5 Minute Quick Start

Create a new Contact Click on the "Add contact" button to add a new contact. This is the page you'll use to add new contacts to your system. Note that only the first name is required. Enter a first name, let's say "Sam", and click the "Create" button.

Customize your Contacts Click on the "Forms" button on the left. This is where you set up your data collection forms. Next, click on the "Contact" tab. This is where you can customize your Contact creation form. Click on "Customize" next to the "Common Fields" contact type. Click on the "Single Line Text" button to the right. Notice how it adds a new field to the form. There are many different types of fields you can add, but we'll start off with something simple. Now, hover over the new field that was added in your form. Click on it, and it will bring up the settings for the field. Change the label value to "Middle Name". Now that you've added a new field to this form, click the "Save Changes" button.

Revisit Creating a new Contact Click on the "Add contact" button again. Now, look at the bottom of the form. There is a "Middle Name" field! You just customized the form you used to enter contacts into the system, and can start recording their middle names. You can go into existing contacts and add their middle names as well.

Create a new Program Click on the "Programs" link to the left. Programs help organize your contacts and your data entry forms. Click on the "Create a new Program" button, and create your first Program. An example program name might be "Youth Mentoring". Enter that program name, and click the "Create" button. You should see the program pop up in a list below. You created your first program! We'll revisit programs shortly.

Create an Activity Click on the "Forms" link to the left. You will already be on the "Activity Forms" tab. An Activity is something your agency provides, and something you'd want to track the amount of. This could be an amount of time, a number of units, a cost, etc. Click the "Add a new Activity" button. This is where you'll customize your Activity. Just as an example, let's say that for your agencies Youth Mentoring program, you provide general counseling sessions, and in the long run, you want to track the overall amount of time you've spent providing these sessions. Click on the "Youth Mentoring" checkbox. Now, add an activity name of "Counseling Session" You can use the fields to the right to make this counseling form as complex or as simple as you need. We'll make a very simple form to start. Click on the "Numeric value" field. Now, click the newly added field, and change the label to "Duration in minutes". Also, check the "required" checkbox, to ensure this value is always provided. Click the "Save changes" button.

Manage a Contact Go to a contact's profile and click on the "Activities" tab. Why isn't the activity you just created available for this contact? This is because everything is grouped within programs, so, this person needs to be enrolled in the corresponding program first. Click on the "Programs" tab. You should see that the program you created earlier in this list. Click on the "Enroll" link to enroll this person into the program. Now, click on the "Activities" tab again. You should now see that this activity is available for this contact. Select the Counseling Session option from the dropdown menu, and click the "Record" button. You are now recording this activity for this contact. You'll notice that you can change the "Date of Activity/Assessment" date, so if this was something that you actually did yesterday, you can always come online later and record activities after the fact. For now, enter in "60" in the Duration in minutes field, and click the "Submit" button.

Good work! You added Sam as a new contact to the system, then realized you wanted to add more information about him, so you went ahead and customized the form. You created your agencies first program, and created an activity to be recorded for this program. You then enrolled Sam into the program and recorded the activity for him. What next? There is a lot we didn't cover in this Quick Start section. For example, you can write case notes for your contacts within their profile. You can also create Assessments, which are similar to Activities, but are more like surveys. They can be used to track and graph data over time (longitudital analysis), and help measure outcomes. You can also add Tasks, and assign them to other users in your agency. You can upload documents you want to share within your agency, and you can view all the events that are happening within your agency. Feel free to explore, and, contact us any time you have any questions. We're happy to help.