We hope you are enjoying your summer so far and staying cool. Our support team is here to help no matter the temperature and no matter the question! If you have any questions, please reach out to us. Our normal business hours are Monday through Friday, 9:00am to 5:30pm Eastern Time. You can contact us by calling us toll free at 1-800-562-6080 or emailing support@museumsoftware.com.

Please note, our support and sales office will be closed for the Labor Day holiday on Monday, September 1st.

Association of Midwest Museums

Dates: July 23 (virtual), July 30 - August 2 (in person)

Location: Davenport, IA

Website: https://www.ammconference.org/

Society of American Archivists

Dates: August 24-27

Location: Anaheim, CA

Website: https://www2.archivists.org/am2025

Association of Science and Technology Centers

Dates: September 5-8

Location: San Francisco, CA

Website: https://www.astc.org/astc-2025/

American Association for State and Local History with the Ohio Local History Alliance

Dates: September 10-13

Location: Cincinnati, OH

Website: https://aaslh.org/annualconference/2025-annual-conference/

As summer begins, many organizations will welcome summer interns. If your interns will be working with PastPerfect, there are a few key ways you can position them for success and make sure both you and they get the most out of the experience!

PastPerfect 5.0 has an optional Security feature which allows you to set restrictions based on user groups. Each group can be restricted from performing certain actions or accessing program areas. Setting up user accounts for each of your interns and assigning them to a group with the appropriate restrictions will prevent your interns from making changes you don’t want them to make. With Security activated, you can also see when your interns have logged in and what records they have edited.

Another way to ensure a successful experience is to set up and require the use of Authority Files. An Authority File is a list of pre-set terms for a particular field that can help speed up data entry and reduce errors. It is especially important to use Authority Files for Location fields and fields like People or Search Terms. For example, let's say an intern is recording that the location of an item is in the Northwest Building. Should they type out "Northwest"? Or use the abbreviation "NW"? If they use "NW Building" when they should be using "Northwest Building" this will mean searching in the Home Location Building field will return less accurate results if you only search for "Northwest Building". 

Another authority file we recommend using is the Users Authority File. By adding the names of your interns to this authority file, they can then populate fields like Cataloged by, Status by, and Inventoried by. These fields are used to record who has done specific tasks related to the item. These fields can also be used by you or your interns to report on the work that was done during the internship.

One of the best ways to ensure interns are able to get the most out of working with PastPerfect is to take advantage of the free resources available on our website. If your intern has time, they can familiarize themselves with PastPerfect before their internship starts by installing the PastPerfect 5.0 evaluation version. The evaluation version comes pre-loaded with demo data so users can practice using the program without having to worry about affecting actual data. 

We also have Video Tech Tips and articles in our Knowledge Base that cover common questions or situations users may come across when working in PastPerfect. We also have our PastPerfect 5.0 User Guide available online for free, so users can learn more about the different program areas and capabilities of PastPerfect. The User Guide is even searchable, so your interns can look up the sections that may be the most relevant to them. And of course, if a question or problem ever arises that either you or your intern don’t know how to solve, feel free to contact our support team at 1-800-562-6080 or at support@museumsoftware.com.

PastPerfect 5.0 has an optional Security feature which requires users to sign into the program with a username and password. Each PastPerfect user account must belong to a security group. PastPerfect has 10 built-in security groups, which can be assigned different levels of access in terms of the actions they can perform and the program areas they can access. 

Let's say you have new interns who will be cataloging items in your collection. This may include adding new records and updating existing records.

From the Main Menu, click Setup, then click Security. Using the Next button at the top, navigate to the Group you will assign your interns to. In the left sidebar, you will see all of the Program Areas where you can apply restrictions. In order to restrict a group from an area or an action, you will need to check the box next to the restriction.

The first Program Area is for Catalogs. You will likely want your interns to have access to all catalogs and to be able to add, edit, and print records. However, you likely don’t want interns to delete records, so you can prevent them by putting a check next to Delete. This means the Delete button will be disabled on all catalog records. You may also want to consider restricting your interns from accessing certain information on catalog records such as Appraisal or Source.

You will want to go through each Program Area and confirm your restrictions. For example, if your interns will be working only in collections, they shouldn't need to have access to anything related to Development. If you click the Development button in the left side bar, you can then restrict this group from accessing Contacts, Campaigns, Contact Lists, and Pledges & Receipts.

Once you've gone through all of the Program Areas, you can click the Add or Display Group Users button at the top. Click the Add User button and enter the name for one of your interns and assign them a password. Then click the Add button.

If this is the first time you are activating Security, please make sure to set up at least one user under the Administrator group, which should have no restrictions. Otherwise no one will be able to have access to Security to make changes. Administrators are the only group who can see and change users' passwords.

For more information on setting up Security, check out our Knowledge Base Article, https://pastperfect.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360023438013-How-do-I-set-up-Security-in-PastPerfect.

The Pledges & Receipts screen in PastPerfect's Development section allows you to view, post, and report on monetary donations, dues payments, and pledges. In our Spring 2025 Newsletter we reviewed the Donations reports available from this screen. In this article, we will explore the Dues reports.

Print Receipts

Click the Print Receipts button under Dues in the left side bar to print the Dues Receipts by Membership Type report. By default, all Membership Types will be included. If you would like to report on a specific Membership Type, select it from the "Type" drop-down. You can further narrow your list by selecting a Membership Subtype.

The Date Range "from" and "thru" dates are populated from the active tab on the Pledges & Receipts screen. For example, if the year setting is 2025, and the selected tab at the top is June, when you click Print Receipts, the Date Range will be 06/01/2025 thru 06/30/2025. You can expand or narrow your results by changing the Date Range. When you include all Membership Types, you can check the Subtotal by Membership box to include the subtotal of dues payments received by each Membership Type within your selected date range.

This report can be sorted by Date, Membership Name, Dues Amount, Membership Type, or Last Name. You can preview the report or print the report to several output options, including a printer and PDF format. You also have the option to Export this data to Excel. By default, the following fields are included on the report: Date, Membership #, Membership Name, Dues Amount, Payment Type, Reference # (Check #), Membership Type, Membership Subtype, Notes.

Print List

Print List is a quick way to report on dues payments received during a specific month or year. Before clicking the Print List button, you'll need to select the year and/or month for the membership dues you want to include on the report. Use the Change Year field at the bottom of the left side bar to set the year. Then select the month tab or Entire year tab at the top of the Pledges & Receipts screen.

Once you select the month or year, click Print List in the Dues section of the left side bar. You can sort the dues payments by Date, Membership #, Membership Name, Dues Amount, or Membership Paid Thru Date. The report can be previewed or printed to a number of output options. The data can also be exported to Excel. This report's default fields are Date, Membership #, Membership Name, Membership Type, Dues Amount, Reference # (Check #), and Paid Thru Date.

The latest update, published on June 16, 2025, includes the following changes:

• Added ability to Export to CSV from the People & Creators - Query screen
• Restriction added in Settings | Roles & Restrictions | Software General for "Search". This restriction will prevent users from accessing the Search functions: Quick Search, Full Catalog Search, Search by Lexicon.
• New framework for Public Access which provides an updated user experience and ensures the basic site structure for all sites conforms to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 Level AA.

To see a full list of features and fixes from each update, click "Version History" in the footer while you are logged into the Web Edition software.

We now have on-demand training classes available for each of the four catalogs: Objects, Photos, Archives, Library. Each class reviews the fields available in that catalog, how to add new records, and explores common cataloging scenarios. We also have a class on the Accession Process. Training classes are can be found on our GoToStage channel https://www.gotostage.com/channel/pastperfectwebedition. Later this summer we will have training classes available for Contacts and Contacts Settings.

Catalog Lists are helpful when you want to work with groups of collection records. This article's focus is on how to change location information for all of the catalog records on a list. This article is the fourth in our series on using Catalog Lists. Please see our Fall 2024 newsletter for information about Creating Catalog Lists, our Winter 2025 newsletter for how to use the Inventory Functions, and our Spring 2025 newsletter for descriptions of all Catalog List Actions.

Using the Change Location feature allows you to globally update the Home and Temporary Locations for all records on a Catalog List. Use caution when making changes here because these changes are irreversible. We recommend you make a data backup under Utilities | Data Backup before proceeding. The backup process will take just a few minutes and can save hours of work if a mistake is made.

The following options are available when you click "Change Location" on a Catalog List:

Change Inventory Information

Globally update the Inventoried By and/or Last Inventoried date fields on all records by checking the box next to each field you want to update. The Inventoried By field allows you to select a name from the Staff Authority File. The Last Inventoried field allows you to select a date using the calendar.

Return to Home Location

By checking the Return to Home Location box, you can clear the Temporary Location fields for all records on the list. In the Location accordion of these records, the current Home Location will be added to the location history as the newest entry. The Home Location tab will also be checked as the current location. At the top of each catalog record, the current location link will again display the Home Location.

Update Location

By checking Update Location, you can move the list's records to a different Home Location or Temporary Location. Check only the boxes for the fields you want to change. Then use the fields' authority files to select the new locations for all of these records. The Location accordion will then display the current location and a new entry will be added to the location history. The link at the top of each catalog record will also display the new location.

For step-by-step instructions, please visit the Web Edition User Guide https://www.museumsoftware.com/we/#t=cataloglists_changelocations.htm.

Contact Lists can be used to help organize your contacts into groups. Once you have records on a list, you can print the list, generate letters or emails, produce mailing labels, and export the list to CSV. This article covers how to create a list and is the first in a series on Contact Lists.

Creating a Contact List:

1. From the Main Navigation Bar, select "Development" and then "Contact Lists", or click the colored tile shortcut on the Home screen.
2. Click the "New List" button.
3. Enter a "List Name", then use the authority file to select a "List Category".
4. By default, the "List Manager" will be the name of the person logged in and creating the list. This can be changed to any active user account.
5. Click "Add New List".

Now that the list is created, you will be returned to the Contact Lists - Query screen. Since your list is the newest, it will be the first record in the grid.

Adding records to a Contact List:

1. On the Contact Lists - Query screen, click the list name link to open the list.
2. Click "Edit".
3. To add records using a filter, click "Add Records" to build a filter statement. You can add all records selected by that filter by clicking "Add All Records Selected by Filter" or check only the records you want to include on the list and then click "Add All Checked Records".
4. To add records from another list(s), click "Append Records". Check the box next to the list(s) you want to add records from, then click "Append Records".

Records can also be manually added to a list(s) from the Contact record's Lists accordion. While in Edit mode on a Contact record, open the Lists accordion and click "Add this contact to a list". Check the box next to the list name(s), then click "Add this contact to selected list(s)" and save the record.

For more information on Contacts Lists, visit the Web Edition User Guide https://www.museumsoftware.com/we/#t=researchreporting_contactlists.htm.

Curious about upgrading to PastPerfect Web Edition? We invite you to register for our hour-long, on-demand webinar with information about the collections and contacts capabilities of our cloud-based software. Register for a webinar here: https://museumsoftware.com/demo.html.

After the webinar, if you think Web Edition is the right choice for your organization, contact the team at webedition@museumsoftware.com to get started on the next steps.