The Sporty platform automatically merges records if someone is added with enough matching details for the system to know it is the same person. However, it must be 100% sure to ensure data integrity and security.
This article shows how you can manually merge records in instances when Sporty has not automatically merged them, and you are 100% sure they relate to the same person.
In this article:
- Merge people the system has automatically identified as potential duplicates
- Manually merge people when you're sure they are duplicates (use with caution)
- If your organisation is an Association, Province or National Body
- Unmerge records if you've made a mistake (only available for a limited time after merging)
- FAQs
Merge people the system has identified as potential duplicates
If the details provided with an online registration do not match an existing person exactly enough to be 100% sure of a match to an existing person but are similar enough to suggest a potential duplicate, it will let you know in SuperCRM in two ways:
1. The Duplicates tab under the Relationships section of the person's record.
Click the person's name in SuperCRM to view their Profile. Click the Relationships tab and then Duplicates. If the system has found other people it thinks are potential duplicates, they will be listed here.
Click the Check button and a pop-up window will appear that lets you compare the details for both records and decide whether they are truly a duplicate and should be merged/linked:
Note that this screen appears slightly different for Regional Sports Organisations (RSOs) and National Sports Organisations (NSOs) compared to the way it appears for Clubs/Schools.
If you are confident the two records relate to the same person, select the fields you wish to retain for the merged record and then click the Link button (RSOs/NSOs) or Merge button (Clubs/Schools).
If you aren't sure which details are correct, click Cancel to exit and return later.
If you are confident the two records do not relate to the same person, click Ignore Updates or Not a duplicate.
2. The Potential Duplicates report.
The potential duplicates report is a CSV (Excel) file that supports looser matching rules. For example, it may include results for someone with the same First Name and Last Name even if their Date of Birth is different from one another. It will list any people that have the same First Name, Last Name, and at least one of the following 'person matching' fields:
- Date of Birth
- Email Address
- Phone 1
- Phone 2
- Parent Phone
- Parent Email
To access the Potential Duplicates report, go to SuperCRM and click the Reports link at the top right of your screen. Then click the Potential Duplicates Report from the list on the left of your screen. It will email you the report and include a link you can click for each potential duplicate to view their details and merge them if you wish.
If your organisation is an Association, Province or National Body
Sporty is used by clubs and schools, and by the associations, provinces and national bodies that sit above them. Because of this, it's important to understand where a person's record actually lives, and what the Merge button does at each level.
A person's record belongs to the club or school they registered with. If a member's details are entered at one club, that club owns that version of the record. It stays that way even if the same person registers separately at a different club or school.
Associations, provinces and national bodies don't hold a single master record for each person. Instead, they see a linked view, built by combining the individual records sent up from the clubs and schools below them, plus any people who registered with the association, province or national body directly. If a person appears more than once in this combined view, one entry is shown with the most recently updated details from any of the linked records. Each entry you see isn't a person that belongs to your organisation. It's the club or school's own record, shown to you.
At association, province or national level, the button says Merge, but it doesn't create one single record the way a club or school merge does. It joins up, or links, the separate records so they display as one entry. This means:
- A club or school's version of a person's details is never changed by what happens at another club or school.
- When you click Merge at association, province or national level, you're linking together the copies of that person that have come from the organisations below you (and any direct registrations at your level). You are not merging their underlying club or school records.
- This does not automatically push changes of the person down to the club or school.
- Each level of the hierarchy manages its own links independently. If a national body links two people together, this does not automatically link them at the regional or club level below. A duplicate resolved at national level can still show as a duplicate to a regional body, and vice versa, because each level is only linking the copies it can see.
Records work this way because each club or school has a direct relationship with the person. Keeping ownership with that organisation protects details, such as contact or safety-related information, from being changed by an organisation that has no direct relationship with that person.
For example, if Jamie Smith registers with Example Netball Club A using one address, and later registers with Example Netball Club B using a different address, both clubs keep their own version of Jamie's details. Example Netball Centre, which both clubs report into, may see one combined entry for Jamie showing the most recently updated details, but neither club's own record changes as a result.
Manually merge people when you're sure they are duplicates
You can force records to merge if you are certain they are the same person. To do this, go into a person's profile in SuperCRM and go to the Relationships tab, then click the Duplicates tab.
In the Manual Search section, enter the Person ID or the Name of the person you wish to merge with the current profile, the click the Search button. It will return the person with that ID or Name. Click the Check button.
It will display a comparison of the details that differ between both people.
If you are certain that both profiles relate to the same person, select which of the differing fields you wish to retain, then click the button to Merge / Accept Updates.
If the system identifies that you are attempting to merge two records where the first name and last name do not match, you will be prompted to confirm the merge by typing the word CONFIRM into the pop up that appears.
IMPORTANT: Ensure you are certain both records relate to the same person before you merge them. Although there is an option to undo your merge, this is only temporary and becomes unavailable once the newly merged person is later changed or updated.
Unmerge or Unlink Person Records
If you've manually merged two people, you will temporarily have the option to unmerge them. This will restore both records to their original state with their last known details for each. This functionality is possible only up until changes or updates have been made to the merged record.
To unmerge/unlink a merged record, go to the person's profile in SuperCRM, click the Relationships tab and then select the Duplicates tab.
Note: the process will be called a 'Merge/Unmerge' if the two original people were from the same organisation. If they were from different organisations, the process will be called a 'Link/Unlink'.
Click Unmerge or Unlink. A pop-up window will show any merged details that had been updated since the merge and if any registration records will be moved back to the original person.
Click Unmerge or Unlink to complete the process.
FAQs
Q: Why is a person not displaying as a Potential Duplicate when I can see them in the SuperCRM twice?
A: If a person has registered with the same name but a different Date of Birth on each record, the Date of Birth will firstly need to be updated to match before it is deemed to be a Potential Duplicate in the SuperCRM profile area.
Due to eligibility rules, clubs are generally unable to change a person's Date of Birth. If you meet this limitation, contact Sporty support or your governing body for assistance.
Q: Why can I not perform a merge on a person that has more than one username?
A: Usernames allow people to login with Sporty and it is possible that a person could have a different username for each of their records in Sporty. Therefore, you cannot merge the people until one of the usernames is deleted. This can be done in the username screen, click here for more information.
Q: Can we edit a person's details if we're viewing them as an Association, Province or National body?
A: Yes, but be aware your edit can reach the club or school as well, not just your own view. If you correct someone's name or contact details at your level, the club or school may see that change too.
Registrations already submitted are not changed. If you correct Jan to Janice, the club will see Janice on the person's record, but a registration from an earlier season will still show Jan as entered at the time.
If you want to record something that applies only to your organisation, use the Note field. Notes stay at your level.
Q: If we merge people at Association, Province or National level, does this update their details at the club or school?
A: No. Merging at this level only links together the different copies of that person that have come from the organisations below you. It doesn't change, merge, or overwrite the details held at club or school level.
Q: We merged duplicate people at national level, but our regional bodies or clubs still see them as duplicates. Why?
A: Each level of the hierarchy resolves duplicates independently. A merge done at national level links the copies visible at that level. It doesn't reach down and link the same people at regional or club level. If duplicates exist at more than one level, they need to be resolved separately at each level.
Q: I'm with a football organisation. Does resolving a FIFA ID duplicate work the same way?
A: No, this is a separate process. The Merge button described above links records inside Sporty. Resolving a FIFA ID duplicate is a different process connected to FIFA Connect. Because a FIFA ID is the one identifier tied to a person across the whole football pyramid, resolving a FIFA duplicate resolves it at every level, not just the level where it was actioned. FIFA keeps a record that two IDs existed and were merged.