chmshelpdesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/10307538316...

New Input Attendance features are here with more to come, here's what's new so far:

1.  "Recent Sessions" Screen
   • Your most recent sessions display right away for easy reference and will actively save as you go just in case there's an interruption in the church office, though we're sure these rarely happen! :) 
   • Familiar patterns: Start recording attendance by clicking '+New Session'

1. The New Attendance Sidebar
   • This is the heart of the new attendance. The display will depend on the type of attendance for the group (Headcount, Present Only, or Present/Absent), but it can include:
     • Family Sorting and "entire family" line
     • Easy Click or Tap 
     • Tags for Church Visitor or Group Visitor
     • Add a new person on the fly
     • Absence reasons are available when you want them, and out of the way when you don't
       • To use them, simply click the tri-dot icon that appears and select a reason.
     • Running tally and saves your selections as you go!

1. New Filter Settings
   • With these settings you can:
     • Only Show Recent "Group Members"
       • Turn this option on to only show Group Members who have attended in the last 2 months
     • Show Recent Visitors
       • Turn this option on to show your recent visitors that have been added to this group session.
     • Tag Non-Group Members
       • Turn this option on to include a "Group Visitor" tag next to the individual's name. This gives you a better visual queue as to who is new to the group and how to differentiate them. 
     • Toggle "Group By Family" On/Off
       • Turn this option off to view each individual in the group as an individual instead of as a family. 

1. New Group Attendance Settings

• The new Group Attendance Settings are designed to give you a more consistent attendance tracking experience.
  • You now have 3 ways to deal with absences:
    1. You can choose Don't Mark "Absent" By Default which will allow you to choose between present or absent. If a choice is not made for an individual/family in the session, it will not count as an absence, there will simply be no record for that individual in that particular session.

Use Case: This will be your most general way to take attendance. Use this for groups where you might like to record present/absent but it is not required.  Groups like Children's Ministry Classes would be common. 

1. You can Mark All Group Members Who Aren't Present as "Absent" - This ensures each session has both presences and absences recorded.

Use Case: Use this option for groups where you want more attendance control. Groups like Adult/Student Small Groups or Membership Classes.

1. If you want to focus only on the 'Present', Absences can be disabled altogether.

Use Case: Use this for groups where absences are not required. This would be a common setting for your large weekly gathering where it might be most helpful (and easiest) to record people who are present as opposed to absent. 

Here's a set of more options we plan to add in the coming weeks:

1. Search Result Option “Mark Present and Add to Group”
2. For all attendance groups, record by headcount and/or by individuals at the same time
3. Sessions Report Display and Edit with Sidebar