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Section 5 |
The Main Partner Screen of TheGreatMultitude is the focal point for all of the operations of TheGreatMultitude. From it the user can enter, edit and access all of the basic and essential information about any individual Partner as well as navigate to each of the utilities and to each of the functioning modules.
Figure 5-1 Main Partner Screen
The objective of this section is to acquaint the user with the Main Partner Screen, the Partner information displayed, how to enter/edit Partner information, how to access the available utilities and modules and how to enter contribution and pledge information.
5.3 Accessing The Main Partner Screen
The Main Partner Screen can be accessed directly from the
Opening Screen by putting a valid Partner ID in the Partner ID Text box and clicking on the
Retrieve button 
. The Main Partner Screen can be accessed from
the Tools or Reports sections by clicking on Return to 
on the menu bar or by keying Alt+R. The user is automatically returned to the
Main Partner Screen after a Search/Lookup when he selects a Partner.
The Menu Bar is the uppermost bar displayed on the Main Partner Screen. Items may be selected by either clicking on them with the mouse or by using the hot key indicated by the underlined letter of the desired menu choice.
(Alt+X) will close TheGreatMultitude after
confirming the user does want to exit the application.
(Alt+R), 
(Alt L) and 
(Alt+O) will open the associated utility.
(Alt+V) will open a display of upgrades and the
latest changes to The Great Multitude.
(Alt+P) will open the Bug Report window.
Figure 5-2.1 The Report a
Problem Window
After completing the text boxes, the user
must click on Submit 
or Cancel 
as appropriate.
Submit will generate an e-mail with the user
entered information for tech support.
Once the issue is researched and resolved, tech support will respond to
the originator with an e-mail.
Suggestions for improvements and other comments may also be submitted
using a Bug Report.
(Alt+H) or the F1 function key will
open the Help window.
The Toolbar is located just below the Menu Bar and contains an assortment of icons to assist in navigation within TheGreatMultitude.
Using the mouse to click on any of the icons will activate them.
The Search/Lookup icon 
is used to access the Search/Lookup utility.
The function of the Add New icon 
varies dependent upon which module is
active. When the Partners Module is
active, clicking on the Add New icon allows the creation of a new Partner
record. When the Contributions Module is active,
clicking on the Add New icon allows the creation of a new contribution. When the Pledges Module is active, clicking
on the Add New icon allows the creation of a new pledge.
The Save Changes icon 
saves the current Partner information.
The Delete icon 
deletes the record for the active Partner.
The Exit icon 
will close TheGreatMultitude after confirming
the user does want to exit the application.
The Partner ID text box 
is where the user can type in the ID number of
the desired Partner, if known.
The Retrieve button 
will cause TheGreatMultitude to display the
information for the Partner identified in the Partner ID text box. If a blank is entered as the Partner ID then
the Opening Screen will be displayed.
The Vertical Toolbar is located along the left side of the Main Partner Screen and shows icons representing the various modules that can be activated through TheGreatMultitude.
The Partner Information section of the Main Partner Screen
is itself divided into two parts comprising the majority of the screen.
Figure 5-5 Partner Information
To the immediate right of the words Partner Information is indicated the type of Partner.
Editing Personal information is done by clicking on the Edit Personal
button 
. This will open the Personal Info – Name
Detail window and allow the user to update name
information about this Partner including Gender and Marital Status. .
Figure 5-7 Partner Info – Name Detail
Select Gender by typing M
or F into the text box, then tab to Marital Status or click on the Save
button.
The user is returned to the Main Partner Screen upon saving. If this is a new Partner, saving from this window will open the Personal Info – Address Detail window
The Salutation text box indicates what salutation will be used in any correspondence generated from within TheGreatMultitude to this particular Partner. The default salutation for individuals and families is editable via the Tools utility. Changing the default salutation via the Tools utility does change the salutation for partner records already stored but only for those entered after the change has been instituted. The individual or family salutation is editable from this screen by clicking on the check box to the right of the salutation text box and then typing the desired salutation directly into the Salutation text box.
Figure 5-8 Non-Default Salutations
Clicking on the check box to remove the check mark will return the salutation to the current default.
To change a Partner’s salutation to a new
default, click on and then click off the non-defaault salutation box.
The salutation for other than individuals or families is “Friend”. TheGreatMultitude determines this by checking to see if there is an entry in the Chur/Min/Bus Name block. If the user does not want “Friend” to be used as the salutation, he can either delete the text in the Chu/Min/Bus name block via Edit Personal or use the Non-Default Salutation box the manually change it.
Address information can be Mailing, Shipping, Other,
or Archive and is selected from the drop-down menu to the
left of the Address text box.
Figure 5-9 Alternate Mailing Addresses
To edit any address, the user must first ensure that the
correct address type is selected in the drop-down menu. Editing Address information is done by clicking on the Edit
Address button 
. This will open the Partner Information –
Address Detail window and allow the user to update name information about this
Partner.
To quickly select the State/Prov, type
the first letter of the State into the text box. Then use the down arrow on
your keyboard to scroll to your desired choice.
Saving from this window will return the user to the Main Partner Screen.
To undo an incorrectly entered mailing address, the user
may select Archive from the drop-down menu to the left of the
Address text box, confirm the correct address information is now in the address
box, and then click on the Restore button 
. This will
cause the last entered mailing address information to be restored to its
previous state.
The Donor Level is normally a calculated field based on the
criteria established by the user in the Tools Utility. The calculated value can be overridden by
clicking a check mark into the check box to the right of the Donor Level Text
Box and selecting the desired level from the drop down menu on the right side
of the text box. To return to having
TheGreatMultitude calculate the Donor Level, the user must remove the check
mark and then click on the Save Changes icon .
Figure 5-13 Override Donor Level
Editing Phone information is done by clicking on the Edit
Phones button 
.
This will open the Personal Info – Phone Detail window and allow the user to update Phone information about this Partner. This will then allow the user to choose to Exit, Edit, Add New or Delete a phone.
Exiting from this window will return the user to the Main Partner Screen.
A Check mark placed in the No Mail check box indicates that this Partner requires consideration before sending any mail to them. Mail generated by TheGreatMultitude will normally not include this Partner. Note that the user can bypass this provision in the reports utility.
Select “No Mail” if you do not have a
complete or current address for this Partner
Two E-Mail Addresses and one Web Site link can be listed for each Partner. They are entered directly into the appropriate text boxes and become active links once the current Partner Information is saved.
Figure 5-17 E-Mail and Web Site
To send an E-Mail to this Partner, the user must click on the
appropriate E-Mail link,
in this case, E-Mail 1. This will open
the user’s E-Mail software and allow them to compose and send an E-mail to this
Partner.
To access this Partner’s Web Site, the user must click on the Web Site link.
This will open a new browser window with the appropriate web site
displayed. To return to
TheGreatMultitude, the user must then close the new browser or re-open the
correct browser window.
The Partners Module is the default module but can also be
accessed by clicking on the Partners Module icon 
on the Vertical Toolbar. Once the Partners Module is activated, the
lower half of the Main Partner Screen will show the additional Partner
information associated with this module.
Figure 5-18 Partner Module Display
The Partner Module display is divided into three tabbed sections: Additional Information, Comments/Search, and Children.
Additional Information is the default section when the
user first selects the Partners Module and can be selected from the other
sections by clicking on the labeled tab.
Additional Information displays the Partner’s Birthday, Spouse’s
Birthday, Anniversary, and Contact Date.
These dates are entered by either typing directly into the associated
text box or by clicking on the Calendar icon 
and selecting the appropriate date. Any additional fields defined by the user in
the Tools Utility will appear on the right hand side. Information for these fields is also entered
directly into the associated text box.
When typing directly into these date blocks the user must use the format mm/dd/yyyy
or an error message will appear.
The Comments/Search Groups section is selected by clicking on the labeled tab.
Figure 5-19 Comments/Search Groups
Comments are typed directly into the text box. This is the usual place for placing comments about the last contact with this Partner.
When entering comments, it is useful to
add new comments starting from the top of the text box and enter the date of
the comment and the user’s initials.
Search Groups that have been defined by the user in the Tools Utility will appear on the right hand side. These may be checked by clicking on the box to the left of the text. A check mark indicates that this partner will be selected whenever a search is initiated using this search group as a criteria.
The Children section is selected by clicking on the labeled tab.
Children information can be edited, created or deleted by clicking
on the associated button. Editing is
done by clicking on the Edit button 
. This will open the Edit Child Detail window and allow the user to edit the child’s
information.
The Age field is a calculated field based on the Birth Date entered and the current date.
When tabbing to fields with drop-down menus, there is no flashing curser and it may appear that the user is not actually in this field.
After adding the information, the user must click on Save 
or Cancel as appropriate.
To add a child to this Partner’s record, the user must
click on Add New 
. This will
open the Add Child Detail window and allow the user to enter the same
child’s information as in the Edit Child Detail window.
Clicking on the Contributions Module icon 
on the Vertical Toolbar accesses the
Contributions Module. Once the
Contributions Module is activated, the lower half of the Main Partner Screen
will show the additional contributions information associated with this module.
Figure 5-22 Contributions Module Display
The Contributions Module Display is divided into two section: Contribution/Gift History and .
New Contributions and Gifts are created by clicking on either the Add New button 
(Alt+N) or the Add New icon 
. This will
open the Add Contribution window.
The Gift Date may be entered by typing directly in to the
text box or by clicking on the Calendar icon and selecting the appropriate date. When
typing directly into these date blocks the user must use the format mm/dd/yyyy
or an error message will appear. Note
that when entering gifts, they will initially be displayed with the last
entered gift at the top of the list. To
have them displayed sorted by date, the user must first save the partner
record.
The Gift Code must be selected from the drop-down menu. The Gift Code must have been previously defined by using the Tools utility.
Check Num is the actual check number from the check given. If there is no check, the user may enter the form of payment i.e. cash, money order, credit card.
Total Amt is the total amount of the payment.
Product Amt is any amount of the payment used to purchase a product or that should not be included as a tax-deductible gift.
Net Gift Amount is a calculated field that reflects the amount of the payment that was not used to purchase a product and may be tax deductible.
As an example: a partner buys $20 worth of his Pastor’s tapes and donates an additional $30 to his ministry. He writes a check for $50 but only $30 of it is actually a gift. Only the portion of his check that was a gift will be reported as a gift on the contribution reports and letters.
The Optional Closing Paragraph text box allows the user to add some additional personal comments to the contribution letter sent to this Partner. These comments will only appear if there is only one contribution reported on the letter.
The Deposit # text box allows the user to enter a number that can associate this particular contribution/check with a particular bank deposit.
Letter Code provides for an additional sort field for contributions. The codes used in this field are left undefined to enable the user to define sort codes that will meet their particular needs.
Pledge Id is used to identify which Pledge this gift is to count for. This gift amount will then be automatically deducted from the balance due towards this pledge.
To separate multiple gifts made with the
same check, simply repeat the Check Number for each subsequent gift.
To aid the user in
making multiple entries, a Set Defaults button 
(Alt+D) is available that will allow the user
to set as default the current values in those boxes indicated with a star (*).
Set defaults will save the user from
having to retype the date, deposit #, gift code, letter code, and closing
paragraph for each new entry when multiple entries are being done.
When finished, the user
must click on Save (Alt+S) or Cancel (Alt+C) as appropriate.
Contributions and Gifts can be edited by clicking on
the Edit button . This will
open the Edit Contribution Detail window. Edit Contributions functions
the same as the Add Contributions.
Contributions and Gifts
can be deleted by clicking on the Delete Button
. This will
open a confirmation window before deleting the Contribution.
The Active Pledges information displayed in the Contributions Module is displayed for informational purposes only and is non-editable from within this module.
The Pledges Module is accessed by clicking on the Pledges
Module icon 
on the Vertical Toolbar. Once the Pledges Module is activated, the
lower half of the Main Partner Screen will show the additional information
associated with this module.
New Pledges are created by either clicking
on the Add New button (Alt+N) or the Add New icon .
This will open the Add Pledge window.
Pledge Type is selected from the drop-down menu of choices defined by the user in the Tools utility.
Pledge Name is selected from the drop-down menu of choices defined by the user in the Tools utility.
Credit Card information is stored to avoid re-entering it every month. It is safe to transmit this information across the Internet through TheGreatMultitude as it is encrypted.
Day to Process Credit Card is selected from the drop-down menu and indicates what day of the month this credit card is to be charged the monthly gift amount for this pledge. When typing directly into these date blocks the user must use the format mm/dd/yyyy or an error message will appear.
TheGreatMultitude will automatically change the status
from Active to Complete when the total payments match, or exceed, the Pledge
Amount. The status can be manually
changed to be Inactive to reflect a Pledge program that has been completed but
the partner has yet to fulfill their pledge, i.e. the youth go to
Pledge Date may be entered by typing directly into the
text box or by clicking on the Calendar icon and selecting the appropriate date.
Pledge amount is entered into the Pledge Amount text box and represents the total amount to be received.
Number of Payments is typed into the text box and is the total number of payments expected or the total number of times the Credit Card is to be charged.
Payment amount is a calculated field showing how much each payment, or charged amount, should be. It is calculated by dividing the Pledge amount by the number of payments.
The user is returned to the Main Partner Screen once Save or Cancel is selected.
Pledges can be edited
by clicking on the Edit button . This will
open the Edit Pledge Detail window. Edit pledge functions the same as add pledge.
Pledges can be deleted
by clicking on the Delete Button . This will
open a confirmation window before deleting the Contribution.
The Opening Screen is the default screen of
TheGreatMultitude and appears when you first login to TheGreatMultitude. It can be accessed later by entering a blank
in to the Partner ID textbox and clicking on the Retrieve button . Any
action, such as cancel or exit, from any editing or action page that would
normally return the user to the Main Partner Screen will open the Opening Screen if there is no
Partner ID.
The Opening Screen displays the Partner ID of the last Partner the user was working on
when he last exited TheGreatMultitude to enable the user to immediately access
that last record by clicking on the Retrieve button .
The Opening Screen displays a count of the total number of Partners in this database in the upper left of the main viewing area.
Figure 5-28 Number of Partners
The Opening Screen displays a brief explanation of the Partner, Contributions and Pledges modules as well as the Exit, Reports, Tools, and What’s New menu items.
All of the Menu, Toolbar and Vertical Toolbar items
function as they do on the Main Partner Screen.
In addition, the Search and Add New Partner icons in the main body also work.