COMING SOON | Improvements to Patron Relationship Manager

[morepurplemorebetter]

I’m very sad to see the old Patron Manager going away. Will it also become impossible to download a CSV of the current list of patrons (not just the active patrons, but everybody that hasn’t yet deleted)?

If I currently download the CSV through the Old Patron Manager it doesn’t include anybody who has already deleted their pledge, thus I get exactly the information I’m looking for. But I can’t get this same information from the new manager. The CSV over at the filtered Patron Relationship Manager just gives me all active patrons with no way to see who has deleted their pledge during the current month. This will severely impact my workflow.

Will there be any way to get an export of only the active, current patrons? Or a column in the CSV export that says the end date of the pledge? Or at the very least a separate export of who deleted their pledge?

Also, the Patron Relationship Manager has this very annoying bug that whenever I clear the filter at the top (where I enter an email address for example), the whole page turns white and I have to refresh the page. Can this be fixed?

[Ethan_Siegel]

The most important features for me are the ability to:

-export a csv file of all my patrons (including their email addresses),
-and to view the list of all my Patrons including who has and hasn’t paid (currently available here: https://www.patreon.com/manageRewardsList)

Please make sure these features stick around when you merge the new and old Patron managers.

Thank you.

[ARKstuff]

I’m having a hard time finding where it says we’re going to be able to mark Patrons completed or not. This is an essential feature and losing it would cause more processing work on my part. The “Old” Patron manager works perfectly for me and I really would like to not lose it.

[neil]

@Tina

We are excited to announce that all the functionality of Patron Manager is now available in Patron Relationship Manager and your Earnings Dashboard .

Not true. I still can’t filter to multiple tiers. I can select all, none, or one. Selecting multiple tiers would allow me to replicate the functionality that I had previously: selecting patrons from multiple tiers and sending them a single message. The new model has me sending a single message for each tier.

For example, I have a private message that goes out monthly to members of four tiers. Relationship manager requires me to filter and email four separate times. Patron Manager could be done with four clicks (to select all members of each tier) and then send one message. This is information I wouldn’t put in a post.

[thegentleminh]

Just to be clear, so both the Patron Managers (Old and New) will be removed in July? How do we mark patrons as completed in the Relationship Manager?

[Lem]

The ability to mark patrons as completed is a make or break feature.
Reward management should be the top priority here, seeing as this is a site for delivering rewards and both old versions of the manager did a relativity decent job of making that possible. The new version does not have these important features yet.
I have close to 400 patrons that I have to send messages to once per month to deliver a portion of their rewards. If I can’t mark them as complete, I have to manage them manually AKA make a list in Excel (which is absurd at this point) to make sure I’m only sending out messages ONCE to the people who have had their payment processed- which doesn’t always happen on the same day.
If I have to manually manage my patrons, why oh why would I pay Patreon fees for their product when they’ve removed all the features that I used? I’m all for improving the product, but you can’t strip out all the features and expect people to stick around. The current relationship manager is JUST THAT, a relationship manager. It doesn’t have any options for reward management at all, so why get rid of the old Patron Managers when the “new option” isn’t even the same thing??
This needs to be addressed ASAP!

[simrell]

can someone tell me if i’m using the new relationship manager correctly? am i going crazy? or is this ‘new and improved’ model actually way worse and inaccurate for sending out rewards to my paying patrons?

a few days ago i got a new patron at the 15 tier. so i go to the relationship manager and narrow down the fields to find my patrons for the month of june who have already paid for the 15 tier. my page is pay-up-front so this new patron, marissa, has already been charged and should be getting the rewards for this month, right? and yet… why isn’t she appearing in this list when i search her name?

but she does ACCURATELY show up in the old patron manager.

[simrell]

while playing with the charged statuses i noticed another troubling thing. it doesn’t list ‘deleted pledge’ patrons in the ‘paid’ category even if they already have paid for the month’s content. if someone deletes their pledge, they still get rewards for the month because they already paid. but with this method i can’t send them their rewards because the new manager doesn’t think they’ve paid.

the only way to see patrons who have both “paid + are still active” and “paid + deleted their pledge” is to use the ‘show all charge statuses’ but that also shows DECLINED and FRAUD patrons even tho they haven’t paid for the month’s content. how is this more efficient than what we had before?

[grifkuba]

This might be related:

Partners/Integration Megathread

Updated List: Deviant Art Wattpad Soundcloud Spotify Fan Fiction Net Trello Picarto AmazingMail Tapas Shopify Airtable TouchNote Apple Music Asana

[RuffyYoshi]

Would it be possible to change the layout of the new manager to look more like the first one? It had a nice compact list of icon-name-email-pledge-lifetime-status which is VERY useful to me since I send out rewards by email to avoid leaks. The new layout is missing the emails (and has a tad too much white space). You have to click on a patron to see their email and it’s super inconvenient when sending out rewards.

[DysonLogos]

I asked this three days ago without a response so far.

Would someone PLEASE explain how removing access to data is considered an improvement?

When I ask in other threads about seeing per-item pledges I’m told that won’t be available anymore… meanwhile it was the BACKBONE of the original patron manager which you are removing our access to next month.

Why is it so vital that you remove our access to this data? Even temporarily? Why not leave the tools for us to keep using them until they exist elsewhere on the site?

[westeroshistory]

@Tina please respond. This thread is extremely disheartening. You all are forcing a bunch of changes very few people want while claiming all the old functionality will remain… but that has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt to be a false claim.

What are we supposed to do here?

[tamberlane]

Omg, this THRILLS me. I want to offer the chance to beta read for all patrons of a certain Lifetime Patronage, and this has been awful to try to coordinate previously. I can’t wait to use this!

[Fellatrix]

Making the layout more aesthetically pleasing in favor of functionality is one thing…
But removing check boxes and the ability to mark patrons “complete” ruins my communication with daily groups of new patrons. A lot of others in this thread agree, you are making it harder for us to deliver rewards by removing these key features.

Keep the old Patron manager and pretty it up to meet your current aesthetic standards, but don’t remove functionality that makes it easy for creators to use your site. You will lose business due to frustration.

[fdasuarez]

I just find more useful, easy the old manager, I am very frustrated I will be obligated to use the new one soon. With the old one I can see easly and fast what Pledges have just been recently processed and I can have those separated from the ones that already were processed and sent their rewards. I love having the separation of completed patrons vs list of patrons. I do not like the new setting is confusing, there is no way to select all patrons for a message, no way to know which patrons just got their pledge processed and need their rewards because it just puts them in the same pile as the ones that got their pledge processed right at the start of the month.

Just overall really unhappy with this change.

[sesow]

PLEASE KEEP the old relationship manager! it is much easier for me to determine who is paid, etc. for the month. the NEW version adds about 1 hour of work for me each month. How can i still get the old format>???

[sesow]

If there isn’t a way to access the old relationship manager i may stop my patreon service. it adds too much time to processing using the ‘new’ format. patreon ends up costing me money with the excess time it takes to use the ‘new’ manager.

[jennp]

Hi all,

Thank you so much for all the conversation and feedback — we can’t tell you how helpful it is to hear how you use Patron Manager and the functionality you need to run your membership. I’m Jenn, a Product Manager here at Patreon, and I want to give you an update on where we are and what’s coming soon based on your feedback.

First, why are we making these changes now?
In the past, we’ve received clear feedback from creators that Patron Manager and Patron Relationship Manager aren’t as useful as they should be. Folks have told us they are looking for better filtering, more searchable data, additional data points (like t-shirt size), a better mobile experience, and more. In order to bring those improvements to life, we first need to consolidate the multiple legacy tools into one central tool to ensure we can add new features as quickly as possible. Merging these tools together clears the path for a series of improvements related to benefit delivery coming soon. And, importantly, we want to preserve the key functionality you currently use to run your business when we merge these tools together.

Your feedback has been extremely helpful in making sure that we continue to support your key workflows before we limit access to legacy tools. See below for new changes coming soon based directly on your feedback.

Main feedback and important improvements coming soon
We listened to your feedback and are responding by making some swift improvements to Patron Relationship Manager to ensure the main functionality you need is available before we limit access to legacy tools (Patron Manager). Your feedback has highlighted that the following actions are some of the most important workflows that should be supported in Patron Relationship Manager:

• Marking patrons complete (ie after delivering a benefit or sending a message)
• Viewing newest patrons (so you can send a message or deliver a benefit)
• Ability to search your full list of patrons, not just those on a certain page of results (ie “see more” or “see all” patrons in one list)
• Ability to filter by multiple tiers at a time (e.g. select multiple tiers to get a list of all patrons on your top two tiers, etc)
• Ability to view patron email addresses in the list view of patrons
• Selecting individual patrons or group of patrons to send a message

Good news! We’re working on it!
Currently, we have a team of engineers working on bringing these features and functionality into Patron Relationship Manager. Here’s a list of upcoming additions based on your feedback:

• You will be able to mark patrons complete: We are adding the ability to mark a patron complete in Patron Relationship Manager when you filter to a certain month or post. That means the Patron Relationship Manager will support the same “mark complete” workflow you may be used to in Patron Manager (to help you keep track of which patrons have received their benefits).
• You will be able to quickly view your newest patrons: We know many of you have workflows to welcome new patrons and start delivering benefits, so we’re providing a default view in Patron Relationship Manager that will sort your patrons by “Patron Since” date (ie the date patrons first signed up for your membership). You’ll be able to sort by ascending or descending order, however you please—which means you’ll also be able to easily see which patrons have been supporting you the longest.
• You will be able to see patron email addresses in the list view: We are adding a column to the list in Patron Relationship Manager that will display the patron’s email address, so it’s easy to grab the email address in the list view. Email addresses are also included in the CSV download of your patron list.
• You will be able to search your full patron list by name and email address: You no longer need to use “Ctrl + F” to search for patrons by email or name because the Search bar in Patron Relationship Manager searches across all your patrons, not just those visible on the page. You’re able to find patrons based on their name or email address.
• You will be able to select multiple tiers at once with filters: You’ll be able to select multiple tiers at a time to get a list of patrons across multiple tiers. This is helpful, for example, if you’re working through your list of patrons to deliver a benefit (mark complete) that is included in more than one tier.
• You will be able to see more patrons in the list by default: Some creators would prefer to see more (or all) patrons in a single list, so we’re increasing the number of patrons displayed on each page and working on a “show all” option that doesn’t slow down the page when you have thousands of patrons. In the meantime, if you’re a creator who needs to see all patrons on one page, we recommend downloading your patron list via the CSV button to get that full list in one view.
• You will be able to view patron details in a new side drawer: Moving forward, when you click on a patron in the list, we’ll display that individual patron’s data in a side panel format, including: shipping address, notes, and payment history. This will replace the right column you see on Patron Manager and Patron Relationship Manager.
• You are still able to send bulk messages to groups of patrons: In Patron Relationship Manager, you are able to send messages to groups of patrons who match the specific filter criteria you select.

Common uses and how-to’s
In addition to the workflows we’re addressing per the list above, we thought it would be helpful to round up a list of “how to’s” for common actions that are already supported in Patron Relationship Manager, as some of the feedback we received requested functionality that is available now. Check below for specific instructions on how to accomplish some of the most highly-requested tasks already available in Patron Relationship Manager.

Action	How-to
I want to sort by patron payment lifetime.	Sort by Patron Since to order your list from newest to oldest patrons. You can also sort by Lifetime to order your list from highest to lowest lifetime payment amount. To see specific payment history for a single patron, click on the patron’s name in the list to view the side drawer with more patron details, including payment history.
I want to see this current month and patrons with declined payments.	First, filter by current month and then, filter by Charge status: Declined.
I want to see a list of my oldest patrons.	Sort by Patron Since (ascending or descending) to see a list of your patrons ordered by the date they first signed up for your membership. Sorting by Patron Since will allow you to view your oldest patrons.
I want to see all new patrons this month.	Sort by Patron Since (ascending or descending) to see a list of your patrons ordered by the date they first signed up for your membership. Sorting by Patron Since will allow you to view your newest patrons.
I want to see a list of my active patrons this month/post.	Filter by Membership type: Active patrons and filter by Month (current month) or Post (specific post)
I want to see all declined payments.	Filter list by Charge Status: Declined
I want to filter and sort my patrons by tiers.	Filter list by All Tiers or specific tier and click the title of the Current Tier column in the list to sort tiers by tier price (ascending or descending)
I want to see all April patrons that have paid.	Filter by month (April) and Charge Status: Paid
I want to see a list of patrons with email address and “have-not-paid” status.	Filter by Membership type: Active patrons and sort Last Charge date so that blanks/dashes are listed at the top (patrons with a “-” dash have not paid). Alternatively, you can download a CSV of your full patron list and sort in this same way.
I want to message my filtered list of patrons.	Choose your patrons using desired filters and click the “Message patrons” button. This will send a message to all patrons who match your filter criteria.
I want to search for a patron by name or email.	Use the search bar to search for patron by email, name, or Discord name.

Join our advisory group
We’d love to get your direct input as we continue to develop new features! We’re putting together an advisory group of creators who will get early access and sneak peeks into features and tools coming soon—please join us! If there’s a particular feature or workflow you’d love for Patreon to support, this is your way to work directly with the people who are building your tools. We’ll be reaching out to this advisory group regularly with opportunities to provide feedback on new prototypes and ideas. We want you along for the journey! The time commitment is minimal and we’ll work around your schedule if you’re interested in working more directly with us.

Interested in joining? Sign up here.

Be on the lookout for more updates
We hope to see you in the advisory group, but if that’s not your thing, be on the lookout for updates when new features and workflows are available — we’ll update you here. From all of us working to make your experience better, thanks again for your thoughtful comments, questions, and feedback—stay tuned for more updates coming soon!

Thanks,
Jenn

[FutilityCloset]

Thanks for this, but you didn’t address the issue I’ve been trying to raise which is that the new Patron Relationship Manager doesn’t seem to let you see how a patron has capped their pledges (we’re a per creation account). We sometimes need to know this, and I’m not seeming to be able to get this addressed. An earlier post in this thread had said that the new Relationship Manager would have all the old functionality of the Patron Manager, but I haven’t been able to get an answer about how to access this functionality. Thanks.

[jennp]

Hi! You’re absolutely right–and we did pick this up as one of the improvements we’ll be making! We are, in fact, going to be supporting visibility into pledge cap/max pledge as well. We’ll be adding visibility into the pledge cap/max pledge amount in the list of your patrons, similar to how you are currently able to see this in Patron Manager (ie hover over pledge amount to see info about max). Apologies, it wasn’t listed as one of the top items we’re addressing, but we will in fact be addressing that. Thanks for pointing that out–hope that helps!