Use of attributes

Rachel Hunt 2

Hi 



I would love some feedback on this. I am at a small cancer charity.



I have recently started here and have discovered the Constituent Attributes are being used to log almost all activity against an individual. Including if someone is doing an event that isn't ours, what they are doing, everytime they volunteer a new attribute is logged, etc. I historically have used attributes to define a characteristic that goes beyond constituent code and then recorded other information under either appeals or events. 



Does anyone have any thoughts?



Thanks



Rachel

Marie Stark

I have not seen attributes for activity. It must be hard to manage so many attributes.  We use Actions or Events to record activity,

Rachel Hunt 2

Thank you. That's my thinking. I've now got to map the change process!

John Heizer

Constituent Attributes can be a very functional substitute for many of the optional modules, but can also become a nightmare if they aren't carefully planned out.  They aren't usuallly as "abused" as Notes, but probably run a close second.



Like Notes, if there is another place in RE where that data can go, then 99 times out of 100, that is probably the better place for it to go.



Like all tables, they should be locked down so that "standard" users can't add new types willy-nilly.  If they think they have a burning need to add a new type then they need to be able to say WHY they need it, how it will be used in the future (how it is needed for pulling data out of the system), and be able to clearly document that need.  Otherwise you end up with Garbage In - Garbage Out.