Custom People Reports

In addition to the preset reports available on the People Screen, you can also create and print your own Custom Reports with the fields and format you choose. The customized reports will be saved for future use.

How to Create a Custom Report
Formatting the Custom Reports
Individual vs. Family reports
Advanced Settings

How to Create a Custom Report

Below is how to create a custom report:

Add a New Custom Report

To begin the process of creating a custom church report...

Select the "Setup" tab on the People screen and choose "Custom Reports"
Choose who to include in the report by selecting a Smart List
Give your custom church report a name
Choose the fields you want to include from the selection boxes

You can choose from any of the regular and user-defined fields on the People Screen, including family and individual photos. Pictures should be cropped in the shape of a square to best fit in the allotted space.

Cloning Church Reports

To clone or duplicate a custom report select the "Clone" button.

This will create an exact copy of your highlighted custom report.

Formatting the Custom Reports

Click on "Advanced Report Settings" to set up your margins, orientation and the number of columns you want for your report.

Based on this information, determine what the width of each column will be.

For example, if you select half-inch margins, portrait orientation, and one column, the actual size of the column (based on an 8.5x11in paper size) will be 7.5 inches. For two columns (including a half-inch margin between columns), the size of each column will be 3.5 inches.

Now, determine if you want multiple fields on the same row or if you want each information field to have its own row.

If you only have one column, you may want each person's information fields positioned next to each other all in a row. To do this, set each field's width at the approximate amount of space it takes up: Name (last, first) = 2", Mobile Phone = 2", Full Address = 3", and so on, up to 7.5" total.

Keep in mind that each field offers an alignment (Left, Right, and Center justification), as well as font style.

If you have two or more columns, you may want each of the fields to have their own row (like a mailing label). To do this, make each field width equal to the size of the column width. For a three column report (based on the advanced options described above): Formal Greeting = 2.5", Address 1st line = 2.5", Address 2nd line = 2.5."

For this particular example, you must customize some of the Advanced Report Settings. Note the changes below.

If the width of the fields exceeds the width of the column, the field will appear on the next row.
If you want a blank space, create a new field, leave the "Field" selection box empty/blank, and type in the width of the blank space.

You can use this for positioning purposes or as a blank row between fields. If you insert a picture with information next to it, the picture field will take up the first inch (or however large you make it) across and down. So you will need to use blank fields to position the information fields around the picture. For a two column picture directory: Family Picture = 1", Family Name = 2.5", blank = 1", Address Line 1 = 2.5", blank = 1", Address Line 2 = 2.5", blank = 1", Email Address = 2.5"

Select the "Generate Report" button to view the report format and then make adjustments as needed.

Individual vs. Family Reports

Reports created with individual fields (fields from the top "individual" fields section of the People Screen such as name, email, mobile phone, etc.) will print individual entries for each name in the Smart List you have selected. So each member of the family will be listed separately in the report.

Reports created with family fields (fields from the bottom "family" fields section of the People Screen such as family name, address, family picture) will print one entry per family.

However, if you include an individual field in the report, the report will print the family information for each member of the family so as to include the different individual fields as well.

Advanced Settings

You can further customize your church report with the advanced settings.

Advanced Settings - "Sort By"

By default, your custom report will be sorted by Name (last, first). If you want to change the sorting field, go to the "Advanced Report Settings" screen and select a new "Sort By" field from the selection box.

For example, if you want to print a master list of envelope numbers, you would change the "Sort By" field to "Envelope Number."

If you print an individual report, have an individual field in your sort by field. If you print a family report, sort by a family field.

Advanced Settings - "Group By"

By default, your custom report will be sorted by None. If you want to change the grouping, go to the "Advanced Report Settings" screen and select a new "Group By" field from the selection box. When this option is selected, it will give you additional options below to add certain information.

For example, if you wanted to print a list of individuals within a family, you could Group By family, as shown below.