Attribute Management

The reference outlines how to create new attributes on attribute tabs in the person and org forms:

1. General Attributes (both person and organization forms)
2. Member Info (person form - optional)
3. Volunteer Info (person form - optional)
4. Donor Info (person form - optional)
5. Other Custom Attribute Tabs

What is an Attribute?

Attributes are custom data fields that you can add to the person or organization form.  These custom fields can be used to

1. Track record details (and query them in Gnosis Reporting and Communications)
2. Flag records for some kind of action (permanently or temporarily)
3. Create online forms for completion

Attributes are organized by Categories within each tab and can be set up in any of the following formats:

1. Checkbox
2. Yes/No; True/False; On/Off options
3. Date field
4. Number field (integer or decimal)
5. Single-line text entry
6. Multi-line text entry
7. Single-select dropdown list
8. Multi-select dropdown list

How to Create New Attributes?

As a Gnosis administrative user, go to Settings > Administration > Attributes Management > select desired tab/set of attributes to add to.

1. Select or add a New Category on the desired tab, then click New Attribute at the bottom of the screen.
2. Assign a Display Name and Alias Name.
   • The alias name can generally be the same as - or an abbreviated version of - the full display name and will be the value used in queries/reporting. 
     Note: Attributes must have an alias name set and must not contain any punctuation other than spaces. The display name for an attribute can be changed in the future but the alias name is not changeable once the attribute record is initially saved.
3. Skip down 3 fields to Attribute Type to set the type of the new attribute.
4. Either continue on with adding new attributes or click Save & Close when finished. Attribute IDs are assigned upon saving.

Single- or Multi-Select lists require you to also provide the list of options – the drop-down menu options for the list:

• With the list attribute selected, click the down arrow on the side of the New Attribute button (#5 in image above), and select "New Attribute List Value for ‘[Attribute Name]’"
  • As you will see, the bottom button changes functions depending on what level the item select above is as (Category, Attribute, List Values).
• Now the bottom button will remain set to New List Value and you can continue adding additional list values until finished.
• Single-select Lists: The first list value in a single-select must be:
  • Display Name = Select… (or any value that indicates not selected - like "N/A")
  • Alias Name = Do not enter any text.
    • Doing this prevents a different list value from being set as the default value on all records.

Bulk Adding Attribute List Values

If you have a "List of Options" or a "List of Options (multi-select)" type of attribute and you would like to add a large number of list options to the attribute, you can do so using the bulk-add list items option.

To do this:

1. In a spreadsheet (e.g.: Excel or Google Sheets), add the Alias and Display names
   
   If you are adding a "Select..." entry for the first list item in a"List of Options" type attribute, leave the corresponding alias name blank.
    
2. Select the two-column area and copy the data
    
3. In Attribute Management, highlight the "List of Options" or a "List of Options (multi-select)" main attribute entry under which you wish to add the new options:
   
    
4. While holding down the Shift AND Ctrl Keys, press the "New List Value" Button.  The following dialog will appear:
   
    
5. Press the "Yes" button and your copied entries will be added to the reference data item that you had selected:
   

Attribute Best Practices

Keep Attributes Organized. Reorder attributes (once any changes are saved) using the green up and down arrows or by simply clicking/dragging/dropping.

Create User-Friendly Attributes. Defer to creating dropdown lists as much as possible; refrain from using straight text fields where possible as text fields will not provide reliable criteria in queries, reporting or use in Gnosis Communications.

Not sure of the best attribute approach to meet your need? Email Gnosis Support. Once attributes are populated in records it is not always easy to reformat or modify the data. Poor/uneducated planning can result in unusable data. If you have a question on how to best format an attribute(s), email all the details, including potential uses of the data, to [e-mail] for guidance. 

For advanced attribute management, see also:

• Attributes - Bulk Setting and Moving Data
• Person Status Indicators