Duplicate search: rules and automatic merging
The central duplicate rules determine which participant profiles appear as possible duplicates. You can activate detection, select comparison fields, and set a threshold for suggestions. Additionally, automatic merging is available for conflict-free matches.
Open rules and activate detection
- Open the global settings and Duplicate Search.
- Switch to the Settings tab.
- Activate the duplicate search if new candidates are to be searched for.
- Change the rules and wait for Saved.
- Then check the results under Open Duplicates.
If the feature is inactive, the background process stops processing the account and performs no automatic merges there. Existing people and suggestions remain. The manual Search for duplicates action on a profile is a separate search request and can still check candidates again.
Define fields, required comparison, and weight
| Setting | Effect | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Active | The field is included in the comparison. | Compare last name and personnel number. |
| Required | The value must match for a candidate to be accepted. | A unique personnel number must match. |
| Weight | Determines the proportion of the field in the match score; values from 1 to 10 are possible. | Give the personnel number a higher weight than the first name. |
Compare stable, consistently maintained values. Shared family addresses, common names, or central company email addresses are not unique on their own. Custom date and file fields are not supported; the interface marks them accordingly. Suitable custom text fields can be used.
Global switch, field rule, and profile note
| Display or setting | What it states | What you check |
|---|---|---|
| Global switch under Duplicate Search | Controls the account-wide background processing. | The saved state and the actually active comparison fields. |
| Active/Required/Weight of a field rule | Determines whether and how this field influences the comparison. | Suitable field format as well as real and sufficiently maintained person values. |
| Active/Inactive on the participant data field | It is a field-specific display, not a separate global search switch. | Check the central rule via Edit in duplicate search. |
| Duplicate count in the profile overview | Shows the loaded open candidates for this person. | After rule changes, reopen the profile and search again in the assistant if necessary. The absence of a note is not proof that the feature is disabled. |
Treat a continuing contradictory Active/Inactive display as a separate checkpoint. The sequence Distinguish between profile display and global activation leads from the saved rule state to the candidate comparison. Changing the person status is not a solution for this.
Understand the candidate threshold and match score
Under Candidates % you set the match score at which a suggestion is displayed. The value is between 0 and 100. Higher values narrow down the suggestions more strictly; a field marked as required comparison must match regardless.
The score is calculated from matching weights relative to the weights included in the comparison. It does not confirm identity. Example: first name with weight 1 and last name with weight 2 match, but email with weight 2, also included in the comparison, does not. This gives 3 out of 5 points, or 60 percent. A failed required comparison still prevents the pair from being accepted as a candidate.
Prepare automatic merging
- First check the candidates with Auto-Merge disabled.
- Compare known true duplicates and known different persons.
- Decide only after this check whether you want to enable Auto-Merge.
- Set the required threshold under Auto-Merge %.
- Select under Survivor whether the newest or oldest profile should remain.
- Regularly check merged profiles and open suggestions afterwards.
Only sufficiently high matches without field conflicts and with matching required comparisons are merged automatically. The automatic threshold does not replace these two conditions. The manual assistant requires an explicit field selection in case of conflicts.
The hard upper limit is ten profiles per merge; the displayed account limit may be lower. The merged source profiles are deleted. Check profiles with subscriptions or passes separately in advance, as described in the Merging guide.
Monitor Auto-Merge in live operation
- Document the used required fields, weights, thresholds, and survivor strategy in a way that is understandable for your team.
- After background processing, check open suggestions and known comparison cases again. A saved rule does not guarantee successful results for all existing profiles.
- Open the remaining profile and under Overview → Notes the system note Duplicates merged automatically. Compare the involved profile IDs and the strategy.
- Check master data, status, bookings, invoices, and notes. Existing subscriptions and passes must be clarified separately in advance.
- If results are unexpected, set Auto-Merge to Inactive and investigate the existing profiles. Disabling it does not restore source profiles already removed.
No separate Auto-Merge email is configured. The Note and result check is therefore part of the operational process. If an expected pair does not appear, use the Diagnosis for missing candidates and do not just change the percentage threshold.
Delete found suggestions
The action Delete all found duplicates removes open and outdated search suggestions and resets the search index for reprocessing. It does not delete participant profiles. Permanently ignored pairs remain intact; the action does not undo a previous ignoring. Use it, for example, if you have corrected a previously unsuitable rule and want to re-evaluate suggestions. Read the confirmation before execution.
After rule changes, a new candidate search may be necessary. Open Open duplicates, update the list, and check new suggestions before merging.
Two sensible rule examples
Corporate courses with a personnel number: The organization compares first name, last name and a custom unique personnel number. It marks the number as a required comparison, gives it a higher weight and checks cases involving name changes. Auto-Merge remains disabled during introduction.
Family offer with shared email: The organization does not use email as the sole identification. It checks first names and its own stable features and does not merge profiles of different family members, even if the score is high.
Suspend automatic merging for memberships
If your account contains time-based subscriptions or passes, keep Automatic merging disabled until support confirms complete transfer of assignments, periods and uses. Impact counts for bookings, invoices and notes do not prove this transfer. Automatic selection has no separate exception for profiles with memberships.
Detection can still provide candidates. Check these in Open duplicates and do not merge affected profiles for the time being. Details are under Profiles with subscriptions or passes.
Check rules together with the booking path
Duplicate search evaluates existing profiles. For repeat public registrations, also configure reuse of the existing profile in the participant form. For recurring groups, check identification and master access. This establishes a traceable process before later cleanup.
Explicitly check two different persons with a shared contact address as a counter-example. The match score and a confirmed email address do not prove that both profiles belong to the same person. Multiple intended bookings of a single profile remain a different case; the Distinction between profile and booking helps in the decision.