Preference Groups are used by Alinity to track user’s preferences regarding a wide variety of criteria. For example, clients can use Alinity’s Preference Group features to survey members about their willingness to participate in various committees, or to capture consent for receiving newsletters or distributing data to 3rd party partners.
In this post, we’re going to walk you how to create a preference group and capture members by adding a consent piece to this standard renewal form. And as usual you can always watch the video as well.
Preference Groups
There are two important components to using preference groups. First, a group must be created and configured to use the Preference Group functions of Alinity. Secondly, the relevant forms need to be configured to collect the appropriate data.
Preference Groups is an option available on all groups in the latest version of Alinity. You can edit an existing group to turn it into a preference group, or you can create a new one. Just click on the Groups tab in the side navigation bar and you’ll see a list of all your current groups, preference or otherwise.
To create a new Preference Group, start by creating the base Group by clicking the green Add button. Give the Group an easily identifiable and straightforward Short Name and Full Name. Because Preference Groups are primarily populated by members answering questions on forms, they shouldn’t be used with Smart Group sources, which populate groups automatically according to certain criteria. Just leave that field empty when creating your group.
You will be required to select a valid owner of the group. Your account will likely be pre-populated in that field if your profile has the appropriate group permissions, but you can add any valid owner from the dropdown list.
Of course, don’t forget to toggle on the Preference Group option. That’s the whole point of this process.
There’s likely no use for a Document library to be shared by members in this context, so again we’ll leave that blank. If you do happen to need to add one in the future, you can just toggle it on. Don’t forget to tag your group too.
Finally, make sure you add a description. While the description is generally an optional component for most groups, when you’re using Preference Groups, a description is a must. That’s because the text you enter here will ultimately appear on the associated form. It’s important when you’re writing the description that you phrase it as the question you’re posing to members and remember that it will be member-facing text.
When you’re done, it’s just a matter of connecting the new preference group to the relevant field on the associated form. This can be a technical task though, so you’ll likely require the assistance of Softworks’ technicians. Once your form has been configured though, that’s it! It will automatically seek out new preference groups and add them as you create them.
Now when a registrant accepts to be included in the group, they are automatically added and can be managed with the usual group functions.
Preference groups are a great way of collecting registrants’ willingness to participate in committees or consent to be included in surveys or other optional college related activities.
For more information about Alinity’s Preference Group features, or to arrange a free demonstration, contact us at info@softworksgroup.com.
English 
French