Reporting Sessions

PDS programs include a powerful report designer that offers many options for creating custom reports. This class will introduce you to the designer and teach you the basics of using it. Class examples are done with Church Office but the concepts apply to advanced reports in all PDS programs. This class will cover:

• Understanding the main workspace
• Placing objects in the workspace
• Printing data from multiple screens/tables
• Using standard headers and footers
• Grouping information
• Adjusting runtime sizing and placement

Additional Notes: Offered multiple times: breakout 1 – Wednesday early morning, breakout 5 – Thursday early morning

PDS programs include a powerful report designer that offers many options for creating custom reports. This class builds on what you learned in part 1 to explore more advanced features of the report designer. This class will cover:

• Renaming objects using the report tree
• Manipulating objects with embedded code
• Summarizing information – counts and totals
• Controlling the report wizard with advanced script
• Creating advanced letters
• Merging advanced reports with regular letters
• Creating advanced labels
• Sharing reports with others

Additional Notes: Offered multiple times: breakout 2 – Wednesday afternoon, breakout 6 – Thursday morning

Participation in Creating Advanced Reports: Part 1 is strongly recommended prior to taking this course. Class examples are done with Church Office but the concepts apply to advanced reports in all PDS programs.

Learn how to analyze the attendance, demographic, and other data you are collecting; and understand what that data means. This class will cover:

• Understanding how data relates to analysis and needs-assessment
• Discovering ways to look at data
• Exploring tools and resources available for data mining

Discover ways to take your PDS data into Microsoft Word, Excel, and other tools that give you nearly unlimited resources for formatting, graphing, and sharing key information. Content will include functionality from the Church Office, Formation Office, and School Office programs. This class will cover:

• Exporting reports in PDS
• Visually displaying your information on geographic maps based on address information
• Displaying family locations in Google Earth
• Grasping the basics of using the mail merge tool, including:
  Saving and loading documents for later use
  Creating single letter mail merges
  Merging to envelopes, directories, and other types of documents

Gain an understanding of the different report types, the options for configuring reports, and the methods for saving your preferences for later use. This class will cover:

• Learning how to run lists, letters, labels, rolodex cards, and data exports
• Creating your own simple reports
• Printing any type of report for a selected group of families or members

Get your letters to effectively communicate your message. Understand the challenges faced when merging complex data into the body of a letter. This class will address:

• Word processor interface for reports
• Letter and form reports and how to create them
• Tab stops for perfect alignment
• Paragraph offsets to indent fields properly
• Merger of simple fields in letters
• Merger of several fields using list sections. You can, for example, merge multiple members in a family letter or multiple ministry items in a member letter.

Additional Notes: Offered multiple times: breakout 3 – Wednesday mid afternoon, breakout 9 – Friday early morning

It’s all about getting results. Content will include functionality from all programs. This class will cover:

• Understanding when to use additional selections
• Understanding how to use additional selections
• Saving selections for later use
• Grouping/reordering selections

Additional Notes: Offered multiple times: breakout 7 – Thursday afternoon, breakout 10 – Friday morning