An "everything" box!

[martinkay]

Don't know if it's been requested before but I find it terribly time consuming having to flit between the various tabs of an order to get all the information I need to fill out forms on web pages while keeping the order open. As soon as you click on the order area it brings all of Actinic to the top, and the web page that I was working with (e.g. a courier order form, or virtual terminal) then disappears to a spot on the taskbar. I would absolutely love to have a button that grabs everything from all the tabs into one panel say no more than 200 pixels wide that I can place next to the Vista sidebar for example (and a position that is remembered for the next order), so I can cut and paste addresses, order reference numbers, card details, etc. quickly from Actinic to the browser.

[Mike Hughes]

I think I understand this, not completely though.

If you click the 'maximise' button on Actinic when full screen does it not shrink (restore down) to show you other open applications?.

In terms of getting all the data in one place I find the order shipped email a useful place to copy and paste stuff from.

In essence I think that you can do what you're after doing the above. i..e

1. Click the 'maximise' button on the actinic window to 'restore down'. Size window to suit.

2. Open the order, click 'line items', click 'email'.

3. Copy and paste.

Mike

[leehack]

Go to 2 screen heaven and never look back, you can then just look forward to 4 screen paradise.

[Duncan Rounding]

I find this a pain as well, but not sure of the best solution. The sub-windows are all modal and as such need to be closed before any further action. If they weren't modal then you might not notice the window is open and of course not be able to continue.

Dual monitors are one solution, the other is simply not have Actinic full screen then you can move the order window over and read it whilst you have another window open.

I would like to see a copy to clipboard button on the order window so that at least the multi-line address is copied to the clipboard easily.

[Darren B]

i use mikes suggestion, the email is the best place for it. that said though a simple text export would be handy

[fergusw]

I find hitting "Alt-Tab" to switch back and forth using Ctrl-C and Ctlr-V to copy/paste is the fastest and most efficient way to get info from one program to another.
Once your fingers' muscle memory settles in youll be amazed at the speed you can get.

[Note: Ctrl-Shift-Tab cycles the open programs in reverse)

[martinkay]

It's not possible to minimise Actinic once you have got the order dialog open so I have to resize the main Actinic window first, then move the order window to an appropriate location which in itself is not easy because the reference number (not cut/pastable) is on the left and totals are on the right so the whole panel needs to be visible. Then when I return to Actinic afterwards the window is the wrong size for other tasks, maximising it covers the Vista sidebar so it needs to be again carefully resized. Alt-tabbing is a bit of a pain as it cycles round the several applications I have open. The email window doesn't have card details on it so no good for cutting and pasting into the virtual terminal. And since going over to a virtual terminal I have more customers than ever who phone up with their card details rather than have them processed via the PSP. So I have to put them into Actinic, and then it's just a usability nightmare from the point of view of getting data between windows. I agree all the windows would need to be modal but just a little button to launch a non-modal one with a summary of everything on it would be just the job.

[Duncan Rounding]

Invest in some real estate - a second monitor is so useful - email client, label printer, browser etc.

[martinkay]

But Jakob Neilsen would have kittens if he discovered the best answer to a usability issue was to buy another screen!

Anyway, no room on my desk.

[rmorrow]

Create a spreadsheet that links to the Actinic database and drags all the info you want into individual cells. Then cut & paste from there.

[Mike Hughes]

The email window doesn't have card details on it so no good for cutting and pasting into the virtual terminal

Martin,

I was going to raise this after the first post but your website said you used a PSP and didn't handle credit card data so I assumed I'd misunderstood what you were saying.

You do realise that PCI-DSS rules mean you can't store credit card details on your PC?

Mike

PS. Regarding the rest. I know it isn't ideal, but it can be done. If you're looking for something better the best thing to do is explain in detail how it might work and what it should do.

From my perspective, I'd have thought an external app that captured the order details you want and could then populate a form using keyboard shortcuts would be ideal and save you a lot of time. Something a bit like Richards idea for excel but more sophisticated.

[martinkay]

I know all about the PCI stuff that's why I have now got a PSP but I can't force my customers to use the automated method if they prefer to give me their details verbally which more of them seem to want to do. (I'm not entirely sure this PSP malarkey is having the desired effect in practice but that's a different discussion).

So have to put them into Actinic at least temporarily if a customer calls, or write them down somewhere depending on what mode I am operating in when the call comes in. I can't type them directly into the VT while the customer is on the phone because if you type details directly into my VT and there is a slight error (e.g. customer misreads card end date or CVC), the whole entry is scrapped and you have to start again which is very time consuming. Yes that spreadsheet/database solution would work but I don't have time to develop it. But even a revisit of the layout of the order tabs would be good or any quick text export function. For example my VT requires an order reference and as far as I can see there is no way to cut and paste it from Actinic for example, I have to type in the whole 14+ character thing manually unless I fire up a further customer email box and take it from the subject line. If I muck it up and erroneously type in an order reference I've used before, again the VT bins the whole request and I have to start again.

[Golf Tee Warehouse]

So have to put them into Actinic at least temporarily if a customer calls, or write them down somewhere depending on what mode I am operating in when the call comes in.

I would try and avoid typing them into Actinic and where possible just write them down on a pad which can easily be shredded after use. If they are typed into the Actinic backend there is a chance you will forget to delete them and would then be storing the details and no longer be PCI-DSS compliant.

[TraceyHand]

For example my VT requires an order reference and as far as I can see there is no way to cut and paste it from Actinic for example, I have to type in the whole 14+ character thing manually

Right click > Order Summary
It's a much quicker way to lift customer and order data, IMO

[Mike Hughes]

very nice. A shortcut to the customer email.

I didn't know that was there.

Mike