Advanced Batch Entry

Overview

The Advanced Batch Entry is the same as the traditional batch entry from older versions of Shepherd’s Staff. After selecting a service type and date, you can select people from a list of possible attendees and then add them to the list of attendees in the batch. Possible attendees can be filtered by various options like current members, all members, enrollees, and those in specific subgroups or lists. After all attendees have been added to the batch, you can post the batch and save it to the database.

Note

Once a batch is posted, the options to edit the batch are limited. You can change the date, event, and type using the Fix Attendance Posting Mistakes utility. To add people to the batch, you will have to add them one at a time by adding an Attendance Detail. Alternatively, you can delete all attendance details and the record in the By date category of the Events tab, then add the batch again.

Key Parts

» Event summary—The event name and date are listed in the upper left corner.

» Possible Attendees—This is a list of people who may have attended the event. This list can be changed by selecting a different group in the Who? drop-down. Above this section is a search bar that can be used to find a specific household or person (depending on the Search by selection).

» Who?—This drop-down filters out people based on various options, like current members (those not labeled as inactive in the Membership module), enrollees, or non-members, and you can select people from various lists and subgroups.

» Event types—If there are multiple types listed for the event you are entering attendance for, the types will be listed between the Possible Attendees and Attendees in batch sections of the batch entry view. Selecting a type will add future people with only that type listed. This is useful for distinguishing who attended worship but did not commune.

» Add, Add all, Remove, and Remove all—These buttons add and remove people from the batch. Selecting people from Possible Attendees and clicking Add will add them to the Attendees in batch section. Selecting people from Attendees in batch and clicking Remove will remove them from the batch. Clicking Add all and Remove all adds and removes everyone in mass.

» Add visitor—Clicking this will bring up a window where you can quickly add a visitor to Shepherd's Staff. The name field is the only required field and the record will show up in the Membership module. Any notes added this way can be found on the household record for the new visitor added. 

» Search by—This selection changes how the Possible Attendees are sorted and how the search functions.

» Attendees in batch—This list contains all the people who are presently marked as having attended the event.

» Note–Attaches a note to the batch that can be viewed in the future. This note can contain anything.

» Visitors–Allows you to add a visitor head count to the batch if you have unknown visitors. You can add a count to any event type which will allow you to track both attendance and communion numbers separately.

Here is how to add a batch using the Advanced Batch Entry:

1. Open the Attendance module and select the Attendance tab, then select the Batches section. This should be the default view when the module is opened.
2. Click Add.
3. Select an event and the date of the event. Select Advanced under the entry method heading on the right.
4. Click Continue. The batch entry window will appear.
5. Under Possible Attendees, you can use the Who? drop-down and the search bar to filter specific individuals. In addition, the list can be sorted by selecting either Household or Person under Search by in the middle of the view.
6. Select individuals in the Possible Attendees column and select Add to move them to the Attendees in batch Be sure the correct event type is selected if the event has multiple types listed in the middle of the screen.
7. To remove an attendee, select the person in the Attendees in batch column and click Remove.
8. Add any notes.
9. Click Save.