Updating a Profile

We have sought to make profile updates as easy as possible. This means re-grouping related fields while breaking apart the "edit all teh things" UX of version one of this tool. With that breakdown also came an opportunity for you to add additional fields as appropriate for your institution, a customization spin that ensures we're handling the greatest value-added data in consistent fashion but also allowing you room to expand on that as necessary.

What can be updated

The profile is broken down into several functional areas that have varying integration patterns associated with them:

1. Name - warehouse-dependent, but supplemented with profile-only fields like pronouns

2. Home Address - warehouse-dependent

3. Work Address and Employer - warehouse-dependent

4. Professional Networking - predominantly AlumnIQ-local data only germane to directory operations

5. Groups - AlumnIQ-local along with visibility settings for the directory

6. Directory Data - loopbacks for interests, affinity groups, regional clubs/groups, sports, and so on

7. Subscription preferences - AlumnIQ-local, but most customers pull this info for their own reporting purposes regardless

8. Event preferences - AlumnIQ-local info on frequently registered guests and dietary preferences

Of those, 1-4 allow you to create additional ad-hoc custom fields for use by your constituents only. Be careful, though -- every field you add becomes another sync point (whether you consume it or not), so consider the utility of what you're adding before going too far.

Process

1. Matched constituent logs into their profile

2. AlumnIQ pulls currently recognized contact information from warehouse (up to 24 hours behind your system of record)

3. Constituent opts to update their home address

4. Updates mailing address & clicks save

5. Update is written to corresponding change feed (/sync/address-change/home as one example)

6. Update is temporarily propagated to the warehouse (knowing full well it'll reverse out if not handled within 24 hours)

7. Update is also temporarily written to the profile

8. the next morning the institution hits the /sync/address-change/home resource and receives the update

9. An automated job or records team member updates your system of record

10. that night you build a warehouse feed to send to AlumnIQ

11. the next morning you push the update feed over to AlumnIQ, who then shows the new address (permanently, until next time) on the profile

12. sometime that day AlumnIQ's directory bot picks up the update in the warehouse and pushes it into the directory

In the best case scenario you're looking at 2 business days until the change initiated by the constituent is fully round-tripped to AlumnIQ. To minimize flicker, those interim pushes back into the warehouse and the profile ensure a less observent constituent won't be confused about the lack of instant update to a system we can't talk directly to.

Given that a very, very small percentage of your constituents use their profiles, here's what happens for the contact info on someone who never logged in to AlumnIQ:

1. Gift officer updates the home address for one of their prospects in your system of record.

2. that night you build a warehouse feed to send to AlumnIQ

3. the next morning you push the update feed over to AlumnIQ

4. sometime that day AlumnIQ's directory bot picks up the update in the warehouse and pushes it into the directory

Because most of your contact updates happen outside of AlumnIQ it only makes sense for us to treat the warehouse as the canonical truth of contact information.

The original implementation of this process in AlumnIQ anticipated more frequent profile updates within AlumnIQ, so anything on the profile permanently superseded warehouse contents. Time proved this to have been the wrong decision, so the 2021 update corrects that approach.