-down list.
- When you add new family members via the tool, all fields now display without having to click More! That way, you can quickly enter information for the new contact. If you want to see fewer fields in the tool, you can click Less.... When you load existing family members, some fields are hidden by default, but you can click More to see all the details.
- Fixed an error that displayed if the selected family's Address record included a Country Code value that was not recognized in the Countries table.
Add A Payment Tool
- Fixed an issue where the Add A Payment tool was recording the Payment Date using UTC time instead of the Domain Time Zone.
- Fixed an error that displayed when working with events that have a form assigned.
Assign Participant Tool
- Fixed an issue where a state was not recognized if a user entered something other than two capital letters. Now, the Assign Participant tool recognizes full state names and lowercase abbreviations.
Combine Contacts Tool
- The Combine Contacts tool now displays Home Phone if at least one of the selected contacts belongs to a household/family that has a Home Phone.
- The tool was not considering sacrament records. Now, a warning displays to let you know if there are conflicting sacrament records. You're prompted to edit the assigned participant/member before combining the contacts.
- Sometimes, an unexpected error occurred that interrupted the process. To resolve this, we increased how long the tool can engage the database.
Connection Card Tool
- We previously changed the Connection Card tool so it wouldn't show opportunities that had an associated custom form. But, some churches found this difficult for volunteers who fill out paper forms. To simplify this, the tool now shows an opportunity if its record has On Connection Card set to Yes and does not show opportunities that have this set to No.
Deceased Person Tool
- Fixed an issue where the Deceased Person tool was displaying options that were not applicable. For example, if the person already had the status of "Deceased", the option to change their status to "Deceased" was still available. Now, all relevant options are grayed out when they're not needed.
Form Responses Tool
- Fixed an issue where the Form Responses tool was not including form fields that were more than 50 characters long when launched from an Opportunity record.
- Fixed an issue where CSV files exported from the tool did not properly display accented characters, like è, é, ö, and so on.Note: Some programs, like Excel, may not display these characters correctly based on your settings. You can try different methods of opening your CSV so these characters display, such as the ones explained in this article.
Template Editor Tool
- Have you ever worked for a few hours to make your template perfect, then mistakenly closed out of the tool? We've alleviated that frustration! Now, a warning displays in your browser if you close the tool or click the X before saving your changes.
- Fixed an error that occurred when trying to save an SMS Text template in the Template Editor tool.
Trim Selection Tool
- Fixed an issue where the Trim Selection tool was incorrectly including/excluding records based on the time. For example, if a group participant in the selection had a start date of today (the same day you launched the tool), the group would not display as an option to trim. Now, the time is not considered—just the date—when trimming by Ministry, Group, or Group Type.