Departments are used to create organizational separation of different ministries or departments, can be used to separate users and people, and can hold many of their own settings.
Divisions are used to create organizational separation and may farther divide departments. View more about divisions here.
To Create A New Department:
Ideally, departments should be created before entering individual profiles. After your departments have been created you will be able to connect individuals to the department which they belong to.
Please Note
Grades and/or Ages must be set in here in order to utilize automated class promotions if you plan to promote children / students by departments!
From the menu:
Groups > Departments > “Add New”
Creating a New Department
Basic Parameters
Name: Create a name for your Department, such as Youth Ministry, Adult Ministry etc.
Short Description: This is a short optional description of this department and may be displayed in the Personal Hub or on the app.
Full Description: Any information entered here will be displayed on the group detail page when viewing this group in the personal hub or on the app.
Parent: If this department falls under another group in your organization's hierarchy, choose that group here. Otherwise, choose “Entire Organization”
Kiosk Display
When using Kiosk, choose how this department is displayed on the kiosk screens.
Short Name: Allows you to set a shortened name for use in the kiosk menus.
Kiosk Display: Choose whether the department's name, the organization's name or other text is displayed on the kiosk screens when operating within this department.
Personal Hub / Self Manage
Enable or disable the desired options with regard to how this department functions in the personal hub.
Classifications
The classifications that you define in People > People Settings > Classifications can be used to classify any individual's connection to your organization as well as each connection between an individual and a group.
Choose the classification which you use in this department to define the Primary and/or Secondary Leader (such as Leader / Assistant Leader or Teacher / Helper, or any other classification you've created). Then, choose the default classification which describes an ordinary member of this department (such as member, student, child, etc.).
Age/Grade Restrictions
If you enable age/grade restrictions for this group, then you'll be able to limit this department only to individuals who are within a certain age / grade range. This is primarily for automated assignment and automated promotions. You are still able to manually assign anyone to any group.
Then click Save.
Department Settings
Once you've created a department, there are a number of settings that you can set at the department level. To access department settings,
From the menu:
Groups > Departments > Gear Button () > Department Settings
You can also choose Communication Settings or Kiosk Settings to manage communication or kiosk settings related to this specific department.
Communication Settings
A department's communication settings allow you to enable or disable automated emails, alerts and notifications. This includes automated birthday emails or text messages, new guest emails or texts, notifications for crews which belong to this department, and Slack integrations. Some automated emails, texts or notifications will also need to be enabled at the organization level before being utilized at the department level (Communications > Settings > Automated Communication Settings)
Department Settings
From the department settings, you can enable/disable certain services to be used within the department, including the Kiosk features, Credits / Points features, or the Concessions / Point of Sale features.
Credits/Points allow you to use Connection Card Pro for tracking, earning and redeeming incentives. Points can be automatically granted to attendees upon check-in, check-out, or other actions. Click on Credits/Points Settings or Credit/Points Rules to manage your incentives.
New Person Registration Choose what information is collected in Kiosk or in the Mobile App when adding a new person.
Kiosk Settings
Use the Kiosk Settings page to manage how the Kiosk functions when operating within this department. Whenever using Kiosk, you will first select which department you would like to operate within in order to apply that department's settings.
Important
Please memorize or write down the Menu Access Code displayed at the top of the Kiosk Settings page. Some Kiosk screens will lock you out of the menu, use this code to return to the menu. This code can be changed at an organizational level.
Choose how individuals can check-in via the Kiosk, change the background of the kiosk screens by selecting an existing background or uploading your own, and choose other settings which impact how the kiosk functions.
Files
You can upload and share files with leaders or members of any group. From the Departments page, you can click on the gear button and choose Manage Group Files or Upload New File.
Files can be shared with all members of the group, limited only to leaders of the group, or limited only to admin users. Admin users can access the files by clicking on Manage Group Files. All other non-admin users can access files which they've been granted access to via the Personal Hub.
Hide or Disable Group:
Hidden Groups won’t appear on any reports or pages, but individuals can still be added to or removed from them. You can still view a roster for a hidden group. To see Hidden Groups, go to the bottom of this list and click on “Show Hidden Groups”. You can Unhide this group anytime by clicking on the settings icon and click on Unhide Group.
Disabled Groups will not appear on any lists, reports, or pages. People can’t be added to or removed from disabled groups. Groups can be enabled at any time. To see disabled Groups, go to the bottom of this list and click on “Show Disabled Groups”. You can Enable this group anytime by clicking on the settings icon and click on Enable Group.
If you still have questions or require additional help, please contact our support team by clicking on the Help button > Contact Support.
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