Did you know that software updates are included with maintenance at no additional charge? Our maintenance plan is best known for its first class technical support; however, there are more benefits to having maintenance!
The following benefits are included for firms on maintenance:
- You are assured of having access to the most up-to-date software available, including new reports and features, at no additional cost. The cost to receive each major update to the software for those without maintenance will be more than the annual cost of maintenance.
- You have access to free technical support from our trained representatives during business hours. Without maintenance, technical support charges are currently $50 for each 15-minute interval or fraction thereof.
- Maintenance preserves the value of the software license so you may apply the full purchase price toward an upgrade (traditional license).
If you’re considering not renewing your maintenance, consider how losing access to new versions, new features, and technical updates may affect your firm. Staying on maintenance not only ensures that you have someone to call for help, but that you have access to the most up-to-date software.
Are you taking full advantage of the PracticeMaster Quick Clicks Pane? The Quick Clicks pane provides single-click access to a variety of features that will help you navigate your data files, including many of your common activities. For example, if you want to quickly convert a few timer records into fees, you can select the desired records in the List tab of the Journal file, and then click Convert to Fee in the Take Action group of the Quick Clicks pane.
The Quick Clicks pane is available in all PracticeMaster data files and Matter Manager, and is organized into the following groups:
Note: The image to the right shows the Quick Clicks pane for the Client file.
- eNote: The eNote group (not shown) contains various filter options available for the eNote List. eNote is a Platinum feature.
- Client List/Contact List/Timekeeper List: The Client List, Contact List, and Timekeeper List groups contain the options to show all records for the file or only records that have not been marked Inactive. Each group is only available in its respective file (e.g., Client List is only available in the Client file, etc.).
- Take Action: The Take Action group contains various action-oriented options available for a file.
- Report: The Report group contains various reports available for a file.
- WorkFlow: The WorkFlow group contains all User Activated WorkFlows for a file.
- Client WorkFlow: The Client WorkFlow group (not shown) contains all User Activated WorkFlows for the Client file. The Client WorkFlow group is only available in the Matter Manager.
- QuickView: The QuickView group contains all defined QuickViews for a file. The QuickView group is only available in the Matter Manager and when the List tab is selected in an Editor window.
- Filter: The Filter group contains filtering information. The Filter group is only available in the Matter Manager and when the List tab is selected in an Editor window.
- Sort By: The Sort By group contains sorting (indexing) information. The Sort By group is only available in the Matter Manager and when the List tab is selected in an Editor window.
- Column Layout: The Column Layout group contains information for column layouts. The Column Layout group is only available in the Matter Manager and when the List tab is selected in an Editor window.
- Customize Current View: The Customize Current View group contains options for configuring the current window. The Customize Current View group is only available in the Matter Manager and when the List tab is selected in an Editor window.
The Quick Clicks pane is also customizable via Manage Quick Clicks. Add, edit, or delete QuickViews, Filters, and Column Layouts; create folders; move items around within each group; and determine which items are shown or hidden! The Manage Quick Clicks window can be accessed via the 
(Manage) icon in the WorkFlow, Filter, Column Layout, and Customize Current View sections of the Quick Clicks Pane.
The ability to access features and information that you can organize is key, and the Quick Clicks pane helps make it quick and easy to find what you need, without scrolling through what you don’t need.
We have several WorkFlows we’ve created, but some of them seem to trigger more frequently than we’d like. Is there any way we could make the WorkFlows run with more specific criteria?
WorkFlows can take advantage of filtering to ensure they only run when they’re intended to. Filters are used to limit the records you want to display or select and can be used to limit the records shown in PracticeMaster files, Report Writer, Word Document Assembly, Outlook Synchronization, and WorkFlows. Filters can be simple comparisons, or advanced expressions capable of complex functionality.
Let’s take a look at the Filter Editor, and then a few scenarios where you might want to add a filter to your WorkFlows. To add a filter to your WorkFlow, open your WorkFlow via Maintenance | WorkFlows. In the WorkFlow Definition window, select Filtered Records, and click the Filter button.
In the Filter Editor, you can click New Row to add a simple row, or click New Advanced Row to create a more complex filter.
- Simple rows – Adding a standard row to the Filter Editor allows you to compare a field against a limited number of values. This allows you to easily test for blank values, common date ranges, or a specific record.
- Advanced rows – Using fields, functions, and operators, you can construct an expression by adding an Advanced Row to the Filter Editor. You can test against any range of values, or use functions to generate different values for different situations.
Below are a few scenarios where filtering the records that run the WorkFlow can help prevent the WorkFlow from running too often.
Scenario 1
Whenever we add a new Contact, our WorkFlow to create a new client record always triggers. However, we only need it to run when the contact has a Contact Category of “Client”.
To create a filter so the WorkFlow only triggers for a Contact Category of “Client”
- Open your WorkFlow.
- In the Source section, select Filtered Records and then click the Filter button to open the Filter Editor.
- Click New Row, select RP_Cat, and then click Select.
- Click in the Test Condition field and select equal to.
- In the Test Value field, enter “Client”.
- Click Save to close the Filter Editor.
- Click Save to close the WorkFlow Definition.
Scenario 2
I have a WorkFlow that starts a fee record when we save a Document Management record. However, we don’t need fees to be created for documents with a DocType of “LTTR”.
To create a filter so the WorkFlow won’t trigger for a DocType of “LTTR”
- Open your WorkFlow.
- In the Source section, select Filtered Records, and then click the Filter button to open the Filter Editor.
- Click New Row, select Doc_Type, and then click Select.
- Click in the Test Condition field and select not equal to.
- In the Test Value field, enter “LTTR”.
- Click Save to close the Filter Editor.
- Click Save to close the WorkFlow Definition.
Scenario 3
Our firm has a WorkFlow that recreates calendar records every time they’re deleted to prevent employees from accidentally deleting other people’s appointments. However, we do not want it to run when employees delete their own records.
This is a slightly more complicated scenario, but we can add an Advanced Row to compare the User ID assigned to the Calendar record with the User ID that is currently logged in by utilizing the UserID$ function. The UserID$ function always specifies the User ID logged into the software.
To create a filter so that employees can delete their own calendar records
- Open your WorkFlow.
- In the Source section, select Filtered Records and then click the Filter button to open the Filter Editor.
- Click New Advanced Row to open the Advanced Expression Editor window.
- Click the Field button, select User_ID, and then click Select.
- Click the Operator button, select not equal to, and then click Insert.
- Click the Function button, select UserId$, and then click Insert.
- Verify the Expression shows “User_ID != UserId$()”, and then click OK.
- Click Save to close the Filter Editor.
- Click New Advanced Row to open the Advanced Expression Editor window.
- Click Save to close the WorkFlow Definition.
For more information on filter expressions, including using them in WorkFlows, take a look at Knowledge Base Article R11493, “All About Expressions.”
Not only can you easily search for any actions, file, or report in the software via Search Actions, but you can also customize the Quick Launch pane to always show your most used actions and most accessed client matters!
The Customizing and using Quick Launch video shows you how to make the most out of the Quick Launch pane. Learn how to pin and unpin the Quick Launch pane, use the Search action feature, pin items to the Pinned Actions and matters to the Pinned Matters groups, move items around, and more!
Quick Launch makes it easy to navigate the software, lets each user customize the contents, and is available in all Tabs3 and PracticeMaster programs.
Watch this three-minute video here:
Training Videos can be accessed at Tabs3.com/videos. You can also access the videos while in the software by selecting Help | Training Videos.
If you use the Convert to Fee feature, customizing your Convert to Fee Settings can be a time saver!
Default settings can be specified for calendar, email, note, phone, research, timer, and document records via Convert to Fee Settings (Maintenance | Preferences | Convert to Fee Settings). Settings are saved per user, so each login user has their own default settings. Default settings are broken down by record type (e.g., timer, email, document, etc.) and provide defaults for tcode, timekeeper, description, time to bill, and more.
For example, you can specify the Default Timekeeper setting for each record type to one of the following:
- Always use Timekeeper <number>
- Timekeeper used for last fee
- Client’s Primary Timekeeper
This means that every time you convert a record to a fee, the timekeeper will be automatically entered based on your preferred setting for that record type.
As another example, you can specify a particular tcode, or task based billing code, for each record type. This means that you could set a default tcode of “14 – Communicate with” for email type journal records, and a default tcode of “10 – Legal research” for research type journal records.
By specifying Convert to Fee Settings, you will have less editing to do when converting records to fees, making this administrative task run quicker and more smoothly.
