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Chicago ACT! USER GROUP
Meeting Notes
Meeting Date: January 9, 1996
MEETING FEATURE: The Top 10 ACT! 2.0 Tips,
Shortcuts, and Secrets
So you’ve resolved to use ACT! to help you become more
efficient at your job, right?? It IS a New Year... Here are some helpful tips and
shortcuts that will make your life just a little simpler and make you feel just like an
ACT! "power user":
To quickly schedule a call for a particular contact onto
your calendar, click on any one the three calendar icons then DOUBLE click on a blank
calendar spot. Next, click "OK". A call will be scheduled for the record you are
on.
To log the name of a letter you are writing to a contact
into that contact’s History, perform the FILE SAVE command before printing the
letter.
Use the F9 key to quickly open and close Notes.
To "speed tag" a list of contacts, view the
list by pressing the F8 key. Use the arrow keys in conjunction with the space bar to tag
and untag contacts.
When inserting new contacts with group affiliations,
first open the group to which the contact will belong. Any new contacts subsequently added
will now be included in that group - automatically.
To quickly jump to a contact, use the PHONE, QUICK LIST
command to quickly look up key contacts. (To make use of this shortcut, you’ll first
have to add your key contacts to your "quick list". Build a quick list by using
the command PHONE, QUICK LIST/MODIFY QUICK LIST, ADD.) After clicking on the contact's
name, immediately hit the space bar (or enter key) and then the ESC key to avoid placing a
call. You can automate the look up procedure by writing a macro and assigning an icon to
it.
To do a "LOOKUP OTHER" search 25% faster, use
the Fast Query macro available from E Tech Systems. (E Tech can be reached at (847)
352-4770.) Fast Query will be most beneficial to those using large databases or using
older, slower PCs.
Keyword searches can now be limited to notes, history,
etc. Plus, they only search the active group. This can make keyword searches much quicker.
Windows users will need to have version 2.0.6 to enjoy this improvement.
Use "CTRL-F5" to insert a "null" or
blank field in conjunction with the LOOKUP, OTHER and EDIT CURRENT LOOKUP commands. In
this way, you can search for blank fields or clear a specific field for all contacts.
To save time when entering contacts, set the State field
default to your own state. Also set its field attribute to uppercase. This way, all state
abbreviations will be typed in capital letters. Similarly, if you are entering a lot of
contacts from a given city, certain company, or with the same area code, edit the default
record accordingly. (Use the command EDIT, FIELD DEFAULTS. Type the appropriate
information in the appropriate fields.)
OPEN FORUM:
This month, we discussed ACT!’s word processor,
re-indexing, and printing labels.
One user noticed that when typing a letter with ACT!’s
word processor, some characters on the right hand side of the screen were cut off. This is
a known bug. Rest assured that the characters are really there. Letters will print out
just fine.
Your ACT! database requires periodic maintenance called
re-indexing. ACT!’s internal index is similar to a table of contents for your
contacts. Normal day-to-day operations as well as system "lock-ups" (and
subsequent re-booting) create inconsistencies in the database’s index. Re-indexing
repairs these sorts of errors. It is best to re-index periodically (say every couple of
weeks) as well as before and after a merge.
Perhaps you’ve been collecting partially used pages of
address labels - maybe saving them for a rainy day. Well, here’s a way to get ACT! to
start printing on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th etc. label. The basic idea is to use the FORMAT, PAGE
command to edit the report template for the labels of choice. By adjusting the top of the
page margin, you can make your printer start printing at the next fresh label. You can
calculate this spot by knowing the height of an individual label and the fact that 6 lines
of 10 pt type (ACT!’s default) occupy one inch. If you create and save (with
different names, of course) several modified versions of the basic label report,
you’ll always be able to put those partially used label sheets to good use.
OUR NEXT MEETING ...
of the ACT! User Group will be held on February 13. We
discuss several helpful ACT! reference books currently on the market which make life with
ACT! just a bit easier. User Group meetings are free and open to all C.C.S. members. They
are held on the second Tuesday of each month 8 times a year at the Midway Motor Lodge in
Elk Grove Village. Call E Tech Systems at (847) 352-4770 for details.
© Copyright 1996 by Alan M. Lee, all rights reserved.
Other nonprofit computer user's groups may reprint this material providing credit is given
the author and C.C.S. Future rights for publication reserved by Alan M. Lee. ACT! is a
registered trademark of Symantec Corporation.
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