Method:Classic General Q&A

Re: Customizing invoice/estimate screens

timvreeland — Fri, 12 Sep 2014 20:47:40 GMT

Hey Greg,

I finally figured it out. I overlooked that tiny "edit" button on the right that each section has in the screen designer. Thanks so much for your help.

-Tim

Re: Customizing invoice/estimate screens

Method_Greg — Fri, 12 Sep 2014 13:33:09 GMT

Hello Tim,

Let me establish first what table the Other1 field is on. From your posts, it looks to be on the EstimateLine table. This means it won't be available for the InvoiceLine table. For the invoices, you would have to add the custom field to QuickBooks and sync it over or create the field in Method.

To add it to the item grid, click on the Edit button for the EstimateLine grid in the screen designer. Go to Step 2 of the Grid Wizard. Select Field and choose Other1. Click Insert Column. The Other1 field should now appear in the column list. Use the arrows to move the new column into its desired spot. Finish and Publish to complete the addition.

Greg

Re: Customizing invoice/estimate screens

timvreeland — Fri, 12 Sep 2014 05:34:21 GMT

My mistake, the check boxes in the tables/fields < EstimateLine section are to make items required or unique. I'm just looking to make "other 1" and additional fields visible for each line item in the estimate and invoice screens.

Re: Customizing invoice/estimate screens

timvreeland — Fri, 12 Sep 2014 05:23:03 GMT

Hey Greg,

So I was pretty stoked when I learned about the screen editor, but unfortunately this doesn't fix my main problem. Pretty neat tool though. I need to add the "other 1" field, along with some others, to the estimate and invoice "line items" as columns. The information in these fields is specifc to each line item so dragging the "other 1" field into the header doesn't help. So this is where I go back to asking why Method won't let me modify the fields in the tables/field < EstimateLine < other 1. (or any other field) It has an empty check box implying that it isn't an active field and it won't let me make it active. I don't want to make the field required or anything, I just need to be able to see the data in it from quickbooks and also add/edit data withiin method. Basically just another column no different than the "description". Thanks.

-Tim

Re: Customizing invoice/estimate screens

Method_Greg — Mon, 08 Sep 2014 14:40:29 GMT

Hello Tim,

The screen designer is where you can move fields around on the screen to customize the page. (See below for the estimate screnn in the designer.) The easiest way is to copy the screen from the estimate screen. You can do this by going to the estimate screen and right-clicking. Then select Customize. Go throught the wizard, giving your new screen a name. This will automatically replace the links and the new screen will replace your current screen. In the screen designer, you should be able to find your custom field on the left in the fields list. Find 'other 1' to click and drag it onto the designer. Try moving some fields around. Once you are done click Publish and Save & Close. You now should see your new screen. To access the screen again, go to Customize -> Screens to find your new screen.

Greg

Re: Customizing invoice/estimate screens

timvreeland — Sat, 06 Sep 2014 17:26:25 GMT

Im using Quickbooks desktop. I know some of the fields are already accessible, but some are not. The "other 1" field is synced in Method from Quickbooks, but I need to add it to the "invoice" and "estimate" screen so that I can see/edit the data within those fields. I'm not sure what the screen designer is, but I've been trying to accomplish this through doing the following. crm < customize < invoice OR invoiceline < (im not able to select ANY fields here because they've been disabled)

Re: Customizing invoice/estimate screens

Method_Greg — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 15:29:15 GMT

Hello timvreeland,
Are you using QuickBooks Desktop (QBD) or Online (QBO)? The fields Item, Description, Quantity, Cost and Total are already on the screen and available. You can use the Screen Designer to move the fields around the screen. Let me know if you are unable to get to the screen designer. The Other 1 must be a custom field you have on QuickBooks. If you are on QBO, you won't have it available in Method due to an IPP limitation. If you are using QBD, do a full sync and the Other 1 field should come over into the Method table. Unit of Measure types is available for the Items on the Items table. You will have to add it to your Line Item tables by adding a Link field to the EstimateLine table and adding the field to the Item grid on the screen.

Greg

Re: Customizing invoice/estimate screens

timvreeland — Thu, 04 Sep 2014 00:53:06 GMT

Hi Greg,

Basically I need to add fields and rearrange them if possible. Some are already the default in Method. See below for the fields that we currently use in Quickbooks for our estimates. Some of the fields show both on the screen and when you print and some don't. (ie: internal notes for that line item) This is a feature in QB that we can customize. Because we are integrating with Quickbooks I was just trying to mimic what we have setup. If this isn't possible I'll have to revisit how I will address that. Thanks.

QB Estimate: (below are the names that Quickbooks calls each field, not custom names)

1) Item - Screen ONLY

2) Description - Screen & Print

3) Quantity - Screen & Print

4) U/M - Screen & Print

5) Other 1 - Screen ONLY (internal notes)

6) Cost - Screen & Print

7) Total - Screen & Print

Re: Customizing invoice/estimate screens

Method_Greg — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 20:00:15 GMT

Hello Tim,
Are you modifying pre-existing fields in the invoice and estimate tables? It may be restricting you to change attributes of a field because current values in the records violates the new attribute. eg. You can't make a field mandatory if fields are currently blank. Also, what do you mean when you say you "need to match some of the fields" that you use in QuickBooks? Do you have custom fields in QuickBooks that you are trying to find in Method?

What is your final goal when modifying the table? I can help you sort out how to get to your goals using customization.

Greg

Customizing invoice/estimate screens

timvreeland — Wed, 03 Sep 2014 19:36:47 GMT

Hello, I'm trying to customize the fields in the invoice and estimate tables and Method won't let me. It has a notification that it has disabled the customization of certain fields because the table has more than 42,000 records. How can I change this? This seems like it should be a very basic function since I really need to match some of the fields that we use in Quickbooks. Thanks.