Querying Primary Email

Brian Bates 2 · October 2017

Is everyone aware that if you have multiple email types, you can't query on "is primary"??

For example, when we send email through NetCommunity, we used to be able to run a query to find NetCommunity email bounces (BTW, that part is broken too with a Spring 2018 fix :-O ) and then globally change them to "Bad Email". BUT they are still marked as Primary in RE . . . so when we email to Primary, it is pulling "Bad Email".

So I wanted to run a query . . to see how many "Bad Email" types I have that were also marked as "Primary". Well, you can't do that. the "Is Primary" box in query only searches for phones, not emails.

That seems to be a significant oversight . . . and is problematic.

Now, we ran the "Mark phone as primary" plugin in reverse . . and applied it to ALL "bad email" . . . but I still am flumuxxed as to why that wouldn't be a feature to query on.

Anyone have any thoughts?

Jen Claudy · October 2017

Try using Export, which should help. Although you may then need to copy-and-paste a list of ConstIDs back into a Query.

The Primary and Inactive (and DNC) Phone Fields all function the same, and they are not directly tied (in Query) to a specific Phone Record. This is why, at my last org, we kept our setup of using different Phone Types ("xHome" with a comment indicates an Inactive Phone). The Phone Comment Field is directly tied to the Phone Record. The other piece that this solved (for me) is that the [Show Inactive Phones] checkbox is not necessary...and since it's not sticky, I found it confusing/difficult.

Alan French · October 2017

Brian Bates:

So I wanted to run a query . . to see how many "Bad Email" types I have that were also marked as "Primary". Well, you can't do that. the "Is Primary" box in query only searches for phones, not emails.

I've just created a query with the criteria "Constituent ID equals [my ID] AND Phone Is Primary? equals Yes", and the results are including both my primary phone and my primary email address. You should be able to find all your bad primary emails by running a similar query for "Phone Type equals Bad Email AND Phone Is Primary? equals Yes". The trick is to only use the fields that sit directly under the Phones node, not the fields under Specific Phones.

It is a little misleading that the field names in query all start with Phone, e.g. Phone Comments, Phone Inactive, Phone Is Primary? They actually include phones, emails, links, fax and other.

Gina Gerhard · October 2017

Jen - So what good is it to have a phone number/email marked primary but yet in query, export you can't use that data? I don't get it ...

Seems like it's only good visually when you open the record but no good for anything else ?

Jen Claudy:

Try using Export, which should help. Although you may then need to copy-and-paste a list of ConstIDs back into a Query.

The Primary and Inactive (and DNC) Phone Fields all function the same, and they are not directly tied (in Query) to a specific Phone Record. This is why, at my last org, we kept our setup of using different Phone Types ("xHome" with a comment indicates an Inactive Phone). The Phone Comment Field is directly tied to the Phone Record. The other piece that this solved (for me) is that the [Show Inactive Phones] checkbox is not necessary...and since it's not sticky, I found it confusing/difficult.

Jen Claudy · October 2017

Gina, exactly why I kept our Phone Type system and didn't bother with the Inactive and Primary checkboxes.

Love the Phone Comment Field, though.

Alan French · October 2017

Gina Gerhard:

Jen - So what good is it to have a phone number/email marked primary but yet in query, export you can't use that data? I don't get it ...

Seems like it's only good visually when you open the record but no good for anything else ?

I find the Primary tick box works really well - I did some testing after we upgraded and it appears that when phones and emails are exported, the primary one is always exported first. I haven't seen anything from Blackbaud confirming that this is the case, however I tested it pretty thoroughly by exporting a single phone number for tens of thousands of records and each time it gave me the primary phone if they had one, or a non-primary one if they didn't have a primary phone specified.

Jen Claudy · October 2017

I believe once you select a Primary and [Save and Close], the next time you open the record, the Primary will be at the top of the Phone Grid (and the Inactives will be hidden altogether).

Brian Bates 2 · October 2017

Jen Claudy:

Try using Export, which should help. Although you may then need to copy-and-paste a list of ConstIDs back into a Query.

The Primary and Inactive (and DNC) Phone Fields all function the same, and they are not directly tied (in Query) to a specific Phone Record. This is why, at my last org, we kept our setup of using different Phone Types ("xHome" with a comment indicates an Inactive Phone). The Phone Comment Field is directly tied to the Phone Record. The other piece that this solved (for me) is that the [Show Inactive Phones] checkbox is not necessary...and since it's not sticky, I found it confusing/difficult.

Thanks . . but regarding comments, those don't flow through to NXT. So you say all sorts of fun things in DB regarding why a phone is there, but if someone is only using NXT to access records, the information is not there . . . any plans to include notes in NXT?

And I was able to get the info I needed by NOT selecting the specifiic phone type, but using the generic phone type and setting it to = the specific phone type + primary and gave me the results I needed.

Jen Claudy · October 2017

Go to the NXT Idea Bank and vote for this Idea...and also this Idea and this Idea. (It could probably be a full time job for someone to find & merge duplicate Ideas.

)

Brian Bates 2 · October 2017

Jen Claudy:

Go to the NXT Idea Bank and vote for this Idea...and also this Idea and this Idea. (It could probably be a full time job for someone to find & merge duplicate Ideas. )

Well . . . I posted the last idea, thought I searched for the keywords and missed the others . . . and don't they have the ability to merge ideas? Seems like a good idea!

Querying Primary Email

Comments

Categories