Set up GoogleForm integration with Atom

You can also use an external form service like JotForm or Google Forms to design custom forms and link them to Atom. You do this by setting up a webhook in your form that sends the data to Atom.

Step 1 – Set up the webhook

In Google forms, edit your form, click the More icon at the top, then App scripts

Click on the code editor, and paste in the following code:

var POST_URL = "https://yoursite.excellerate.com/api/FormWebHook";
function onSubmit(e) {
    var form = FormApp.getActiveForm();
    var allResponses = form.getResponses();
    var latestResponse = allResponses[allResponses.length - 1];
    var response = latestResponse.getItemResponses();
    var payload = {};
    
    for (var i = 0; i < response.length; i++) {
        var question = response[i].getItem().getTitle();
        var answer = response[i].getResponse();
        payload[question] = answer;
    }
    var formData = {
      GoogleFormID : form.getTitle(),
      rawRequest : JSON.stringify(payload)
    }
  
    var options = {
        "method": "post",
        //"contentType": "application/json",
        "payload": formData
    };
   UrlFetchApp.fetch(POST_URL, options);
};

In the first line of code, make sure you replace “yoursite” with your own Atom site name which you can find in your Atom account under Utilities, Forms.

Click the save icon in the toolbar.

Now click on “Triggers” on the left, then ” + Add Trigger” button

Change the “function to run” to onSubmit, and the “Select event type” to “On form submit”. Save.

Click the “Deploy” button, and choose “New deployment”

Choose “web app” and give it a description like “Atom webhook” and click “Deploy”

Step 2 – Set up the form mapping

Submit a sample entry from your Google form, which should send the submission to Atom.

In Atom, go to Utilities, Forms, and click “External Form Mappings”

If you don’t see the form listed here, check to be sure your Atom webhook is set up correctly in Google.

Click the edit button to set up the form mapping:

Here you are simply mapping the Google fields on the left to the corresponding Atom field on the right.

Also, specify how you want new submissions to be processed by specifying “Auto” or “Manual” – Auto means Atom will automatically process the submission and add the person to the database. Manual means you can review the submissions first, then click the “Process” button to manually process them.

Notes:

If the form is a request for more info, map the field to Atom’s “InfoRequest” field. (see the Automation example above on how to direct the info request to the right person)

If you want to add a Person Step from a form field, map a date field to the “AddStep=” field.  For example, AddStep=Salvation

If you want to add a Tag from a form field, map a Yes/No field to the “AddTag=” field.  For example, AddTag=Bulletin

Set up Jotform integration with Atom

You can also use an external form service like JotForm or Google Forms to design custom forms and link them to Atom. You do this by setting up a webhook in your form that sends the data to Atom.

Step 1 – Set up the webhook

In Jotform, edit your form, click Settings, then Integrations, and search for “webhooks”

Click on the Webhooks panel, and enter your Atom webhook URL (from your Utilities, Forms page), into the webhook field (make sure you replace “yoursite” with your own Atom site name):

Click Complete Integration.

Step 2 – Set up the form mapping

Submit a sample entry from Jotform, which should send the submission to Atom.

In Atom, go to Utilities, Forms, and click “External Form Mappings”

If you don’t see the form listed here, check to be sure your Atom webhook is set up correctly in Jotform.

Click the edit button to set up the form mapping:

Here you are simply mapping the Jotform fields on the left to the corresponding Atom field on the right.

Also, specify how you want new submissions to be processed by specifying “Auto” or “Manual” – Auto means Atom will automatically process the submission and add the person to the database. Manual means you can review the submissions first, then click the “Process” button to manually process them.

Notes:

JotForm may create some fields like phone numbers with multiple parts like “area” & “phone” in the example above.  In these cases, just map both parts to the same Atom field, say HomePhone, and they will be combined into the one HomePhone field.

If the form is a request for more info, map the field to Atom’s “InfoRequest” field. (see the Automation example above on how to direct the info request to the right person)

If you want to add a Person Step from a form field, map a date field to the “AddStep=” field.  For example, AddStep=Salvation

If you want to add a Tag from a form field, map a Yes/No field to the “AddTag=” field.  For example, AddTag=Bulletin

Online giving services compatible with Excellerate / Atom

Excellerate and Atom are able to import online contributions from most online giving services. Here is a list of those services, but email us if you have a different service you would like to import from.

You can find the documentation for importing online giving here

Excellerate Desktop Solution:

  • Secure Give
  • TransactU
  • Giving Kisosk
  • Generic Excellerate
  • Clover
  • Kindred
  • Txt2Giv
  • PushPay
  • MinistryLinq
  • SubSplash
  • GivingFire
  • Tithely
  • PlanningCenter
  • RebelGive
  • Stewardship Tech
  • CDM

Atom Cloud Solution:

  • Generic Excellerate / Atom
  • PushPay Excellerate
  • Secure Give Excellerate
  • Giving Kiosk
  • Clover
  • Kindrid
  • Txt2Give
  • MinistryLinq
  • SubSplash
  • Giving Fire
  • Tithely
  • Planning Center
  • Cornerstone
  • PayPal
  • Converge
  • Stripe
  • Givelify-SK

Adjusting Grades Each Year

If you’re storing grades in your member records for students, you’ll need to adjust those grades each year. For example, all kids who have “1st Grade” in their Grade/Student field would need to be changed to “2nd Grade”. You can do this manually one-at-a-time, or you can use the “Field Adjuster” utility to adjust them all for you.

  • Note – make sure you make a backup of your data before using the utility, just in case you make a mistake.

You can find the “Field Adjuster” utility in your Start menu under Excellerate, or you can just search “field adjuster” in the Windows search box.

Under “Values to adjust”, select “Grade Levels”

You will see all of the existing grade options on the left, and what the new grade would be on the right.

Review the settings, and adjust any as needed.

You can do a test run first to verify it’s what you want.

When you’re ready to make the change, un-check “Test run only” and run. All your grade should be adjusted to the next grade.

Using Excellerate on Multiple Computers

There are two options for using the church management solution on multiple computers.

The easiest and most flexible way is to use our cloud solution – Excellerate Atom.
With Atom you can easily access it from anywhere you have an internet connection – work, home, on the go.
And you can have as many users you want accessing it at the same time.

The other option is to use multi-user add-on for Excellerate Desktop.
This option is usually intended for churches with a wired network and server, and only allows access from the church office.
You usually need an IT person to set up file sharing on the server.

Here are the requirements for the multi-user desktop solution:

  • Everything is installed on your servers and workstations
  • All workstations must have a WIRED connection, not Wifi
  • All servers and workstations must be Windows computers
  • You must be at that office to access the data, you won’t be able to access it from other locations
  • You are responsible for data backups and server maintenance

So, the cloud solution is obviously a better solution, but does require a monthly payment.
The multi-user desktop solution is a one-time cost, but more complicated to set up and not as flexible.

Can’t install Excellerate on your computer

Some computers come with a stripped-down version of Windows that only run simple apps, and will not allow you to install Excellerate


If you have that version, you can switch it to full Windows for free.

First, check to see if you have “Windows S-Mode”

You can check whether you’re using S Mode by heading to Settings > System > About. 
On the About page, scroll down to the “Windows Specifications” section. 
If you see the words “in S mode” to the right of the Edition entry, you’re using an S Mode PC.

To switch out of S Mode to regular Windows, open the Store app on your PC and search for “Switch out of S Mode.” The Store will guide you through taking your PC out of S Mode.

Make sure you reboot your computer after that, then you can install Excellerate.

Excellerate shuts down after logging in

On certain computers, you may experience Excellerate shutting down right after you login.

To fix this, you need to change Windows “DEP” setting:

Click Start and select Settings.
Type “View Advanced System Settings” and choose the same option in the drop-down menu.
Tap on Advanced in the new window and select Settings under the Performance section.
Click on Data Execution Prevention in the menu bar and check the box “Turn on DEP for essential Windows programs and services only” option.

Restart your computer

Excellerate should load correctly now.

iDPRT Printer settings for check-in

If you are using the iDPRT label printers with Excellerate check-in, you may need to adjust the label settings for “Check-In”, ” Check-In Receipt”, etc..

First make sure you have downloaded and installed the iDPRT printer driver from here.

Now, make sure the actual printer settings for the iDPRT are set to the default:

Next, from the check-in program, click the Modify button (“…”) next to the Checkin label:

Then click the “Modify” button:

Then click the “Layout” button:

Now adjust the Papers size to custom, Width to 2.75, and Top margin to .40:

That’s it. Close and save your changes

Multiple computers using Excellerate Desktop over your network

If you have the Excellerate Desktop solution, you can share your database from a server or “main” computer that’s always on.  You would need the multi-user network option for this. 

Each workstation would have the Excellerate program installed, but would open the database from the server or main computer.  For this solution, the computers would need to be connected to your church network – preferably a wired network. Wifi networks can drop out and cause database problems.

If you have really strong, reliable Wifi, and you don’t move your laptops while using Excellerate, you might be able to use wifi, but make sure you take frequent back ups just in case.

First, share your Excellerate folder from the main database computer over the network

Typically you should consult your IT person about sharing information across your network, but if you don’t have an IT person, here are the basic steps:

  • Share your c:\Excellerate folder on the main computer that holds the Excellerate database.  Here’s one how-to article:  https://pureinfotech.com/setup-network-file-sharing-windows-10/
  • Make sure users have full read,write,delete access to the c:\excellerate\ folder
  • Write down the address listed in the window, for example:     \\DESKTOP-VMN9GIN\Excellerate

Next, install Excellerate on your other computer

Tell the other computer to open the Excellerate database from the main computer share

  • Start Excellerate on the other computer, and if prompted, choose “Open other database” (If you don’t see that option, you can go to the File menu, and choose Open Database)
  • Now, you need to open the database from the main computer, so you should enter the full path to the main computer. For example: \\DESKTOP-VMN9GIN\Excellerate

(Note – if you get an error trying to access that folder, it means you don’t have sharing set up correctly, or you don’t have the correct user id & password to access the share. You will need to further investigate your steps for sharing.)

  • When you open that path, you should see your database file, possibly called “database” or “database.mdb”. Or you may have called the database something else when you created it.
  • Log into Excellerate, and answer YES to the prompt “Make this your default database?”

That’s it. Now both computers can access the same database.