The Group Sacrament Entry page contains features that save you time by allowing you to simultaneously add or edit multiple sacrament records that share the same information.
Overview of the Group Sacrament Entry Page
Your Ability to See Sacrament Data
Step 3: Enter Sacrament Information
The Group Sacrament Entry page provides features that enable you to simultaneously add new sacrament records to your database. Additionally, you may, on occasion, find that you want to make the same change or changes to several sacrament records. Using group sacrament entry, you can quickly update those records simultaneously instead of editing them one at a time.
The group sacrament entry process is easy to use. To help you enter your data into the system, the Group Sacrament Entry page walks you through the three-step process.
Search your database
Use the filters to search your database to find the member records you want to work with. The remaining steps in the process are performed on the result set of this initial search.
Select members to include the group
Select members in the results set to identify those for whom you either want to add new sacrament records or edit existing sacrament records. The members you select in Step 2 comprise the target group.
Enter information into shared data fields
Select the desired data fields and supply the information you want to enter. When saved, the system updates the information in all of the records in the target group.
Your ability to see sacrament data is controlled by your diocese, specifically:
● If your diocese chooses to hide a specific sacrament, the sacrament does not appear in the Sacrament to Update dropdown list, so you cannot select it to view its data.
● If your diocese hides all sacraments, the Sacraments button is not visible, so you cannot access the Sacraments page.
Note if your diocese removes the restriction to hide a sacrament, the system adds the name of the sacrament back to the Sacrament to Update dropdown list. If the entire list was removed, it is reshown after visibility of any individual sacrament is enabled.
Permission assigned to your login credentials for ParishSOFT Family Directory determine what sacrament-related tasks you are allowed to perform. The following table defines the permissions assigned for each level:
This Permission ... |
Enables you to... |
| View | Access sacraments records to view information only. |
| Add/Edit | Create new sacrament records. Change information in existing sacrament records. |
| Delete | Not applicable. Sacrament records cannot be deleted. |
Print reports, lists, and certificates containing sacrament data. |
Permissions
are set by users with organization administrator privileges only. If you
require a type of permission to do your work that is not currently granted,
contact your organization administrator for assistance.
The organization associated with your ParishSOFT login credentials automatically appears in the Organization list, which is located in the upper-right corner of the Group Sacrament Entry page.
● If you manage multiple organizations, select the organization you want to work in.
● If you want to work in all of the organizations you manage, select All Organizations.
Only the organizations for which you have access rights and permissions to view are displayed in the Organization list.
If
you are returning to the Group Sacrament
Entry page from another page in the application, be sure to check
which organization is shown in this box. The organization defaults to
the one selected when you last visited the page.
The illustration below identifies the Search fields on the Group Sacrament Entry page. Place your mouse pointer over a link (without clicking) to view a general description of an element. Click the link to jump to the section on this page that gives you more detailed information about the element you clicked on.
In this first step, you must use the filters to conduct a search of your database to find members matching your search criteria The filters are described in the following sections.
If certain
search filters are not available (dimmed) for data entry, either you do
not have the appropriate Religious Education permissions tied to your
login credentials or your organization is not licensed to use the Religious
Education module.
To speed
data entry, press the Tab
key to advance the cursor to the next filter field.
You must
specify at least one criteria to search for.
After you select a filter value, the system loads
the value and refreshes the page. When you are ready to search, click
.
This filter list contains four sacrament options: Baptism, Reconciliation Prep, First Eucharist, and Confirmation.
Select the desired sacrament to search for records of that type.
This text entry filter enables you to enter the preparation year for the sacrament selected from the Sacrament filter list.
Enter the year in YYYY format to search for records matching that preparation year.
This dropdown list filter contains options that are defined as school terms in your Religious Education application (for example, Winter 2015).
Select a term from the list to search for sacrament records of members who took classes in the term.
This dropdown list filter contains options that are defined as classes in your Religious Education application (for example, 1st Communion).
Select a class from the list to search for sacrament records of members in the class.
This dropdown list filter contains options defined as grades (for example, Grade 9) in your Religious Education application.
Select a grade from the list to search for records of members in the grade.
These text entry filters enable you to search for records of members within a given age range.
To specify an age range, enter a number in the From and To fields. Each field is limited to two numbers and accepts non-negative, non-decimal numbers.
click to search for records that matches the
criteria currently loaded into the search fields.
Based on the criteria you enter, the system locates members and displays their names in the Member Records grid (see Step 2).
click to clear the contents from the search
fields so that you can enter new values.
If your search returns any results, they are displayed in the Member Records grid, shown in the left panel of the following illustration:
In this step, you must select the members from the result set for whom you either want to add a new sacrament record or edit an existing one. When you select a member in the left panel, the system adds the names to the Selected Members list in the right panel, as illustrated below:
Both the Member Records and Selected Members grids contain useful controls for viewing and filtering the lists. The controls are described below.
If the list contains a lot of records, you can use one or more of the column headers to further narrow down the list to find the exact record you are looking for:
● Last Name: type a last name into the field to display members with the same last name.
● First Name: type a first name into the field to display members with the same first name.
● Age: type an age into the field to display members of the same age.
Expand and Close Record ButtonsEach record in the list contains a bit of detail about
the member. Click to
expand the entry and view member details. For example:
You can use these details to verify that you have the correct member.
To close the entry, click 
.
Add Member ButtonThis button appears to the left of each member listed in the Member
Records grid. If you want to add or edit the member's record, click
. The member is added to the Selected
Members list in the right panel. The Selected
Members list shows the names of members in the group.
Remove Member ButtonAfter you add a member to the Selected Members
list, this button appears to the left of the member's name. If you need
to remove a member from the list, click .
The number of pages in the Member
Records grid is displayed under the grid. Select a page to go directly
to that page in the grid. Alternatively, click 
to page
back or click 
to page forward
through the list. The total number of records in the grid is shown in
parentheses.
Step 3 shows the five fields the four types of sacrament records have in common. In this step, you must define the exact value in each field. When you save the records, the system updates these fields with the values you specify in the records of all members you selected in Step 2.
The illustration below identifies the data entry fields in Step 3. Place your mouse pointer over a link (without clicking) to view a general description of an element. Click the link to jump to the section on this page that gives you more detailed information about the element you clicked on.
Note the small checkbox control to the left of each data entry field. By default, all checkboxes are disabled (not selected). If you want to enter data into a field, you must first select the checkbox to activate the entry field, as shown below:
The following table lists and describes the shared data fields (the fields sacrament records have in common). Enter a value into any of these fields to update all records with the value.
Data Field |
Description |
Completed Checkbox |
Select Yes to indicate that the sacrament is completed. |
Completed Date |
Click |
Prep Year |
Type the year (in yyyy format) that preparation for the selected sacrament took place. |
Place |
The place defaults to the current organization.
To change the organization, click |
Celebrant |
Select the name of the celebrant from the dropdown list. |
saves the values entered into the data entry
fields. The system updates these fields in each selected member's record.
.png)
cancels the group entry
process. No changes will be saved to the database.
How to Add Multiple Sacrament Records at the Same Time
How to Edit Multiple Sacrament Records at the Same Time
and select the
completion date from the calendar. Alternatively, type the date
directly into the field in mm/dd/yyyy format.
to open
the 
.