Work Order Preferences

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Work order preferences let you specify default settings for creating work orders. For more information on work orders, see Work Orders.

To specify work request preferences, select Administration —> Preferences —> Work Orders from the menu. MainBoss displays a window containing the following:

Change Sequence Number: Checkmark this box if you want to change the sequence number. If you do not, you will not be able to change the value in "Sequence Number".
Sequence Number: The number of the next work order to be created. For example, if you want all work order numbers to have at least five digits, you could specify a "Sequence Number" of 10000. Work orders would then begin numbering with 10000, 10001, and so on.
Note that you cannot change the sequence number unless you checkmark Change Sequence Number. This protects you from changing the sequence number by accident.
Number Format: Gives the format to be used for work order numbers that MainBoss generates (15 characters maximum). Digits are represented by the percentage character (%). For example, if you specify the format
WO %%%%%
work order numbers will consist of the characters WO# followed by a blank and then five digits. Because the % character is used to represent digits, you cannot have a % character printed as part of a work order number.
Example: Shows what work order numbers will look like using the given "Number Format".
Subject: Specifies a default subject line for work orders.
Unit: This section specifies preferences for the Unit section of a work order.
- Req. By: Specifies a default name to be placed in the "Req. By" field of new corrective work orders. If most of your service requests come from the same source (for example, if they are usually funneled through a particular secretary), you can set "Req. By" to that name. In this way, you can save yourself from having to type the same name for every work order. If a particular service request comes from someone else, you can always delete the default name on the work order and type in the real requestor.
  If this preference is left blank, new work orders will be given the requestor associated with the equipment or space involved in the work.
  For preventive maintenance work orders generated by MainBoss, the default requestor is always taken from the task description.
  The drop-down list for this field shows your current Contacts table. For more information, see Contacts.

Note: If you specify a name in "Req. By", the name will be used whenever "Req. By" is left blank in a work order. Even if the work order applies to a piece of equipment or space that has an associated requestor, MainBoss will use the "Req. By" value stated in your work order preferences. The same applies to "Cost Ctr." and "Access".

New Requestor: Click this if you want the "Req. By" field to specify someone who is currently not listed in your Contacts table. MainBoss will open a window where you can create a Contacts table entry for that person. For more information, see Entries in the Contacts table.
Equipment: Select this if most of your work orders relate to equipment. New work orders will automatically be set up for work on equipment.
Space: Select this if most of your work orders relate to spaces. New work orders will automatically be set up for work on a space.
Building: Specifies the default building for work orders. This is useful if most of your work is done in a particular building.
If you have specified Equipment as a default, the drop-down list for "Building" will only show buildings that actually contain equipment. Similarly, if you have specified Space as a default, the "Building" list will only show buildings that contain spaces. If you have not yet set up your Equipment or Space table, this may mean that the "Building" list is blank (since no buildings contain equipment or spaces).

Properties: This section specifies preferences for the Properties section of a work order.
- Work Duration: Specifies the default duration for a job. This is specified in terms of days; therefore, if most of your jobs take less than a day, you would specify one day.
- Work Cat.: Specifies the default work category for a work order. For more on work categories, see Work Categories.
- Access: Specifies the default access code for a corrective work order. For more on access codes, see Access.
  If this preference is left blank, new work orders will be given the access code associated with the equipment or space involved in the work.
  For preventive maintenance work orders generated by MainBoss, the default access code is always taken from the task description.
- Priority: Specifies the default priority for a work order. For more on priorities, see Priorities.
- Cost Ctr.: Specifies the default cost center for a corrective work order. For more on cost centers, see Cost Centers.
  If this preference is left blank, new work orders will be given the cost center associated with the equipment or space involved in the work.
  For preventive maintenance work orders generated by MainBoss, the default cost center is always taken from the task description.
- Project: Specifies the default project for a work order. For more on projects, see Projects.
Close: This section specifies preferences for the Close section of a work order.
- Down Time: Specifies the default downtime to be assigned when closing a work order.
- Repair Cd.: Specifies the default closing code when closing a work order. For more on closing codes, see Repair Closing Codes.
- Closing Comments: Specifies the default closing comments for a work order. If required, you can use this space for ISO 9000 work order form number.
Select for Printing: If this is checkmarked, the Select for Printing box will be checkmarked in all new work orders.
Save: Saves the settings currently shown in the window.
Cancel: Closes the window. MainBoss discards any changes that have not already been saved.

Note: Previous versions of MainBoss let you set certain options related to printing work orders (such as the number of additional lines used for printing labor and material information). You now specify such preferences by saving settings in the window for printing work orders. For more information, see Saving Settings.

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