Overview
Flex features a responsive user interface, making it suitable for a variety of screen sizes, as well as devices. Learning the layout of the user interface will serve you well in becoming an efficient user of Flex. For a video to walk you through the basics, please see Navigating the Layout of Flex (Video).
Main User Interface
Home Screen - Daybook
By default, when you log into your instance of Flex, you will be presented with the Home Tab. This view displays a calendar in Daybook view, which shows all quotes and other enabled elements within a 30-day window.
To the left of the date range, you can click the icon to reload the calendar on the currently selected date range. To revert the date range back to one which covers the current day, click the TODAY button. To the right of that button, the icons can be clicked to change the date range to the past or future. To the right of the date range, you can click the drop down menu to change the current calendar to a different available one.
Home Screen - Calendar
Alternatively, you can view the calendar in a traditional Calendar view. By default, the Calendar will open to the MONTH view.
As with Daybook view, you can click the icon to reload the calendar or click the icons to change the date range to the past or future. You can change the Calendar View between MONTH, WEEK, and DAY.
Home Screen - Quick Links
The next option on your Home tab is called Quick Links. This view displays a Quick Links page with some shortcuts for easy access to commonly used features. Please note that the Quick Links page is not editable.
Home Screen - To-Do List
The fourth option on your Home tab is the To-Do List. This will list the Tasks and Follow-Up Tasks set up in your system assigned to the logged-in user.
Main Interface
In the upper left hand corner, the icon will open the Main Menu. Below that, the icon will re-focus the Home Tab.
The next five icons comprise the Resource Browser.
The icon will open the What's New window, where you can see all of the recent changes and improvements in the latest version of Flex5.
Finally, clicking the icon will open the Profile window where you can check which user is signed in, change your password or sign out of Flex. If you have a picture on your linked contact record, it will show in place of the icon in the corner.
Along the top of your system, you will see the Location Dropdown Menu, the Barcode Entry field and the New Element icon.
The Location Dropdown Menu is used to select the environment you want to work in if your company has multiple locations.
The Barcode Entry field is used to enter the barcode numbers of assets in your system. Numbers can be entered in this field manually, or automatically with a properly configured scanner.
In the upper right hand corner, clicking the icon will open the New Element menu, where you can create new Quotes, Pull Sheets, etc.
Main Menu
Clicking the icon in the top left corner of Flex will open the Main Menu. You can click the icon from virtually anywhere in Flex to open the Main Menu.
The Contacts, Financials, Inventory, Projects, and Warehouse menus contain options, configurations, and helpful shortcuts to create new resources or lists of resources with filters.
The Help menu contains links to various Flex Support resources as well as the Flex4 App Download page.
The System Settings menu is where you will find the majority of configuration and settings screens within Flex.
Finally, Reports will open a new tab where you can run various Definition Level Reports in your system.
Resource Browser
The vertical black menu on the left side of your system is called the Resource Browser. The Resource Browser can be used to organize, sort, and find nearly anything in your Flex system.
Search lets you find any resource, document, or element that exists in your system. Use the dropdown to view and change filters.
Contacts acts as a way to quickly sort through contact records, and as a way to quickly add new ones. At any time, you can right click on any of the contact resource types like Clients or Vendors to quickly add a new individual or company contact record.
Inventory shows you a categorized view of the inventory models in your system. At any time, you can right click on a group or sub-group to create a new inventory model. You can click-and-drag models out of this tab to add them to quotes and other documents. In this tab, you can click the Configure icon to access the Inventory Tree Configuration menu where you can edit, organize, customize, and add or remove Inventory groups and sub-groups.
Services is where you can view all of the existing service offerings in your Flex system. These are typically "intangible" things that you don't keep stock of, but would otherwise still bill for (like labor roles, and service offerings).
Recent History will display a list of the last 25 opened records, models, units, elements, and documents. This is useful to quickly return to/reopen a closed tab.
Workbench Menu
The Workbench Menu was previously a permanent fixture of Flex4, pinned to the right side of the screen in virtually every screen and view within Flex4.
In Flex5, the Workbench Menu (still located along the right side of the screen) is now a collapsible set of icons, visible or not depending on context. For example, the Workbench Menu is no longer a part of settings screens, inventory models/units or the calendar (with those functionalities being moved into the Detail Block).
Elements will open the Project Element Tree for the element that is currently open. This is a helpful tool to reference and open elements related to the one you are currently working on.
Modify opens a menu where you can make changes to the header of an element, copy and paste line items, copy entire elements, reset pricing, move or delete elements, and more (depending on context).
Reports displays all available and enabled Instance Level Reports available for the element you currently have open.
Logistics will display options to generate or update various documentation that can be utilized to aid in logistics processes.
Financials displays in proper context, applicable options to preform tasks such as entering payments or creating incremental invoices on a financial document.
Workflow will show options based on multiple factors - the type of element currently open, as well as the current status of that element. Options shown here serve to move an element forwards or backwards in a process/life-cycle.
Add Child Elements will display a menu of different accompanying elements that can be added to the one currently open.
Warehouse will provide shortcuts to jump to an element's Prep Screen or Manifest (when applicable).
Reload in the bottom right corner will reload the currently open element. You can also do this by right-clicking the element's tab and clicking Reload This Tab.
Detail Block
The Detail Block in Flex is the area in the center of the screen, which occupies the majority of the available space. This area dynamically changes to display different views, such as what is seen in the Calendar, what is seen when you have a Quote open (shown below), and what is seen when you open an inventory model or unit.
Project Elements
On Project Elements (like the Quote shown above), there are two places to change your view. In the top, you will see options like Working View and Logistics View. These change which fields you see represented in the Detail Block, based on configuration.
Up top and to the right is the Send to Client button which opens a dialog we can use to send a copy of the element to the designated client. When applicable, you will also see the Finalize or Unfinalize icons.
At the bottom of the screen, there are three tabs - Header, Details, and Totals. Note that Totals will only appear when applicable.
Prep Screens
On Prep Screens (such as those for Pull Sheets, Transfer Orders, and Purchase Orders), you'll have access to the Finalize or Unfinalize icons for the pull sheet, as well as workbench menu options for Elements, Reports and Logistics. In addition, the prep screen shows some other options:
To the right, you will see the Last Scan area. This lower area of this section displays information about the last scan (such as Quantity scanned, Barcode Number, Serial, Stencil, Last Known Location, and more). Barcode and Last Known Location act as clickable shortcuts to the inventory unit, model, or location record.
The upper area of the Last Scan section displays the following options:
Undo Scan will reverse the last scan. This is handy if you scan the wrong gear or the wrong quantity.
Log Maintenance will open the Log Maintenance dialog on the inventory item that was last scanned. This is particularly useful when returning a Manifest.
Open acts as a shortcut to quickly open the model or unit page for the inventory last scanned, depending on the structure/availability settings for that item.
Edit conversely acts as a shortcut to quickly edit the model or unit for the inventory last scanned, depending on the structure/availability settings for that item.
Along the bottom of the screen, there are some additional options which appear when a user is on a Prep Screen:
The Current Scanning Location shows the location a user is scanning equipment to.
The Sound Theme indicates the currently selected sound theme.
The Prompt Preferences shortcut will bring up a dialog where a user can control which prompts appear while on a Prep Screen (if they have been granted the related permissions).
The Profile Icon shows the name of the signed-in user.
Inventory Models & Units
On Inventory Models and Units (as well as other tabs such as settings pages), the Detail Block will show a different configuration.
Icons to preform various functions appear in two groups both at the top and, when applicable, at the bottom. Note that on inventory models, the bottom set of icons does not necessarily appear on every bottom tab.
Edit Model/Bulk Edit - Depending on context, this will allow editing of inventory models or units, groups of units or other elements.
Copy - Allows copying of entire elements and models.
Schedule - Where applicable, this shows a calendar view for a model's utilization over time.
Reset for Physical Count - This can be used to reset model quantities to count actual on hand quantity in your warehouse, otherwise it pertains to inventory (depending on context).
Print Barcode Label - This will print labels for inventory for either the inventory model or specific units.
Delete - This icon indicates that an element can be deleted. It will show twice in inventory, at the top for the model and at the bottom for individual selected units.
Mark Unit as Out of Commission - On a serial unit, this icon is a quick way to mark the individual unit as out of commission.
Go to Parent Inventory Model - Click this icon on a serial unit to return to the parent inventory model.
New - This icon indicates the ability to create a new entry on a list where this icon is present. This appears on inventory units as well as settings screens.
Move - Clicking this allows you to move either a whole element or move units from one model to the other (depending on context).
Clear Filters - In filter-able and sort-able lists (like under the Projects menu) or areas of the Detail Block that show lists of information (such as inventory units), clicking this icon allows you to clear any filters you have set.