Method:Classic General Q&A

Re: Email Template Problem

pdirect — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 18:52:56 GMT

Oh, and one more suggestion. What initially brought my attention to this issue was the fact that all of the default system templates needed for the customer portals show up in the template list. But it would be best if these "system" templates were not showing up for specific users. It makes the template dropdown box difficult to weed through and no users will ever use these system templates.

Re: Email Template Problem

pdirect — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 17:58:45 GMT

I'm not attacking, I'm critiquing. And it should help if they're listening.

And I'm not going to argue, but this is NOT about permissions. Have you used scheduled reports yet? These reports only show up for the assigned user. That is how the templates are supposed to work as well or there is no point in assigning users.

And of course I don't want them overwriting my customizations. But that is the point! In other words, if I customize as I want it, I'll never receive another update to a screen . . . EVER! I didn't select Method as an online service so that I would never receive updates. One of the main points of an online service (as opposed to on premise) is that updates are automatically installed.

Re: Email Template Problem

JohnR — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 17:31:42 GMT

I did read the points =). I actually read a lot of your posts when I got started and think you have a lot of cool ideas. What you are talking about IS permissions though, to an extent. If you want to be able to "assign" a template to a user and not have other users see it, that sounds like permissions to me.

I'm not sure what you except them to do if you customize a screen yet want new features released by them. Think about it - if you customize a screen, how are they suppose to figure out what actions, features, etc. you want to keep and which you want from the new screen? It would be a total mess. I know I don't want them overwriting any of my custom screens. I hope they don't do that anyay.

I agree, they aren't perfect. But attacking them isn't going to help us all get features we want added. I've got a growing list myself but I am going to try and "pitch" the ideas as being features for the greater good of Method.

Anyway, no hard feelings.

Re: Email Template Problem

pdirect — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 17:23:55 GMT

Umm, I guess you didn't read the 4 points I mentioned. My comments had nothing to do with permissions. I was simply referring to the email templates, not the screens. The screens aren't assigned to users, but reports and email templates are assigned to users. So if I have the ability to assign something to a user (as provided by Method), then logic would say that this user should only see templates assigned to them (or reports).

And it's not that I'm against customizing, I'm against Method support saying that I need to customize every time there is something in their setup that doesn't work correctly. And I'm against the fact that my customizations aren't updated when an update is released. And I'm against Method support blaming my customizations as the source of a problem. And I'm against the amount of time involved to create customizations for features that should be standard.

I LOVE Method's integration to QB . . . but that doesn't mean it's perfect. So I wish that instead of throwing out the "customize it" line all the time, Method would admit that it's not perfect and work to fix it.

Re: Email Template Problem

JohnR — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 17:01:50 GMT

pdirect - I've been using Method for the last 1 1/2 months so I might not be as experienced as you are but I know what I was looking for was a simple CRM that all my staff could use that worked well with QuickBooks. Based on what you wrote, all of the screens don't assign permissions by employee and I knew that from day one from starting my demo. I liked the fact that by default, the logged in user sees their stuff but if needed, can see another employees items, templates, etc. Same goes with the opps screen and any of the other standard Method screens (at least the ones I've used)

Yes - maybe it isn't exactly how I want it, but that's why I got the option to customize it. I'll probably give feedback on new features I'd love to see in the standard screens. Maybe this wasn't the right fit for you if you didn't want to customize.

Method - you guys are doing a great job so keep it up!

John

Re: Email Template Problem

pdirect — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 16:37:46 GMT

I'm growing weary of hearing that I can customize method to however I like it. There are 4 main problems with this approach.

1) It takes a lot of time. I didn't go with Method so I can spend all my time customizing it. A little customization is ok, but when I'm constantly hearing that I need to customize it . . . I don't have that much time to spend on Method.

2) If I do customize something, I do not get any updates to that screen should an update be issued. I don't want to miss updates and try to manage which screens I now need to customize again because an update has been issued.

3) Method support always points to customized screens as the source of any problem I report. So in other words, if I customize a screen and contact support about it, they'll blame my customization and I have to start over.

4) Most of the things I'm told to customize are things that should be standard and work correctly anyway. This is true in this case. It SHOULD only show those reps templates OR THERE IS NO POINT IN ASSIGNING THEM TO A REP!

So in other words, in this case, it only makes sense that templates should show up for a specific rep (since you offer the ability to assign templates to a rep), but yet they don't. And instead of admitting that flaw and working to fix it or put it into development, you tell me that I should just customize everything. And while that sounds good, it doesn't work well in the real world because of the 4 reasons above.

Re: Email Template Problem

Method_Michael — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 16:01:10 GMT

Pdirect,

Right now drop downs that reference the EmailTemplate table aren't filtered by user but you can change the filters if you customize the screen. You should also be able to assign multiple reps to a email template through customization. The beauty of Method is that if you don't like the way something works you can change it to make it fit your needs.

-Michael

Email Template Problem

pdirect — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 14:49:20 GMT

I have assigned certain email templates to certain users. But each user sees and can use all the email templates assigned to other users. So what is the point of assigning users to a particular email template? It would make more sense if this could be customized so that a user ONLY sees email templates assigned to them. And it would be even better if we could assign one email template to multiple users!