This month we have a quick rundown of the Tools tab in any Act Database. To start, at the top of the drop-down list you’ll see Define Fields, a useful feature that lets you add or edit fields in Act!. This means, on top of the existing fields for your database like contact, company, title, etc., you can manually add new fields to search with, such as birth date, relationship, or anything else you’d like.
Next, we have Design Layouts, which allows you to edit the visual layout of your database’s contact, company, group, or opportunity page. You can move and order the fields here in many different shapes and sizes, as well as remove fields, or add new ones you might have created from the Define Fields tab.
Email templates, starts the same, with the Action button letting you create a new template or copy one. This can also be done while editing a single template. Below that, however, is access to the image library, where all the stock and imported pictures you have are. When creating an email template, you can choose between preexisting templates by Act! or others, or your own created or imported templates.
Under that tab, you can Manage Users in your database. Assuming you have the correct security role, you can create new users, and delete or edit existing users’ information or roles. Below that tab you can Manage Teams, which are groups you can create for users. This feature is useful for large companies with many users.
Next you can set your Password policy, setting the rules for your users’ passwords, and/or forcing them to change their password at set intervals. Below that is Database Maintenance, which allows you to check, repair, lock, or unlock your database, all useful tools to have. You can also Remove old data, which Kenbar doesn’t recommend using much, though it can have niche uses for large companies that don’t need a lot of old info slowing things down.
Below that, you can scan your database for duplicate contacts using a number of different fields. Then you can copy, move, or merge those duplicate contacts or any others. Using the Copy/Move Contact Data feature.
The Tools tab also allows you to sort your contacts or current list view, Import Contacts from outsides sources, or Export contacts to Exel. You can also download and manage Act! Integration with Outlook or Google, allowing you to synchronize with your database, editing your sync settings, or view your sync history.
Finally, at the bottom of the tools tab, you can Customize your list view columns, changing which fields are shown and in what order. You can also reset your current menus and toolbars. Lastly, you’ll see Preferences, which takes you to your main database settings page.
