In various locations where Stock codes appear in a listing, new columns have been added to show Stock Status, and availability of Stock Alternatives.

• "Point of Sale"
• "Invoicing and Customer Orders"
• "Add/Edit/Process Sales/Purchase Orders"
• "Vehicle Sales Documents"
• "Workshop Job Properties"

In addition, many relevant columns which were present in some modules but not in others have been added to help standardise the look and feel.

• Remember you can drag and drop and resize columns to suit your own priorities. See How do I Change the Order of Columns in Platinum? for further reading.

The Diary Summary Screen, available from the "Workshop Diary" if you have the Platinum "Personnel Planning" module, will now show information from "Workshop Management" "Diary Time Unavailable" as well as "Personnel Planning" diary appointments and "Workshop Management" time allocations, giving you a more complete overview of technician commitments and availability.

When Report Generator on-screen reports are viewed in the new table layout (where the columns are displayed in a simple list) you can now "drill down" and see further information by producing a Global Report based on information associated with the highlighted line. For example if your first report lists stock lines then from the finished report you can "drill down" with another report to find out more details about the stock line highlighted.

• See What is Global Reporting? for more details about using Global Reports.

A number of enhancements have been made to this area of the system.

• Required quantity and pack information added to the order review list.
• Direct calculation of order quantity from a formula added.
• A manual method to add additional stock lines after calculated has been added.
• A report of tagged items has been added to the order review.
• A significant speed improvement in the calculation routine has been made.
• The ability to copy stock codes added to calculation and order review screens.

The "Special Order Location" popup window, available when receiving items on a "Purchase Order", has been given the windows look and feel.

• As this part of Platinum has been given the Windows look-and-feel the Home (on-line help) and End (functions) keys now work the way Windows uses them (i.e. Home goes to the beginning of whatever you are accepting and End goes to the end) so you should use the alternative help keys listed below:
• The F11 key should be used for the on-line help.
• The F12 key or the "Functions" menu should be used to access the function keys available.
• Buttons have been given a shortcut key (F?) for use in Macros and anyone not wanting to use the mouse.
• Windows may be repositioned and changed in size - these changes will be remembered from one Platinum session to another.
• The columns in lists can be moved or resized by dragging the heading for the column you wish to configure - these changes will be remembered from one Platinum session to another.
• Any tabs can be moved by dragging the heading for the tab to the new position - this new position will be remembered from one Platinum session to another.

Report Generator on-screen reports can now be viewed in a table layout where the columns are displayed in a simple list. This is done using the drop-down choice in the bottom-left corner of the report window.

Two features are available when the report is viewed in this layout:

• If the report is listing details of accounts, then the Alt+Y key pressed on a line will bring up the CRM for that customer or supplier.
• The report can be exported to CSV or Excel by pressing Ctrl+P or the button on the toolbar.

The "Pictures" tab on "Vehicle Properties" has been renamed to "Media".

Complimenting this change is the ability to add videos to vehicles by entering links to videos hosted on "YouTube" and "Facebook".

The links recorded on vehicles are uploaded so the videos can appear on "FindIt" and can be accessed and utilised on your own website.

The "Stock Control" "Stock Reordering" option has been given the windows look and feel as well as lots of new features. It's easier to use, quicker and generally slicker than it's predecessor. You can combine recalculation of maximum and reorder levels with calculating stock required. Seasonality and automated sales trend following come as standard. Selection supplier, creating orders and even progressing them is all now possible from within the ordering option.

The option not only replaces the stock re-ordering but also the "Stock Reordering" option in "Purchase Order Processing".

• As this part of Platinum has been given the Windows look-and-feel the Home (on-line help) and End (functions) keys now work the way Windows uses them (i.e. Home goes to the beginning of whatever you are accepting and End goes to the end) so you should use the alternative help keys listed below:
• The F11 key should be used for the on-line help.
• The F12 key or the "Functions" menu should be used to access the function keys available.
• Buttons have been given a shortcut key (F?) for use in Macros and anyone not wanting to use the mouse.
• Windows may be repositioned and changed in size - these changes will be remembered from one Platinum session to another.
• The columns in lists can be moved or resized by dragging the heading for the column you wish to configure - these changes will be remembered from one Platinum session to another.
• Any tabs can be moved by dragging the heading for the tab to the new position - this new position will be remembered from one Platinum session to another.

A new option "Add or Edit Loyalty Cards" has been added to the "Reports & Settings" -> "Maintenance Options" -> "System Administrator" -> "Module Settings" -> "Customer Loyalty".

This new option allows you to search for and view information about a loyalty card such as whom it belongs to and how many points are available on that card. There are also options to retire old cards, change the owner of the card and change the available points balance.

When using a "silent" print record for sending statements (for example) via email or PDF attachments, Platinum can automatically print on paper instead for all customers who do not have an email address recorded.

• See Printing Statements to Email for more details.