To Add an Individual:

If a search was done was for an individual, when you hit "Add New Record the first and last names will be displayed in the first and last name fields in the new record. On the upper right side of the screen there is a drop down list for Type of Record. It would already be defaulted to Standard Record and you would leave it as such. Use the tab key to move from one field to the next. Remember to tab through the first name field since, in rare cases, the first name won't be carried over to the salutation field. Always make sure the salutation has the correct name(s). When you are adding a record other then an individual, you must type in the Salutation. Usually for a business "Sirs" is best, and for any form of political committee record "Friends" works best.

The database has a store of zip code information already, so you can tab through the City and State fields and just place the Zip Code. The city/state information will be added automatically once you have entered the zip code and tabbed out of that field. In some rare cases it will not automatically add the city/state, this is because new zip codes have been put into use since the database was last updated. In this case, simply hold down the Shift Key and hit the tab key a couple times to go backwards and manually enter the city and state.

When adding an email to any of the email fields, the email address must be one that is formatted correctly (with the @ sign in it). If the email address does not have the @ sign, an error message asking you to correct this will pop up. Until the email address is formatted correctly you will not be able to leave the field and continue getting the error message until this is corrected.

Notice to the right upper side there are tabs where you can enter information about a contract the person may have with the state. There is one button for the primary person on the record and one for the spouse if this applies. Click the appropriate button and a self explanitory fill in popup will open. Once the fields are filled in, click the OK button to save that information.

If adding a husband/wife to a record and job information is available for both, or you have job information just for the wife, you need to make sure that the pull down list to the right of the business corresponds with that person. By default it will list the first person listed in the record. So when adding a business for the wife, add that information in the business fields, then use the pull down list to the right, to choose her name. This will set that business as hers.

A note here, when you are adding a couple with different last names you need to make sure and choose the title, first name, and last name for the first person and then choose the title, first name, and last name for the second person. You will have to manually enter the second persons' name into the salutation field. Notice that the second persons name will be carried over to the first line of the Mailing address field. You just use the 2nd line to enter the actual mailing address. If you try to delete out the second persons name from the first line of the mailing address field, when you try to save that record you will get an error message until you change it back and reinsert that name into the first line again.

There are tabs at the bottom of the screen to enter information about Contributions, Notes, Call Sheet, Additional Information, Voluteer/Field Info and Expenses. How to add contributions can be found on the main index page of this site.

The Notes tab can be used for any type of word processing information. It works similar to and looks similar to a standard word processing document. There is a Date button on the upper left side of this tab that when clicked will add the current date to the notes field. The font type and size can be changed. Bold, Italics and Underline options are also available. You can align you text or add bullets. too. When adding information to the notes field, it will make it easier on others who need to read the information, if newer entries are added to the top of the list. Leave a blank line between entries to make reading easier also.

The Call Sheet tab is used to enter information to be used on a Call Sheet. The information can be typed in like in the Notes tab, however there are other options that can be chosen for who is to be called, how much they've raised, call date etc. If more then one call sheet is to be printed the Batch Print check box can be checked.

The Add'l Info tab is where you would add additional codes to the record. For example if the person you are adding is an attorney, a code ATT (which would be added to the master code list through the Add/Edit/Lookup Codes button) would be added here. To add a code click the Add Code button. A box where the new code can by typed in will pop up. Beside it will be another drop down list that shows all the codes currently in your master code list. You can click on the code you want to use if it is in this list. Once the code is showing, click on the Add Code button and it will be added to that persons record. There are places to add the birthday, gender, political party affiliation and children for the person(s) in that record.

Currently the Picture tab is not working, however it will be shortly.

In the Volunteer/Field Info tab information for volunteers can be added. There are check boxes for various duties volunteers would be willing to perform that can be checked. Days they are available can be marked by clicking on the letter corresponding to that day. When a day is clicked, that letter changes to blue so you can see which days they are available. Notice there are two areas for the volunteer availability info, one for the main person on the record and one for the second person on the record. There are boxes where amounts of yard signs/bumper stickers requested can be filled in also.

The Expenses tab is where any expenses to the campaign can be added. It works similar to the Add Contribution screen. There are places to add how much, what type of expenditure, who was paid etc that can be filled in. Once all of the expenditure information is entered, click the OK button to save this expenditure.

There are some shortcut keys that can be used to navigate thru the fields. To see them click here.

To Add a Business

If the search was for a business/political committee or record other than an individual, the name will be displayed in the first name field alone. In this case, choose either the Business Entity or one of the Political record choices under Type of Record drop down box to the right side.

Once a business/political entity type has been chosen from this list, the record fields will change. Notice that now there is one long field for the business name. The name searched for (or if it was a long name only part of it) will appear in this field. Complete or correct the name as needed.

If the record being added is a political committee notice how there is also a field Com. # after the name field. This is for placeing the FEC number in. You can find if a committee is a federal committee at the FEC site.

The remainder of entering information is basically the same as for an individual except that you don't have to add the business information down in the business fields. Once again, remember to add the salutation to the salutation field.

If you find out a contact person for the business or political committee you can later add that persons' name to the record in the fields following the business name.