The old classroom became a gift shop three years ago, yet “Education Room B” still shows up in the location list every time someone sets up an event. A staff member picks it by mistake, the confirmation email sends families to a room that no longer exists, and someone spends the morning making phone calls. Cleaning up locations sounds like a five-minute job. In Altru it usually isn’t, and it helps to know why before you start.
Why a location often can’t simply be deleted
Locations in Altru aren’t just labels. Once a location has been attached to an event, a program, or a scheduled occurrence, it becomes part of that record’s history. Past events, registrations, and reports all point back to it. If the location vanished, those historical records would lose information, so Altru generally protects locations that are in use. Exactly how that protection shows up can vary, so treat the points below as what to expect rather than a guarantee.
In practice, that means:
- A location that has never been used can usually be deleted cleanly. Typos and test entries fall into this group.
- A location tied to past or future events will typically be blocked from deletion, or the delete will fail with a message that it’s in use.
That protection is a good thing. You don’t want this year’s attendance report to have holes in it because someone tidied a dropdown.
Is there an “inactive” setting for locations?
This is the part to verify for your own database rather than assume. Many code tables and configuration lists in Altru have an active/inactive option, but whether event locations specifically can be marked inactive, and whether an inactive location is actually hidden from every place staff choose one, isn’t something we’d want you to take on faith. Before you announce a cleanup plan, check:
- Open the location record and look for an active or status setting.
- If you find one, test it in a sandbox or on a throwaway location: mark it inactive, then try to add it to a new event and to an existing one.
- If there’s no setting, or it doesn’t keep the location out of the picker, ask Blackbaud support whether that behavior is expected in your version.
Workarounds that hold up
When delete is blocked and inactive isn’t available (or doesn’t do enough), these approaches keep history intact while steering staff away from retired locations.
Rename it so nobody picks it by accident
Edit the location name to something unmistakable, such as “zz RETIRED – Education Room B”. The “zz” pushes it to the bottom of alphabetical lists, and “RETIRED” tells anyone who scrolls that far not to use it. Past events keep their link to the location; reports will show the new name, which is usually fine as long as the original name stays readable after the prefix.
Update the description and details
If the location carries a description, address, or capacity that flows into event setup or communications, update it to say the space is no longer in use. That way, if someone does pick it, the mistake is obvious before anything goes out to the public.
Find out what’s still using it
Before you rename or retire anything, build a query on events (or event occurrences) filtered by location. Look in particular for future events. Those need to be moved to the correct location first, otherwise registrants could get directions to a closed space. Past events can stay as they are.
Delete the true leftovers
Once your query confirms a location has never been used, go ahead and delete it. Duplicates created by accident (“Main Hall” and “Main Hall – Ground Floor” for the same space) are worth merging by moving any events to the one you’re keeping, then deleting the empty one.
Keep the list from growing back
- Limit who can add locations. If every event coordinator can create them, duplicates are inevitable. Check your security roles and keep location setup with one or two people.
- Agree on a naming pattern. Something like “Building – Room” makes duplicates easy to spot and helps temporary spaces stand out.
- Review once a year. Run the location query each winter or before your busy season, retire anything that’s gone, and delete anything never used.
Quick answers
Will renaming a location change past event records?
The events stay linked to the same location, so they’ll display the new name. If you need the original name in historical reporting, keep it in the renamed version after the prefix.
Can I move all events from one location to another at once?
We aren’t aware of a dependable bulk option for this, so plan on updating future events individually. Confirm with Blackbaud support if you have a large number to move.
