Requesting Reports

When creating or editing a report, it’s important to communicate clearly about its content and design. In order to prevent any problems, we must also be able to test every report thoroughly. And if you prepare the report request well, it will eventually take less time and money to build the report.

If you request a report, we ask that you provide the information below, because it will help us process your request as quickly as possible:

Test data: use a Yesplan event from the past.
Model: how the final result should look.
Mock-up: a technical description of the report with keywords, parameters etc.

We discuss each of these points in more detail below. We can only schedule your request once we have received all the data.

Before Your Request§

Before requesting a report, check whether a default report can be altered to suit your needs. For this, have a look at the General Templates and the Event Templates

Perhaps you can even use a dataview to build the report yourself? More information about dataviews.

Do you have any questions? Consult your Customer Success Manager or contact support@yesplan.be so that we can help you.

Test Data§

Providing test data is necessary to check—when building the report—whether all information appears correctly. Without test data, our reporting engineer only sees an empty page when building the report and he/she can’t check whether it works as intended.

Attention

The test data must remain in place (even after the report has been delivered).
For that reason, please use an event (or period) in the distant past for the test data.

These test data are also used if any problems occur with the report in the future or if you would request changes to it. If the test data are deleted, it will take us longer to identify the problem, and you will have to create the test data again. Create the data in Yesplan in the distant past to prevent accidental removal or any conflicts with current or future schedules.

Event Reports§

Are you requesting an event report? In that case, provide the following test data in Yesplan:

Preferably a grouped event: check whether the test data are on the right level.
On that event, enter all custom data fields that are used in the report. If fields remain empty, we can’t test the report.
Do you want resources in the report? In that case, make the necessary resource bookings in different resource groups on that event.
Does the report include contact bookings? Be sure to book contacts on that event.
Complete the event with all the other data that are requested in the report (e.g. schedules, labels, prices etc.).
Are some custom data fields only visible under certain conditions (e.g. a certain profile)? In that case, make sure that these custom data fields are filled in and that the conditions can be applied to the test data.

Summary Reports§

Does it concern summary reports? In that case, do the following:

In Yesplan, enter all the custom data fields that you use in the report and do this for multiple events. If fields remain empty, we can’t test the report.
Provide multiple events in different locations and with different statuses and profiles.
Are some custom data fields only visible under certain conditions (e.g. a certain profile)? In that case, make sure that these custom data fields are filled in and that the conditions can be applied to the test data.

Images§

Does the report include images? In that case, take the following into account:

Always deliver images in JPG or PNG format, in RGB colors.
The images must be suitable for the web and can’t be bigger than 300 kb per image.
Upload the images to Yesplan. You can use images on resources or contacts in the report. Finally, refer to the URL of the image in question.

Communicating Test Data§

When making the request, indicate the period when we can find the events with test data. Does it concern a single event? Provide the Yesplan ID, which can be found at the bottom in the “Info” tab of the event inspector.

Model Document and Mock-Up§

You can regard the model document and mock-up as an agreement between you and Yesplan about what will be made. The more concrete and precise the model and mock-up, the faster (and cheaper) the report can be delivered. Areas of concern will be detected more quickly, and it will be easier to communicate about concrete visual matters.

Model Document§

The model document is a realistic representation of what the final report will look like:

Make at least one fully detailed model document. It contains the correct colors, correct text, the real logo, realistic data, the correct date format etc.
You can use certain conditions in reports. For example, the color of an element can change depending on the profile. Make sure that your model depicts the different conditions properly, or make a few relevant examples that vary.
The reporting engineer can use the model document to check whether his/her design satisfies your wishes.
Does your organization use a style guide when designing communication? If so, send it along. It will enable us to use the correct color codes.

Attention

Please note that we can’t reproduce the whitespace in your model document down to the millimeter in the final report. In other words, we can’t always make an exact copy of the layout.

Mock-Up§

The mock-up is a conceptual carbon copy of the sample document. For every bit of text or image in the model document, the mock-up contains more information about its origin, when it should appear, its type etc. That way, the mock-up includes a description of the data that are used in the report.

This helps the reporting engineer to put the correct information in the report at the right spot and in the correct format. Some matters may seem self-evident to you, but that’s not always the case for someone who doesn’t understand the internal operation of your organization.

The Customer Success Manager will draft the mock-up together with you. Below you’ll find a guide that can help you prepare a mock-up:

First, try some of the default reports on your installation so that you know how they work and understand the influence of parameters. See General Templates, Event Templates and Using Reports for more information.
Imitate the style of the model document in Microsoft Excel.
In this Excel document, describe for each visual element in the model document what it is and where it comes from:
- Describe every element even if certain elements won’t appear together. For example, it’s possible that two spaces will never be rented together on a tender, but the mock-up must describe the sections of both spaces. Otherwise, our reporting engineer won’t know how to design them.
- Is the element fixed text that will never change and always appears in the report? If so, indicate this clearly.
- Is the element custom data? In that case, place the keyword of that custom data—without spaces—in a single cell, which will allow our reporting engineer to simply copy it. Place more information in the adjacent cell: where is the custom data located (event, event group, contact booking for an event etc.), what type of data is it (“Yes/No field”, “Date input”, “Text”, “Organization” versus “Person” etc.), which format must it appear in if it concerns a date or time…
- Is it an image in Yesplan? Where is the image located? We recommend you attach your logo to your organization’s contact information.
- Are certain conditions linked to the content of a report, such as a different color for each profile? In that case, describe them in the mock-up.
- What happens in the report if a particular field is empty, for instance, what happens if you want to use the address of a client in the report but this client isn’t booked for the event?
- You can enter parameters when generating reports. Indicate which data in your report are influenced by those parameters.
- Take the growth of data into account. For instance, your model document only contains two schedules, but what happens if there are fifteen of them?

If you construct the mock-up in a clear way, the reporting engineer will be able to work quickly. Moreover, you’ll be able to pick up on the design later and your colleagues will understand the report better when they request an adjustment. This will save time in the future.

Tip

Do you have any questions? Then be sure to speak to your Customer Success Manager. They can help you.

Keywords§

The keywords for custom data fields are unique, and they allow you to display the field contents in reports.

Tip

You can retrieve the keyword for custom data fields easily in an inspector by holding down Ctrl+Alt (Windows) or Ctrl+Option (macOS). The field’s label will change to the keyword.
If you want to copy the keyword, then click the label while holding down these keys.

Keywords are generated automatically when a custom data field is created, but you can always override them or choose your own keyword: see Keywords for more information.

Attention

When you begin using a keyword in reports, you can’t override it in the system settings. If you do so, the custom data field in question will no longer be displayed in those reports.

In other words: to prevent problems with reports, follow clear internal rules on keyword management.

The Request§

Have you collected all the information? Then you can submit your request at support@yesplan.be. We will check that your request is complete and may ask you to clarify a few matters. Your request will be put in the queue if it contains all the required information and we don’t have any further questions:

We run through this queue once a week and schedule report requests.
If your request is scheduled, you will receive a message with an estimation. We will let you know in which week we think we will be able to deliver the report.
Take into account that the delivery date doesn’t always correspond precisely to the schedule. We do our best to be finished by the estimated date. If the delivery date deviates significantly from the planned date, we will inform you on time.

Upon delivery, you will be asked to check the report. You can send any feedback as a reply to this message.

Attention

If changes are made, make sure that all information is present (test data, relevant Yesplan ID, mock-up, model).
We regard the report as delivered when we don’t receive feedback for three weeks.

What if the Report isn’t Satisfactory?§

What if a report doesn’t work as desired, looks different than you expected, or you aren’t able to get it to work? It’s important to send your feedback to us via support@yesplan.be:

Use the email conversation you initially requested the report with. In other words, use the conversation that includes the Zendesk ticket number. This will enable us to quickly find the context of the request so we can help you faster.
Indicate as clearly as possible why something doesn’t satisfy your expectations. Give examples.
Don’t use Yesplan emails about other reports or other subjects when giving feedback.

If the report wasn’t built as specified in the mock-up and description, we will adapt it and deliver the report once again. If you have new requirements that weren’t included in the original mock-up, we will schedule these requirements following the request process above. That’s why it is important to provide a mock-up that is as correct and detailed as possible.

You can request changes to existing reports at a later date. In that case, follow the working method outlined above.