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Author: Kristenson, Joel
Last Updated: 2016-12-14
Overview
If you’ve ever received a message that a contact’s (voter/donor) record card is locked, like this:
It means that another database user has the record open, or left it open. You can still view it, but only on a read-only basis (you can’t make changes).
This article shows how to unlock locked contact (voter/donor) records as well as payee records.
Tip: When you’re finished working in a contact’s record card, or you’re done working for the day, make sure you close all ‘Open Windows’ before closing down the database application. If you don’t, it will sometimes leave the record in a ‘locked state’:
Steps to Unlock Contact (Voter/Donor) Records
Navigate to the Contact (Voter/Donor) Lock Management list under the Application Menu. Requires admin security clearance.
This list will auto-populate all records that are currently locked (opened by another user). Check the boxes in the first column for the ones you want to unlock, and then click File > Unlock. In my example there were 7 and I selected 5 of them.
Click [OK] to proceed with unlocking the records you selected.
Click [OK] to close the popup notification once the process is finished.
The records will disappear from the list if they were successfully unlocked.
The next section shows how to unlock payee records, which is typically just for political customers or the few nonprofits who use our accounting tools.
Steps to Unlock Payee Records (Typically for Political Customers)
Navigate to the Payee Lock Management list under the Application Menu.
This list will auto-populate all payee records that are currently locked (opened by a database user). Select the ones you want to unlock, and then click File > Unlock. In my example there were 3.
Click [OK] to proceed.
Click [OK] again once the process has finished.
The records will disappear from the list if they were successfully unlocked.
The related resources below link to a variety of similar articles and videos on this topic.
Related Resources
Article: During the Day Best Practices
Article: How to Enter a New Payee
Article: How to Enter an Invoice for a Payee
Article: How to Enter a Payment for an Invoice
Video: Getting Started Installing Trail Blazer
Video: Enter Invoice and Make Immediate Payment
Video: Getting Started 101 – Orientation to the screen
Video: Getting Started 103 – Adding a Contact Record
Video: Getting Started 106b – Entering Contributions (POLITICAL ONLY)
Video: Getting Started 106a – Entering Contributions (NON PROFIT ONLY)
Video: Getting Started 105 – Queries with an AND condition
Video: Getting Started 102 Beginning Queries - Political
Video: Getting Started 102 Beginning Queries - Nonprofit
Video: Getting Started 107 – Writing Contribution Thank You Letters
Video: Getting Started 104 Queries with wildcards
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