Accelo 2.0 - FAQ

We've changed a lot in Accelo 2.0 - here's a list of the main things that have been updated. Of course, if you've got any questions, either "ask a question" in Accelo using the question mark icon in the top of each screen, or email [email protected].

1. Some of the old navigation items are missing. Where'd they go?
2. Where's the new "Admin" navigation?
3. Where did the Dashboard, Schedule, To Do and Work buttons go?
4. What happened to those tabs at the bottom of screens where I could see a a list of diaries, resources, etc?
5. The Breadcrumbs are new. How do they work?
6. What's the new search field on the Work screen for?
7. Can I really rename Prospects to Sales, and Jobs to Projects?
8. Will Accelo work on my iPad/GalaxyTab/Playbook/other-tablet/smartphone now?
9. How can I report a bug or something that doesn't look right?
10. How can I make a suggestion or request an improvement?

1. Some of the old navigation items are missing. Where'd they go?

One of the biggest complaints we had about the old navigation was that it was so cumbersome and intimidating. Of course, the flipside of this is that it had lots of stuff in it! We thought long and hard, and decided that speed and ease of use were more important than having the options that make a Swiss Army Knife so bulky, so here's a cheat sheet on where to do some the power-user things you used to do with the old navigation:

• Contacts - you can still add a new one under the Companies menu, and to search for contacts, use the global search in the top right. Of course, if you use our new feature to change the name of "Companies" to something like "Clients", then it will be under the Clients menu!
• Tasks - rather than have their own dedicated menu item, we've put your task list where you're most likely to be actually doing work - they're listed on the right hand side of the ToDo list, they're on the Work Screen, and of course you can find any task by searching for it in the global search box in the top right of every page. Remember, you can still filter tasks based on criteria like who the task is for or keyword and save that filter query for a later time, in which case you'll also find a link to your tasks under the Bookmarks tab.they're on your To-do list, Work screen AND Bookmarks if you've saved a Tasks search filter.
• Diaries and Resources (aka Attachments) - both of these guys are still searchable from the global search box on the top right, however since you'll likely have a "lot" of diary entries and attachments, you'll probably find the new "Full Diary Search" button that appears on every activity list will be more helpful, since it already filters the search to include only the diary entries against whatever you're looking at.
• Sub-categories and filter options, like manager, status and type - you can use the list screen to start your search, use the filters to customise it, then save it. Now refresh your screen and check the menu - your filter is easily accessible and only ever a click away!

2. Where's the Admin navigation?

We've moved a few links from the top right corner to be in the menu under your username, including a link to a new Admin page where admin functions are grouped in a more logical manner.

This new page lists all of the Administration and configuration options in Accelo, and also includes links to our help documentation and videos to answer your questions and get you up and running fast.

Also, you might notice that your own user picture is a grey blank picture - you'll be able to upload your own photo (or connect your account to Facebook or Linked) soon!

3. Where did the Dashboard, To Do, Schedule and Work buttons go?

We know how important easy access to your schedule, work (timesheet) and to do screens, so we put them together under the "Home" tab. If you have a favorite screen, you can update your personal "Settings" page and choose which one to load when you first log in - and if you click on the Accelo icon in the top right, you'll have a shortcut to that screen too!

4. What happened to those tabs at the bottom of screens where I could see a list of diaries, resources, etc?

We used to call these bad boys the "associated" tabs since they show just about everything associated to that record. Unfortunately, the old way of showing them meant using frames, which don't play well with modern browsers, tablet computers and more.

The other problem with these old tabs was they tended to squeeze some of the most important information into a tiny little space - things like diary entries, attachments and more. So, we completely redesigned our "view" screens to bring this information front and center.

Now, most of the content from those tabs has been moved up into the tabs in the middle of the page:

• Activity tab - here you'll find an improved activity stream since it lists diary notes (internal things) by date as well, and the option to search for all diaries in a fullscreen view. This replaces the old diaries tab.
• Attachments tab - this is simply the resources tab, upgraded!

• Invoices - this is a simpler version of the old invoices associated tab.
• Jobs, Prospects, Issues and Contracts tabs - The information for these are all still just 1 click away on the right-hand-side of the view screen when you're looking at a company.
  
  For example, instead of accessing the Prospects tab to view closed Prospects for a company, you would locate the Prospects section on the side of the page and click "Show all". This will load a list of all Prospects for that company/contact.

5. The Breadcrumbs are new - how do they work?

The breadcrumbs are on of the things we hope will make Accelo 2.0 much easier to use than the old version. Breadcrumbs point you back to the "top level" object - such as a company - so you can see at a glance which company or contact, and then which prospect, project or issue the work you're doing is against.

For example, if you did a search for prospects which brought you to the list screen, then you clicked "add diary" against one of the results, you will be on the Add Diary screen with breadcrumbs at the top of the page showing something like:

This is because the Prospect (sale) that you're entering your diary entry against is connected to a Contact (the person you're selling to) which is connected to a Company (because they work there).

6. What is the new search field on the Work screen for?

This has been one of our most requested features - a way to add new work entries on the fly without leaving the work screen! Ah it's a new feature which allows you to lookup a company so you can find other work in Accelo that you want to log your time against.

Start typing to match a company name, then click the company to see a list of Prospects, Jobs or Issues you could put your time against.

7. Can I really rename Prospects to "Sales" and Jobs to "Projects"?

Yes. If you have admin access, you can go into the new Administration screen and click the "General Configuration & Preferences" link.

From here you can update the names of several modules in Accelo. You might prefer to refer to the companies module as "Clients", and therefore make the following change:

Click "Save" from the bottom of the page when done, and then do a full re-fresh of Accelo. If you find a screen where the new module name hasn't taken effect, please use the "Ask a question" link on that page to let us know! (see FAQ 9 for more info).

8. Will Accelo work on my iPad/GalaxyTab/Playbook/other-tablet/smartphone now?

Yes, with the caveat that there are so many types of browsers and tablets out there, and new ones being released all the time.

But, what we can say is that we've made sure in this redesign to make sure we're tablet friendly. How?

• Accelo 2.0 is built on HTML5, so any browser that implements the (still moving) standard should be able to use Accelo. Yep, that means mobile Safari on iPads and the default Android browser with Honeycomb (ie, Samsung Galaxy Tabs)!
• We've removed (almost all) of the Flash elements from Accelo. The holdouts are the gantt chart tab and a couple of other small things. We're working hard to get rid of the last holdouts too.
• Accelo has had its width set to be tablet friendly too.
• We've also highly optimized the way pages in Accelo load, with more AJAX for faster load speeds.

9. How can I report a bug or something that doesn't look quite right?

We've unashamedly borrowed our engineering ethos from Facebook - most fast and (occassionally) break stuff. While we've gone to a lot of effort to make sure Accelo 2.0 is ready for prime time, we're also pretty sure that a few small things have slipped through the cracks.

If you find something that doesn't look quite right, we'd love you to tell us, and we've made it easy for you to do so.

Every single page in Accelo has an easy way to ask a question and get help. When you click on the blue questionmark icon, shown in the image on the right, you'll have a small black window open which shows you any relevant help articles on our help.accelo.com website, as well as giving you a form you can fill in to ask your question.

When you submit this form, an email request is sent through to our support team, and we'll get back to you as quickly as we can!

10. Where can I make a suggestion or request an improvement?

The image above illustrates the link to ask our support team a question, and the yellow light bulb icon next to it opens up our ideas forum.

Unlike asking a question, which is private, when you make a suggestion other Accelo users can see your suggestion and vote on it! You can comment on questions asked by other Accelo users, and of course we pay the most attention to suggestions that get the most votes, so suggest early and vote often!