XLsuite Features Reviewed

XLsuite Features

Contact Management

The contact manager includes 3 views.

Contacts List View

Contact list allows you to view your contacts in a list view. Names and quick contact info like email and phone numbers are available for quick reference.

Contacts General Page

Contact Page (General View) shows you a detailed view of the contact in question. Things like their password, history, comments and testimonials are all available by clicking the tabs at the top of the contact screen. Data entry is smooth and fast using AJAX calls to save the data live when a use tabs out of a field or hits return. A desktop feel was the goal with the contact entry and editing. Additional fields can be added using the “Add Fields” link.

New Contacts:

New Contact page is accessed from the top “Contacts” menu or from the text link at the top of the General view. This allows you to see all the available fields for a fast contact entry experience. Tag fields let you easily categorize the contact and the referral field lets you link the contact to an existing contact in the database. This makes it easy to track how your contacts came to you as well as future integration with things like affiliate programs and commission tracking for sales agents (inside and outside).

Import Manager:

Import File:

The import module allows you to import contacts from any datasource.

Simply save your data in the .CSV format. Browse to the .CSV file on your computer and upload it to the system.

Data Mapping View:

You will then be shown a visual representation of the data on the left side, and the fields in your XLsuite database. Simply pick up the XLsuite field name in question and drag it to the corresponding field name in the CSV that you are importing. You can manually configure all of the data to import into the specific fields that you want to use. This is good for bulk imports from lead generation sites, your contacts from Outlook or other CRM's or even an excel spread sheet of your members.

Search Functions:

Search Functions:

There is a “quick search” that is available at the top right hand corner of the screen at all times. This quick search will search the field names. It's good for finding things like contacts, specific forum posts and general information (like type Vancouver and get all your contacts in Vancouver, as well as any forum posts that mention the word Vancouver).

By clicking the word “SEARCH”, a more advanced search will pop down from the top right corner. This allows you to search with more detail. Each field in the database can be separately searched, simply type in the first few letters of a field name and the available fields will drop down from the list.

Saved Search:

Once you've created a search that you will want to do frequently, you can save that search for future use by clicking the “save search” button. From then on simply clicking the “saved search” word will display your list of saved searches, so it becomes a quick matter to find things like leads in a specific area or for a specific sales agent. It's also great for creating reports, carefully stacking your search for the right criteria will allow you to create powerful reports that will give you business metrics at the click of a button.

Resources Section:

Content Management System (CMS)

The resources section has the Content Management System as well as information about how to use the system and information about XLsuite.

CMS Layouts View:

Within the CMS the “LAYOUTS” view allows you to set up constant elements of your page. The background image, navigation, header, footer, sidebar... the look of every new page you create. Multiple layouts can be used to define sections of the site.

CMS Pages View:

The “PAGES” view allows you to create and edit the pages inside your website. “ADD CHILD” to your main page, inherit the layout from the page you are creating, you can create as many pages as you need and group them accordingly.

CMS Page Editor View:

The specific pages can be set up to use plain text for maximum flexibility. Other options include using Textile markup or even a Rich Text Editor using the FCK Editor (we recommend using plain text or textile over the Rich Text editor since the code that it spits out will work, but is pretty “bloated”)

Of particular note is the “SLUG LINE” function that let's you place your page exactly where you want it in the URL. This is excellent for SEO purposes as it does not show any extensions and displays dynamic pages simply as URL addresses like : Xlsuite.com/training/how-to-use-the-cms

Please see the “how to use the CMS” document for detailed “how to” information.

Near Future Additions:

On deck soon is an addition to the CMS to include the snippets module, which will allow further content segregation and easy placement of repeat elements.

Content Section:

The CONTENT section has several planned features for things like banner ads, links, polls, forms and other elements you'll use on your site. Currently implemented functions include:

RSS Feed Importer:

This allows you to import feeds from multiple sources and tag them. You can then publish those feeds on your site as a quick way to create dynamic content. Setting up the feeds is as easy as plugging in the feed URL and selecting what you'd like to TAG it.

You can add multiple RSS feeds to your feed reader and tag them with multiple tags. So for example, if you enter 6 feeds from various sources, you can tag them all “industry_news” and then display the industry news on a page on your site. The 6 feeds will be merged into one new news feed that can be displayed either in order, or even randomly (which adds big points to your SEO value). This is a powerful way to integrate with other sites as well, feeding things like project changes, favorites, expense reports or forum posts to a side bar or page on your site.

Please read the “XLsuite Render Feed Syntax” post in our Documentations forum for more info:

http://xlsuite.com/admin/forum_categories/1/forums/5/topics/165

ADMIN Section:

The admin section holds the account payment information as well as the “my account” link which will quickly bring you to your account general contacts page.

The Groups and Permissions sections are also located here.

Groups Manager:

Groups section allows you to set up various access groups for your domain. Things like Client / Prospect / Moderator / Supplier. You can use these groups to quickly define who has access to various parts of your website and content.

Permission Sets:

Permissions allows you to assign permission sets. This is a way to group certain permissions together (like edit contact / edit estimate / view payments (but not edit)) into quick permission sets that you can use with your groups or assign to specific parties.

What's next?

We're working hard to bring you full email integration, template engine and a file manager next.

More features will follow including all of the content sections (as snippets) sequential mailing for lead generation automation and of course our integrated MLS listings manager for our Real Estate Clients.