Duplicate search: review and merge participants

The duplicate search finds possible duplicate participant profiles. An assistant supports you in comparing and controlled merging. Use it when the same person has received a second profile, for example, through a new registration or an import.

A match score indicates matching information. Check whether the profiles really belong to the same person, especially for families, company addresses and shared email addresses.

Open duplicates

Open the global settings and Duplicate Search → Open Duplicates.
Check the suggested persons, the Score, the conflict-free or Conflict designation, and the matching fields.
Note the displayed impacts on bookings, invoices, and notes.
Select Check to open the assistant. With Refresh, you reload the overview.

A duplicate notification in a participant profile may also lead to the wizard. Detection follows the central duplicate rules.

Step 1: Check candidates

Select the appropriate candidate. The assistant shows the match value, conflict status, and the considered fields with weighting. Search for duplicates updates the search for the open profile.

If the profiles belong to different persons, select Ignore duplicates. This keeps the persons and discards this suggestion. Do not create another profile in an unclear situation.

Distinguish between profile display and global activation

A missing duplicate hint in the profile does not automatically mean that the account-wide search is switched off. Check the actual context:

Open Settings → Duplicate Search → Settings. Check the global activation switch and at least one matching active comparison field. Wait for Saved.
Open the same profile in the correct account again. The current profile overview shows a duplicate hint with a count only if open candidates for this person have been loaded. It does not have its own on/off switch for duplicate detection per person.
Open the assistant via More → Search for duplicates and perform the new search there. Compare the result with Open Duplicates in the global settings.
If you see Active/Inactive when editing a participant data field, this display refers to the individual field. Use Edit in duplicate search to check its central comparison rule. An inactive field does not mean that the entire search must be switched off.
If an older or contradictory view still reports «Duplicate search inactive» after reloading administration while the centrally saved rules are active, document the view, step and visible message. Clarify the display discrepancy with support and use the central candidate comparison to check the actual identities.

Do not change the active status of the participating person for this purpose, and do not merge persons with the same surname without checking. Several family members are not duplicates of the same person. The following steps explain how to check actually missing candidates.

Two known profiles are not displayed as candidates

The current wizard merges detected open candidates. It does not let you freely select any two profiles by entering IDs. If a pair you know about is missing, check detection first; lowering the percentage threshold alone does not guarantee a match.

Open both profiles in the same edoobox account and compare the actually stored details. If necessary, display the ID column in the User Overview to clearly distinguish the two profiles. A name or a shared contact address is not sufficient as proof of identity.
Check the active fields, mandatory comparisons, weights, and Candidates % under Settings → Duplicate Search → Settings. Keep Auto-Merge inactive during a rule correction. The change affects detection across the entire account.
Check for missing or deviating values. An empty mandatory comparison field does not pass the comparison. Similar names are not an arbitrary fuzzy search; at least one suitable matching recognition feature must enable the pre-selection. Correct only demonstrably incorrect master data.
Open the wizard on both existing profiles and select Search for duplicates on each. After a rule change, the other existing profiles must also be processed again. Refresh in the open list reloads existing suggestions; this is different from running a new search on a profile.
Check whether the pair was deliberately ignored earlier. Permanently ignored pairs do not simply reappear by searching again or Delete all found duplicates. This deletion action retains the ignored pairs.
If an open candidate appears, continue with field comparison and confirmation. If it does not appear or a pair was accidentally ignored, clarify the case with support using the two profile IDs and the rules used. The current dialog does not offer its own step to undo such an ignoring.

Do not artificially change names, addresses, or identification numbers just to force a match. Do not create a third profile either. Bookings, invoices, and existing subscriptions or passes remain assigned to the existing profiles until the clarified merge.

Example: Two profiles belong to the same person, but a personnel number configured as a mandatory comparison is present in only one. The team checks the original records and adds only the verified missing value. They then search for candidates again, compare both profiles and only afterwards decide which profile should remain.

Step 2: Select fields and remaining profile

Select the profile that should remain after the merge. In the dialog, it is referred to as Survivor.
Compare the displayed master data and custom text fields.
For each field marked Selection required, choose the correct value for the actual person.
Pay special attention to email address, name, language, company, and address before proceeding.

A field conflict remains a conscious choice. Empty details and pure differences in spaces or capitalization of names or emails are not always treated as a real contradiction. Nevertheless, check the content and the correct person.

Step 3: Confirm merge

The confirmation shows the remaining profile and the affected bookings, invoices, and notes. A maximum of ten profiles are allowed per merge; a lower account limit may additionally restrict the selection. As long as field conflicts are open, the completion is blocked.

Confirm the merge only after the check. The merged source profiles are removed; work in the remaining profile afterwards. Check master data, bookings, invoices, transactions, notes, and the entry for the merge there. Do not repeat the process while the result of an ongoing action is unclear.

Check success and automatic merges

After a successful manual merge, the assistant shows a success message. For later control, open the remaining participant profile → Overview → Notes. There, edoobox creates a system note:

Duplicates merged for a manual merge;
Duplicates automatically merged for Auto-Merge.

The note contains the time, surviving profile, merged profile IDs and selection strategy used. Open it, then compare master data, bookings, invoices and notes in the surviving profile. The former source profiles have been removed; they are not a second set of profiles available for further maintenance.

No separate email notification is provided for Auto-Merge. Therefore, plan a conscious follow-up check in the profile and do not rely on an expected message. An empty Open Duplicates list does not by itself prove a successful merge: A suggestion may also have been ignored, deleted, or become unsuitable due to changed rules.

If the expected entry is missing, reload the remaining profile and check whether both old profiles still exist separately. Do not blindly repeat an unclear action. Note both profile IDs, the time, and the expected result for clarification.

Check profiles with subscriptions or passes separately

Check the membership records under Memberships in the profile. Manage participant subscriptions describes their management. If your account contains such assignments, also clarify automatic merging before enabling it.

Duplicate profile or multiple bookings of the same person?

A participant profile can contain multiple bookings of the same person. A new course registration is therefore not in itself a reason to create a second profile or merge profiles. First open the persons and compare their bookings: If the new registration already belongs to the existing profile, no profile merge is necessary.

Compare name, personal features, and booking history. Two different family or club members may have the same contact address.
For the same person in two profiles, use the assistant described above and check subscriptions or passes beforehand.
For two accidental bookings by the same person, clarify the intended record in booking details and, if necessary, review cancellation or transfer. Merging profiles does not cancel an unwanted duplicate registration or resolve its financial review.
For the next registration, improve deliberate reuse of the existing profile with Magic Login or the group registration process.

Example: One person has two course bookings under one profile. Both bookings are intended; there is no profile duplicate. For another person, two profiles exist after a further registration. Only these profiles are merged after identity verification; the still valid bookings remain traceable.

Avoid duplicates already during import

The duplicate handling of the CSV import is a separate decision. Before the import, select the detection and the desired behavior for existing profiles and bookings. An import does not replace the check of already existing duplicate profiles.

Select the offered detection via email address or edoobox User-ID in the CSV import. A custom personal number can help in the central duplicate rules, but it is not a freely selectable import detection key.
Check for duplicate rows already in the source file.
First perform a small import with new and existing persons.
Then check profiles, bookings and the outbox.

Examples for the check

Two family members with the same address

Two persons use the same email address. First name and membership number differ; also, the previous bookings belong to different persons. The administration ignores the suggestion and keeps both profiles separate.

A person with old and new address

After a further registration, two profiles of the same person exist. In the field comparison, the administration selects the current address and the confirmed email address. After the merge, it checks bookings, invoices, and notes in the remaining profile.

Use a unique membership number

An organization maintains a unique number for each person. It includes the appropriate text field in the central rules, marks it as a mandatory comparison if necessary, and checks the matches with known example profiles. Only after a reliable rule check does it decide on automatic merging.