Sims office User Top Tips and Techniques – Primary

Step by Step Changing the Panels on the Home Page

Adding Panels to the Home Page

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  To add a panel, click and drag the required panel name in the left-hand panel into the required position on the grid in the right-hand panel. For Multi-use panels, repeat this as many times as necessary. The panel name(s) are then displayed in the grid.
  

Removing Panels from the Home Page

To remove a panel, click the required panel name in the Grid panel then click the Remove Panel button. The panel name will no longer be displayed in the grid.

Repeat the previous step until only the required panels are displayed in the Active Panels list then click the OK button.

To remove all panels, click the Remove All button.

Increasing the Size of Panels on the Home Page

Click the Maximise button in the top right-hand corner of the relevant panel to enlarge the panel to a full screen display.

Changing the Panel Order

With the exception of School Bulletin and My Classes Today, panels on the Home Page can be rearranged as required, enabling you to position panels deemed the most important, or most used, at the top of the Home Page.

To change the panel order, click and drag the panel you want to move into the new Grid location as required. The panel switches position with any existing panel (if there is no panel, the original location of the panel will be blank). Repeat for any other required panels then click the OK button.

Alternatively, panels can be dragged to the required location on the Home Page by clicking the title bar of the required panel and dragging to the new location. The new panel switches position with the existing panel at the selected location.

Changing a Panel Label

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  Right-click anywhere on the required panel and selecting Customise Text to display the Edit Control Text dialog.
  
  

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  2. Enter the new label for the panel in the Text field then click the OK button.
  
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  3. To revert to the default value, delete the text in the Text field and click the Ok button.
  

Configuring Individual Panels on the Home Page

The School Bulletin

School bulletins can be published by users with School Administrator or Administrative Assistant permissions. Once published, they are available to all SIMS users.

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  To access a bulletin, click anywhere on the bulletin line to display the Edit School Bulletin dialog.
  

NOTE: If there are more bulletins than can be displayed in the School Bulletins panel, a hyperlink entitled More… is displayed at the bottom of the panel. Click this link to maximise the panel to a full page, listing all available bulletins.

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  In the Attachments panel, click the Open button to display the Edit Note/Document dialog.
  

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  Click the View button to display the bulletin in Microsoft® Word.
  

Adding a School Bulletin

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  From the School Bulletin panel, click the New button on the right-hand side of the panel to display the Add School Bulletin dialog.
  
  

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  Enter a unique Title for the school bulletin.
  

The Bulletin Date defaults to today’s date, but can be changed by clicking the Calendar button and selecting an alternative date.

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  Click the New button in the Attachments panel to display the Add Note/Document dialog.
  

The Type defaults to School Bulletin.

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  Select the Status from the drop-down list to determine the intended audience. This defaults to Pubic (visible to all users), but can be changed to Confidential if the document is only intended for users with School Administrator or Senior Management Team permissions.
  
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  Enter a brief Summary of the document, together with any required notes in the Note field.
  
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  Click the Open button adjacent to the Last Uploaded field to display the Add Attachment dialog.
  
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  Navigate to the required file then click the Open button to select it and return to the Add Note/Document dialog, where the file name is displayed in the Attachment field.
  

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  Click the OK button to upload the document to the Document Management Server (DMS). The newly uploaded bulletin is then listed in the School Bulletin panel on the Home Page.
  

The School Diary

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  Click anywhere on the event line to display more details in the Event Details dialog.
  

Printing the School Diary

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  Click the Print button to display the Run a Screen Based Report dialog, which provides a predefined report layout.
  

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  Click the OK button to display the report in your web browser.
  

Adding an entry to the School Diary from the Home Page

1. 
   Select Focus | School |School Diary to display the School Diary page.
   

2. 
   Enter a Description and select the relevant Category from the drop-down list.
   
3. 
   Specify the Start Time by clicking the Calendar button and selecting the date. You may also need to select the All day event check box.
   
4. 
   It is possible to create recurring Diary events by selecting the Recurrence button to enter the details.
   
5. 
   Click the OK button to save the details.