Tips On Tag & Field Management
Action Network Tags and Custom Fields are great for capturing and storing information on our members and supporters, but things can quickly get messy if we don't follow best practice for maintaining our Tags and Custom Fields, and the data held within them. In this article we'll go through a few ideas for keeping on top of your data.
Decide Whether To Capture Information Using Tags Or Custom Fields
When capturing information for the first time, it's a good idea to establish whether Tags or Custom Fields are the best option. This will depend entirely on the reason you're capturing this data, and how you intend to use it. Tags are great for grouping activists by a shared characteristic or capturing information that may be of temporary use, whereas Custom Fields offer more flexibility when it comes to free-text responses. So a tag could be used to mark someone as a prospective volunteer, whereas a custom field could capture a response such as "I'd like to help with social media and graphics".
Put Your Stamp On It
The GPEW Action Network structure has many levels, and some data is shared across Groups. It can quickly become difficult to work out where information was first captured, and for what purpose. To make things slightly easier you may want to get into the habit of ensuring all of your Tags and Custom Fields are named in a way that shows which Group created them.
To find out more about how data is shared between Groups check this guide:Understanding The Parent-Child Relationship Of Action Network Groups.
For example, a Custom Field created by Waveney District Green Party could take the format WDGP_Volunteer_Comment, and a Tag created by Keighley & Ilkley Green Party could be KIGP Volunteer. There will of course be cases where the initialism is shared by another local party, so this method isn't foolproof but helps to more easily identify the origin of a Custom Field or Tag.
Did you know you can edit existing Tag names and they'll be updated everywhere they've been used? So you can easily add your local party name or initials to an existing Tag.
Don't Create Unnecessary Tags
Don't create Tags that replicate information that is already available. For example, some local parties have created Current Member Tags, when this information is already stored in the Membership_Status custom field. If these Tags are not actively managed we quickly end up with members with a Membership_Status of Cancelled but with a Tag that suggests that they are a current member. When these Tags are used to target activists it can lead to confusion when a membership has lapsed.
Another often overlooked function of Action Network is the ability to filter Activists based on Actions they've completed previously. A common use of Tags is to Tag activists based on their completion of a particular Action. So, a Tag may be created for a Fundraiser such as November 2021 Campaign Donor. However, when making a donation to the Fundraiser this would be added to their Action History. This is visible on their Activist Record, and can also be targeted using the Query Builder.
You may choose to create a Tag that you apply to anyone who has completed any of a series of Actions. So, a simple Donor Tag which is added to anybody who donates via any of your Fundraisers. Again, this isn't necessary as you can use the same Actions filter in the Query Builder to target people who have completed at least one of a range of Actions.
There may be some exceptions. For example, you may want to Tag Activists based on donations, or Actions completed outside of Action Network. If you're not importing Direct Debit transactions into Action Network for example you may want to create either a DD Donor Tag, or a Donor Tag which can be applied to any offline donor.
Don't Use Fields To Capture Information We Already Have
Often when creating Forms Action Network admins include questions like "What is your local party?", or "Are you a Green Party member?", amongst others. These have the effect of storing information we already have in a second Custom Field. These new Custom Fields are self-declared by respondents and are not maintained centrally and so can easily hold incorrect or outdated information.
In the example of the question "What is your local party?" the data can be difficult to work with as respondents may use any number of variations on their local party name. Canterbury District Green Party could be entered as Canterbury, Canterbury Green Party, Canterbury District, CDGP, or any other variation of its name. Free-text fields like this can also result in misspelt information. Every Action Network Form by default will include a request for the Activist's postcode. If the Activist doesn't already have a record then this postcode will be used to assign a value to the Local_Party field, and so there's no need to ask this question.
To check which Custom Fields are synced centrally you can check this guide: Which custom fields are synced to Activists on Action Network from the Green Party's national database?
Add Notes To Each Tag & Custom Field
It's a good idea to add notes to each Tag and Custom Field you create. Even if you think a Tag or Custom Field is self-explanatory it's still best practice to add a note.
1. Click on Details from the Start Organising menu, move your cursor over either Tags or Custom Fields and click on the list icon that appears.
2. Find the Tag, or Custom Field you want to add a note to and click on the icon that looks like a sticky-note (just to the left of the button marked SEND TO CHILDREN).
3. Add in your note, and click the button marked SAVE NOTES.
4. Once a note is saved you'll notice that the sticky-note icon turns grey. You can hover over this icon to view the note, or click on it to edit the note in future.
Add An Expiry Date To Your Notes
Quite often Custom Fields and Tags are used to capture information that is of use for a specified period of time. For example, capturing information relating to a conference or other event. So that you, and others can check if a Tag or Custom Field can safely be deleted we recommend adding expiry dates to the notes of these Tags and Custom Fields.
Give Your Fields A Unique Name
When creating a Form in Action Network it's important that you assign field names to each response value. If you fail to do so you may find that responses are stored in generically labelled fields such as txtinput, checkbox_1...etc.
This can result in a Field that holds different types of information, which can be overwritten easily. For example, if you create a Form which captures an Activist's closest Underground Station and this is stored in the txtinput field you may have a value of Highbury & Islington, but if they subsequently complete a Form that asks for their thoughts on Low Traffic Neighbourhoods and stores their response in the txtinput field then Highbury & Islington would be overwritten with their thoughts on LTNs.
For more on working with Questions in Action Network Forms check this guide: How To Use Questions In Action Network Forms
Get Rid Of Data You No Longer Need
Once you no longer need information you should remove it. Whether this is because its purpose has passed- for example, it related to an event that has already taken place, or if it is simply information that is no longer used and will not be used in future (or will likely become invalid or outdated before its next use).
To delete Tags and Custom Fields just follow these guides:
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