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How do I configure the eCenter Direct left hand menu?

You can both activate/inactivate eCenter Direct's menu items as well as rename them, as discussed in this FAQ.

Depending upon whether a user is logged in or not, they may see slightly different menu options. The first screenshot displays the default menu options that a non-logged in user may see:

This second screenshot displays the default menu options that a logged in user may see:

Activating and Understanding the Various Menu Items

The majority of eCenter's menu items only display if they are triggered via some sort of setup action you've taken in Neoserra. For example, the "Library of Documents" menu won't display until you've exposed a document on eCenter. Similarly, the "Training Events" menu won't display until at least one event has been posted to eCenter.

Next, we've listed each possible eCenter menu item and what it takes to trigger it:

  • New Client Signup. When clicked, the "New Client Signup" menu option allows members of the community to sign up electronically for services at your program. In order for this menu item to display, at least one "Public" center record in your Neoserra database must have the Allow client sign-up at this center? option enabled. For more information on enabling and customizing the client sign-up function in eCenter, see the FAQ titled How do I enable new clients to sign up for services from eCenter Direct?.
  • Contact Us. When clicked, the "Contact Us" menu option displays a listing of all the centers in your network. In order for this menu item to display, you must assign a status of "Public" to at least one center record in Neoserra
  • Training Events. When clicked, the "Training Events" menu option allows clients and non-clients of your program to register online for events your program is hosting. In order for this menu item to display, at least one training event record in your Neoserra database must have the Post this event on eCenter? option activated. For more information on posting training events to eCenter, see the FAQ titled How do I publish training events on eCenter Direct?.
  • My Events. The "My Events" menu option only appears for logged-in eCenter users that are members of a training event attendee list in Neoserra (either in the past or in the future.) When clicked, this menu item displays all upcoming events that the user has registered for, or has been marked as a prospective attendee, plus it will show all past events that they have either attended, canceled or didn't show-up for.
  • My Information. The "My Information" menu option allows the eCenter user to see the information that you have on file for them. Information such as their address, phone number and demographic data. Assuming the eCenter user is either the business owner or the primary contact in Neoserra, then they can edit the company information. If they are not the primary contact or the business owner then they can still edit their own personal information. Business owners and/or primary contacts can also sign their center's respective agreement if no electronic signature is currently on file.
  • Ongoing Surveys. The "Ongoing Surveys" menu option only appears for logged-in eCenter users that have been designated to respond to a survey. Any surveys assigned to the user that you've also designated as allowing multiple responses will display here. For more information on posting surveys to eCenter, see the FAQ titled How do I create, post, and advertise client surveys?.
  • My Uncompleted Surveys. The "My Uncompleted Surveys" menu option is very similar to the "Ongoing Surveys" menu option in that it only appears for logged-in eCenter users that have been designated to respond to a survey. The only difference is that surveys that do not allow multiple responses and are only meant to be completed once are displayed under this menu option.
  • Library of Documents. When clicked, the "Library of Documents" menu option allows eCenter visitors to view documents that you've posted to eCenter such as brochures or commonly-used forms. These documents can be public for any visitor to browse or private to a particular client, as discussed in the FAQ titled How do I post documents to eCenter Direct?. In order for this menu item to display, you must expose at least one document on eCenter. Even then, you may not always see this menu item depending upon the viewing restrictions you've placed on the document (e.g. is it available for viewing by anyone visiting eCenter, or by logged-in users only, or only those users that attended a particular training event, and so on).
  • Useful Links. The "Useful Links" menu option opens up a page with links to external resources that may be of interest to your clients. These links can be internal or external to your Web page. To create a custom link, and thereby activate the "Useful Links" menu option, click Administration|Configuration and then select "eCenter Useful Links".

Customizing the Titles of the Various Menu Items

Although OutreachSystems provides out-of-the-box text for eCenter's various menu options, you can customize this menu text to suit your preferences. In addition to customizing the actual title of a menu option, you can also add HTML formatting such as color, bolding, and italicizing to the menu. For example, perhaps you prefer the "Contact Us" menu to be titled "Service Locations" and displayed in red, as shown next.

eCenter menu customization is performed from one (or both) of two places:

  • Administration|Configuration. Available to Neoserra administrators only, menu title changes that are made from the "eCenter Interface Text" are changes that cascade down to the entire database.
  • Center record(s). Each public center within your network can override the globally-configured menu titles on a center-by-center basis from their center record. This allows individual centers to create their own menus on eCenter. Center-specific menu configurations become visible to logged-in eCenter users that belong to the center--or to any user when doing something pertaining to that center such as signing up for services from that center or viewing that center's online events.

Note: If your program consists of a single center, then you will likely want to perform all menu edits at the global level.

The steps for customizing an eCenter menu title are outlined next.

  1. First decide if you are customizing the menu on a global level as a system administrator or on a per-center level (from the center record).
    • If you are customizing the menu on a global level, select Administration|Configuration and click into the "eCenter Interface " area.
    • If you are customizing the menu on a center level, open the eCenter Interface tab found in the center record
  2. You'll notice that there are several categories of interface text. Expand the one titled "Menu" and then expand again to find that one specific menu item to edit.
  3. Upon expanding a single menu item, you are presented with an Edit button, as shown next. Click this button to open the text in edit mode.
  4. Make your edits as appropriate and click the Update button to save.
  5. Note: eCenter's menu titles support HTML so you can include color, bolding, and italicizing in your menu.

  6. If you are performing edits on a per-center basis, notice that Neoserra now stores a current and default version of the menu title, shown in the next graphic. This allows you to revert back to the default version at any time. The default version for the center is whatever is currently set at the global level; the default version for the gloabl settings is whatever was provided by Neoserra out-of-the-box as a default template.
  7. Go into eCenter to double-check your edits and make sure they look as intended.
  8. Note: If you're editing eCenter text from the global configurations, the URL listed in the eCenter URL field located in the "eCenter Settings" area takes you to the main introduction page for the entire eCenter account. If you're editing text on a per-center basis, use the "[Public Center Link]" hyperlink located in the Summary right hand panel. This URL can also be used to refer clients directly to your center's version of eCenter.

Bi-Lingual eCenter Direct

If you intend to utilize eCenter Direct in a bi-lingual mode, then you will need to remember to do these steps twice: once for the English language experience and once for the Spanish language experience. Neoserra offers you both English and Spanish menu options to be configured.

Want more? Browse our extensive list of Neoserra FAQs.