Customizing Your User Interface

A major focus of the Sage 100 Contractor program developers in recent years has been the improvement of the program’s User Interface – how you see and interact with the program. 

In the past, some users were frustrated with the single comprehensive System Menu that showed all menus, including those for modules that a user may not even own or to which access rights have not been granted.  The “My Menu” sidebar was added to give each user access only to those modules that are owned and those menu items to which access has been granted in the security setup.  Further modification can remove menu items that the user feels are unnecessary to do his or her job but to which he or she may still have security access.

The activity centers (the tabs across the top of the main desktop screen of the program) were added to organize the menu items and reports most likely to be needed for various roles within a construction organization.  For instance, a Project Manager might customize his or her desktop to default to the Projects activity center.  There, the desktop can have shortcuts to the various menu items and reports that a Project Manager uses most often, regardless of where they may be found in the menu structure.  Users can customize the desktop of any activity center further by drawing connecting lines to emphasize the workflow (like a flow chart) and drawing boxes around items to group like or related items.

If users find that they really prefer only their My Menu sidebar or their activity center tab, they can hide the other interface by using the Hide Menu and Settings buttons on the main desktop screen to eliminate the unwanted interface.

These customizations are unique to each user and workstation combination and can be copied from one user and workstation to another if desired.