Overview

When the application is launched, it will the open to the News launch page by default. A purple navigation pane will appear on the left-hand side with links to the main report sections in Outperform Planning. Clicking on a report section will lead to a launch page with all reports related to the section, and the reports are grouped according to their function. 

The navigation pane can be pinned or unpinned by clicking on the pin icon in the upper right corner of the purple navigation pane. By default, the navigation pane is pinned (with the pin icon filled in with white). When navigation is pinned, it can be hidden by clicking on the sandwich menu in the top left of the Outperform window, but it will reappear when the user navigates to a new report. In addition, the navigation pane moves the content of the report to the right when it is pinned, and hiding the pinned navigation pane allows the report to take up the full window. When unpinned, the navigation pane will not appear unless the user clicks on the sandwich menu. It will then appear on top of the window's content, but it will disappear as soon as the user clicks anywhere on the report.

In the navigation pane, the user can also add links to their favorite reports and functions underneath "Favorites."

Setting Up Favorites

To add a report to Favorites, go to the Home tab in the chosen report and click on the star icon. The star icon is at the end of the ribbon at the top of the report, in the Home tab (see "Application Ribbon" below). Once the user clicks on the star icon, the star will fill in with purple and a link to the report will appear under "Favorites." The user can rearrange all Favorites by dragging and dropping the links. To remove a Favorite, navigate to the report and click on the same star icon in the Home tab of the report.

Outperform Planning's Search Function

The search field at the top of the page allows the user to look for any feature. Relevant results will appear in a list beneath the search field, similar to searching the web. The search function applies a sophisticated mechanism to find relevant information by searching through Outperform feature names, feature descriptions, and the F1 Help menu. The search results are organized by their function within Outperform Planning.

Application Ribbon

Once the user opens a report, a ribbon at the top of the page will appear. From this ribbon, the user can take different actions. Some actions are related to the specific report that is open, while others apply to the entire application. The options that are not applicable in the open report are greyed out. To minimize the application ribbon, right-click anywhere on the ribbon and select "Minimize the Ribbon" in the right-click menu.

User Icon – Top Right

By clicking on the user icon, the current user can start various application wide tasks. These tasks include "Detect all news," "Change login," "Data protection," "Settings," and "Exit."

Filter and Find

Most reports in Outperform Planning show a Filter bar on top of the report where the user can specify search criteria that control which data is retrieved from the database and shown in the report.

In addition to this, the user can also add a Find bar by choosing Find from the Home tab on the ribbon or by using the shortcut Ctrl-F. This allows the user to find and highlight data that is shown in the current report on the screen.

An important note about Filter and Find in reports: Outperform Planning searches in the database and it finds on the screen.