Creating A Report In Action Network
What Are Reports?
Reports are where you can view Activists based on criteria you set via the Query Builder. For example, you could create a Report of all members, all donors, or all of your active volunteers.
Is There Anything I Need To Do Before Getting Started?
In this guide we'll go through how to create a Report, but not how to use the Query Builder. Before you start you may want to check these guides:
- Using The Action Network Query Builder
- How To Set Drag & Drop For Email, And Query Mode For Reports As Your Default
- Useful Queries To Make Campaigning Easier
How To Create A Report (Using An Imported Query)
1. From the Start Organising menu, click on PEOPLE, move your cursor over Reports and click on the plus (+) icon that appears.
2. On the next page make sure Query Mode is on.
We do not provide support for the Standard Report Editor, so it's a good idea to set Query Builder as your default: How To Set Drag & Drop For Email, And Query Mode For Reports As Your Default.
3. Give your Report a name. Ideally, something that makes it clear what the report will show, so that it's clear to other Administrators.
4. Below the Report name field you'll see a drop down menu labelled [choose a query]. Click on this drop down to open a list of available Queries.
5. Once you've selected the Query you want to use click on the button labelled IMPORT.
6. The page will refresh and your Query will be shown in the Query Builder below.
If you import a second Query this will add it to the Query Builder. It will not remove the existing Query. If you want to replace the Query you should first delete each of the Rules or Groups that make up the Query that you first imported.
7. Once you've imported your Query scroll down to the Email Subscription Status checkboxes and select the ones you need.
- To capture only Subscribed activists tick the Subscribed checkbox.
- To capture all activists select all checkboxes.
- To capture Unsubscribed activists select either Unsubscribed, which will capture those who have chosen to unsubscribe from your mailing list, or Unsubscribed, Bouncing, Previous Bouncing, Spam Complaint and Previous Spam Complaint. This will capture all those who have chosen to Unsubscribe, or have been automatically unsubscribed due to bouncing emails or spam complaints.
You can ignore the Mobile Subscription Status boxes as we don't currently use Action Network's Mobile Messaging features.
8. Click on the button labelled SAVE & SELECT DATA.
9. You Report will run in the background and you may receive an email notification that it has finished calculating whilst you complete the next steps. On the next page you'll be asked to choose the data you want to include in your Report.
10. To add a Field you want to view click into one of the blank boxes and select the data or Field you want to display. These menus are searchable, so you can type the Field name you're looking for and then select it from the list.
11. If you need to add more Fields click on the button labelled ADD MORE FIELDS. This will create a new dropdown, from which you can select your next Field. Repeat this as many times as you need to capture all of the Fields you require.
12. To remove a Field just click the x to the right of the Field name. You can clear all of the Fields using the CLEAR FIELDS link next to the ADD MORE FIELDS button.
13. To rearrange the order in which your Fields are displayed on your report click on the block icon to the left of the Field, then drag the Field where you want it to go, before releasing your mouse button.
14. Once you're happy with the Fields you've chosen click on the button labelled SAVE & GET RESULTS.
How To Create A Report (Using The Query Builder)
To create a report using the Query Builder follow the same steps as above, but instead of Importing a Query just create your Query from scratch. This is useful for creating one-time reports that you won't need to use again, or if you won't need to use the Query for email targeting.
To create a Report using the Query Builder just use the Query Builder on the Create Report page in the same way you would if you were creating a Query: Using The Action Network Query Builder.
Next Steps
Once you've created your Report there are a few things you may want to do. Here are some guides to get you started:
- Requesting An Up To Date CSV File Of A Report's Results
- Setting Up Recurring Reports
- Duplicating Reports To Save Time
- Copying Layouts Across Reports
Related Articles
Using Personalisation Datasets To Personalise Emails
What Are Personalisation Datasets? The Personalisation Datasets feature was released by Action Network on September 16th 2021. This feature allows you to create custom clips, which return a value based on the value of a Custom Field. How Can ...How To Add Report Highlights To Your Action Network Group
What Are Report Highlights? Report Highlights are a way to show a summary count of reports from your Action Network Group. You'll see the number of Activists, the Report name, and the last time the Report was refreshed. This allows you to see a ...Creating Tags in Action Network
What are Tags? Tags are an incredibly valuable and versatile tool for membership management. They are a useful way of adding a certain attribute to an activist record. They are easy to add or remove, and so are a great way of adding a status to a ...Navigating Action Network
Navigating through the menus of Action Network is intuitive and easy, but if it's your first time logging in you may be unsure as to where to start. There is one menu you'll likely use more than any other and that's the one labelled START ORGANIZING ...Creating A Form In Action Network
What Are Forms? Action Network Forms are just the same as paper forms. It's an Action page that includes fields that the Activist can complete- for example a survey, or sign-up form. They're useful for capturing information from Members and Activists ...