Contents

• Introduction
• Recommendation
• Search for and merge duplicate profiles
• Merge two people into one
• Merge people when they have two users accounts with two different profiles

Introduction

Sometimes, it can happen that two ChMeetings profiles are created for the same person. While avoiding this situation completely isn’t always feasible or simple, it’s something easy to remedy, using the Merge People feature. It allows you to search for duplicate people by name, email or mobile number to merge them into one profile. The merge includes their attendance, notes and follow ups, as well as text messages, emails and contributions. The feature shows you a list of duplicate people and you can easily choose how to merge. To get started, go to Settings > Tools > Merge People. 

Please keep in mind that the import tool has a limit of 500 records per file. If you need to import more, please split your data into separate files, of maximum 500 records each.

💡 Important Tip: You can easily spot potentially duplicate profiles while adding or updating them. If there is an identical or similar email address or mobile number, you will see a notification pointing you to similar profiles.

Recommendation

Before you decide to merge any profiles, we recommend that you open a separate ChMeetings tab and take a thorough look at the profiles you know are duplicate or those you find using the profile search explained below. The merge feature is meant to keep one profile and remove the duplicates. While this is generally very useful, it can happen that the duplicate profile that you decide to remove may be more up to date than the main profile you decide to keep. So, our advice is to see which profile is more complete and more up to date, and ensure that it is the one you keep.

Search for and merge duplicate profiles

This feature is useful when you don’t know exactly what profiles are duplicate. It allows you to search for duplicate people profiles, check them one by one, choose which one to keep while removing the duplicates. When doing so, you keep the data corresponding to the profiles you remove, including attendance, notes, follow ups, text messages, emails and contributions.. 

Click Start searching for duplicate profiles to proceed. 

You will now be shown a list of potentially duplicate profiles, identified using several criteria, including name, email or mobile number. You can search or filter the list using any of these options. You can also refresh the list of duplicates using a dedicated icon.

When you have identified the duplicate profiles you want to merge into one, please select it using the checkbox next to the record. Next, select one main profile - the one that you want to KEEP.

⚠ Very important

Only the profile you select will be kept and the duplicate profiles will be merged into it. The duplicate profiles that are not selected will be permanently deleted. This means that you cannot restore them, even if you have a paid account.

Click on Merge Duplicates when you are sure about your selection. We will ask you to confirm your choice. Please click Merge if you are sure, or close the warning window (x) if you are not.

The profiles have now been merged. You can choose to open the People module to explore, or otherwise search again for duplicate profiles. 

Merge two people into one

If you know exactly who has a duplicate profile, this feature is very useful to quickly merge into one. The merged profiles will include attendance, notes and follow up data, text messages, emails and contributions, along with other profile information.

While in Settings > Tools > Merge People, simply click Start to Merge Individual People to get started. 

You can now select the two profiles to merge.

⚠ Very important

The first person will be merged into the second person and the first person will be permanently deleted. It cannot be restored, not even if you have a paid account. 

Click on Merge Duplicates when you are ready. Once your merge is successful, you can choose to explore the People module or merge two other profiles into one.

Merge people when they have two users accounts with two different profiles

The merge can’t be completed if the person has two login accounts (two users).

The best practice in this case is to open the profile that has the login the member does not want to use, then click the gear icon next to the Edit button and choose Remove Account. This will not delete the profile, it will only remove the login.

After that, the person will have two profiles, but only one of them will have login access. At that point, you can proceed with the merge, and the member will continue using the remaining login account. Keep in mind that the first selected profile will be merged and removed, and the second one will be kept. In case the name is identical and you can’t distinguish between the two, edit the name in the profile that will be removed.