okay, so i love everything about this app but can not figure out how to build some very basic reports! it's driving me mental, and i'm also bothered that the default reports are so minimal...

what i'd really like is for marketcircle to release some very basic reports included in the default installation like:

current opportunities (name, owner, state, pipeline etc)

current projects (etc)

same, but for past opptys/projects (for review)

...or has somebody already built these? if so, how would i download and use in my install?

the default reports included in daylite are so mediocre that it completely makes the reporting feature/tool look like an afterthought...just my opinion of course...

Daylite doesn't seem to have any reports that you can customize. Specifically I am looking for a Project Summary report or print layout but I need to add some extra fields to the one that Daylite offers, and it won't let me. Unless I'm missing something? I don't want to start from scratch.

Does anyone out there have something they could share?

I totally agree. No where NEAR enough reports to make USE of the information on my database.

Hi davey,
Cynthia Shaffer has done a bunch of work on reports. She posts frequently on the board and has her own website, www.daylitehelp.com . She will actually build reports for you. Her prices seemed very reasonable to me.

HTH

I agree. More basic reports and and a much easier report designer needed.

Agreed. We are nearing the end of an eval on Salesforce and likely will pull the trigger on it. Right now we have ~6k contacts, 25k notes, hundreds of projects and opportunities... and just cannot live with the cumbersome reporting of daylite as we continue to grow.

Its a shame - the Daylite interface is awesome- especially for a just a few users. There are additional factors behind our switch, but the inability to drill down on data from high level to granular quickly and efficiently is certainly a leader.

Hate to go, but such is life.

Another one to agree. I've been patient for several years on this issue. Microsoft has done some of the work. Look at Outlook for some reports. For example a basic phone book for the folder I choose. They have the layout nicely done (I am forced to use Windows at work) Almost every other software that has come out since early days in Apple has had good basic reports. How about a list report with name, address, emails and phone numbers. I think the assumption is no one prints anymore. I often like to refer to my addresses, phone #'s and emails I carry with me in my daytimer. Too bad RAE stopped updating that program was on the right track and had perfect report in first draft.

I agree 100% with what has been said. My company is evaluating other options as well. Marketcircle's typical response has been "look, there's consultants selling reports". I'm sorry, but if your programs setup is so complicated that it requires very computer-savvy users to go to a third party to make useful reports out of their data, then something is flawed. More default reports or even wizards to help us get started (the videos are a nice start but woefully incomplete), please!

One more that is also struggling with basic reports. I´m able to make print layouts, but it seems to be a little bit harder to make a report with user input.
A selection with different exsample report that we could download and edit would be realy nice. I guess it does not take Markedcircle´s staff long time to produce a sellecion of different report.

So please help us with this ASAP!


Arild

I find it absolutely ridiculous that the program does not include a selection of 10 or 20 report templates to at least 'get us going'. The developers' standard response of 'there are designers out there that you can commission' is just NOT GOOD ENOUGH !!

To be honest, it begs the question - Are the developers also designers who make extra money from designing reports for desperate users ????


Even if there were some templates that we can modify and edit as needed rather than starting from scratch would be 100x better than is the situation now !

Or perhaps they are relying on 'User Generated Support / content' ??? Well - its obviously NOT WORKING as there are only 1 or 2 templates that people have kindly posted to this forum !!! Get the message Daylite ??

Also - no responce on this subject from daylite themselves - the original post was APRIL 2007 for goodness sake !!!

Me-thinks I'll have to use something else unless things change !!!

POOR SHOW DAYLITE - VERY POOR SHOW INDEED !!!

Halid Izzet

I completely agree. There should be some basic reports that do useful stuff like:

1. all clients/customers that have not been contacted in the last 30 days.
2. Show a detailed report for stages of a given pipeline for all clients/customers at a given stage.
3. Sales reports showing sales pipeline, opportunities and successes.

The problem with DayLite is it is too general for most and not powerful enough for others. Populating the system with a bunch of reports that we can then modify would be a big help.

I did speak with Market Circle on the Film Template they are trying to create and they were receptive to feedback and criticism, however there are some major show stoppers and a lack of useful reports to make the project truly useful with out a lot of extra work or hiring consultants.

We'll have more default reports soon (shortly after 3.6).

It's an interesting point you've bought up.
There are a few 3rd party DL developers out there who charge some handsome amounts for basic reports which aren't covered under the general provisions of DL3.5.
If we really need DL to provide more standard reports and print pages, I suggest you literally name what you're wanting. IE - a report to show project value forecast and the timeline in which to expect the money into your account.
Amanda

Overall I love Daylite and am thrilled to have such a powerful CRM solution at an affordable price that runs on Mac OS X. It's a brilliant creation no doubt! However, I also have been most frustrated with the reports/print templates situation. In addition to Daylite providing a good selection of ready-made reports, users need much better documentation for the report-builder module. I find it very confusing to say the least, with all the options for selecting data sources and no clear instructions of WHICH data sources to select. A major upgrade of the documentation and the interface itself is needed to allow non-technical users to create their own custom reports. So while I will be very happy to see Marketcircle add an abundance of built-in reports to Daylite, I will be even MORE pleased to see them create a much more intuitive, user-friendly reports module, along with COMPLETE documentation. In my opinion, once the major sync issues and Leopard compatibility are resolved, the reports issue is THE (or at least A) top priority for Marketcircle to address. I look forward to some major advances on this soon!

I also think that Market Circle really needs to rethink how it exposes reports/layouts to the user.

It is highly confusing now the way it is, with a Reports menu under the File menu that only lists reports and then 4 menu options under Action for:

1. New Print Layout...
2. New Report...
3. Make Simple List Layout...
4. Edit Print Layout or Report...

What is the difference with the terms "New" and "Make"?

What is the difference between "New Print Layout" > "List" and "Make Simple List Layout? At first glance it is not clear?

How do you see a list of layouts that the user has already created? [Using "Edit Print Layout or Report"] Yes it is under the print command but as a User I am hunting for terms like Run Report or Use Layout.

Why are reports the user created in the File > Reports dialog but none of the layouts? This should be unified and a way to choose to run the report/layout on all objects or only those one selected (showing only those reports/layout that are applicable)

There is no central way to manage all reports and layouts from the report/layout editor or a clue what layouts what you may have. I have to leave the application to add/delete/rename reports/layouts.

For the longest time, I was at a loss on how to create a layout and apply it to only the selected contacts or organizations. I really just wanted to save the layout (which is really just a report) to the file system. So in the report/layout editor I hit preview after creating the layout but it had all the contacts not just the selected contacts!

This is all highly confusing and I am not a novice user! This is not something a user is going to find out without studying the manual.

The reason I bring this up is not to complain but to get Market Circle to rethink how they do reporting.