Finding duplicates
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Duplicates are caught in three places: while you type, when you import, and on a screen listing everything waiting.
Telling Deeluge what identifies a record
Each field can be set to one of three roles. Changing this needs permission to edit the schema.
| What it does | |
|---|---|
| Identity | Two records cannot share this value. An email address, a company domain. |
| Hint | Matching values are flagged, not blocked. A company name. |
| Off | Ignored when looking for duplicates. |
Identity also makes the field unique. That is the point: it is the thing that tells one record from another.
Hint is for fields that suggest a duplicate without proving one. Two companies can share a name; two people genuinely cannot share an email address.
Getting these right is what makes everything else on this page work.
While you type
Adding a record and typing into an identity or hint field warns you as you go if something matching already exists, before you save rather than after.
On import
Rows matching an existing record on an identity field are held back rather than created. Rows that only resemble something are flagged.
Nothing is merged automatically. An import that silently merged records would be impossible to unpick afterwards.
The Duplicates screen
Duplicates in the CRM sidebar lists everything waiting:
- rows from an import that could not be placed confidently
- existing records that share an identity value
When an object has something waiting, a link such as 3 duplicates appears at the right of the view bar, and takes you there filtered to that object. It is hidden when there is nothing waiting.
Everyone who can open the CRM can see this screen. Acting on it needs permission to write.
For each waiting row you choose:
- Merge into the existing record
- Skip it
- Create it as a new record
Which to choose
Merge when it is genuinely the same thing — the same person with their email spelled differently, the same company from two sources.
Create when the resemblance is coincidental. Two different people at the same company. Two companies with similar names.
Skip when the row adds nothing. A stale export, a row you already handled.
If you are unsure, skip. A duplicate you can merge next week costs far less than a merge you cannot undo.