In addition to the Help Contents Sidebar (located to the left of the screen when in full screen mode) which provides access to the areas indicated below, links are also often provided within a topic as a means of navigating or providing additional information. When present, links appear as follows:

This is what a link will look like. (Once used, the font of a link will turn purple.)

Clicking a link will lead to one of the following actions:

• Navigate to another topic
  • This option "closes" the current topic and "opens" the new one for the user
  • To return to the topic the user was in before clicking the link, use the browser's built in "back" button or re-select it from the Contents Sidebar
• Navigate to another location within the currently selected topic
  • The links provided under the "Using Help in JobBOSS²" header above are an example of this functionality
  • Often there will be a "Back to Top" option at the end of a Topic Section (like the one below) to make navigating within larger Help Topics more convenient
• Open an external web page or email program (if present)
  • Web pages will open in a new browser window and can be closed at any time
  • This link takes you to ECI Software Solution's website.

Opening Topics

As noted above, the Help Contents Sidebar is located to the left side of the screen when viewed in full screen mode and is used to visually indicate what topics are covered in addition to providing a quick way to navigate to a specific topic. In the sidebar, topics (and subtopics) are represented by book and page icons which can be expanded and collapsed to display or hide related content as desired.

A "closed book" icon indicates that topic has at least one subtopic associated with it; clicking the icon "opens" the book and expands the contents menu to display the associated content. On the other hand, clicking an open book icon "closes" the topic and collapses the content menu at that level, hiding all associated subtopics. A "page" icon indicates that the topic / subtopic is the lowest level item and that there are no subtopics present under it.

In addition to the behavior noted above, clicking any of the icons in the sidebar takes the user to an associated landing page for the selected topic or subtopic. The topic / subtopic that is selected will always be highlighted in the sidebar, indicating exactly where the presented information is located.

Collapsing the Contents Sidebar

By default the Help Contents Sidebar is expanded, allowing the user to open and close topics as they choose. If the user wants to collapse the sidebar in order to expand the area of usable browser display space, they can do so by clicking the small "left arrow icon" as indicated in the image to the left). To expand the sidebar, click the arrow once more, though this time it will be facing to the right.

Tablet View

If the Help File is being viewed on a tablet or if the web browser on your PC is reduced enough in width, the display format changes accordingly to better fit the smaller window. In this case, the Contents Sidebar is collapsed to save space but can be opened by clicking the "expand" icon located in the upper left corner, immediately above the topic display area.

Topic Display Options

When viewing information in Help, the user has access to the following options located above the display window.

Print Topic

This option will print the topic being viewed as it is displayed on the screen.

• If the topic details are collapsed, only the information displayed will be printed.
• If the topic details are expanded, all the information displayed will be printed.
  • Depending on the topic, this could be several pages.
  • Consider printing to PDF in order to save on paper and ink costs, instead.
• Information will print as it is displayed on the screen, meaning it may not be the optimal format for a printed page.

Expand / Collapse Topic Information

This option automatically expands or collapses information that can be hidden within the selected topic. See Topic Details (below) for additional options regarding expanding and collapsing detailed information within topics.

Remove Highlights

This option can be used to remove all the highlights provided by the system as a result of selecting a linked topic after performing a search in Help. See Searching in Help for Information (below) for additional information on this subject.

The Help File is made up primarily of two types of topics:

• Landing Pages that present concepts key to understanding how JobBOSS² works and explain what the various fields that users will encounter are for
• Tutorials that provide examples of how to create records or use a certain feature of JobBOSS²

These topics are organized in a manner that represents a logical order that a new user would follow when learning about JobBOSS², most of which are broken down into additional subtopics.

Tutorials are typically found as subtopics of a Landing Page.

Using Help in JobBOSS²

This topic provides details about using Help and how to find useful information - which is why you are here right now.

Using JobBOSS²

This topic provides details about "global" options found in JobBOSS² and is designed to help users understand how common features work regardless where they are encountered.

Subtopics covered here include the user interface, record management, running reports, and specific Global Features.

Individual Areas of JobBOSS²

This section of the Help File is made up of multiple topics that cover how to configure JobBOSS² and then how to use it once set up. To that end, information is covered in the following order:

Settings Related Topics

• Tables
• Base Tables
• System Options

Data Entry Related Topics

• Quoting
• Orders
• Purchasing
• Inventory
• Shop Floor Control
• AR
• AP
• G/L

Reports

• List of reports by area of JobBOSS²

Additional Useful Settings

• Miscellaneous Utilities
• Hot Spots

Quickview Options

• Record Inquiries
• Executive Overview
• Data Collection
• Material Forecast

Subtopics are typically organized in the order they appear within the area of JobBOSS² that relates to the selected topic, though in some instances items may be grouped together based on common functionality.

Landing Pages are designed to provide users with general information about the selected topic in addition to detailed information about the various fields located on the associated record, which is hidden by default. To view the comprehensive information about the record fields click the Details icon. If there is more than one Detail icon present on a page, each one will expand and collapse separate groupings of information and can be operated independently of each other.

Clicking the Topic Expand / Collapse option will open or close ALL values present within a topic.

Back to Top

In full screen mode, the Search box is located in the upper right hand side of the help window; in tablet mode Search is an option once the expand icon is clicked. (See Tablet View under Navigating the Contents Sidebar above for additional information.)

To use the search feature:

1. Type a word or phrase into the search box.
2. Click the magnifying glass icon or use the Enter key on the keyboard

The system will return a page with links to all the help topics that contain the word or phrase entered and possibly some entries that are close to that word or phrase. If more than twenty (20) results are returned (as indicated at the top of the page) the system will provide navigation options at the bottom of the page to allow the user to see the remaining results. Clicking a result link opens the associated topic in the current window with the word or phrase entered in the search box highlighted. Use the Remove Highlights Option to remove these references if desired.

Narrowing Down Searches

When a large number of search results appear, it may be helpful to use search techniques to reduce the number of returned results or to change the order that the results appear.  For example:

• Use quotation marks around the word or phrase in order to limit the results to an "exact match."
• Add the main topic to the word or phrase being searched to bring results within that topic to the top of the results list.
• Use combinations of both quotes and topic key words.
• Change the order of the words being searched for: e.g. change parts "inventory" to "inventory" parts.

Searching for Unknown or Uncertain Results

There are times when the exact word or phrase of a desired result is not known, such as if a user is new to the system or has forgotten just what a given feature or function in the system is called. In this case try the following:

• Narrow down what topic section(s) that the result could be in and enter those topic sections as key words one at a time.
• Entering only a main topic as a key word(s) brings up all entries related to that topic
• Entering a sub-topic of a main topic will bring up all entries in that sub-topic
• Search on related words or phrases associated with the unknown subject. This will display matches containing the related words or phrases possibly having the desired subject matter associated with one or more of the results.

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