Article ID: 783
Last updated: 07 Mar, 2010
Focus On: Custom Exports
Welcome to our Focus On series. In this series of e-mail tutorials, we will show you a few overlooked features in our system. We encourage you to print this document to follow along through the lessons.
Tutorial: Custom Exports
Custom Exports are a way that you can export data into a .csv file (which can be opened in Excel). It is used in combination with our Custom Report Generator and some Standard Reports.
In this tutorial, you will learn: Lesson 1: What is the difference between a Custom Export Format and a Custom Report? Lesson 2: Creating a New Custom Export Lesson 3: Using a Custom Export with Custom Reports Lesson 4: Practice: Creating a Spreadsheet.
In order to use the Custom Export Tutorial, you must have the access permission level of Export.
Lesson 1: What is the difference between a Custom Export Format and a Custom Report?
Very Important! A custom export is NOT a custom report.
Custom export formatsdetermine what specific details you want a report to contain. Think of it as the columns in a spreadsheet:
First Name, Last Name, Address Line 1, City, Stateare all columns that you want your spreadsheet to contain. A custom export is how you select your column headers.
However, creating the Custom Export Format does not perform a database search or fill in the columns. In order to fill in the data, you must use Custom Exports with Custom Reports (hint: they both sound similar because they go together).
Custom reportsfill the data into those columns:
In the Custom Report Generator, you create the target group of records (your query) that will be returned. This is your data. If you select Custom Export as your Export Method, the results of your Custom Report will merge with your Custom Export.
So, your Export contains First and Last Name, City, and State. But the query you ran could be anything: contributors, residents of a certain city, or people with a certain code on their record.
This means custom export can be reused. You could use it with your custom report on contributors and later, use it for your custom report on volunteers because it only relates to the column you want in your spreadsheet – not the data!
Ok, now that you understand the difference, let’s create a Custom Export!
Lesson 2: Creating a Custom Export
Name – Give your new format a name. For Example, Contributions with Addresses. Layout - .csv is the Excel spreadsheet format. .txt would be the format you would choose if you were sending this information to a mail house. Categories – Think of categories as folders that hold different fields in your database. General holds things like Name and Occupation and Employer where as Contribution Summary will hold things like Largest Contribution and Total Contributions. If you can’t find the Available Field you are looking for, check your category selection. Available Fields – List of the fields (think column headers) that are available under that Category. Included Fields – These are the fields that you have selected and clicked Add to include in your custom export.
Now that we have created our custom export, let’s generate our spreadsheet!
Lesson 3: Using your Custom Export with the Custom Report Generator
Now that you get the idea.Let’s practice doing a custom export with a custom report.
Lesson 4: Practice: Creating a Spreadsheet.
Scenario: Your boss wants to see all the contributors that donated in the Primary but haven’t yet contributed in the General. He wants their name, address, phone number and the total amount they contributed in the primary and their largest contribution.
In this scenario, we have a bunch of information. We have the information needed for the Custom Report and the information needed for the Custom Export. Let’s start with what your boss wants as an end result. He wants a spreadsheet with their name, address, phone number and the total amount they contributed in the primary and their largest contribution. Since this the result (the spreadsheet) we know this is the information we need to set up in our Custom Export. Ok, let’s set this up!
So we’ve now set up the export. However, we have to fill in the data for this report. Our boss wants to see only people in our report that have contributed in the primary but not the general. So let’s go to the Custom Report Generator.
3. Click Add to Query
Hopefully you now have a better understanding of the Custom Exports and what they can do for your campaign.
Do you have an idea for our next Focus On? Is there something you would like to know more about? Simply email us at: support@completecampaigns.com. We’d love to hear from you!
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