Difference between revisions of "Blue Folder Lookup"

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'''Location in standard build:''' '''''Accessible anywhere a Blue Folder icon is displayed'''''
 
'''Location in standard build:''' '''''Accessible anywhere a Blue Folder icon is displayed'''''
  
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The  Blue Folder Lookup page allows you to see the details behind a number. For example, if you ask for "number of contacts" using the KPI Report Designer, you will get a total number of contacts; next to the number is a blue folder, which will allow you to see the full details of the contacts counted towards that number.
  
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__TOC__
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The Blue Folder Lookup screen will also allow you to add cross-referenced data to the spreadsheet output.
  
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[[File:cl_BFL_1.png|600px|border|thumb|none|The Blue Folder Lookup screen. The screenshot shows an example of what you get if you click the blue folder on a "number of referrals" KPI from the [[KPI Report Designer]] output.]]
  
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==About Blue Folder Lookups==
 
  
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You may have already noticed blue folders displayed on reporting outputs. For example, running the "Memberships/Skills Report" shows all of the Organisations/People on your system who belong to/have a [[System_Setup_Guide#Membership.2FSkills_Groups|group or skill]]. The basic output of the report looks something like this:
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__TOC__
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[[File:reports_7.png|790px|border]]
 
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This output is fine, as long as it contains the information you need, but suppose that you want to cross-reference this output with some other information. The "real world" thought process might go like this -
 
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''We ask all of our clients whether they consider themselves computer literate, and we use a skill group called "computers" to log this, putting them in the group if they are computer literate. We also log the disabilities our clients have, if they have any. I wonder what the data would show if I could cross-reference this with the "Computers" group? Does the fact that someone has a disability affect whether they see themselves as computer literate? If it does, does the disability in question matter? A lot of our clients have arthritis - is having arthritis likely to affect your confidence with a computer? Is there anything we can do about this?...'' and so on.
 
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To answer these questions you could do the following -
 
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# Run the "Memberships/Skills Report" to see who is in the "Computers" group.
 
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# Export this to a spreadsheet.
 
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# Look up the relevant clients and their disabilities.
 
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# Add these to the spreadsheet.
 
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Steps 1 and 2 are easy; steps 3 and 4 will take a long time. What you need is an easy way to say to the system, "show me the ouput of this report, and add on the disability data for the relevant clients" - and this is exactly what Blue Folder Lookups allow you to do.
 
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At the bottom of the reporting output is a blue folder.
 
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[[File:reports_8.png|border]]
 
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Clicking this blue folder will take you to the lookup page.
 
  
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[[File:reports_9.png|790px|border]]
 
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At the bottom of the page, the data is displayed. At the top, however, we have two extra sections: '''Export Results Through Mailmerge''', and '''Export This Report With Extra Data From'''.
 
  
 
===Export Results Through Mailmerge===
 
===Export Results Through Mailmerge===
  
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This section will allow you to put together the output of your report with a mail merge, which you have previously set up. Mail merges will be covered later in this chapter.
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[[File:cl_BFL_2.png|border]]
  
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===Export This Report With Extra Data From===
 
  
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This section has two ways to output data: as a spreadsheet, using the "Export This Report" button, or on a map, using the "Switch to Map View" button.
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This section will allow you to put together the output of your report with a mail merge, which you have previously set up (see [[Mail Merge]] for more information about mail merges). The people displayed in the grid at the bottom of the screen will be sent to the mail merge. If you have reached the Blue Folder Lookup page from a report on Contacts, Referrals etc (where people may appear more than once in the report, because they've had more than one Contact in the date range, for example) then the system '''will''' de-duplicate for you, i.e. it will only create one letter per person.
  
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====Exporting a spreadsheet====
 
  
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The basic spreadsheet to be exported will be roughly the same as the original report output. However, by using the Extra Data section, you can add columns onto the spreadsheet with more data in about the relevant clients.
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===Map View===
  
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=====Extra data from a Data Extraction=====
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[[File:cl_BFL_4.png|border]]
  
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See later in this guide for details of setting up Data Extractions.
 
  
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Once you have a data extraction set up, you can use that data extraction on any reporting output, using this drop-down box. For example, a data extraction has been set up named "EA", which shows the age range and ethnic background of any pool of clients. If you select this data extraction, and click the "Export This Report" button;
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[[File:cl_BFL_3.png|600px|border|thumb|none|An example of the Map View, with the relevant people displayed as red pins.]]
  
  
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[[File:reports_10.png|border]]
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The map view relies on postcodes to place the clients/people, so if there is no postcode entered on their record, the map view will discard them. This is one of the reasons we advise that a name and a postcode should always be a minimum for data capture.
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The resulting spreadsheet looks like this:
 
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[[File:reports_11.png|790px|border]]
 
  
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===Export Options===
  
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Not particularly tidy, but very informative. What you have here, after only a few clicks, is a spreadsheet showing:
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[[File:cl_BFL_5.png|700px|border|thumb|none|The "Export Options For This Report" section.]]
  
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* All people that were active in a skill group over a certain date range
 
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* The information about the age ranges of those particular people
 
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* The information about the ethnic backgrounds of those particular people
 
  
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You can use this spreadsheet to show:
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All of the options in the middle section relate to outputting the data on a spreadsheet.
  
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* Whether the people in a particular group are biased towards a particular ethnic background and/or age range
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* If no extra data is selected, the table at the bottom of the page will be output as a spreadsheet.
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* If any extra data is selected, the table at the bottom of the page will be output as a spreadsheet, with the extra data displayed in extra columns to the right of the basic data.
  
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This kind of information is very useful. For example, consider disability again.
 
  
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''If the members of the group "Computers" (meaning the person considers themselves to be computer literate) contains no-one with a disability, does that mean that people with disabilities in your funded area are not being supported to access computers? Can your organisation do anything to help, or signpost people to an organisation which can help?''
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=====Add Data Extraction Formats=====
  
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''If the members of the group "Befrienders" are all younger and male, will this have an impact on how many people take up your Befriending service? Is there a need for more female Befrienders, and/or more older Befrienders?''
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[[File:cl_BFL_6.png|border]]
  
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...and so on. If you are using a paper filing system, and/or each department has its own database, you would not be able to answer these questions without a huge amount of manual data collection, counting and tabulating. Using Charitylog means that you can do this easily, in less than a minute.
 
  
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=====Extra data from Client-linked Records=====
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Any [[Data Extraction]]s on your system can be added to a reporting output. The fields you have selected on the Data Extraction itself (using the "2. Choose What to Print" button) will be output as extra columns on the spreadsheet.
  
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You also have the option to add data from Client-linked records. Various options are available. Like data extractions, these will simply add more columns on to the output spreadsheet. You can select more than one set of client-linked records by shift-clicking a range (PC or Mac), or holding the "Ctrl" button (PC) or the "Command" button (Mac) and clicking the options you require.
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* ''Note: if you select a Data Extraction here which is configured to be a Mail Merge, it will act as a normal data extraction - i.e. letters will not be produced.''
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* ''Note: Data Extraction filters do not operate here.''
  
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=====Extra data from Extension Databases & Extras=====
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See the [[Data Extraction]] page for more information.
  
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Finally, you can add extra data from the Extension Databases you have on your system (providing they are Organisation/Person linked or Personal Tab-linked).
 
  
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====Spreadsheet output size====
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=====Add Org/People-linked Records=====
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You can add as many options as you need - there is nothing to stop you using a data extract which gives 20 fields on every result, then adding all the Client-linked records, and all the Extension Database records. However, this will result in an extremely long spreadsheet which is difficult to work with. Consider breaking your requirements down into a series of spreadsheets and then work with these.
 
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Length of spreadsheet output is one of the primary reasons that Charitylog has moved to the .xlsx (Office 2010) output format. The old .xls format only allowed 256 columns, whereas .xlsx allows somewhere over 16,000 (not that you would want or need that many for a Charitylog output).
 
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===Map View===
 
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The Blue Folder Lookup screen also allows an output to be displayed on a map. This has various uses, but all of the most obvious are to do with geographical location - for example;
 
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* Display all new clients over the last three years, and see where your client base is
 
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* Display all new clients over the last year, and see how new projects have affected your clients' uptake of your services
 
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* Display clients accessing a particular service/Project - are there holes in the coverage that cannot be explained? Do you need to make more efforts at outreach in those communities?
 
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* Check for incorrectly filled Super Output Areas - are there any outliers displayed that might be wrong?
 
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The map view relies on postcodes to place the clients/people, so if there is no postcode entered on their record, the map view will discard them. This is one of the reasons we advise that a name and a postcode should always be a minimum for data capture.
 
  
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[[File:cl_BFL_7.png|border]]
  
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[[File:reports_13.png|790px|border]]
 
  
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===Gathering the data in in the first place===
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You also have the option to add columns of data taken from the record of the organisation/person named on each line of the report. Various options are available. You can select more than one set of client-linked records by shift-clicking a range (PC or Mac), or holding the "Ctrl" button (PC) or the "Command" button (Mac) and clicking the options you require.
  
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Look again at the spreadsheet output for the data extraction "EA", which added age range and ethnic group information onto the output of the Memberships/Skills Groups report.
 
  
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=====Add Referral-linked Records=====
  
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[[File:reports_11.png|790px|border]]
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[[File:cl_BFL_8.png|border]]
  
  
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This demonstrates the power available in Charitylog, of being able to get out any data you have on the system, cross-referenced with other data. However, this spreadsheet also shows the most common problem with extracting this data - '''the fact that users fail to enter it in the first place'''. The column for Ethnic Group shows that while a few people in this group have their Ethnic Group recorded on Charitylog, the majority do not.
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If the original report related to Referrals, or to something linked to Referrals (Contacts, for example) then you will be able to add information from the relevant Referral to the spreadsheet output.
  
  
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[[File:reports_12.png|border]]
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===Spreadsheet Options===
  
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[[File:cl_BFL_9.png|border]]
  
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This is not a problem for the day-to-day running of the service; you might well imagine that a volunteer manager would not want to explicitly ask every volunteer for their age and which ethnic group they consider themselves to be in - if done wrongly, it could look confrontational and unnecessary. However, from the point of view of the chief executive, or the fundraiser, it becomes very important.
 
  
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* If your Computer Literacy project is only succeeding in serving people under 40, even though you know from market research that there is a real need for computer tuition for people over 60, is this to do with the people that are delivering the service? Are they all under 25? Does this have a bearing on the clients that are willing to take the service up, bearing in mind that the volunteer tutors have to enter the client's home? Are people who live alone particularly unlikely to take up this service?...
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The Spreadsheet Options section gives you control of the header information on the spreadsheet. The options are:
  
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'''If the age range information has not been input by users in the first place, there is no way to answer, or even ask, these questions.'''
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* '''No Titles''' - just the data
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* '''1 Title Line (column headings)''' - the data, plus a single header at the top of each column. Usually the easiest option to work with when pivot tabling etc.
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* '''Full Titles (includes header with dates etc)'''
  
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This is why it's so important that an organisation's data capture (and therefore data protection) policy is well thought out, and communicated to staff. Implementing Charitylog often provides a chance for an organisation to do this for the first time - speak to your Implementation Consultant if you have any questions.
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There is also a drop-down box, "Where To Export To". The default option is "A blank spreadsheet", but if you upload template spreadsheets on the [[System Uploads]] page, these will appear here.
  
  
 
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[[User:Rob Kay|Rob Kay - manual author]] ([[User talk:Rob Kay|talk]]) 14:27, 18 January 2017 (GMT)
 
[[File:helpheader_small.png|right]]
 
[[File:helpheader_small.png|right]]
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[[User:Rob Kay|Rob Kay - manual author]] ([[User talk:Rob Kay|talk]]) 16:53, 1 December 2015 (GMT)
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[[Category:Reporting]]

Revision as of 16:36, 18 January 2017

Helpheader small.png

Location in standard build: Accessible anywhere a Blue Folder icon is displayed

The Blue Folder Lookup page allows you to see the details behind a number. For example, if you ask for "number of contacts" using the KPI Report Designer, you will get a total number of contacts; next to the number is a blue folder, which will allow you to see the full details of the contacts counted towards that number.

The Blue Folder Lookup screen will also allow you to add cross-referenced data to the spreadsheet output.

File:Cl BFL 1.png
The Blue Folder Lookup screen. The screenshot shows an example of what you get if you click the blue folder on a "number of referrals" KPI from the KPI Report Designer output.



Export Results Through Mailmerge

File:Cl BFL 2.png


This section will allow you to put together the output of your report with a mail merge, which you have previously set up (see Mail Merge for more information about mail merges). The people displayed in the grid at the bottom of the screen will be sent to the mail merge. If you have reached the Blue Folder Lookup page from a report on Contacts, Referrals etc (where people may appear more than once in the report, because they've had more than one Contact in the date range, for example) then the system will de-duplicate for you, i.e. it will only create one letter per person.


Map View

File:Cl BFL 4.png


File:Cl BFL 3.png
An example of the Map View, with the relevant people displayed as red pins.


The map view relies on postcodes to place the clients/people, so if there is no postcode entered on their record, the map view will discard them. This is one of the reasons we advise that a name and a postcode should always be a minimum for data capture.


Export Options

File:Cl BFL 5.png
The "Export Options For This Report" section.


All of the options in the middle section relate to outputting the data on a spreadsheet.

  • If no extra data is selected, the table at the bottom of the page will be output as a spreadsheet.
  • If any extra data is selected, the table at the bottom of the page will be output as a spreadsheet, with the extra data displayed in extra columns to the right of the basic data.


Add Data Extraction Formats

File:Cl BFL 6.png


Any Data Extractions on your system can be added to a reporting output. The fields you have selected on the Data Extraction itself (using the "2. Choose What to Print" button) will be output as extra columns on the spreadsheet.

  • Note: if you select a Data Extraction here which is configured to be a Mail Merge, it will act as a normal data extraction - i.e. letters will not be produced.
  • Note: Data Extraction filters do not operate here.

See the Data Extraction page for more information.


Add Org/People-linked Records

File:Cl BFL 7.png


You also have the option to add columns of data taken from the record of the organisation/person named on each line of the report. Various options are available. You can select more than one set of client-linked records by shift-clicking a range (PC or Mac), or holding the "Ctrl" button (PC) or the "Command" button (Mac) and clicking the options you require.


Add Referral-linked Records

File:Cl BFL 8.png


If the original report related to Referrals, or to something linked to Referrals (Contacts, for example) then you will be able to add information from the relevant Referral to the spreadsheet output.


Spreadsheet Options

File:Cl BFL 9.png


The Spreadsheet Options section gives you control of the header information on the spreadsheet. The options are:

  • No Titles - just the data
  • 1 Title Line (column headings) - the data, plus a single header at the top of each column. Usually the easiest option to work with when pivot tabling etc.
  • Full Titles (includes header with dates etc)

There is also a drop-down box, "Where To Export To". The default option is "A blank spreadsheet", but if you upload template spreadsheets on the System Uploads page, these will appear here.


Rob Kay - manual author (talk) 14:27, 18 January 2017 (GMT)

Helpheader small.png
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