Set Initial Program Options
In the Initial Setup window, you can specify various program options, preferences, and default subdirectories. On the File menu in your PDS program, click . Most of these options are also available under the Setup Options menu when you click the gear icon in any data entry window.
Initial Program Options Field Information
Program Options
- Weekly is Weekly on Sunday
- Calculates recurring terms and rates based on the number of Sundays in the recurring period. When you set up a recurring charge and select the terms, by default, the amount is calculated based on the number of times that day of the week falls within the recurring period. For example, if the starting date is on a Wednesday and you select Weekly, the recurring charge applies every week on Wednesday. This can affect how the amount is calculated because a year may have 53 Wednesdays, but only 52 Sundays.
- Save Order when Exit Program
- You can save the order that you navigate records in the Family, Member, and Development Funds windows. Otherwise, the navigation order resets after you leave a window or exit the program.
- Ask for Reason on Significant Changes
- Logs occurrences of important changes to family data and the reasons for the changes. The reasons for changes display in red if they were made in another PDS program that is synced with the current PDS program. If selected, you're prompted when you make changes to the following information:
- Family Name
- Primary Parish
- Street Address
- City/State
- ZIP/Postal
- Family Status (active or inactive)
- Delete a family, member, or email address
- Sync information
- Mark a member deceased
- Select or clear the Subscriber checkbox
- Change Area Code
- Change Case of Information
- Change Names
- Greek Orthodox
- Only displays if you selected the Greek Orthodox Install option during the installation. Clear the checkbox to disable Greek Orthodox features.
- Add Phones, Emails, KW to Top of a List
- Select if you want to add new phone numbers, email addresses, and keywords at the top of a list instead of the bottom. An item at the top of a list is considered the primary contact information.
- In PDSMobile Put Religious with Catechist
- Select to group Religious with Catechist in the mobile app instead of grouping them with Clergy. You may want to do this, for example, if you don't use Catechists and need a way to separate Clergy and Religious.
- Disable Add Head/Spouse when Adding Family
- When you add a new family record, the Head or Spouse type isn't automatically assigned.
- Hide Head/Spouse Gender when Adding Family
- When you add a new family record, the Gender field is hidden. The head will be Male and the spouse will be Female.
- Disable Family/Member Name Change Help
- Disables the question dialog box that normally displays when you change family or member names.
- Default to Show Totals for All Funds
- Displays the totals for all funds in the Development Funds windows. Otherwise, the fund totals are hidden.
- Enable user roles for attached Parish programs
- Select if you want to use roles for parish programs. For more, see Roles for Parish Programs.
- Split M/M if Spouse has Different Last Name
- Splits the compound title for a family if the spouse's last name is different. For example, "Mr." and "Mrs." instead of "M/M".
- Use V. 8 Method to Manage Primary Parish
- In previous versions, if a family is registered at more than one parish, they have a family record for each parish, and all but one of those records are marked as duplicates. In Version 8 and later (with this option selected by default), a single family record shows the primary parish, and all other parishes can be viewed and updated in the Manage Parishes window. If you prefer to mark the records as duplicates, clear the option.
- Force the use of Manage Parishes
- On family records, you must click the button to manage parishes instead of using the drop-down lists to select a parish. Note that clearing this option could cause a family to lose the connection with their parish when syncing.
- Allow Duplicate Family ID numbers to be added
- If this option is cleared, you will see a warning message when you add a record using the same ID number as an existing record. You can still make add the record if you want. If selected, you will not see the warning and are able to add a record with the same ID as an existing record.
- Default Picture Folder
- Enter the path where the pictures are stored if you plan to attach digital images of families or members.
- Document Folder
- Enter the default path where you want to store documents you attach or create in the program.
- Clergy Estate/Will Document Folder
- Enter the default path where you want to store estate/will documents for clergy. CAUTION: If you change the default picture or document folders once you've started using them, make sure you move all your files to the new location.Note: In order for these files to be included in automatic data backups, set the default folder locations inside the PDS DioOffice data folder. For example, X:\PDSDioOffice\Data\Files. This increases the size of your backup. If you set the default location outside the PDS Data folder, you must remember to manually back up the images and documents.
Family/Member
- Include Middle Initials in Family and Member First Names
- If you enter middle initials as part of family and member first names, such as "Mary T.", select this option to always print the middle initial with the first name. This is helpful if you use middle initials to identify folks with the same or similar names.
Personnel
- Other Benefits Names
- You can set up to four custom benefit names to display in the personnel's Health/Insurance window.
Institutions/Parishes
- User Fields
- Define up to 16 of your own fields to track additional information on records. You can enter up to 30 characters for each User Field Name. Make sure the User Field Name is meaningful so all users who see it on records understand what it means. This may require a conversation with your users who enter data so the field definition is clear. Select whether they display in the User Fields window of the Diocesan Offices, Depts, & Orgs section, the Groups & Businesses section, and/or the Parishes & Institutions section.
To use the fields: Locate a record, and click User Fields in the navigation menu to view the fields and enter data. These fields also display on the Overview screens in the relevant sections. You can enter any combination of letters and numbers, up to 40 characters.