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User Relations

ChurchBuddy can track relationships between people in your organization (family members, spouses, parent-child relationships, etc.). This helps you manage family connections, coordinate scheduling, and maintain organization records.

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Overview

User relations allow you to:

• Add Relationships - Define relationships between users (husband/wife, parent/child, sibling, etc.)
• Automatic Reciprocals - The system automatically creates reciprocal relationships
• View Relationships - See relationships in user profiles
• Remove Relationships - Remove relationships when needed

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Relationship Types

ChurchBuddy supports various relationship types:

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Spousal Relations

• husband → wife
• wife → husband
• spouse → spouse (symmetric)

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Parent-Child Relations

• father → child
• mother → child
• parent → child
• son → parent
• daughter → parent
• child → parent

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Sibling Relations

• brother → sibling
• sister → sibling
• sibling → sibling (symmetric)

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Grandparent-Grandchild Relations

• grandfather → grandchild
• grandmother → grandchild
• grandparent → grandchild
• grandson → grandparent
• granddaughter → grandparent
• grandchild → grandparent

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Aunt/Uncle Relations

• aunt → niece/nephew
• uncle → niece/nephew
• niece → aunt/uncle
• nephew → aunt/uncle

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Cousin Relations

• cousin → cousin (symmetric)

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In-Law Relations

• father-in-law → son-in-law/daughter-in-law
• mother-in-law → son-in-law/daughter-in-law
• son-in-law → father-in-law/mother-in-law
• daughter-in-law → father-in-law/mother-in-law
• brother-in-law → brother-in-law/sister-in-law
• sister-in-law → brother-in-law/sister-in-law

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Step-Family & Other (mobile)

The mobile app also supports: stepfather, stepmother, stepson, stepdaughter, and other. On web, related appears as a display fallback but is not a selectable type in the dropdown.

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Adding a Relationship

To add a relationship between two users:

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Web

1. Go to People and open a person’s detail page (/org-person-detail/)
2. Scroll to the Family Relations section
3. Click Add Relation
4. Select the related person and choose the relationship type
5. Click Add Relation

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Mobile

1. Go to More → My Profile
2. Scroll to Family
3. Tap Add
4. Select a person and relationship type
5. Tap Add Relation

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Example

If John wants to add his wife Jane:

1. Open John’s profile (web detail page or My Profile on mobile)
2. Click Add Relation
3. Select Jane from the person dropdown/list
4. Choose relationship type wife
5. Save

The system will automatically:

• Add Jane as John’s wife
• Add John as Jane’s husband (reciprocal relationship)

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Reciprocal Relationships

ChurchBuddy automatically creates reciprocal relationships when you add a relation:

• When you add “John is Jane’s husband”, the system automatically adds “Jane is John’s wife”
• When you add “Alice is Bob’s mother”, the system automatically adds “Bob is Alice’s child”
• When you add “Charlie is Dave’s brother”, the system automatically adds “Dave is Charlie’s sibling”

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Reciprocal Mapping

The system uses a mapping to determine reciprocal relationships:

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Viewing Relationships

Relationships appear in user profiles. To view relationships:

1. Go to People
2. Find and open a person’s profile
3. Look for Family Relations (web person detail) or Family (mobile My Profile)
4. You’ll see:
   • List of all their relationships
   • Related person’s name and email
   • Relationship type
   • Links to view related person’s profile

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Relationship Display

Relationships are displayed showing:

• Related Person - Name and email of the related person
• Relationship Type - How they’re related (e.g., “Wife”, “Child”, “Sibling”)
• Profile Link - Link to view the related person’s profile

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Removing a Relationship

To remove a relationship:

1. Go to the person’s profile
2. Find the Family Relations or Family section
3. Find the relationship you want to remove
4. Click Remove
5. Confirm the removal

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Requirements

Web: Owner or Organization Admin only — both people must exist in the same organization; you cannot relate a person to themselves. Mobile: Any user can add relations on their own My Profile.

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Use Cases

User relations are useful for:

1. Family Coordination - Track family members for scheduling and coordination
2. Communication - Send messages to families or groups of related people
3. Scheduling - Consider family relationships when creating schedules
4. Records - Maintain accurate organizational records
5. Permissions - Use relationships for permission and access control (if configured)

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Best Practices

1. Be consistent - Use the same relationship types consistently (e.g., always use “spouse” or always use “husband”/“wife”)
2. Use specific types - Use specific relationship types (e.g., “mother” instead of “parent”) when possible for clarity
3. Verify emails - Ensure email addresses are correct before adding relationships
4. Review regularly - Periodically review relationships to keep them accurate
5. Remove outdated relations - Remove relationships when they’re no longer applicable
6. Document changes - Keep records of relationship changes if needed for your organization

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Troubleshooting

Can’t add relationship:

• Verify both users exist in the organization
• Check that both users are in the same organization
• Ensure you have permission to edit user information
• Verify email addresses are correct

Reciprocal relationship not created:

• The system automatically creates reciprocal relationships
• If you don’t see a reciprocal, check the related person’s profile
• Verify the relationship was saved successfully

Relationship already exists:

• Each user can only have one relationship entry with another user
• To change a relationship type, remove the existing relationship first, then add it again with the new type

Can’t find relationship section:

• Web: Open the person from People → /org-person-detail/ → Family Relations
• Mobile: More → My Profile → Family (own relations only; viewing others is read-only under More → People)

Wrong relationship type:

• Remove the incorrect relationship
• Add it again with the correct relationship type