New Features


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New Features in the October 2003 Update

Listed here are some of the new features in the new October 2003 update. Take the time and go through these new features so that you can utilize them properly. Click here to download this new update or click here to download the demo.


Version 2.0


Menus and Toolbars

The Switchboard is history! All areas of the program are accessible through the Menus and Toolbars along the top of the program window. Please take the time to explore.

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Unlimited phone numbers, fax number and email addresses

You can now enter as many phone numbers, fax numbers and email addresses (“numbers”, from here on) per contact.

There is a fundamental difference in how this was done in previous versions. In previous versions, you were only able to enter a fixed amount of numbers per address. If you needed to enter more numbers, you needed to enter a new address record for that contact –giving you a new slot of numbers.

In this version, the numbers are associated to the contact, not to the address. And you can enter as many numbers as you need to.

Each number has a Type field. The Type field determines what this number is (Home, Work, Fax, Email, etc.) You can only enter one number per Type. This means that if you will want to enter two work numbers, you will need to create two Types, Work1 and Work2, or His Work and Her Work.

When you run the update for the first time, the system automatically creates the Types that were used in the previous version: Home, Work, Other, Fax, Cell, Pager and Email. If there was more than one address for a given contact and more numbers were stored in that second address, those numbers will be assigned Home2, Work2, etc.

You can manage the Types by going to Tools > Built-in lists > Phone/Fax/Email Types. There you can create, modify and delete Types. You can even move numbers from one type to another.

To add a number to a contact's record, fill in the Type and the Number. These fields are required. You cannot enter a number without specifying the type. You cannot enter a Type without entering the number. If you start adding a new number and then change your mind and decide not to enter it -- if you already entered a Type, the system will not allow you to move on until you clear the record (by pressing ESC on your keyboard). It is not enough to clear the Type field.

Similarly, if you want to delete a number, it is not enough to clear the Type and the Number fields (doing that does not delete the record, it leaves you with a blank record) –- you need to press the Delete button (at the bottom of the Phone Number section).

When the screen is unlocked, you will always see one blank slot where you can potentially enter a new number. Once you begin entering a new number in that blank row a new blank row will appear. As you continue to add numbers a new slot will appear for the potential next number.

If the Main screen is locked, you will not be able to modify, add or delete numbers. You can lock and unlock the Main screen by clicking the Lock button at the top of your screen. You can also set the default lock state when the program starts. Click Tools > Options > Other tab for this option.

When you run any Contact report, you can choose which Types should be displayed on the Report. Simply click the Columns tab and check the Types you need. This applied to sending emails, faxing, exporting or any Output available on the Contact report.

When running a Transaction report, you have the option whether or not to display Phone numbers, Fax numbers and/or Email addresses on the report. This option is available on the Columns tab of the Transaction report screen.

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Security

In this version you have the ability to create users and groups and to assign permissions to these groups.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Click Tools > Options and click the Other tab and check the Activate Form Level Security check box. A Security Setup screen will appear.
  2. At minimum, you need to create one user (in addition to the Default user) and assign that user to a group.
  3. You can create as many users and groups as you need to.
  4. Click the Permissions tab and assign permissions to the groups you defined. There are two types of permission levels, Read and Full. Read means that this group will only be able to view the data, Full means the group will be able to modify the data as well.
  5. Each user is assigned a password. When a user logs on to the system, he is required to enter the correct password or he will be denied access.
  6. Any given user will only be allowed access to the level of permission assigned to the group he is in.

NOTE: This feature is still in beta. There are some areas in the program that are not “securable” yet and some areas that are appear secured but are not. Feel free to use it and email tech support with any issues and/or suggestions.

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Personalized Email Broadcasts

You can send personalized email to a group of contacts based on criteria you choose in the Contact report screen. To begin, open the Contact report screen and select the criteria as needed. Choose E-mail from the Output drop-down and Personal from the Type drop-down. When you click OK. The Send Email window will appear where you can type a subject, a message and insert personalization fields such as Salutation, CompanyName, Address and more. When you click the Send button, each contact who fits the criteria you selected will receive a personalized email.

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Split Bulk Email Broadcasts into groups

You can break up large bulk emails into groups. You enable this option under Tools > Options > Other tab. This is useful if your ISP does not allow more than x amount of email addresses in one email.
On the Contact Report screen choose Output: Email. Type: Bulk. When you click OK, a message will inform you how many emails will be send in how many groups.

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Built-in Help System with updated User Guide

Click Help > Contents to open and browse the actual help file. Click the ? on any form (next to the X). The mouse turns into a question pointer. Click on any field to get quick information and instructions on using that specific feature. The user guide has also been completely rewritten.

In order for the built=in help to work, you need to extract the help files into the same folder that the program resides in. Click here to go to the download page for the help files.

Note: The help system is not complete yet.

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Integrated Banquet Module

If you signed up for the Banquet Module, it will be available on a separate tab on the Main screen. If it does not appear, you will need to call tech support for registration for this module.

This module has the ability to track reservations, table seating, menus, honorees, guests, and print all related reports. Click here to view some screen shots of this module.

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Transfer Info Tool

This new tool gives you the ability to transfer information from one contact to another. I could be that there were duplicate records entered into the system (or when merging to records because of a marriage, for example) and some transactions were entered on one record and some on the other. To avoid the manual reentering of the data and all the complications that come along with it (applying payments to bills, assigning payments to deposits, etc) you can use this tool to do this job quickly and efficiently.

Click Tools > Transfer Info to open the Transfer Info tool. This tool has the ability to transfer Programs, Family members (with their occasions), Payments, Bills, Expenses and History items. Select the "From" and "To" contact, which areas to transfer and click the Transfer button. You are given a detailed report of the pending change before committing.

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Zip Code Count -- Contact Report
Very useful for Bulk Mailings, this report gives you 3/5 digit total by zip code, saving you the hassle of counting and grouping the labels. (You still need to rubber band them...)
Chose Reports > Contacts > Report: Zip Code Count. Optionally specify criteria.

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Total Due in Transaction Statistics

When viewing Bills, the Transaction statistics now displays the Total Amount Due as well as the Total Amount Billed. This gives you an instant picture on a contact's outstanding balance without having to make any reports.

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"Not" option for Programs

This gives you the ability to run a contact reports for all contacts except for those assigned to the selected program(s).

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Auto-detect Duplicates option

Enabling this option will cause the system to check for duplicates as you are entering names. You can find this option under Tools > Options > Other tab. If you enter name and similar address, the system will display the suspected duplicate and prompt you to confirm that you want to enter this new record.

The suspected duplicate section of the program (Tools > Suspected Duplicates) which detects duplicates that are alread in the system, has also been enhanced to check for matches based on last name and beginning of address.

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Default Salutation option

This option affects how you want the salutation to appear for new names, Formal or Personal. Formal uses the Title and Last Name fields, Personal uses the First Name field. This option is available under Tools > Options > Style tab. Changing this option does not affect existing records. To change existing records, you need to modify the Salutation field under Settings for this Address.

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End of Year Thank-you letter
This feature is Very useful for sending out letter at the end of the year (or other times) to acknowledge all donations over the entire year (or other date range). This feature works with the built-in letters.
First create a new Year End letter by clicking on Tools > Customize > Letters. Make sure to specify the Letter Type: Year End. You can use the special <TransactionList> field in the Year End letter to indicate where the list of transactions should be displayed.

To generate the letters, click on Report > Batch > Letters and choose Year End letters. Choose the Year End letter and click OK.  

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Invoice Date option

This option allows a user to choose if invoices should show the Date of the bill or the Date Due. Click Tools > Options > Invoices tab.

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Expedia/MapQuest option

This option allows a user to choose if the Map and Directions links to Expedia or to MapQuest. Click Tools > Optioins > Other tab.

Integrate Birthday field into Family Record

The birthday field is now available on the individual family record. You don’t have to move between the Family and Occasion tabs to view birthdays and family members. You can also enter/modify a person’s birthday from the Family screen. This makes data entry much quicker when entering children and birthdays.

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Total Amount field on Contact Reports

When a Contact report is based on Transaction criteria, the Amount field appears when exporting or merging to Word. This Amount field displays the total amount that the report is based on. For example, if the criteria was to include only those contacts who contributed $1,000 and more in the last year in the Donation category, the Amount field will display the total amount contributed during that time period (limited to the selected category).

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Change Criteria button on Reports

After generating a report to the screen, you can click the Change Criteria button and edit the criteria to refresh the report with data based on the new criteria. This makes getting the report you need much easier. If you report you generate is not exactly the one you need, simple click the Change Criteria button and specify the criteria you need.

This also applies to the Output options of a report. You can generate a report to the screen as a list and once you are satisfied that the report is giving you the data you want, you can click the Change Criteria button and change the output to something else (email or word merge, for example).

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Complete Mailing definition option

This option allows international users to specify what constitutes a "Complete Mailing Address". Limiting reports (contacts, letters, etc) to the "Complete Mailing Address" criteria will have different implications depending on this option.

Click Tools > Options > Style. to customize this option. (US users should leave this setting blank: the default is "Address, City, State, ZipCode")

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Display Country on labels option

This option is useful for some international users who require the country to be displayed on label even in the same country.

(Usually the country field is not displayed if it is the same as the country you are in.) 
This option can be found under Tools > Options > Other tab

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Salutation field for Built-in Letters

The built-in letters have a new field called <Salutation>. This field is in place of the automatic inserting of the Salutation in the letter.

This change allows greater flexibility in the spacing that you want to insert between the "Dear" line and the start of the letter. It also allows international users to user a word other than the English word "Dear"

Note: Running the update automatically inserts "Dear <Salutation>," at the beginning of each letter.


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Last modified: Tuesday March 03, 2009.

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