Before starting
As an nonprofit you might count with multiple contacts among volunteers, donors, staff... So, in order to easily differentiate each of them, the software uses what we call the Unique User ID.
This article discusses the following points:
- What is the Unique User ID?
- How to access to the Unique User ID setting
- Choosing a Unique User ID
- Users without unique email addresses
What is the Unique User ID?
We call Unique User ID to the criterion used by the software to differentiate each person of the list of registered contacts.
The Unique User ID also helps to avoid duplicates in your contacts when updating information via an Excel import. For this, the data copied from the excel file must then contain the identifier column.
If you've given website access to your contacts, they will also use this as their login identifier.
Different fields can be used for this, and you get to decide which one the software should use for your CRM.
How to access to the Unique User ID setting
From the Admin settings center
To modify the Unique user ID:
- First, head over Settings, which is in the botton left corner of the screen. It will redirect to the Admin Settings page, where you will need to enter your password again for security reasons.
- Next, under Preferences, click on Community (either in the left side menu or in the main section of the page).
- Finally, the parameter in question will be in the Security section. Click on Modify.
From the Community tab
- From the homepage of the software, go to Community > Settings.
- Click on the highlighted Security shortcut.
Choosing a Unique User ID
Your unique user ID can take one of the following three forms: an email address, a contact's ID, or a specific field. All three options will be discussed in more detail below.
Email address
The first and last names alone cannot be used to differentiate your contacts as there might be homonyms within your CRM. Luckily, email addresses are unique, and as such, they can be used as a unique user ID!
If this option is chosen, your contacts will be able to log in using their email address.
If some of your contacts don't have an email address or if some of your contacts share one, this identifier will not be the best option for your CRM.
Contact ID
If some of your contacts do not have an email address or if multiple people share one, you can choose to use the contact ID. This is a series of numbers automatically generated by the software, and there is one for each contact.
You can access the Contact's ID from Community > Contacts by selecting this column in the CRM.
With this option, a person will only be able to log in (have access to their information and make purchases on their own) if they have entered their email address.
When updating contact information via an Excel import, the ID column must be in the datasheet that is copied and pasted. This will help you avoid duplicates.
Specific field
If your CRM already has a column that helps identify each contact (registration number or license number for example), you can use this as their Unique User ID.
To do this, go back to Community > Settings > Security. Now click on Edit and select Custom ID. Here you just need to choose the field you want to use in the dropdown menu.
If you choose this option, contacts will be able to log in using this information or with their email address. Note that this specific field must be in the datasheet if you import multiple contacts via Excel.
A person can register temporarily without filling in this field and appear in your CRM, as long as they provide their email address. This is useful for example if a new player hasn't been assigned a registration number yet.
Users without unique email addresses
You may have people in your CRM who do not have an email address or people who share one. This is, for example, the case when children use the same email address as their parents.
In this case, the Unique User ID should be either:
- Contact ID: all the accounts associated with the same email address will be proposed when the user logs in with the email. They will simply need to choose their account and enter their password.
- Specific field: the users can connect with this identifier instead of with their email address.
These users do not receive emails from the software (receipts, invoices, password changes). Additionally, if they are added manually, they will not be informed of the creation of their account.
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