Setting Up Activities

Here you can find answers to all the most frequently asked questions we receive to help you set up Activities within your Every Business Management module.

Please note you will need a user level above Issues Only

How do I create an activity category?

Categories are a great way to organise your activities for filtering and reporting purposes.

To create an activity category, select Business from the navigation bar then go to Activities area and then choose Settings.

This will open the 'Activity Management' page. From here select the blue 'Activity Categories' tab.

Under the green 'Categories' bar you will see the 'Activity Categories' map.

Right-clicking 'Activity Categories' will give you the 'Create' option – choose this to create a new category. A white box will appear where you can type the category name and then click the green 'Save' button. Your newly added category will be added to the map.

You can continue this method to add multiple categories at the same level, or you can right-click any categories to create sub-categories within them. You can also “drag and drop” the categories by clicking and holding down then moving the categories to another level.

You can also add categories using the white 'Add Default Categories' button at the top of the page. This reveals a box showing various activity category templates that can be selected using the corresponding tick-boxes and then clicking the green 'Add Categories' button.

How do I add an activity from a template?

Activity templates are a really easy way to add activities. They can be accessed by clicking Business Management, then Activities, and Add Activities on the main navigation bar.

The 'Add Activity Templates' page contains a list of activity templates that may be applicable to your property.

These templates are separated into groups by green title bars, which can be expanded by clicking the green bar to show the templates’ associated information.

To add an activity template to your property, select the green 'Add Activity' button next to each activity you wish to add, or choose the green 'Add All Templates' option to add all activities from that selected group.

Once your selected activity templates have been added to your property you will need to enter your required due dates, amend the descriptions, and add any additional information you may require. To do this for multiple activities in one action, see the tab titled 'How do I edit multiple activities at once?'. The rest of this article will show you how to update this information for each activity, individually.

To locate this click Activities then Summary on the left hand navigation menu, then select the 'All Activities' tab. This tab will show red if any activity requires further information.

Use the pencil icon against your chosen activity to navigate to the 'Manage Activity' page.

Once on this page you can view, edit, and manage the activity, including changing the status.

Once you have made all the required amendments to the activity please remember to click the green 'Save' button to the bottom of the page.

How do I create my own activity?

To create your own activity select Business Management, Activities, then Create Activity on the left-hand side navigation bar.

This will take you to a page with fields collecting information about the activity.

Unlike the templates within Add Activities, the fields here are empty and awaiting your input. Fields with asterisks are mandatory. The fields are:

• Title - This is how the activity will appear on the summary page.

• Description - Here you can enter a clear overview of what the activity is. It is good practice to include instructions to complete the activity, or other relevant guidance such as legislation information as the activity may only be viewed once a year.

• Assigned - Use the drop-down menu to select the user who will receive email notifications regarding this activity. Generally this is the user who would complete the activity both physically and on the Every system.

• Category - Use the drop-down menu to select the relevant activity category.

• Group - This displays which template group the activity was added from, or ‘Custom’ - if the option to create an activity from scratch was used.

• Mandatory - Use this tick-box to toggle if the activity is mandatory.

• Estimated Cost - Filling this field allows you to track and report on costs attached to your activities.

• Due Every - Here you can dictate how often this activity will need to be completed.

• Weekly Schedule - This gives you the option to have this activity to be shown in the Weekly Schedule tab on the main page. This option is normally selected if the activity occurs frequently i.e. daily or weekly. Note: Ticking this means the activity will not appear in the ‘Upcoming Activities’ tab.

Further down the page there is a blue 'Update Activity' tab, which contains the information needed to both schedule the activity and show the activity status.

The activity 'Status' will initially show as ‘Open’, and the next due date can be entered by clicking the 'Due Date' field and using the calendar. Entering the next due date enables the activity to be scheduled, and email notifications to be generated. Once the date is set, the 'Status' can then be edited.

When you are happy with the information included in the activity, click the green 'Save' button to the bottom right-hand side.

How do I edit multiple activities at once?

Whether you have used the pre-populated templates or created activities from scratch, a quick and easy way to bulk update your activity due dates and other information is via Edit Multiple Activities. Use the left-hand side navigation bar to click on Business Management, Activities, then Edit Multiple Activities.

Your activities will be organised by groups, which can be expanded by clicking the green bars. Here you can change how often the activity is due 'Due Every', the 'Next Due' date, 'Category', 'Supplier', 'Cost', and which user it is 'Assigned To'.

By ticking the box in the 'Weekly' column the activity will no longer show in the 'Upcoming Activities' tab on 'Activity Summary'.

Instead, the activity will appear within the 'Weekly Schedule' tab, and you will not be reminded by email notification of these activities. Activities that occur frequently, such as daily or weekly, can obscure other important upcoming activities in your schedule.

Keeping them separate helps you to see a clearer and more accurate account of what you have upcoming, so you can plan accordingly.

Remember that a 'Next Due' date must be added in order for the activity to be scheduled and for email notifications to be sent to the assigned user.

When you are happy with the edits, click any of the green 'Save' buttons to the right-hand side of the page.

How do I set up my weekly schedule?

To set up your weekly schedule you will need to navigate to Activities Summary page by clicking Business Management, Activities, and Summary.

From the Activities Summary page, use the pencil icon against your chosen activity to navigate to the 'Manage Activity' page.

Once on this page you can view, edit, and manage the activity, including changing the status. Within the activity, you will find a tick-box for 'Weekly Schedule' under the tab 'Current Activity'.

Use the tick-box to toggle whether you’d like this activity to be separated from the 'Upcoming Activities' tab on 'Activity Summary'. Ticking this will show the activity within the 'Weekly Schedule' tab instead. This is normally selected if the activity occurs frequently (such as daily or weekly) as to not obscure other upcoming activities within the 'Activity Summary' page.

You will not be reminded by email notification of these activities due to their frequency.

How do I remove and archive an activity?

To remove and archive activities you will need to navigate to Activities Summary page by clicking Business, Activities, and then Summary. From here, go to the 'All Activities' tab.

Please select the red 'x' to the far right of the activity row you wish to archive. This will then remove the activity from this list and place it within the archived section.

You can also archive multiple activities at once using the checkboxes in the action column and selecting 'Archive Activities' from the dropdown menu above. This will archive all selected activities.

Archived activities can be accessed below the 'All Activities' table by clicking the blue 'Show Archived Activities' button to the bottom left-hand side.

From here they can either be restored or permanently deleted.

If your activity is mapped from central level it cannot be removed and archived by clicking the red 'x' button. If this is the case, please see our article Mapping Compliance Items for help in this instance.