We’ve got a simple but useful new feature to tell you about today, and it involves how you view your client lists. By default, Pencil’em will sort your clients by First name, so “Amy Smith” would come before “Christine Jones” and so on. We’ve now added the ability to list your clients alphabetized by last name, which does a few things. It changes the way the lists are laid out, so instead of “Amy Smith”, it will now read “Smith, Amy”. Alphabetizing would then take place based on the last name so “Jones, Christine” would come before “Smith, Amy”. Once enabled, all client lists will use the new format. This includes the scheduling page (client drop down), the clients page (client list, and email clients), as well as Pencil’em Mobile.

To enable this feature, simply click “Settings”, then click “Appointment Settings” in the left hand navigation. You will see a new drop down menu for “Client Name Display”. Simply select “First” or “Last” name first. Simple as that!

Over the last few weeks we’ve launched a few upgrades to the Pencil’em Mobile platform.   We are always striving to make things easier when it comes to the mobile platform, and our new upgrades bring a whole new level of functionality to your hand held device.

Client List

We’ve changed the way the “Clients” button works to make it a little more user friendly.  Clicking the “Clients” button now displays your entire client list.  You can scroll through the list and click on a client who’s information you would like to see.  The new client screens look something like this:

New Client List

New Scheduling Features

We’ve also made some changes to the way you interact with your schedules.  We’ve added a delete appointment function that you will find when viewing your daily schedule.  Click the “View Schedule” button and you will be taken to a screen with today’s appointments.  (You can select a different day by changing the options in the drop down menu at the top of the page and clicking “Go”.)  Notice, there is now a red x floating off to the right hand side of each appointment.  Clicking this X will bring up a confirmation screen, so you don’t accidently delete an appointment you didn’t mean to.   This looks like this:

Delete Appointments from your mobile device.

New “Appointment Quickview”

We’ve added a new feature from the same “View Schedule” screen that gives you a more detailed look at any particular appointment.  To open the “Appointment Quickview” click on “View Schedule” in the main navigation.  Click (or press) on the client name and the “Appointment Quickview” will open.  This view gives you a more in-depth view of the appointment, service being performed, client information, and appointment notes you’ve left for yourself.  See below for more details:

New "Appointment Quickview"

Pencil’em Mobile was built for ease of use and portability of your schedule.  If you haven’t already, check it out!  If it’s your first time accessing Pencil’em Mobile on your mobile device, simply enter the web address below in your mobile web browser.

http://m.pencilem.com

You will see a log in screen where you will enter your email and password.  Once logged in you will have full access to your schedule, client list,  and appointment creating functions.  Everything will be auto-synced to your desktop version, so any changes you make on your mobile device are available to you online as well.

Don’t hesitate to contact Pencil’em Support at “support@pencilem.com” with any questions or comments you might have.

We’ve released a small update we think will make your life a little easier.  In an effort to make Pencil’em function more like your written appointment book, we have removed the required email address when adding your clients.  This now will allow you to schedule appointments for clients that do not have an email address or that do not want to receive email reminders.

We’ve also added a client birthday field so you will never forget another client’s birthday again!  When you create an appointment on a client’s birthday the system will now display the birthday cake icon next to the client name (see image below).  We are working on some more features related to client birthdays that we will be releasing in the future so stay tuned for those.  Also of note, you will see the service price on the main scheduling screen so you know how much you are charging for a specific appointment.

Service Prices on scheduling screen, and Birthday Icons.

We also made a minor adjustment to the “Main Scheduling” page, where the “Select Date” field is now the first thing you select when creating an appointment.  Not a major change, but it makes it easier to see what appointments you have for any given day sooner in the booking process.

As always, lots more to come so keep an eye on the blog and let us know how we are doing in the comments!