Customisation: Moving into a new Module

21 Aug 2017

One of the great things about OpenCRM is the ability to hide modules that you aren’t currently using.

This means your screen isn’t cluttered with information you don’t need, your team doesn’t get confused about where they should be recording information, and everything just feels more streamlined.

So now that these modules are safely out-of-sight, out-of-mind, you are free to get on with business.

But what if things change?

Down the road, you might decide that you do want to start using the Quotes module, for example. Thankfully, as you can read in the FAQ linked above, turning a module back on is extremely straightforward.

Alternatively, you might have a short (or long) term business need that doesn’t really fit with any of the “standard” modules in the system, but you really want to record it and manage it in OpenCRM.

Luckily, with a few of OpenCRM’s customisation options, you have some real options here.

Custom Modules

Let’s say that you are starting work on a whole new, top secret side aspect of the business. Maybe you’re Elon Musk wanting to look into amphibious vehicles (or whatever his next project is going to be).

Either way, you’ve only got a handful of people who need access to this information, but you want it properly time recorded and managed.

We’ve already got you covered in OpenCRM, you can just turn on the “Custom Projects” module, add the necessary custom fields to hold your top secret information, and get to work.

The security options for this other projects modules are completely separate from the standard projects module, but it works the exact same. Making it perfect for top secret plotting…

We also have two Custom Contacts modules, just in case you wanted to keep a list of all the spies and secret agents who work for you.

Customising Existing Modules

But maybe that’s not what you need. Maybe you really need another salesy module, something you can link Products to the same way you do with Sales Orders or Invoices.

As we’ve got four such modules, there’s a possibility that you aren’t using one of them.

Because you can change layouts, add unlimited custom fields (included calculated fields), and create custom PDFs, you can always turn one of these modules into something a little more bespoke to fit your changing business needs.

For example

As users of OpenCRM, we’ve actually used both of these methods to make sure we are able to track business relevant information in a structured way.

This includes using Custom Projects for super-secret work and Quotes to manage our work estimates process. Using these two separate modules meant that we could tailor them to fit a very specific need without cluttering up other modules.

Every business will change and evolve over time, it’s just what companies do. But your CRM system should be able to grow and adapt alongside, without having to resort to purchasing new, secondary systems or changing CRM providers to meet this new need.