Explanation¶
Browse this Diátaxis content type by functional area and component.
68 page(s) in this section.
Appendices¶
- History of this book Learn how the CiviCRM manual's editions were written and who contributed to them. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
- Free software? Understand what free software means for CiviCRM and why it matters to non-profit organisations. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
Communication — Campaigns¶
- What is CiviCampaign? Learn how CiviCampaign connects activities under a campaign and helps organizations review their outreach. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
- What is CiviSurvey? Learn how CiviCampaign records offline survey responses and how an organisation can use them. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
- What is CiviPetition? Understand how petitions can gather signatures, responses, and information online. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
- What you need to know Understand the concepts and planning questions to consider before creating a petition. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
- Planning a campaign with CiviCampaign Understand what to consider before creating a campaign in CiviCampaign. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
- What you need to know Understand the concepts and decisions involved in planning a CiviCampaign survey. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
Communication — Mailings¶
- What is CiviMail? Learn what CiviMail does and how organisations use it for mass email campaigns. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
- What you need to know Understand CiviCRM's email options and the questions to consider before sending email. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
- Maintaining healthy email lists Understand email bounces and the differences between held addresses, unsubscribes, opt-outs, and the Do not email option. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
- Filing emails on cases Understand the ways case-related emails and other activities can be filed on a case. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
Configure, automate and extend — Custom data¶
- Profiles Understand what Profiles can do and how field choices affect their use. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
Configure, automate and extend — Extensions¶
- Extensions Understand what extensions provide, where to find them, and what happens when you install, disable, or uninstall them. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
- Extensions Learn where CiviCRM extensions come from and what their states mean. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-07-02
Configure, automate and extend — Installation¶
- CiviCRM Installation Guide Explains the scope of the installation guide and where to find related guidance. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-08-20
- Choosing a CMS for CiviCRM Compare CMS options and consider how your website needs to integrate with CiviCRM. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-08-20
- Explore CiviCRM before installing Compare public demo sites, a local test installation, CiviCRM Spark, and supplier guidance as ways to explore CiviCRM. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-08-20
- Hosting options for CiviCRM Compare hosting options and considerations before installing CiviCRM. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-08-20
- Installation and basic set-up Understand the prerequisites, hosting choices, security considerations, and upgrade planning for a CiviCRM installation. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
- Planning a CiviCRM project Understand the people, goals, development approach, support, training, infrastructure, and change management involved in a CiviCRM project. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-08-20
Configure, automate and extend — Permissions¶
- Permissions and access control Understand the difference between CMS permissions and CiviCRM ACLs before deciding how to control access. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
Configure, automate and extend — System administration¶
- CiviCRM multisite Understand how CiviCRM domains relate to sites, settings, and levels of multisite support. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-07-02
- System Administrator Guide Understand what this guide covers, how it relates to the User Guide, and how to contribute to it. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-07-02
- Detailed logging Understand what detailed logging records and its potential performance impact. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-07-02
- Integrating with Drupal Understand how Drupal modules, roles, and permissions relate to CiviCRM integration. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-07-02
- Integrating with Backdrop Understand how Backdrop modules, roles, and permissions affect CiviCRM integration and access. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-07-02
- Security Understand the security considerations involved in hosting CiviCRM and handling sensitive data. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-07-02
- CiviCRM themes Understand how CiviCRM themes interact with CMS themes and how to select a CiviCRM theme. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-07-02
- Multilevel permissioning in multisite Understand how domain groups and associated groups affect contact visibility, and how permissioned relationships provide an alternative. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-07-02
- CiviCRM Organic Groups Sync Understand which groups the Organic Groups CiviCRM module creates and how one-way synchronization works. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-07-02
- The Bootstrap base theme Explains approaches to using the Bootstrap framework with CiviCRM and the Drupal Bootstrap base theme. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-07-02
Contacts and data — Groups and tags¶
- Groups and tags Understand how groups and tags categorise records and choose between them. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
Fundraising and engagement — Cases¶
- What is CiviCase? Understand how CiviCase uses cases and activities to manage sequences of interactions. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
- What you need to know Understand the concepts and planning questions behind configuring CiviCase. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
Fundraising and engagement — Contributions¶
- Soft credits Understand how soft credits attribute contributions to people other than the donor. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
- Personal Campaign Pages Understand what Personal Campaign Pages offer administrators and fundraisers, and where their limitations lie. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
- What is CiviContribute? Learn what CiviContribute records and how an arts group uses it to manage workshop income. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
- Key concepts and configurations Understand the financial, payment, status, and data choices involved in configuring CiviContribute. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
- Payment processors Compare payment processor characteristics and support before choosing one for CiviCRM. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
Fundraising and engagement — Events¶
- What is CiviEvent? Learn what CiviEvent does and how events, participants, roles, and statuses fit together. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
- Custom data for events Understand where to store custom data for events and participants and which participant field options are available. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
- Event planning and management Consider what you need to plan, promote, and follow up on an event. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
Fundraising and engagement — Grants¶
- What is CiviGrant? Learn what CiviGrant tracks and how an organisation might use it to manage a grant programme. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
- What you need to know about CiviGrant Understand the CiviGrant workflow and the questions to consider before using it. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
- Reports and analysis Understand the available ways to search for, report on, and analyse grants. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
Fundraising and engagement — Memberships¶
- Making member-only websites Learn how CiviMember and a CMS can provide members-only website content. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
- Membership renewals Understand how membership renewals affect dates and records, and how members can be reminded or renew. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
- What is CiviMember Understand what CiviMember supports and how an organisation can use it to manage memberships. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
Fundraising and engagement — Pledges¶
- What is CiviPledge? Learn how pledges relate to scheduled donations, payments, and reminders. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
Home¶
- CiviCRM User Guide Learn what the User Guide covers, how to search the documentation, and how to contribute. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
Initial set up¶
- Logging Compare CiviCRM's default change log, detailed logging, and other ways to review changes over time. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
Introduction¶
- Real world examples See how six organizations have used CiviCRM to manage their work. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
- What is CiviCRM? Learn what CiviCRM is, what it helps organizations manage, and how it works with a website. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
- Who is CiviCRM? Learn who makes up the CiviCRM community, how it developed, and how to take part. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
- Is CiviCRM for you? Explore ways to decide whether CiviCRM is right for your organisation. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
Mailings¶
- What is SMS? Learn what SMS is and how CiviCRM can use it to communicate with constituents. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
Organising your data¶
- Mapping your data Understand where existing constituent and organization data fits in CiviCRM before transferring it. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
- Planning your data in CiviCRM Review your existing data and working practices before deciding how to organise records in CiviCRM. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
Search and reporting — Forms¶
- What is FormBuilder Learn what FormBuilder is and how access to forms is controlled. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
Search and reporting — Reporting¶
- What is CiviReport? Learn what CiviReport does and how organisations use reports for fundraising, financial tracking, and household contributions. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
- External reporting Understand when reporting outside CiviCRM may be useful and how external tools can access CiviCRM data. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
- What you need to know about CiviReport Understand CiviReport concepts and the questions to consider when planning reports. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
Search and reporting — Search¶
- With (Optional) / With (Required) / Without Understand how joining additional entities changes the rows returned by a Search Kit search. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
- Expiration date Understand how an expiration date affects the display of a saved search. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
Search and reporting — SearchKit¶
- What is SearchKit? Learn what SearchKit is and how its entities, criteria, joins, grouping, and displays affect search results. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
- Group by Understand how Group By organizes search results and supports analysis of grouped data. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06
The CiviCRM Community¶
- The CiviCRM community Find places to connect with the CiviCRM community and ways to contribute. CiviCRM latest Updated 2026-10-06