Using the Smart Notes Migration Tool

Overview

Your firm likely has valuable client information stored in traditional Notes or in the description fields of Tasks, Calls, and Events. The migration capability in Smart Notes settings converts this legacy content into Smart Notes without requiring manual data entry or custom development.

The migration tool is available on the Smart Notes page in the Settings app. It supports four content types: Notes, Task descriptions, Call descriptions, and Event descriptions. Each type can be migrated independently, and a live count shows how many records are available before you begin. Migration runs as a background job, so you can continue working in Practifi while it processes, and you’ll receive a notification when it completes.

Before using the Migration Tool, Smart Notes must be enabled in your organization, and you’ll need System Administrator permissions to access the Settings app.

This article covers how to access the Migration tab, migrate legacy content to Smart Notes, and remove original content after migration is complete.

• Understanding the Migration Tool
• Safeguards
• Using the Migration Tab
  • Migrating Content
  • Removing Original Content
• Prerequisites
• Date Handling on Migrated Smart Notes
  • Verifying the Original Date of a Converted Smart Note
    • Option 1: Run a Report
    • Option 2: Run a SOQL Query

Understanding the Migration Tool

The migration tool helps your organization transition from legacy note-taking methods to Smart Notes. Many firms store important information in traditional Notes or in the description fields of Tasks, Calls, and Events. The migration tool provides a centralized interface for converting legacy content into Smart Notes without manual data entry or custom development.

The tool is designed to handle organizations of all sizes, including those with millions of records. Processing time scales with the volume of records being migrated, and Practifi recommends running migrations during off-peak hours for optimal performance.

Safeguards

The Migration Tool includes built-in protections to prevent data loss:

• No Duplicate Smart Notes: If you run the migration more than once, duplicate Smart Notes will not be created for the same record. The tool links migrated Smart Notes to their original source, so only new or previously unmigrated items are converted.
• Safe Removal Actions: After migration, the tool provides separate actions to remove original notes and descriptions. Only records that have already been successfully migrated to Smart Notes can be removed, preventing accidental deletion of content that hasn't been converted yet.

Using the Migration Tab

On the Smart Notes page in the Settings app, click the Migration tab on the left. 

The Migration page displays four content types available for conversion:

• Notes: Notes linked to an Entity record.
• Task Descriptions: Content in the description field of Task records.
• Call Descriptions: Content in the description field of logged Call records (Task subtype = Call).
• Event Descriptions: Content in the description field of Event records.

Each content type shows a live count of records available for migration. You can migrate each content type independently by clicking the corresponding migration button.

Migrating Content

To migrate legacy content to Smart Notes:

1. Click the Migrate button for the content type you want to convert (for example, migrate legacy Notes or migrate Task Descriptions).

   

2. A confirmation message displays the exact number of Smart Notes that will be created and warns you that this action cannot be undone.

3. Click the Migrate button to begin the migration.

   

4. A status indicator appears. The migration runs as an asynchronous background job. You can continue working in Practifi while the migration processes. You will receive a notification when the migration completes.
5. Each content type runs as a separate job and can be migrated independently. For large datasets, you may want to migrate one content type at a time.

Please note: For organizations with large datasets, processing time may take several hours. Monitor the progress through the notifications you receive.

Removing Original Content

After successfully migrating content to Smart Notes, you have the option to remove the original notes and descriptions. This step is optional and should only be performed after verifying that the migration was successful.

To remove the content after conversion:

1. Click the Cleanup button.

   

2. A message appears, stating that the action is irreversible. Click the red Cleanup button to confirm you want to delete the original content.

   

Please note: Only records that have already been successfully migrated to Smart Notes will be removed via this action. This safeguard prevents accidental deletion of content that hasn’t been converted yet.

Prerequisites

Before using the migration tool, ensure the following requirements are met:

• Smart Notes must be enabled in your organization.
• You must have admin-level access to Practifi and Smart Notes settings.
• You must have sufficient permissions to:
  • Read Notes, Tasks, and Events
  • Create Smart Notes
  • Update or remove the original note and description data (if using removal actions)

Date Handling on Migrated Smart Notes

When the migration tool converts a note or description into a Smart Note, it creates a brand new Smart Note record in Practifi. As a result, the Smart Note's Created Date field will reflect the date you ran the migration, not the date the original note or description was written. This is standard behavior for newly created records.

To preserve the historical context of your client interactions, the migration tool captures the original date from the source record and stores it in the Content Last Modified Date field on the new Smart Note. This field is used to sort Smart Notes chronologically, so your migrated notes will appear in the correct order alongside notes created after migration. Older notes will still appear before newer ones when sorted chronologically, preserving the historical sequence, even though the Created Date on each record reflects when the migration ran.

The Content Last Modified Date field is populated for all four migrated content types: Notes, Task descriptions, Call descriptions, and Event descriptions. Displaying the original note date more prominently on the Smart Note itself is planned for a future release.

Verifying the Original Date of a Converted Smart Note

The Content Last Modified Date field is not visible through the standard Smart Notes interface; you won't see it in a Smart Notes list view or by opening it in the Smart Note Editor. There are two ways to verify that the original date has been preserved.

Option 1: Run a Report

This is the most practical option for most administrators, as it lets you review the Content Last Modified Date across all migrated records at once. Create a standard report using the Smart Notes report type and add the Content Last Modified Date column.

Option 2: Run a SOQL Query

For administrators comfortable with tools like Salesforce Inspector Reloaded, a SOQL query can retrieve Content Last Modified Date values in bulk. Replace [AccountId] with the record ID of the entity you want to query:

SELECT Name, practifi__Content_Last_Modified_Date__c, CreatedDate FROM practifi__Smart_Note__c WHERE practifi__Entity__c = '[AccountId]' ORDER BY practifi__Content_Last_Modified_Date__c DESC