The Axiom Launchpad

Overview

The Axiom Launchpad is a navigation toolbar that provides quick access to areas of the system. Return to the Launchpad at any time to jump between homepages, access saved queries, search for things in the system, and more. There are several main components of the Launchpad:

•  ROCKET SHIP: access all Homepages and Common Links.
•  FAVORITES: access all personal and shared “favorite” query templates, query results, and records.
•  SEARCH: search for any area of the system including homepages, people, detail screens, and queries.
•  HISTORY: view past activity in the system.
•  WORKSPACE OVERVIEW: library of personal and shared folders that contain saved query templates, query results, detail screens, etc.
•  HELP: access help from Veracross documentation.

The Launchpad remains with the user as you navigate through each area of the system. Certain homepages and other detail screens, depending on their function and use within the system, will have additional components of the Launchpad available for use as these pages are accessed. These features are available via the “Action Menu” option and the “Organize Menu” option which are located within the Launchpad. The “Action Menu” option will have the icon of a lightning bolt. The “Organize Menu” option will have the icon of a plus sign. If they are unavailable they will be greyed-out; when they become available they will turn into a clickable button.

 Rocket Ship

Use the Rocket Ship to view a list of all homepages available in Axiom. These homepages  have been organized by homepage groups for easy navigation from homepage to homepage.

When users open a new homepage, the current homepage they are on will display by name in the search bar. This acts as the “home” button for that homepage, so as users drill into links from that page at any time they can navigate back to the homepage by clicking on the name button.

 Favorites

The Favorites section of the Launchpad displays all query templates, query results or detail screens that have been saved to a personal or shared Workspace and “starred”. Users can use the Favorites section to organize and store frequently accessed queries or reports. All other saved queries should be saved in either a personal or shared Workspace.

Organization

Query Categories of Personal and Shared are listed down the left side. Hover over each category to view all queries or detail screens that have been marked as favorites (i.e. starred).

Saving to Favorites

Users can click on the icon to save the query template, query result or detail screen to a personal folder or a shared folder. When saving to a Workspace, users can click on the Favorites icon located on the save window. The saved query template, query result or detail screen will appear within the Query Category of either Personal or Shared depending upon where the user saved it.

Query templates, query results or detail screens may also be saved to Favorites from any personal or shared Workspace by toggling the  icon next to the description.

 Search

The Search bar allows users to search by name or command for major areas of the system, such as homepages, people, query template, and query reports. As the user enters a search term, suggested terms will appear based on the search, making it is easy to quickly click on an option and jump to that area of the system.

In addition, queries can be entered by number. For example, type 103 to quickly access the simple Find Person query. Any query can be quickly accessed in this manner.

As the user navigates between pages, other components of the search bar will become available. The first is the “most recent navigation” button. This will either be a Homepage or a Workspace from which the page now being viewed was accessed. This acts a “home” or “back” button to direct the user to the original starting place of their navigation so they can easily get back to where they started. The next piece of information contained in the middle of the search bar indicates to the user where they currently are, that is what Page Title is currently being viewed. These two pieces of information are meant to assist with navigation and orientation within Axiom. Additional two icons will become available depending on the information contained on the current page:

•  Action Menu: a collection of options specific to the detail screen, homepage, or query result currently being viewed. These options usually relate to performing a large system function based on the information contained on the page being viewed (e.g. when on the Admissions homepage an action item might be “Create Missing Person Enrollment Records”). Background actions can be dismissed (but not canceled).
•  Organize Menu: options for saving to a personal or shared Workspace or options for administrative tasks such as removing a detail screen or overwriting an existing saved query within a Workspace.

Learn more about searching in Axiom.

 History

The History section of the Launchpad displays the most recent 25 Axiom screens viewed in the current tab. Activities are labeled according to their function within the system so the user can quickly scan to see what queries, reports, homepages, workspaces, etc. were accessed in that tab.

The history and Launchpad context button persist when the page is reloaded, and page reloads are noted in the history itself. Duplicate links are minimized, so for instance only one instance of a person record will be indicated even if multiple tabs are navigated. The history link would return to the most recently viewed one.

On the right of the history are displayed how long ago the screen was accessed and an icon indicating how long the page took to load. Hover over the icon to see the precise time. These can be useful in troubleshooting, or simply to see how quickly pages load.

Tip: If you keep one tab open for a long period of time, consider reloading the page every once in a while. Doing to has been shown to improve performance.

 Workspaces

Workspaces are personal or shared folders that contain collections of queries, reports and bookmarks that can be organized around a particular function or homepage.

Workspace Access

• Personal Workspaces are specific to the user and can be anything from saved queries that are integral to his/her job function to system queries or detail screens that are bookmarked for quick access. Note: System administrators will have access to all personal workspaces.
• Shared Workspaces are grouped by homepage and include links to frequently used queries, reports or detail screens.

Workspaces can contain three things:

1. Other Workspaces: sub-workspaces within the main Workspace category.
2. Queries or Reports: a report that was created by a user that contains specific criteria set within the query design.
3. Bookmarks:  references a query report (usually a system report) or a detail screen that the user may wish to access from within a Workspace. In other words, users can create shortcuts from within their Workspace so that they can quickly and easily access reports and details screens that they view often.

As the user navigates in Workspaces the “most recent navigation” button will display the parent Workspace name so it can easily be navigated back to.

Learn more about using Workspaces in Axiom.

 Help

The Help section links to the Veracross documentation site, where additional information about Veracross processes, products, procedures, and more can be found.

Keyboard Shortcuts

• Use the keyboard shortcut `(backtick) to activate the Homepage list in the Launchpad from any page.
• Use the keyboard shortcut shift + ` (hold shift + backtick) to activate the favorites menu in the Launchpad from any page.
• Use the keyboard shortcut / (forward slash) to instantly access the Search bar from whatever page you are on as long as your cursor isn’t active within an updateable field.