Jer,
I think I remember you saying that you had some help in
building yours. It is a very fine effort and will suit most folks needs
quite well indeed. I had some difficulty in bringing it up in 10.0 but rest
assured that it works well in that version once you figure it out. I stand
behind what I said before about not having the program you buy tied to one
individual. Since you have built this yourself (with help?) this does not
apply.
Greg Newell
Greg's Piano Forté
www.gregspianoforte.com
216-226-3791 (office)
216-470-8634 (mobile)
<http://www.wealthyaffiliate.com?a_aid=NNaYfMKd>
http://www.wealthyaffiliate.com?a_aid=NNaYfMKd
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of Gerald Groot
Sent: Tuesday, January 05, 2010 11:47 AM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Filemaker Templates?
I have been using Filemaker Pro since 2004. Lyle Wood, who is a fantastic
technician and a very good friend of mine has been using it since the early
90's. Lyle set mine up for me for a lot of free dinners. :) (Thanks Lyle!)
He put a lot of work into it. I use mine as a client data base, client call
back list - it keeps track of who needs to be called for scheduling and when
- what time/s of the year they need to be scheduled, what pianos are due at
that location to be scheduled. There is a place for make, model, serial
numbers, last tuning date etc. It will even auto print out your Dampp Chaser
warranty card for you in another template within the data base template.
The amount of data input into Filemaker is only limited to how much your
computer can hold. Otherwise, the Filemaker database is unlimited.
When entering information into it, my personal preference is to place the
latest information in the data field, i.e., the fields that ask for what
work that needs to be done, estimates, comments etc., which I have listed as
two separate fields. These are other many other fields in the same
template.
I place the latest data on top because it is easiest to find as it pops up
first. Simply clicking within that same field will bring up any other
information that is in there otherwise, it is 'hidden' so it doesn't cover
up everything else that you would like to be able to see within the
template.
All fields will auto expand when you run out of typing room and they do not
fill up. You can always enter more.
You can download a free trial version for 30 days from Filemaker Pro at
http://www.filemaker.com/products/fmp/index.html?nav=products-pro You will
have to fill out the appropriate information in order to get your free trial
download. After 30 days, it will cease to be useful until you actually
purchase the product. The cost is $299 but, it is a very powerful program!
It may not be for everyone but, I love mine.
I use a separate template for billing and for letter writing. These two
templates are in the billing template. It is easy to switch from one to the
other. It also keeps track of who paid and what is owed.
The billing template adds the total sum of your bill automatically including
discounts and/or taxes if you use this feature. I really like a lot. My
current version is 7.0. I believe the latest version is 10.0. You will
have to upgrade my templates for use in the latest version. Don't know if
that would be a problem or if anything would get lost during the upgrade or
not? I can't imagine that it would?
Mine has never failed me. It has never crashed or lost information. It
saves information automatically when you exit the program or go to the next
client meaning, you never have to hit any "save" buttons. You can also
import your other database information into Filemaker from the drop down
menu.
I use MS Outlook for scheduling but do not have the two of them tied in
together. That sort of thing is WAY BEYOND my abiliites.
If one of you wants to receive a 'free" blank version of what I am using,
please email me privately and I'd be happy to send you a copy of what I
have. The blank version will have my name and letter head on it but that
can be easily changed and I would be most happy to help you with that.
Remember, mine is set up for how I like to use it, so it may not be exactly
what you want but, it is a great start for you anyway and would save you
lots of time starting from scratch.
I would upload my templates to the techlist but, for one, I'm not sure how
to do that and for two, you would not be able to open it up unless you have
first downloaded Filermaker Pro.
Jer Groot
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of J Patrick Draine
Sent: Monday, January 04, 2010 9:03 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Filemaker Templates?
I asked a similar question, and most folks wrote "make your own dude!" In
the meantime I've used a simple customer DB I put together on an Apple ][c
back around 1984, and exported into later versions of AppleWorks, and more
recently Filemaker Pro 8.5 and Bento.
Filemaker should be more than sufficient for whatever you dream up. Bento
might suffice (and has an iPhone version). I suggest you poke around their
support and forum pages (http://www.filemaker.com/support/index.html). Let
us know if you have find or create any template or general suggestions to
share,
Patrick Draine
On Mon, Jan 4, 2010 at 4:43 PM, Mark Purney <mark.purney at mesapiano.com>
wrote:
I need to finally set up a real database, and I was considering Filemaker
Pro since it works on both PC & Mac. Before I reinvent the wheel, does
anyone know of a decent template for piano business purposes?
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