Author: Kerri Abraham, Revenue Cycle Sharepoint Coordinator, Mercy Medical Center.

Several months back I was tasked with a training build for our highest turnover position.   The main function of the job was a 7 screen registration process, and because of government regulation and business requirements, every field on these 7 screens needed thorough instructions.  The information I was to work from was half a paper ream thick as hard copy!  First step was a severe edit of the information and then solid structuring to make it useable to staff.  My thoughts went right to the Easy Tabs!

I started with organizing according to the 7 screen requirements, and soon realized that wouldn’t be enough, staff might still be overwhelmed with content.  Taking advantage of the natural breaks in the process it broke out a bit further, until finally that half ream of hard copy was just 17 wiki pages of instructions.  Using the Blog to Wiki publishing technique, I utilized a color coding strategy to keep the look consistent across all the pages and links at the bottom of each page moved staff through the steps.  Initially the trainer can walk new hires through the process using these handy links, but shuffling through the links to find the spot they are caught on (while the customer stands waiting) is unrealistic.  That problem was resolved with the Easy Tabs! 

By modifying the view of the wiki content and filtering it on ID, then adding them one after the other on the page, changing each of the web part’s titles to reflect the contents, and then implementing Christophe’s Easy Tab solution I was able to get all 17 pages of information neatly tucked up under each other on the page.  Keep in mind that the native content of the wiki does not roll up under the tabs, that gives the display as below.

This worked out perfectly, staff could keep this page up as they worked, if they were stuck on a step in the process, they could click the tab and immediately find their information.   When I sent a picture of my use of Easy Tabs to Christophe, he suggested that I add the Expand All tab, but call it ‘Printer Friendly’, as a way to appeal to  the trainer’s needs who was really impressed with the wiki, but still  attached to hard copy.  Up to this point she was printing each page separately because without page breaks the information was confusing the way it ran together.  Easy Tabs v5 completely solves that issue with ‘Printer Friendly’ plus page breaks.  Now this documentation prints just like a procedure manual.  The trainer is thrilled with the results!

I can offer a few tips for creating this kind of procedure manual with the wiki:  use the Advanced Web Parts gallery to quickly add multiple web parts.

The default display under native wiki content is ‘no Title’, so ‘Appearance’ on each addition will need to be adjusted to display as tab.  Note the only columns checked to display are Wiki Content and Edit.  Filter wiki content on ID.   Consider adding the column of ID to the Wiki Pages/All Pages view of the library to make it easier to identify ID.  The rest is simply a matter of perseverance in repeating the steps and setting the toolbar displays to none for a nice clean look.

I have a feeling this is only the beginning…  A comment Dux Raymond Sy recently made in a video recording about “printing a project plan” got me thinking.  I am a fan of Dux, so I’ve been using Sharepoint for project management for quite some time, but “printing a project plan” suddenly struck a new cord!  So I went to work rebuilding my project site template to include Christophe’s Easy Tabs, and while I was at it, I incorporated some color coding into the task list as well.  I restructured all the lists and libraries on a Web Part page.  In addition to the standard lists, again I utilize a wiki library, exposing just the content field, which is part of the site template and includes several project related forms that provide the project managers with an easy to edit alternative to Word documents (and now even more printer friendly under the tabs.)  The results were dramatic especially since I used the new color options with Easy Tabs v5!  

Now the project managers can quickly print off just the Web Parts they need, or the entire project documentation with just a few clicks.  Maybe regular hard copy reports are needed to communicate at Shareholder meetings?  Create a web part page just for report out, adding the desired web parts with list views and dashboards that can be tucked under Easy Tabs and printed in a moment’s notice.

I have number of other ideas in the works for these tabs as well, meeting minutes and agendas with easy printability, printable lists displayed in “Preview Pane” style, a telephone directory based off a contact list built with Easy Tabs v5, why, I’m just getting warmed up!

I think the new options make an already great solution into an awesome feature. What do you think? Someone recently told me “Printing web parts kind of goes against the purpose of electronic data capture doesn’t it?” Help me prove them wrong. There are countless uses for print friendly! I’ve listed out my ideas, now it is your turn, how are you using the Easy Tabs?