GMS Cleansing the Database
Introduction One of the major issues with GMS is data. The data on the system has been in existence for approximately 10 years and it is highly likely that the data has never been cleaned or updated. The majority of the time the data has only ever been added to. What this means is that most organisations are now faced with an incredibly out of date database that contains old players, members, coaches, volunteers etc that either no longer fulfil the duties stated on the system or have moved on from the club. The system will also display historical An extremely important factor to bear in mind with the system, is that if individuals are not removed from the organisation when they are no longer affiliated to the club. If they still know their username and password and the role is still associated to them, they can access the system and look at the data. In order to cleanse the data, it important to inform the users with the required knowledge required to use the system, this can be through training courses, which are arranged annually, supporting guides and videos. It is of equal important to instil confidence in the user, to feel comfortable with playing with the system and seeing what it is capable of, its features and functionality. This support document will hopefully help dispel some myths around the system in the process. Tickets Ticket Allocation is determined by the following League Status Golden/Handbook Roles Must be fulfilled by somebody Registered Mini/Midi Players Capped at 75 Maximum Teams All Active Teams must be listed Coaches Based on being assigned the role in GMS and number of points awarded are based on level of qualification Referee As above Therefore If you already have + 75 mini/midi players, deregistering players will not affect number of tickets Adult Players do not affect tickets If they no longer play, or will never play in the leagues, remove them Members do not affect tickets Don t leave them on the database, remove them Funding As part of the funding application process and once funding has been received at the club, part of the ongoing commitment in the terms and conditions is to keep GMS up to date GMS Cleansing the Database Page 2
Communication The RFU, its staff, the CB and hopefully clubs can use the data on the system to communicate with those involved in the game. As an example, annually the RFU will email all International Ticket Contacts, requesting that certain data on GMS is kept up to date in order for the club to receive its full allocation. Typically it is also around this time that the RFU are contacted by hundreds asking why they don t receive the information or how to change the role. If the person listed as fulfilling that responsibility at the club has changed. The club need to update this information. This is the case with a most roles at the club. Coaching information will be sent to Coaches and Coaching coordinators. If the role is not up to date, the right people are not getting the right information. In order to cleanse the system and have as accurate a picture of the organisation as possible, I believe the following 12 steps needs to be completed 1. De Register inactive players 2. Deactivate old schemes 3. Create current schemes 4. Archive Members/Remove from Club 5. Bulk Upload 6. Add New Members 7. Merge 8. Assign Memberships (Buy) 9. Add Relationships 10. Which Grid? 11. Updating Details (Including Add & Remove Roles) 12. Sending Credentials 1. De Register inactive/old players To deregister a player or groups of players, firstly you must ensure you have the role on GMS of either Adult Registrar Women s Registrar Youth Registrar Or all three if you want to deregister across all sections. Please be aware: Youth Players do not automatically become Adult Players If youth players are playing adult rugby, either Playing up or moving to adults, they need to be re-registered as an adult player, by the adult registrar at the club, against the same RFU ID. If they will no longer play Youth rugby, they must be de-registered as a Youth Player. If GMS Cleansing the Database Page 3
they will be playing Youth & Adult rugby they must be registered as both an Adult & Youth Player against the same RFU ID De-registration is a manual process, completed by the Registrars When either adding a new player, transferring an existing or adding a new status (i.e. Adult Player to a Youth Player) the system request a search is performed. Please check the search results thoroughly, it looks across the whole database. If the individual appears as a player, member, coach, volunteer at any club, as long as they are on the database somewhere, they will be returned in that search. It is vital that the registration is entered against the existing record. Otherwise a duplicate could be created, leaving a record at the old club and the new. When registering Youth Players and entering parents details, not only will the player appear in the Non Members grid upon registering, the parents will to. Once the role has been assigned, log into GMS and a new tile (module) will be displayed, Player Registration Select Player Registration Once in the system, go to Club/Player Management This will list the group of players the registrar is responsible for (Men, Women, Youth) all 3 if all three roles have been assigned. It is now possible to find the players that are no longer playing at the club, select either individually or bulk and select De-Register players GMS Cleansing the Database Page 4
Once De-Register has been selected it will take 7 days for adult men to become inactive, whereas adult women and youth are deregistered immediately. Please remember, de-registering players does not remove them from the club or make their membership invalid. There is still the requirement to remove them as members at the club, if they have left completely. 2. Deactivate old Membership Schemes Old Membership schemes, simply clog up the list of active membership schemes, it is far better to remove those that are no longer relevant and only have displayed what is necessary and current. Go to GMS, select Finance GMS Cleansing the Database Page 5
Select Membership Schemes From the list of schemes, select (tick) the scheme to be removed and select Edit From the Membership Details screen, select Status and select Inactive & Save Returning to the Membership Scheme page, the scheme has been removed and whilst those that currently hold the scheme will continue, no new individuals can be assigned the membership and it cannot be renewed. GMS Cleansing the Database Page 6
3. Create Current Schemes Via Finance & Membership Schemes, it is vitally important when cleaning up the database that you start with current and existing membership schemes at the club that can be assigned the new and existing members Important Note: Do not name club Membership Schemes, Registered Player, Registered Youth. Anything that could be deemed Registered this has in the past caused confusion in that clubs believe an individual is eligible to play for the club, because they have been assigned the membership of Registered Player. Registering a Player and being Registered to Play is a status, it is not a membership. Once the player is registered to play at the club, it is then possible for that individual to be assigned a club membership. However membership is a club specific feature, it in no way impacts on the individual s ability to play for the club. Even if the Registered Player is archived as a member, their status to play at the club remains until they are deregistered or transferred from the club. Select New The Schemes details page is created Scheme Details include: 3.1 Membership Details: Name Manual Entry (Club Specific) Type Adult Single Membership Scheme (assigned to one member) Junior As Above Individual As Above Group Enables the club to create a membership scheme that can be assigned to multiple individuals GMS Cleansing the Database Page 7
Family This scheme is where the club can outline how many adults and how many juniors can be assigned to the membership. If Family is selected it is possible to assign multiple individuals to that scheme. It is also possible to outline the relationship for the family group i.e. who is the child, parent etc. Code Default code entered by the system Status Active (Current)/Inactive (not currently available) Available for Purchase Online This will post the membership to the Clubs website (If they are using the FSI website available to create via GMS) Allowing existing and new members to sign up and buy their memberships online via the website Status on Purchase - Which grid and status does the individual hold once they sign up Pending Allocates the individual to the pending grid Active Individual automatically appears in the Membership grid 3.2 Duration: Duration Years/Months/Lifetime (Never Expires) Unit How many months, years? Renewal 3.3 Price Anniversary = Set a specific date for the scheme to expire and be renewed. Month Which month does it commence Day Which day does is start for the month Join Date = The date the individuals are assigned the scheme, the scheme commences and renews based on the join date and length of scheme i.e. 1 year. Effective From The date the scheme commences. This defaults Effective To If the scheme is only valid for a limited time then entering an effective too Currency GBP Unit Price How much does it cost. (0.00 if free) 3.4 Renewal Renewal Notification Period How early can the individual be assigned the new membership type and an email is sent automatically to the individual to let them know their membership is up Automatic Renewal In conjunction with the above, if auto renew is enabled then the individual will receive a membership renewal notice and a link to pay for their membership online (one off payments, not instalments) GMS Cleansing the Database Page 8
Once all the information has been populated, select Create The new membership can now be allocated to the individuals. 4. Archive Members /Remove From Club Removing individuals that are no longer involved with the club is paramount to ensuring that the organisations database remains credible and current. Remove from Club removes the link from the individuals to the organisation. Any roles are removed and memberships are archived. Bear in mind, if the individual holds a current (Membership Grid/Pending Grid) or has previously held membership at the club (Lapsed), it will be possible to retrieve their information by filtering on Archived Members. If they only appeared in Non Members, then once they are removed, their details are not retrievable. It is also important to note, that current players cannot be removed until they have been deregistered and individuals holding a golden role, this must be reassigned before removal can be completed. To remove from Club, go to the Everyone Grid, select the individual or multiple individuals to be removed, select More and Remove from Club (Note: The Remove from Club feature is available from every grid. You may want to complete the process by using each grid to understand the status of the individuals when you remove them) The details for the individuals are displayed and the page confirms the action that is to be applied GMS Cleansing the Database Page 9
5. Bulk Upload The bulk upload tool is a facility that enables clubs and CB s to upload a group of individual at the club on mass. Via a template spreadsheet, the club can choose to download and populate the document with the individuals it wants to upload. (Please be aware that there are not currently restrictions on total numbers, but the greater the number, the longer it will take to upload. As an example 1000 individuals could take up to 10 minutes to upload. The spreadsheet that is populated and uploaded is a standard template. It is only ever possible to upload the data listed in that spreadsheet, if additional columns or data is included, this will be discarded and the upload will fail. Currently the data that can be uploaded is as follows: Title First Name Other Name Last Name Gender Date of Birth Please bear in mind the individuals being uploaded will not hold Number any status at the club at that point of being uploaded, the will not Building have a membership, a role or be a registered player. If they are in Address 1 fact one of the above, then these statuses will need to be Address 2 associated to them post upload. i.e. once uploaded the individual Address 3 can then be registered as a player. City County Country Post Code Tel Home/Work/Fax/Preferred Email Home/Work/Preferred Via the Everyone grid, select Bulk Upload The Bulk Upload screen will appear, from here the standard template can be downloaded and populated. Select Download GMS Cleansing the Database Page 10
Once the template has been downloaded, start to populate the columns and rows with individual s data. Once populated, Save the document to the computers desktop Upload the document to the Bulk Upload tool. Select Browse, find the document on the computer and upload Upon selecting upload, the document will appear in the Files to Import display Select Import A list will appear informing the user of how many of the individuals have been uploaded. NOTE: If there are any duplicate records the n the system will not upload and they fall under the failed rows column. To see why they have failed, select Error Records. If complete, select Finished. GMS Cleansing the Database Page 11
The Everyone grid will load, from here it is possible to filter to see if the individual was entered. It is important to bear in mind, upon Bulk Uploading those individuals, they are not currently members, therefore they are only viewable via the Everyone and Non Members grids. 6. Add New Members Rather than complete a Bulk Upload, if there are only a few individuals that need to be added, this can be achieved within GMS and Create New Member Create New Member in GMS enables the administrator to create individuals and assign them to memberships and/or create a family group and assign them to a family membership NOTE: Please see the Create New Member guide to understand the many variable for Creating New Members To start the process of adding single or new Family Memberships, select any Grid and Create New Member 7. Merge Merge is completed when an individual has two records on the system. A duplicate is created for various reasons, but it is determined by someone with the same personal and contact details, but a different RFU ID Via the membership list select the individuals to merge. (NOTE: Only two records can be merged at once) Select the two individuals to be Merged, Select More and Merge GMS Cleansing the Database Page 12
The two records are displayed, at this point it is possible to select which information to keep and what can be discarded. Select Save Upon returning to the grids, only one record will remain. 8. Assign Memberships (Buy) 8.1 Following Bulk Upload: If the Bulk Upload tool was used to add multiple individuals, then they those individuals will sit in Non Members, awaiting a Membership to be assigned to them. In order to assign memberships to the individuals or Families, To see the full process, please use the Buy and Update Membership Guide. To start the process, from the Non Members grid, either select the individual or select the family group and Buy Membership GMS Cleansing the Database Page 13
8.2 Existing Individuals: If there are a number of individuals that are active members at the club that just need their membership updating, the chances are these individuals appear within Lapsed (i.e. they once had a membership with the club, however as the data has not be updated, their membership renewal date is in the past) To process and assign a new Membership to these individuals select the Lapsed Grid, select the Individuals and Buy Membership 9. Add Relationships When a Youth Player is registered and parent s details are also added, this creates a relationship link that can be viewed from the grid. This is also the case for Buy Membership. If a Family Membership is being added that applies to multiple individuals i.e. 2 x Adults and 1 x Child, then it is possible to outline who the primary member is and the relationship between those individuals GMS Cleansing the Database Page 14
However an administrator can also create manual relationships in GMS. To do this, select the two individuals to apply the relationship to It is now possible to list what the relationship is between the two parties. Once complete, select Save The relationship has been created and can be viewed from the Grid It is also possible to view these details by selecting the individual s name On the summary page GMS Cleansing the Database Page 15
There is also a dedicated Relationships page and this is where any incorrect relationships can be deleted to. To remove a relationship, select the Relationship to delete and Delete The relationship is removed and no longer appears in the grid. 10. Which Grid The grids and who appears in which grid is determined by their membership status at the club 10.1 Everyone An amalgamation of all Grids listed below. 10.2 Membership List (Membership Status = Active) Contains individuals or Family Groups that are fully paid up Members of the organisation whose membership renewal date is in the future. 10.3 Lapsed Grid (Membership Status = Inactive) Individuals whose membership has expired i.e. the renewal date is in the past. 10.4 Pending Grid (Membership Status = Pending) Individuals that have had a membership assigned to them and either been: Manually moved to Pending Have been created as new or had a membership assigned to their existing record, however upon assigning the membership, the option Pay Later was used. This will typically mean they have an outstanding balance with the club i.e. They owe money. GMS Cleansing the Database Page 16
10.5 Non Members (Membership Status = Nil) Non Members is a grid that displays new individuals added to the organisation and don t currently have a membership affiliated to them. Bulk Uploads New Players Parents They can remain in Non Members, as a contact or alternatively Buy a Membership (assign) for them. 11. Updating Details (Incl Add & Removing Roles) Once the individuals have been added, Memberships assigned etc. It is then important o assign any roles that individuals has. To do this, select a grid and find the individual to add a role to, existing roles will also be listed: Select the Expander Arrow to open the individual s details. Once expanded, the individual s details are displayed, it is possible to edit/update individual details, by select the Pencil icon. (These include, addresses, email, phone number & Roles) GMS Cleansing the Database Page 17
To remove a role, select the X against any existing roles. To add, begin typing a Role i.e. Coach the search will return close matches, select Add. 12. Send Credentials Once the database is up to date, most administrators will want to provide their members with a log in that will enable them to view, update and edit their personal details. Each members has the potential to log in and view their own details. To send credentials, find the individual, select their name Select Credentials and select the envelope icon. The system will inform of any issues with sending GMS Cleansing the Database Page 18
The email received contains a link, where the member can assign a password and log in to view their own personal details Moving Forward: Completing the 12 steps above should set the organisation up to make GMS incredibly useful for any organisation. However, this cannot be a once in a decade process, it must be completed each season to ensure that the data remains credible and up to date. Once it is up to date, it is relatively easy to keep up to date and a lot of it will be automated, especially if members are set up ad renewals etc. However, it is vital that each season the following is completed: Clear Down players annually Archive/Remove From Club old members regularly Remove Roles from those no longer fulfilling those duties Send out password reminders and update details requests Clear down old Membership Schemes Create New Schemes This alone should mean that for the forthcoming season, once again GMS remains the clubs main source of data. Which also means the club will only need to use and keep one system up to date knowing that GMS is the central source of information. GMS Cleansing the Database Page 19