I realize this is not realistic based on BB's commitment to "unified view", but voted just as someone who agrees with many of the comments on here as a DBA. Except for a few things (some reports and some queries) I end up going back to dbv to complete my work. Sometimes becuase the functionality isn't there in wv, and sometimes because I don't have the luxury of time to figure out wv in the time I have for a task.

Completely agree with all of the comments so far on this Idea.

I am comfortable with change, as are most of us. But when that change makes our work less efficient because what has changed isn't efficient to begin with, we start questioning if the change is worth it.

I've lately been wondering if the thought of "updating" DBV and keeping it to serve us DBA's, while creating Webview for use by Fundraisers has ever been discussed among Blackbaud techs. To me, this makes 100% sense. Webview could have limited functionality - the functionality that is crucial to Fundraisers - especially when they are off-site meeting with a donor. While DBV maintains the full functionality it currently has, perhaps with a few updates and bells and whistles (let's be honest, it needs a facelift 😂).

While having new abilities become live in Webview is great, not having these fully functional to the same ability that is in DBV is very frustrating and honestly keeps me from using Webview. I am not going to use something that takes me 5-10 minutes in Webview, when I could be done with it in DBV in 1 minute.

If I was a potential new Blackbaud client, and saw this last statement that I wrote, I would seriously consider not going with RE. You don't want a product that takes extra time to do work - you might push us back to just using Excel spreadsheets (over the top statement, I know, but that's how I feel some days! 😆)

I don't understand the reasoning behind not building all functionality in Webview and THEN pushing it out for user testing (not even live at this point). Maybe the goal is to eliminate the need for so much back-end coding, so they are testing us to see if we really need something - I don't like that and feel there are better ways to do this migration.

Completely agree 100%. Sunsetting database view before web view achieves true feature parity is not a viable path forward.

At minimum, users need at least a year of parallel access — and that's not just about learning a new interface. Many processes are infrequent enough that they won't surface until they're actually needed. If web view can't handle them, we need database view as a fallback while those gaps get addressed.

It's also worth recognizing that these two views serve different audiences. Web view works well for fundraisers and front-end users. Database view is essential for DB admins and gift entry staff who need speed and precision that a browser simply can't replicate. Please keep database view available until web view is genuinely ready to replace it — for everyone, not just some users.

I want to be clear: I am not opposed to change. But when change happens without prior communication, without genuine consideration of the impact on all end users, and when something marketed as "new, exciting, and better" doesn't reflect the reality of those using it day to day — that is disappointing, frustrating, and is not the way forward.

Sunsetting database view must be reconsidered. Back-end access is essential for DBAs to manage, maintain, and ensure the integrity of data — and web view simply cannot replace that at this time.

I don't fully agree with this, BUT it seems to me like changes are made to webview that have not wholly been thought through or worked out. eg, the gift batch grid. It has removed some of the table options, it looks awful, the template you create can't be used on automatically created batches, memberships and recurring gifts still aren't available on WV, so some of the gift options can only be done in DB but you then have to hop back to WV. Its just annoying.

I know I complain a lot about web view, but the truth is this:

I'm fine with change.

What I'm not fine with is having my job take exponentially longer because the fancy new version isn't efficient. There was a point where I quite literally started timing tasks and it was something like five seconds in db view vs 45-60 seconds in web view. Sure, on it's face, if it's one or two tasks, that doesn't sound horrible. But multiply it by hundreds and suddenly I'm spending HOURS just waiting for the database to "think".

I was skeptical of the hype but felt we had no other choice than to migrate to NXT last year. "It's loaded with features that will make your job easier."

The sad reality is nothing in NXT has made our jobs easier. Optimized donation forms were not clear enough for donors to properly navigate and didn't allow us the freedom to structure them better, so we had to resort to using other donation forms. Online donations take much longer to process now because we have to link or create donor records, approve the batch, and then correct Every. Single. Transaction in database view.

NXT isn't even close to being able to handle all the variables for each constituent record and donation, and left to its own devices, it will wreak havoc in your database. I would much rather spend my time entering all the data myself than deal with the frustration of having to correct every transaction. I certainly could not entrust this work to an inexperienced volunteer, as I could with other database programs.

Considering how long ago so many Web View issues were documented and still have not been resolved, I fear the day that Database View is taken from us, throwing our database into utter chaos. Please don't even consider taking database view from us until you address and correct the MANY things that just don't work in NXT.

DBA’s need a backend way to manage the data!!
having to wait for the integrated view to catch up to typing (when searching) or to reset after each change (like in tables) creates huge lag time in getting things done!!

If you have to sunset Database View, then please add the capability or view type for Admins where we can see a whole record, similar to Database View. Having to scroll through a whole page to open a specific section of their record is time consuming. The tab capability in Database View allows for quick movement between tabs on a record, so we can look at gifts and bounce back to Actions, etc.

I couldn't agree more. We have started using NXT for some processes like gift management, sending letters and receipts, but anything beyond that is an absolute nightmare. NXT is slow, processes that usually take us 10 minutes in database view are taking upwards of 45 mins in NXT. As a database admin, I really am fearing for our processes as a charity. NXT was presented as something that will streamline and make things easier. I am yet to see that.

{"children":[{"type":"paragraph","children":[{"text":"Give it up folks, it's over. Everything else out there is browser based so they are just going that way. Big tech has been making everything worse for decades now and it's not going to get better. Give them a little credit though, they seem to have actually gotten serious about WV this past year and have actually made progress after what seems like forever."}]}]}

Lets expedite this process and put RE7 out of its misery. Just get NXT up-to-speed!!

I agree -- I cannot even use query in webview anymore. As a static query, it throws error after error, timing out and producing "0 results" for basic queries.

RENXT sucks big time. It's not user friendly and it's difficult to find things since there are no tabs. And why, why rename fields? What's the point to change attributes to custom fields just to make an example. Why I can't edit a gift in RENXT or delete it? Web view was created for the fundraisers on the go, to quick find info about a donor, and it's not suitable for DB admins. You don't release that by increasing costs and depleating what was working great, you are going to lose customers. So, KEEP DB VIEW!

Agree 100%. As a DB admin, we need both. Web View is better for some things (e.g. building queries) but DB view is better for other things (e.g. searching queries, as you can use the wildcard). Web View is dependent on server speed which means anything requiring lots of bandwidth will be difficult to do compared to DB, where server speed doesn't matter as much.

As others have said, DB View is for the admins, Web View is for the fundraisers.

I agree. I don't like anything about the Webview. I dread the idea of losing database view.

100% agree, don't take DB view away!

I believe many people are thinking of leaving Blackbaud if database view is no longer available.

Is there a timeline for sunsetting DB view?

Tracy Hernandez, that is very well put: DB view is for the DB admins, and web view is for the fundraisers. I 100% agree!

I agree 100%. We have been on RE NXT for a few months but I have to do most of my administrative work and gift entry on the database because it is much more comprehensive.