Manage Duplicates
The Manage Duplicate feature scans your database and returns a list of any duplicated records. You can then elect to combine the accounts or set them as ignored so they don't appear again when you run the function again.
Select Database from the Patrons section on the top navigation bar then click Manage Duplicates.
Clcik on Run Check to start the process.
A list of any duplicated patrons will appear. You can then click Review next to a result to see what information matches.
Upon clicking Review, you can see that in this case the phone number and Address are the same.
In this case, these are two employees of the same company who used the office phone number and address on their purchases. Since these should not be merged, click Cancel to get back to the list, and then click Ignore to mark that these have been reviewed and that they are ok.
The below record is one that can be merged. This record has matched on the phone number. Since we know this is the same person, we will go ahead and merge it.
I note that the arrow shows how the data will be merged. You can click on the record you wish to maintain and the arrow will switch directions. If desired, you can also elect to keep the email from the 2nd record as a secondary email address.
Continue to work through your list of possible matches until it is completed.
Note: You do not have to handle all merges in one session. You can return at any time and the list will still be present.
How often you check for duplicates is up to you, but doing so often can help keep your database healthy!