|
09 February 2009
Posted in
Office
OK, so I'll come out front and say it. My wife sells Avon! So let's get the "Ding Dong... Avon calling" jokes out of the way early.
The fact is she sells Avon and is actually very good at it. She has been doing it for a little over 2 years and is currently ranked 43rd in the entire country based on sales for the year to date.
So what does all this have to do with a FileMaker review you may ask. Well as a consequence of her success, she needed some way to manage her more than 500 customers and process the orders as they come in.
Ease of use
Value for money
Price approx
$ 559 NZ
Software/Hardware Requirements
Mac OS X 10.4.11+
PowerPC G4 (867MHz+), Power PC G5, Intel-based Mac
512MB of RAM
FileMaker Pro 10 - CD drive
Pro 10 Advanced - DVD drive
Digital download available
Available from
Apple Store NZ and
Buyers Guide
I bravely suggested I could put together a database for her to get her business organised.
So I downloaded a trial copy of FileMaker 9 and set to work. I soon discovered as simple as it was to put together a basic customer database, my wife's business kept growing and more features were requested, which I struggled to put together. To make matters worse, some other Avon reps had told her about a Windows only programme that had been purpose built for Avon rep. "It can do this.... and this..... and that...... it's really cool. Can you make mine do those things?"
The truth was, I knew that FileMaker could do those things, just that I didn't have the knowledge of how to make it happen. But thanks to the opportunity to try FileMaker 10, I was able to produce the required database.
Installation and Documentation
All that was required in this instance was to download the .dmg, open it and run the installer package. Once you were all serialized, you were away laughing. Within the .dmg is also a comprehensive installation guide as a pdf file.
Launching the application gives you a QuickStart page...
The Quickstart page gives you the options of:
- Create Database
- Open Database
- Learn More
Which was the same as the previous version, however, under the 'Learn More' you could:
- See It - 'Watch a brief video on the basics'
- Use It - 'Get started with hands-on visual tour'
- Learn It - 'Expand your skills with an in-depth tutorial'
- More... - 'Visit the Resource Center to get the most from FileMaker'
...which was far more useful to a relatively new user like me. As it turned out it was this last one that really got me moving in the direction I wanted.
It was the Resource Center that led me to the BPK. What is the BPK? - Why the 'Business Productivity Kit' of course.
Under the Support tab --> Downloads you find the "Starter Kits and Ready-made Solutions" link, which is where the BPK is located.
Basically the BPK is a Customer Management System template, which does 95% of the things that I need it to do for my wife's Avon business. All I had to do from there is change the look and play around with the fields to include fields I needed and discard fields I didn't. It was at this point that I felt a huge weight taken off my shoulders and at the same time gave me a much clearer understanding of databases and how they worked.
I am able to create my own layouts, using the fields already provided and basically personalise the whole look of the database and it still works. Thank you BPK!
FileMaker 10 Ease of Use
The first thing you notice with the new FileMaker is the disappearance of the left-hand side bar (here's a reminder of what it looked like)...
Gone are the little 'Browse', 'Find', 'Layout', 'Preview' icons, and moved is the little book icon that lets you click to move to next record.
Now we have a fairly standard toolbar, which is where the book icon reappears, along with other tools depending on which view you are in as well as buttons/icons for the other view modes.
To my eye it is far more intuitive (and I have worked with earlier versions of FileMaker over the years and have been quite familiar with the sidebar). The Preview and Edit Layout buttons, when clicked, change the view on the screen but also change the text on the button to Exit Preview and Exit Layout. Likewise the the Find icon (a magnifying glass), when clicked, presents separate 'Perform Find' and 'Cancel Find' icons. Clear, simple language, simple process - that is what I like.
Also the View as 'Form', 'List' and 'Table' have also come out from under the View menu and have little icons in the toolbar.
So as far as usability is concerned, there has definitely been some improvements on what was already a very usable application.
Value for money
For the small business user, or somebody wanting to get into creating database solutions (obviously a background and knowledge of how databases actually work is beneficial here), then I think it is excellent value for money and even the FM Pro 10 Advanced version at $799 is great for those wanting to create stand-alone applications. I shudder to think of the power that is under the hood of this software and with a little more knowledge I may just be able to tap into that one day (hopefully before my wife comes to me with a new request).
Conclusion
A great piece of software which I would encourage anybody with a remote interest in databases seriously consider using as their main application. The possibilities are endless, the tools are available and the price is right!
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Show/hide comments
Show/hide comment form