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Manually move people along paths
Manually move people along paths

A path is a step-by-step workflow in which a person completes (moves along) various steps toward completing a larger goal.

Updated over a week ago

Where to start (adding people to a path)

In the People section, a profile can be added to a path from single-person view
or list view.

Manual path movement

In the People section, a profile can be added to a path from single-person view
or list view. Click on Add Path at the bottom of the profile overview.

A pop-up will appear:

1. First, select the path from the dropdown menu. 

The other functions are optional:

Assign path to - You can assign a user responsibility for ensuring the path is completed. 

Step - By default, the first step on the path will then appear in the step dropdown menu. You can select a different step to begin the journey. 

Description - A description can also be added to the path. 

2. Click the Submit button to finish adding the person to the path. Once the path is added to a profile, it will display at the bottom of the profile overview:

This shows that a person is on the Become a donor path. Hovering over the picture displayed next to the path name tells you which control panel user was assigned responsibility for path completion.

Clicking on another path step moves the profile to that step. Three steps are displayed in full. Hovering over another part of the path will display the names of other steps. 

Click the arrow to the right of the path name for more options. When you click Update Step from this menu, new options appear:

The Update Step options allow you to move the profile to a new step, assign the step to a user, and set a due date for completing the step. 

One user can ensure the entire path is completed while another is responsible for a particular step. This is indicated by including the user's profile picture within the path:

Hovering over either profile picture reveals the name of the user with that assignment. In the above example, I am responsible for Julie completing the become a donor path and Jason is responsible for asking her to pledge. 

Clicking Update Path from the arrow allows you to change the control panel user overseeing the path. If you enable the expected completion date or value in the path's settings, those options will be included in the pop-up. You can also add or edit a description of the path.

If you make changes in the Update Path options, click the Submit button to save your changes. Otherwise, return to the previous view by clicking the Cancel button or the X in the right-hand corner or by clicking outside of the pop-up window.

How to end a path journey: complete, abandon, delete

There are three ways to end a path that is active on a profile: complete the path, abandon the path, or delete the path.

Complete the path

If you did not create reasons for completion, clicking on Complete Path from the arrow menu will complete the path. The path will be recorded in the profile, including which steps were completed. 

If completion reasons were created, clicking on Complete Path from the arrow menu will bring up a pop-up menu, allowing you to select the reason for completion. This is a way to categorize path completion and creates more filtering options. 

When completing a path, it is not possible to change the path step. The path will be completed from whatever step the person is currently on. You can select a reason for completion from the Reason dropdown menu. Be sure to click the Submit button to complete the path.

Abandon path

Abandoning a path works the same as completing a path.

If the path does not include reasons for completion, clicking on Abandon Path from the arrow menu will abandon the path. 

If the path includes abandonment reasons, clicking on Abandon path from the arrow menu will bring up a pop-up menu, allowing you to select the reason. This is a way to categorize abandonment and creates more filtering options.

When abandoning a path, it is not possible to change the path step. The path will be abandoned from whatever step the person is currently on. You can select a reason for abandonment from the Reason dropdown menu. Be sure to click the Submit button to abandon the path.

Delete path

Deleting a path deletes all information related to the path from the profile.

Click Delete Path from the arrow menu. That option will then change to ask if you are sure you want to delete the path:

Click on the Sure? option to delete the path. All aspects of the path will be deleted from the profile: when the person began the path, who was assigned to oversee the path/steps, and when each step was completed. If a path journey is deleted by accident, it can be resurrected from the Paths section of a profile. 

 A distinction is made between the instance of a path on a particular profile, and the path itself. The instance of a path on a profile is a journey and it contains a lot of historical data that could be useful in the future. The amount of time spent on each step of the path, the amount of time it took to complete the path, the actions taken that moved someone from one step to another step -- all of that data is stored as part of the journey on a profile. This is why deleted journeys can be resurrected and why it is relatively difficult to delete the path itself.

However, if you want to remove a path completely, every journey associated with that path will need to be deleted first. For every active profile on a path, you will have to repeat the steps above to delete the path from those profiles. For profiles that have completed or abandoned the path, you will have to reactivate the path on those profiles before deleting the path from the profile. Once you do, go to People > [Select path picker] > [Select Edit next to path] > Settings. From the path settings page, click the Delete Path button. The delete path button is only available for paths that have no active, completed, or abandoned journeys. 

Log contact to a path step

You can add private notes to path steps to keep track of any contact you've made with a person. To do so, navigate to People > click on the person's profile > Log contact > type your message and select the path step under "Log to path". Click XX was contacted at the bottom.

👉🏼 Next steps

Take a look at the different ways to view a path, or if you're looking to mass update people on a path, check out batch update a path.

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