David T from Alaska submitted a request this year for new member types of "Parent" and "Guardian" so that more details could be entered for those. I thought that was a very interesting idea. This additional non-member type value would fit right in.
Sometimes an idea that seems simple at first turns out to be more complicated once you consider the impact throughout the rest of the system. Let's talk through this to see if there are any significant consequences. Please add your ideas and comments to this thread.
What might be some Pros and Cons to adding more Member Type values?
Pros:
- We could have robust tracking of Parents/Guardians.
- We could track non-member participants for Grand Prix or other events like Dave suggested in this thread.
Negative impact or Consequences:
- Would we still use the same "Leader" list module and add another tab for non-Leader member types? Or, do we rename the Leader List to something more generic that would encompass all persons EXCEPT clubbers?
- What about all the reports where there is a Member Type combo? Should we populate all of those combos with all of the possible Member Type values that would be seen on the Member form? (probably so) And if we did, would the reports still make sense?
- What about the Member Type selection on the Check-in screen? Same question as the reports, do we have all values shown there?
- If we have at least two or three additional non-member types like "Parent", "Guardian", "Participant" do we also create a set of attendance (aka Session) records for them too like we do for Leaders and Clubbers?
- When an database user enters a new record in the Member form for an adult person who is a parent and is serving as a leader in the club. What would be the correct Member Type choice, Parent? Leader? (I'm guessing Leader would be the best choice. Do you agree?)
- If we select a Member Type of "Participant", wouldn't that cause confusion... participant in what? The Awana Club? The Gran Prix? Church? hmm.
As I think more about this I am reminded that I have had a number of requests from folks to be able to use AWdb to track more than just their Awana club. A couple of years ago we were able to start using the database to track VBS and I think that was helpful to those who needed that ability. Some folks have said they would like to track small groups and Sunday School classes too. Presently that isn't possible because a particular person (Clubber or Leader) can only be assigned to one "Club", and each club has only ONE set of attendance (aka Session) records.
To broaden the capabilities of the Approved Workman Database so it can track any type of person (child or adult) and any number of relationships and areas of service or participation or associations to any number of groups (clubs, classes, small groups, committees etc), we will need to re-architect the data model and interface. It is likely all of the reports will need to be re-worked too. I think it is the right thing to do, but it will be a major undertaking. After all this pondering I'm feeling hesitant to taking the easy out quick fix of merely adding a couple of new Member Type values. What are your thoughts?
