Customize Your Database

In this chapter, you'll learn to create and customize global and local database fields, edit the format of contact names, set up contact address fields, and map household fields for display in Administrator's Plus. You'll also learn to set permissions for user access to the Contact DB and for contact access to the parent portal, reports, and local database field information.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Customize Global and Local Fields
• Set Default Local Field Rights
• Edit Contact Data Base User Rights
• Format Contact Names
• Set up Contact Address Fields
• Map Household Fields

Customize Global and Local Fields

You can create and customize two types of fields in the Contact Data Base: global fields and local fields. Fields you create are called User Defined fields. You can view your User Defined fields in the User Defined Global Fields panel and the User Defined Local Fields panel when you view an individual contact in the database, as shown in the following example.

Global Fields: Fields that contain the contact's name, address, phone number, and employer information (among other fields illustrated below) are considered global fields because they remain the same for the contact regardless of the student that the contact is connected to.

Local Fields: Fields that are specific to the relationship between the student and the contact are considered local fields. For example, local fields define the relationship between the contact and the student, determine parent portal access and which reports should be sent to the contact, and they establish if the contact can pick up the child from school.

To create a User Defined Global or Local field, do the following:

1. On the Demographics screen, click a student, and click Contacts in the student snapshot at the top of the screen.

2. At the bottom of the screen, click Setup [F12], and then click Setup Global Fields or Setup Local Fields.
3. Click Add [F2].
4. Enter a field name in the Field Name column.
   The following figure illustrates steps 4–11
   

5. In the Type column, click Text, and click one of the following from the drop-down list:

• Text: Characters can be entered in any format.
• Integer: Whole numbers can be entered.
• Decimal: Numbers can be entered with a decimal point.
• Date: Dates can be entered in any format you've chosen.

6. In the Length column, enter the maximum character length for that field.
7. Click Optional in the Required column, and click Optional or Mandatory from the drop-down list.
   Note: Optional fields can be left blank, whereas Mandatory fields require an entry in order to save the record.

8. Click Leave As Is in the Case column, and click one of the following from the drop-down list:

• Leave as Is: No formatting is applied to this entry.
• Sentence Case: The first word of the entry is capitalized, and the rest are left lower case.
• Lower Case: Entries are converted to lower case.
• Upper Case: Entries are converted to upper case.
• Title Case: The first letter of each word is capitalized.

9. Click Not Validated in the Validation column, and do one of the following:

• Click Not Validated: Validation in Contact Data Base means the field is to be a drop-down list from which you can select different values. If you choose not to validate it by clicking this option, information can be typed into the field based on the type you set in step 5.
• Click Supervisor Only: Only the SUPERVISOR user can define the values of the drop-down list. Any other user can then select the values from the list.
• Click Anyone: Any user with access rights to the Data Base module, regardless of their Contact DB rights, can both select items from the drop-down list and define additional list items.
  Warning: Although this option offers great flexibility, without proper consistency in defining the list values, the list may become messy over time with several undesirable values. If you wish to create a drop-down list with consistent values that users can then choose from, set the this option to Supervisor so that your supervisor can define what the values should be.
  Note: When you enable field validation, the field becomes a drop-down list for which you can define values. For example, if you create a User Defined field called "Alumni," you could then set it to be validated, and define the drop-list options to be "Yes" or "No" or to be based on a specific graduation year.

10. Skip this step and step 11 if you chose not to validate field in step 9. To add items to the validation drop-down list, click Setup Validation at the bottom, click Add, type field value, and then click Accept.
11. Repeat step 10 as necessary to add additional values to the list, and then click Done when finished.
12. Enter a value in the Default Value column if you want each entry of this field to be the same.
    Note: Default Values may be changed after they have been entered by clicking Edit Local Fields or Edit Global Fields when editing contact information.

13. Click Save [F10], and then click Done [F10].
14. Repeat steps 4–12 to create additional fields.

Set Default Local Field Rights

Set default local field rights based on contact type to control contacts' access to the parent portal, reports, and user-defined local fields across all contact records. Customizing the default rights helps your school maintain consistency across contact types as well as avoid errors, such as when a contact has or lacks the appropriate rights (for example, access to the parent portal). Remember that you can still customize these rights differently for certain users on a case-by-case basis if needed.

Example

By default, a school may wish to give every mother and father access to the parent portal as well as to attendance and report card reports. However, the school may also choose not to give these rights to additional contacts by default (such as to a sibling or grandparent).

To set default local field rights, do the following:

1. On the Demographics screen, click Contacts in the student snapshot.
2. At the bottom of the Student Contacts dialog box, click Setup, and then click Set Default Local Field Rights.
   

3. Double-click a local field cell corresponding to a contact type, and then click Yes or No to control that contact type's access to the area. For example, if you click Yes for Parent Portal corresponding to the user type "Father," all father contact records going forward will have the check box Enable Parent Portal Access selected by default (found in the Local Fields area of the contact record). If the area is AT Reports, the check box Attendance will be selected by default, and all fathers added from then on will be able to receive attendance reports regarding his or her child.
   

4. Click Save at the bottom, or press Enter to skip to the next column.
5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 to customize all the necessary default local field rights.
6. Do either of the following:

• Click Done to apply the changes to all new contacts created going forward.
• Click Apply For Existing Contacts to apply the changes to present and future contacts.
  Warning: The Apply For Existing Contacts option overrides all local field selections you've made to present contacts. For example, if you've given the contact type "Father" default access to Attendance reports but you had previously not given access to certain fathers, the new default settings will override your previous customizations.

Edit Contact Data Base User Rights

Specify which default access rights you want to apply to all new users, or customize rights based on user type. Choose which users have complete access, read-only access, or no access at all to the Contact Data Base.

Set Default Rights for New Users

Select the access rights you want to apply to all new users going forward. Setting these default rights saves you time when you know there are certain rights you want to apply to all new users. Remember you still have the flexibility to further customize the rights based on the user type (explained later in this topic in the section Customize Rights for Existing Users Based on User Type).

To set default rights for new users, do the following:

1. On the Demographics screen, click a student, and click Contacts in the student snapshot at the top of the screen.
   

2. Click Setup, and then click Security.
3. Click Set Default Rights.
4. Do any of the following:

• Select the Create New Contact Fields check box to allow new users to create contact fields.
• Select the Add Records check box to allow new users to add records.
• Select the Delete Records check box to allow new users to remove records.
  The following figure illustrates steps 4 and 5.
  

5. Click an access right next to a Field Name, and do one of the following:

• Click a cell in the All column to give all new users all rights.
• Click a cell in the Read column to give all new users read-only rights.
• Click a cell in the No column to restrict all new users.

6. Click Done.
   Tip: To apply the rights to all current users, click Apply to All Current Users. Caution: Keep in mind that this option overrides any rights you may have customized for certain user types. For example, if you previously set specific rights for the office and/or principal user types, the rights will be overridden by the default rights you customized in steps 4 and 5.

Customize Rights for Existing Users Based on User Type

Specify access rights based on the type of user.

1. On the Demographics screen, click a student, and click Contacts in the student snapshot at the top of the screen.
   

2. Click Setup, and then click Security.
3. Double-click an access right next to a User Name, and do one of the following:

• Click Y from the drop-down list to give the user all rights.
• Click N from the drop-down list to restrict the user.
• Select the check box in the Co-Owner column to give a user all rights to the Contact Data Base.
  

4. Double-click an access right next to a Field Name, and do one of the following from the drop-down list:

• Click Y to give the user all rights.
• Click R to give the use read-only rights.
• Click N to restrict the user.

5. Click Save [F10], and click Done [F10].

Format Contact Names

Customize the appearance of your Contact Data Base by editing the format of all full names. You can apply your format changes to all past and future contacts, or you can apply the format changes just to future contacts. For example, you could format all full names to appear with a title, followed by a last name, and then a first name, such as Mrs. Adams Eleanor.

1. On the Demographics screen, click a student, and click Contacts in the student snapshot at the top of the screen.
   

2. Click Setup [F12], and then click Setup Full Name Format.
3. Click a field in the Available Fields box, and click to move the field to the Selected Fields box.
   
   Note: The fields in the Selected Fields box are displayed in your Contact Data Base in the corresponding order.

4. Optional: Click a field in the Selected Fields box, and click  to remove the field from your Contact Data Base format.
5. Optional: Click a field in the Selected Fields box, and click or to move the field into your desired position.
   Note: Your information is displayed in the same order as it is in the Sample of how Full Name will be displayed box.
6. Repeat steps 3–5 for any applicable fields.
7. Do one of the following:

• Click As Entered in the Select Case Rule for Entering Names drop-down list to keep the name in the same format as it was entered.
• Click Title Case in the Select Case Rule for Entering Names drop-down list to capitalize each first letter in the name.
• Click Upper Case in the Select Case Rule for Entering Names drop-down list to capitalize every letter in the name.

8. Do either of the following:

• Click Change Name of Existing Contacts [F5] to apply your changes to all existing and future contacts.
• Click Done [F10] to apply your changes to only future contacts.

Set up Contact Address Fields

Choose which types of address fields are to be used for the database entries of all contacts.

1. On the Demographics screen, click a student, and click Contacts in the student snapshot at the top of the screen.
   

2. Click Setup [F12], and then click Setup Address Layout.
3. Select the check box(es) next to the fields you want to include in your Contact Data Base.
4. Enter a Default Field Value in the appropriate text box to display the information by default when a new contact is created.
5. Click a field, and then click or  to display the fields in the order you choose.
6. Click Done [F10].
   The following figure illustrates steps 3–6.
   

Map Household Fields

After you've entered information in the Contact Data Base, data displays in the AdminPlus Data Base if the household fields are mapped accurately. Mapping the fields ensures that household contact fields and student fields are always the same. For example, you could map the Line 2 Contact Data Base field to the Apartment Number Data Base field so that the information is the same both in the Contact Database and on the Demographics screen of the Data Base module.

1. On the Demographics screen, click a student, and click Contacts in the student snapshot at the top of the screen.
   

2. Click Setup [F12], and then click Map Contact Household Fields.
3. Click an empty cell in the Data Base Field column, and click .
   

4. Click the desired Data Base field, click Select, and then repeat steps 3 and 4 for all necessary fields.
5. Click Done [F10].