Over time, all workspaces can get messy. Whether that’s an overflowing email inbox, a “catchall” folder on your desktop, or your digital tools like the TapClicks Marketing Operations Platform, routinely cleaning up your workspace is the key to maximizing your productivity and minimizing distractions. 

In this article, we will explore some best practices to help you clean up your TapClicks instance and some easy tips to keep it clutter-free in the future. 

Data Connections

Maintaining your data connections to TapClicks is vital, but is there any data that you don’t need in TapClicks? Data Load Status can help you sleuth this out. 

Any connection failures in the Connection Status tab will have a red x icon, which should be fixed if you want to bring in that data. (Hover over the red x icon to get the details on how to correct it.)  Also, if you don't need fresh data from the source, but still need access to the historical data, you can pause the data flow. Learn how to pause data flow in this article. 

In the Connection Status tab, you’ll also want to look for any connections that show 0 assignments, which means the data isn’t associated with a client or campaign.

While the data is successfully being fetched in the example, without being assigned to a client means the data cannot be used in the tools across the platform to help you transform, analyze, or visualize the data. Assign the data to an appropriate client or campaign. Otherwise, consider removing the data connection for less clutter and streamlined data connectivity maintenance. 


Inactive Users

TapClicks Super Admins can create users and manage their access by setting their status to active/inactive. From the Users page, Super Admins can download a user list that shows the user’s last login date and how many times they’ve logged into the platform. If you have hundreds of users, this can be an easy way to quickly assess who’s using the platform regularly. 

To clean up, you can set users to inactive by clicking the “Make Inactive” button as you see here:

 
 
When you set an inactive user’s status back to “Active,” all of their personalized user details (such as their password, page Favorites, and default homepage) will be restored. 

Scheduled Reports

Report Scheduler - automates the sending of reports on a regular basis. Scheduled reports with an end date will organize themselves (and move to the “Completed” tab). Super Admins can download a list of all scheduled reports. When you download the list, evaluate the recipients and frequency of the active reports. Is this what you expected? 

If you see any report schedules that aren’t needed, you can edit the schedule and set the Status to inactive. If you need to change the status of several schedules at once, you can use the bulk upload button at the top of the Report Scheduler page. 

 

 

Unused Calculations

Calculations can help you transform data for visualization. At a glance, you can surface any unused Calculations by looking for a red trash can icon on the Calculations page. When you see a Calculation that can be deleted, you should consider: if the calculation isn’t used anywhere, do we still need it? 

Calculations that are in use in the platform cannot be deleted (and the trash can icon is grayed out). To find out where a calculation is being used, Super Admins can click on the "View Relationships" icon to see how the calculation is being used across TapClicks.  For Calculations that are in use, you can click on the grayed-out trashcan to see the widgets that use the Calculation.

 

If you’re hesitant to delete a calculation, you can change the Calculation name to indicate it shouldn’t be used such as “DON’T USE” or “ARCHIVED.” 


Future Proofing 

One of the easiest ways to keep your instance well-organized is to clean up while you go. Make it a habit to finish testing and remove anything that’s not needed. For example, if you tinker with a Calculation or test out a new Dashboard template, remove any tests once you’re done. Your future self and other teammates will thank you for keeping everything streamlined and clutter-free. 

If you have a work in progress that you want to retain, come up with a naming convention that’s easy for everyone to follow like adding “draft” or “WIP” (work in progress) along with your name or initials to things you create in TapClicks. Adding a name and status will make it easier to follow up with the creator -- are you still working on this or can it be removed?

Generally, good naming conventions are short while being unique and descriptive. Most of all, being consistent about how your team names things across the platform is the best antidote for staying organized. 

 

Get Going

You’re ready to tackle the simple tips in this article and tidy up your TapClicks platform. Like any other good clean routine you have, this can take some meaningful time to accomplish and time in the future. If you barely found the time to read this article let alone the time needed to organize your workspace, let TapClicks tackle it for you! Our managed services team can provide you with a deep audit and full cleanup consultation to get your instance in tip-top shape and we’ll help you maintain that shiny clean! Talk with your CSM or account rep to find out more about managed services.