Question

Photo of Don Smallman

0

Registrations adding Pending Users

2

 Hi,

We don't allow every member to have a login to the RMS system, and therefor would like to know how we can keep the system from adding users as pending when ever someone registers for an event or small group.

We have a ton of pending members now and most of them are duplicated.  I just merged 5 of my own records into one.

The other question is, is there and east way to get rid of all of those pending records?

Thanks,
Don 

  • Chris Rea

    Chris Rea

    Really what it comes down to is if you're using Rock, you'll need to trust us that we can show you how to use it in a way that creating those records isn't a hindrance. It'll be worth it.

    • Don Smallman

      Don Smallman

      Yes I understand and I do trust :)


      Sorry, I am not in a position to get on slack right now, but maybe later or tomorrow. I still need to talk about these pending records. We have a lot now. I tried to clean them up manually, but it takes a long time.

      • Photo of Chris Rea

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        Rock needs a Person record for everyone who signs up for an event, small group or does online giving.  I have found it hard to find an argument that says there's a good reason to NOT do that.

        Ultimately the problem it could create for you is giving you more information that you're interested in at any given time, but you can use Data Views and such to always find the information you're looking for.

        All of the systems Rock uses that automatically creates someone first looks for a matching first name, last name, and email address.  If an exact match is found, it uses the person instead of creating a new one.  If people are using a different email address each time, there's no way for Rock (or you) to know objectively that they're the same person.

        Edit: Settings for adding people as "Pending" can be found in the block settings for the blocks responsible for adding those people (e.g. Group Registration, Online Giving, etc.) and generally use this Pending status to help you track that the account hasn't be reviewed for integrity purposes yet, so actually, you're reaping the benefit of that pending status :D


        If you want to view all of the pending records, you can make a Data View of any Person with the Record Status of Pending. https://www.rockrms.com/Rock/BookContent/6/95#filteringusingdataviews

        If you'd like to go through with merging all of these sign ups and event registrations to one person (which for the record, is probably a VERY bad idea) you could do that from the Data View.  The reason I do not recommend merging them into one person is it will make all of those group registrations and such all go under one person.


        If you already had data in Rock, you may just have a season where you have to merge these pending people created to stitch it with your older data just to get you rolling, but it's worth it :)

        • Don Smallman

          Don Smallman

          So, is there a good way to remove them from the database? Are there just a couple of tables used when adding a pending person? What I also heard you say, is that we should start having people create there own login, so it does not add a pending record each time. Since I cant stop the system from adding a record. I thought that if I used non database fields in my forms, it would not add records. :-(

          • Chris Rea

            Chris Rea

            You can't "remove" them from the database short of merging them into a "trash" record (which I don't recommend). Luckily, when someone makes an account, they don't have access to anything except what they're allowed to see on the external site (like their giving history). You have to add a person to a security group before they can see anything else, and even then it's up to you.


            Giving, Small Group Registration, and Event Registration make a record, no two ways about it. I honestly think you can warm up to the idea if you understand what it means for you. QA isn't great for back and forth conversation, but I see an @donsmallman on Slack. You can reach me on the Rock RMS Slack @chrisrea and I'll gladly talk to you about whatever you need to know and potentially share my phone number with you so that I can help talk you through what you need to know.

          • Photo of Brandon Gamache

            0

            Rock already comes with a report and data view that lists everyone with a Pending record status. It provides an action button to search if there are duplicates and lets you decide what to do. You can find this under Reports > Organizations > Data Integrity > Pending Individuals. I think having each user create their own login for the external site is the best method--they won't have access to the internal side unless you give them access. When they are logged in I have noticed fewer duplicates. 

            Like Chris said, there isn't a good way to remove these records unless you merge them into their original record. 

            • Don Smallman

              Don Smallman

              Thanks, I'll take a look at that. Is there a way to force them to create a username and password before registering for anything?
              We are moving to the Rock Finance module, so this will be good for us anyway.

              • Brandon Gamache

                Brandon Gamache

                Yes. In the Registration Template there is an option where you tell Rock they have to login before they can register. I don't think Giving forces them to login but does provide them the option, I haven't tested this so I could be wrong.

                • Don Smallman

                  Don Smallman

                  Thanks again! We are not using Giving yet, I am hesitant about moving everything over to the rock, because if our site crashes (and it has...) we loose everything until the server is back up.