Thanks to all who visited the ACT! User Group's web page and registered to win a 3Com Palm Pilot. The winner was chosen at random at our January SIG meeting, from all entries . Congratulations to Stanley B. Lieberman!

Alan Lee, ACT! Certified Consultant shared a few of his favorite ACT! tips and tricks at our January meeting. Here they are:

1. To quickly schedule a call directly onto the ACT! Calendar, DOUBLE CLICK or CLICK and DRAG on a blank week calendar spot, then click "OK". A meeting will be scheduled for the current contact record.

2. In LIST VIEW mode DOUBLE CLICK on the button at the far left of any contact to view that contact record in FORM VIEW.

3. Use the function keys as short cut keys: F9 to quickly open ACT!'s notes, F8 to switch to the view list mode, F4 to view a 3 month mini-calendar, and CTRL-L to quickly schedule a call.

4. Open and use several windows at once via the WINDOW, TILE-VERTICAL command. This feature, for example, allows you to display a calendar, contact list, and contact record simultaneously!

5. When inserting new contacts with group affiliations, open the group of interest first. This way the contact will be automatically included in that group.

6. In the calendar view (VIEW, CALENDAR), DOUBLE CLICK on a activity to edit that activity. Also, you can RIGHT CLICK on a contact's name and select the "Go To Contact" option to go to that contact's record (in form view).

7. RIGHT CLICK anywhere in the groups tab and select the Group membership option to easily change group memberships for a contact.

8. Keyword searches are the only way to search notes, history, and activities.

9. CLICK once on the far right part of a field to simultaneously select and open its pull-down menu.

10. To enter multiple items from a pull-down menu, press the F2 key to activate the pull down, CLICK on the desired items while holding the CTRL key, then click OK.

BONUS TIP: "BOOM CLICK": To maximize or tile the TAB sections of a contact record (in form view) DOUBLE CLICK on the (horizontal) center bar.

Q: ACT! has a special report format called an address book printout. Can it be edited like other report templates?

A: No.

Q: How can I copy notes from a duplicate record to another record before deleting the duplicate?

A: Highlight the desired text (click on first character, then shift-click on last character), execute the command EDIT, COPY, switch to the target record, and execute the command EDIT, PASTE.

Q: Are there other ACT! User Groups in the U.S.?

A: Yes. Visit www.symantec.com for information.

OUR NEXT MEETING

The next meeting will be Tuesday March 9, 1999. Our meeting feature will be ACT! Tales From the Trenches. We'll hear some real-life ACT! application tales, ideas, and tips with from users. This is an excellent opportunity to learn something new. Come prepared to share your ideas. As always, we will answer your ACT!-related questions during our Open Forum Q&A session. The meeting will be held at the Schaumburg Prairie Center for the Arts Lecture Hall, 201 Schaumburg Court (just off Schaumburg Road, between Plum Grove and Roselle Roads).

The ACT! SIG of the CCS holds meetings on the second Tuesday of the month, eight months of the year. SIG meetings are free and open to all present and potential CCS members. Call E Tech Systems at 847-352-4770 to get meeting notices or e-mail us at info@etechsys.com.