What is a project?
PRINTA Project in the Organizer’s Toolbox is a predefined and saved filter laid over all the information in your database that enables a user to look at only those those records that meet the Project’s definition while ignoring all the other information in the database.
If that answer doesn’t clear things up for you, read on. To properly answer the question, “what is a Project?” we must first take a step back and remind ourselves of the basics an Organizer’s Toolbox database (sometimes I’ll refer to Organizer’s Toolbox as OT or just “Toolbox” or “the database”). Think of OT in the most literal sense, that is, a box containing lots of different tools. Have you ever had a toolbox or a kitchen drawer with a bunch of tools or gadgets that you’ve had to dig through to find he one tool that you need to finish a job? If it’s not organized it’s a pretty frustrating experience.
Eventually you may get tired of burrowing through a jumble of things and decide to organize the box of tools or the kitchen drawer by using smaller containers to keep similar things in one place: flat-head screw-drivers in one place, philips head screw-driver in another, a hammer here and the hacksaw there. Pretty soon you’ve got your tools sorted and grouped in a way so that the next time you open the box of tools or the drawer you know exactly where to find just the tool you need.
Projects in Organizer’s Toolbox is exactly like organizing your tool drawer or box of tools: OT (your database) is the the big box, Projects are the smaller containers that organizes all the information in the larger database into smaller containers making it easier to find the tools to run your campaigns. When you open a Project you’re not opening a “database” per se, you’re opening one of the drawers in your toolbox that contains a certain set of tools. When you open the screwdriver drawer you expect to find screwdrivers, not a bunch of nails. When you open a Project in OT called “Acme Homecare,” you want to find only people employed by Acme Homecare, but not anyone that works for Mercy General Hospital.
Another way to think of a Project is as a pre-defined Filter that is automatically applied to a set of records when you open the Project. When you’re first setting up a Project you’re just Filtering for which records you want to see in the Project every time you open. But when you define the Project, you do it just once and then every time you open it after that, that Filter is already applied.
FAQ
Q: Can a person record be in more than one Project at a time?
A: Yes! That’s one of the great things about OT. The database is a container for all the information you put in it a person record could theoretically exist in several Projects at the same time, depending on how you define your Projects. Let’s take a basic example. Say we have two Projects, one called “Mercy General - All” and one Project called “Mercy General - In Unit.” The “All” Project is defined very loosely, that is, everyone - supervisors, Administrators, priests, and Bargaining Unit members - who is employed by Mercy General. The second Project, “In Unit,” is defined as everyone whose employer is Mercy General AND their Unit Status is “In.”
We’ll open the Project, “Mercy General - In Unit” and find Bob Robert’s record and find that he is a Surgery Tech on Day Shift. Now we open the “All Project” and search for Bob Robert’s record and find him here as well. How can that be? His record meets the criteria of both Projects so he is going to show up in both places.
Q: If I edit a person’s contact information in one Project will those changes be reflected in the other Project?
A: Yes. Remember, it’s the exact same record regardless of which Project you’re in, the Project Definitions is just a way for the database to apply a saved Filter automatically so you don’t have to do it each time.
Q: I edited a person’s Organizing Assessment in one Project but then when I open another Project and find that record that Assessment is not there. I thought you said that editing a person’s record in one Project will be the same as editing that record in any other Project. What gives?
A: Remember, certain aspects of Toolbox must be linked to each Project before they show up in that Project. These include Assessments, Actions, Lists, Programs, and Roles. If you edit and Assessment in one Project but that Assessment does not show up in another Project it’s because it has not yet been linked to that Project (through the Project Edit screen). Once you link that Assessment to the Project any changes you’ve made in one will show up in the other. For more information on editing Projects, please see the article on Project Management
Q: I set the Project Definitions but then the Bargaining Unit changed and there are a bunch of people outside the Project that I want to bring into the Project. Do I have to delete the Project and start over?
A: No. You can just edit the Project Definitions to redefine who should be in the Unit. Remember, Project Definitions are just a pre-defined Filter saved as a Project. If you want to pull more people into the Project just open the Project Edit screen and edit the Filter so that it includes the additional people you want in the unit. For example, say that when you first set up the Project the only workers you were going to focus on at Mercy General were the Tech Bargaining Unit, but through your organizing there is enough interest in the RN Bargaining Unit that you now want them in the Project. You can just edit the Project by Including the RN Bargaining Unit to the Project. Now when you open the Project it will contain anyone at Mercy General who job class is in either the Tech or RN Bargaining Unit. The same thing applied in reverse: if you need to limit the group of workers in a Project just redefine the Project so that the workers you don’t want in there do not meet the Project criteria.
Q: I imported a new list into Toolbox but when I opened the Project the new people are not in the database. Where are they?
A: The new records are in the database, but you may need to edit the Project in order for them to show up. Again, remember that the Project is only a predefine Filter laid over the data in your database and saved as a Project. If you’ve done an import (or had NUWS import data for you) you should check the Project Definitions to make sure that the newly-imported records meet the definitions of the Project in order for them to be included in the Project. If they are not showing up in your Project, this is the most likely reason.