Defining Tags

Tags must be defined before they can be attached to households, organizations or names. They are defined in the Admin tab, on the Codes sub tab, as follows:

  1. Select Administration from the Hello menu.
  2. Click on the Codes tab.
  3. From the list on the left, select the tag category you would like to use. The Household/Org, Person/Couple and Mailing tags are under the Bio section. The Volunteer tags are in the Volunteer section.
    1. The list of current tags in this category appears.
  4. Click on the + button at the top left corner of the list.
  5. Type in a short tag code for this tag, up to 6 characters.
    1. This short code appears in the column that shows tags in a list. Keeping it short means that more tags can be displayed in a single column in a list.
  6. Type in a longer definition for this tag.
    1. This definition appears on the Bio screen and in reports. It should be long enough to explain the tag, but it is better to keep these relatively short since they will appear as a string of tags on the Bio screen. If you have a name with many tags, it is easier to see them all on the Bio screen if their definitions are shorter.
  7. Type in a comment that explains what this tag is intended for and when it should be applied. This helps build consistency in how tags are used in your organization which is important to ensure good data integrity and reliable results.
  8. Click on Save to save the new tag.

Changing tag definitions

You can change a tag definition, but once it has been assigned to names, you should be cautious about making changes. For example, if you have a tag definition of GOLF that you apply to names of people interested in your golf tournament, and you change it to TENNIS because now you are going to do a tennis tournament instead and no longer need the GOLF tag, all of the names tagged with GOLF are now tagged with TENNIS even though many may not be tennis players. It would be better to create a new tag of TENNIS and mark the GOLF tag as inactive.

To change a tag definition, do the following:

  1. Select Administration from the Hello menu.
  2. Click on the Codes tab.
  3. From the list on the left, select the tag category for the tag definition you wish to change. The Household/Org, Person/Couple and Mailing tags are under the Bio section. The Volunteer tags are in the Volunteer section.
    1. The list of current tags in this category appears.
  4. Select the tag you wish to change.
  5. Click on the pencil in the upper left corner of the list to open the edit screen.
    1. The edit screen opens with the tag definition.
  6. Make any changes to the definition.
  7. Add a comment to explain why this tag is being chnaged.
  8. Click on Save.

Removing tag definitions

Tags that have never been used can be deleted. If a tag has been attached to any households, organizations or names, you should not delete the tag definition. If the tag is no longer relevant and you do not want to assign it to anyone in the future, you can make it inactive. Inactive tags still appear on the records where they have been attached, but they are no longer in the list of tags that can be attached to additional names.

To make a tag inactive, do the following:

  1. Select Administration from the Hello menu.
  2. Click on the Codes tab.
  3. From the list on the left, select the tag category for the tag definition you wish to inactivate. The Household/Org, Person/Couple and Mailing tags are under the Bio section. The Volunteer tags are in the Volunteer section.
    1. The list of current tags in this category appears.
  4. Select the tag you wish to mark as inactive.
  5. Click on the pencil in the upper left corner of the list to open the edit screen.
    1. The edit screen opens with the tag definition.
  6. To make the tag inactive, remove the check from the Active check box.
  7. Add a comment to explain why this tag is being made inactive.
  8. Click on Save.

To delete a tag definition, do the following:

  1. Select Administration from the Hello menu.
  2. Click on the Codes tab.
  3. From the list on the left, select the tag category for the tag definition you wish to delete. The Household/Org, Person/Couple and Mailing tags are under the Bio section. The Volunteer tags are in the Volunteer section.
    1. The list of current tags in this category appears.
  4. Select the tag you wish to delete.
  5. Click on the X in the upper left corner of the list.