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Deduplicating data from forms
Deduplicating data from forms

How deduplication works for form submissions

Updated over 3 months ago
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Form data can come in through many different shapes and sizes, and many different form inputs. So what does Beacon do to make sure your data is clean and duplicate free? No need to worry about that one, we've got you covered through automated deduplication and we'll run through the details of that below!


How does the form deduplication work?

Deduplication for forms would depend on the type of form you're using - rather than set criteria such as import templates. This would be about what the form is updating, and what information needs to be created from the form submission.

  • People record will deduplicate based on the Name & Email fields

  • Organisation record will deduplicate based on Name

  • People data will deduplicate based on Name & Email fields

  • Organisation record will deduplicate based on Name

  • Payment will be created as a new record

  • Subscription (if relevant) will be created as new

  • People data will be deduplicated based on Name & Email fields

  • Organisation record will deduplicate based on Name

  • Event Attendee/Ticket will be created as new records

  • Payment (if relevant) will be created as new

  • People will be deduplicated based on Name & Email fields

  • Organisation record will deduplicate based on Name

  • Membership record will be created as new (or deduplicated by member number if a renewal)

  • Payment/Subscription will be created as new records


Frequently asked questions

When deduplicating people by name and email address, does it also work for secondary email addresses?

Yes! If someone uses an email that is secondary on their record, they will still be deduplicated. We'll also set that email as their primary going forwards.

What happens if I want to update existing information rather than create new records?

If you're wanting the form submitter to actively update information on an existing Beacon record that isn't supported by the forms above, Portal forms would be the way to go here! Portal forms would allow the user to see and to update any relevant existing information, without creating a duplicate record within your system.

Why may I be finding duplicates through forms?

Deduplication might be automated through forms, but if there are duplicates visible, that would mean a different name or email was used in the form!

Here, using the Suggested Duplicate feature on the People record will allow you to catch anything that was missed, by form submissions that have a variation in name or a different email.


What if I don't ask for attendees names or email addresses on an Event Registration form?

If you're not looking to log attendee's names or emails, you would have no criteria for the form to deduplicate by - so that would be worth keeping in mind before you proceed!

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