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Managing Custom Interaction Types

This document describes how to create, manage, and use Custom Interaction Types.

The following sections will cover:

Overview of Custom Interactions

Interaction logs can help you understand how your constituents engage and interact with your organization, and how to communicate with them most effectively. By default, Convio logs over 60 types of interactions for normal constituent actions taken within your Convio-powered web site, including registration, profile updates, site logins, donations, and participation in various activities. Being able to define and log your own interaction types helps provide a richer set of constituent data for analysis and metrics that can be particularly useful for marketing segmentation.

In addition, Query Builder can reference both System-defined and Custom Interactions to filter constituent records. This allows you to use Queries to create new Groups or define which constituents to include in a particular email campaign based on their interaction history. Report Writer Interaction reports support both System-defined and Custom interactions in exactly the same way.

Custom interactions can also be leveraged in a variety of other ways through the API to extend and improve existing product functionality.

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Creating a New Custom Interaction Type

You can create a new custom interaction type to record a constituent-initiated action not included in the default set of interactions within the system. You can make this new type available for administrators to use to manually add interactions of this type on the constituent Profile page.

You can make the interaction type Public if it will be used only in specific applications where you need to be able to publish constituent interaction details via the API.

Note that you cannot delete custom interaction types once you have defined them, but you can archive them to prevent new interactions of that type from being logged.

To Create a Custom Interaction Type:

  1. From the Setup Menu click Interactions Management. The Interaction Types List page displays.
  2. Click Create an Interaction Type. The Enter Type Details page displays.
  3. For Interaction Type Name, enter a unique label describing the type of constituent action being captured.
  4. For Availability, click the checkbox to make this interaction type available for all administrators to use. If you are defining a type of interaction that will be logged via API by an external system, and you do not wish to make it available for administrators to add manually, leave this check box blank.
  5. For Public Interaction Type, check Yes if interactions of this type should be visible to everyone though the listInteractions API.

    Note: Public interaction types should be used only in specific applications where you need to be able to publish constituent interaction details. Otherwise leave this field un-checked.

  6. Click Finish. The Interaction Types List page displays with your new custom interaction type in the list.

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Editing a Custom Interaction Type

You can edit a custom interaction type to change the name as well as its availability or public/private option.

To Edit a Custom Interaction Type:

  1. From the Setup Menu click Interactions Management. The Interaction Types List page displays.
  2. Locate the type to edit in the Interaction Types List and click Edit in the Actions column. The Enter Type Details page displays.
  3. After making your changes, click Finish. The Interaction Types List page displays again.

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Archiving a Custom Interaction Type

You can archive a custom interaction type that you no longer use. You will no longer be able to log new interactions for constituents using an archived type, but existing interactions of that type that were previously logged will remain visible.

Note: Archived interactions only display in the Interactions Type List if the Show Archived Custom Interaction Types checkbox (below the list) is checked.

To Archive a Custom Interaction Type:

  1. From the Setup Menu click Interactions Management. The Interaction Types List page displays.
  2. From the Interaction Types List locate the type to archive and click Archive in the Actions column.
  3. After making your changes, click Finish. The Interaction Types List page displays again.

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Viewing and Updating Interactions in the Constituent Profile

Custom interactions appear alongside all other interactions logged for a constituent in the Interactions tab of the constituent Profile. For detailed information refer to Viewing Constituent Interactions or Entering a New Interaction under help for Constituent Management.

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Reporting on Custom Interactions

Custom Interactions function the same way as any other Interaction type in Report Writer. Refer to Using Report Writer to Create and Run Interaction Reports for details on creating reports.

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Querying by Custom Interactions

You can use Custom Interactions as selection criteria when defining a Query. The Query can then be used to create a Mail-Merge list or a Group of constituent records. For additional information on using Interactions within a Query refer to Querying by Interaction under Advanced Query topics.

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