This week’s roundup of People updates is a lot like going out for tacos 🌮 : bite-sized meals, big on flavor.
The People team has been making some tacos made 10 small but significant improvements: because ultimately, an up-to-date database is not about keeping things clean but about making sure your people don't fall through the cracks.
So let's see how these small updates can help you make a big impact. And hopefully we won’t ruin your Thanksgiving dinner with all these tacos.
Don’t lose important lists or workflows during staff transitions
We've all been there: Secretary Linda—Keeper of the Planning Center Database™—decides to retire, and confusion reigns.
Birthdays get missed, first-time guests don't get their welcome postcard, and no one knows where to find the lists and workflows where Linda managed it all. Worst of all, Linda won't pick up the phone because she's on vacation.
Now, when a staff member leaves an unassigned list or workflow they created, org admins can update the permissions for workflows and lists themselves.
Problem solved. Linda can go unbothered, and your church doesn't have to miss a beat.
Get an email whenever new people are added to a list
Who are all the people having a birthday this week? Get an email!
Did we have new visitors check in this Sunday? Get an email!
Lists constantly change as new people are added based on your criteria. Now, you can stay in the loop with a roundup of all the new people added to a list whenever it refreshes.
This is a great way to keep a pulse on what’s going on and how people are engaging. It could also be a sign that you need to create a workflow to follow up with all these people!
Duplicate workflows and make follow-up a little easier
Maybe your birthday follow-up process for the youth group is dialed, and the children's ministry wants in on that action. Or maybe you've processed so many people through your first-time guest workflow that you just want a fresh one. You can duplicate it! Then, adjust details as necessary. Done!
See what changed in profiles, and when
The activity feed in People profiles reflects every activity or change someone makes as it relates to your church.
Sometimes it's helpful to figure out what happened and when. Did their address change because they updated it or because an admin did it for them?
As you investigate how a change happened in a profile, we'll give you another clue: the time it happened.
Permanently delete contact information
Sometimes you need to remove contact data from your account, perhaps for security or privacy reasons. Now when you delete someone's information from their profile, you can also completely remove that data from your database via the activity feed.
Block emails, get rid of spammers
Do you have spammers and bots being absolute noodges and clogging up your online forms? Block 'em! You can protect your sanity and the sanctity of your database by blocking spammy email addresses from submitting forms.
Also, if you block an email but they sneak in a back door to create a profile another way, you'll see this handy little notification.
Step right up–get your new workflow permissions here!
It’s nice to be able to chat with people as you go about your life from your phone, rather than at your desk. Now, people who only have access to workflows can also get to those workflows on the People mobile app. This will make it a little easier to follow up and then follow through!
Send emails from your church name rather than staff
Anyone else missed important emails because of Black Friday spam?
It’s so easy these days for emails to get lost in someone’s spam folder–even more so if the reader doesn’t know the sender! Now you can send emails to your congregation using the name of your church rather than the name of a staff member.
Hopefully, this update increases the number of people actually engaging with your message.
Snazzy headings for online forms
Form submissions look better when you print them now. You wanted it, we did it, end of update.
Unverified social media accounts begone
We discontinued an integration that automatically pulled in social media profiles to People profiles. As of a few weeks ago, we also removed all social media links the integration never verified. This should help clean up some of your profiles from inaccurate or dated information.
We do it for the admins. 🫡
💙 Team People