Waitlist features

[Ken Higginbotham]

To add to my previous comment…

Our show just opened today. In the past I would open each entry, add the person and/or dog if not already in mySWT, verify the check amount, look up the dog on AKC.org and update the prefix and suffix titles (not necessary; just courtesy), record the check number on the envelope and on top of the entry, and send the handler an e-mail with the mySWT Verification Report (if new to my database) and a note that I received their entry and it qualified for the random draw on such-and-such date. After the random draw I would go through the stack of envelopes and enter the dogs into the classes, followed by sending a confirmation e-mail.

Now, I do all of he above, but instead of waiting until after the random draw to enter the dogs into classes, I do it at the time I receive the entries. The dogs are entered into the show in “Pending” status. I then send an email to each handler with the mySWT Confirmation Report so they can verify that I input all of the entries for which they entered (in case they didn’t make a copy of their form) and that they qualify for the upcoming random draw. The majority of the data entry work is done!

After the random draw, I will simply go back in and change “Pending” to “Active” for those that got in, or to “Waitlist” for those who did not because the class was full. No need to go back into the “Add Dog to Class” screen and re-enter everything. Just go into the “Entries List” screen, search on the handler (or dog or armband number, or ?), pull down the arrow in the Status field and select the new status. I can update the status on the line in the bottom half of the screen or cursor up into the formatted record in the top half and pull down the Status arrow. If I do the latter, which I believe is safer, I’ll need to go back to the bottom of the screen and select the “next record” arrow to advance to the next class for the handler. Note: before I begin my work each day, I take a backup of the mySWT Share and Data files; and I say “yes” to the prompt to back up the files when exiting mySWT. The backups are then copied to a thumb drive for safe keeping.

When done with that entry, I will send an e-mail with the mySWT Confirmation Report that will list each class that was on their entry form with the updated status of that class (Active or Waitlist). Now the handler will know exactly which classes they are entered in and which classes are waitlisted.

I will then print a copy of the new mySWT Waitlist Report and reconcile the list of names and dogs against what I have on my more detailed spreadsheet.

What I haven’t figured out is how to reconcile to total of the checks received against the mySWT Financial Report and my spreadsheet. Under my new system, the total will reflect all of the entries whether they are in Active status or not. I wonder if there is a way to give totals for each status.