In this case, I want to use the All Users - Demo report that we have been using throughout this lesson.  I am going to open this report and then click the Customize Button.

The Customize Report window is made up of four sections.

1. Customize Menu Bar

2.  Fields Menu

3.  Filters

4.  Preview of Sample Data

Save:  Saves the current options, filters, fields, and other settings and overwrites current file name.

Save As: Creates a new report with the options and settings you have customized.  You will prompted as you would with create new report window.  Name of file, unique name, and folder you want it placed in...

Close:  Takes you back to the Main Reports Tab.  You will get a warning that all changes made to the report will be lost if you have not saved your work.

Report Properties:  (See above) This is where you can move an existing file to another folder, you can change the name (don't change the unique name), the report description as well.

Run Report: This will run the report with the current customizations and take you back to the Run Report Window.

The Field Menu will show you all available fields that can be brought in to these reports.  These are the fields that come from the objects that the report is built upon. (Later in the training we'll show you how to create a report from scratch and define which objects are part of the report).  Here we have Contact Fields and Organization Fields available.

You can choose which fields you want to see using the option buttons (1) at the top.  The first options is All fields, the second is only alpha and alphanumeric fields, the 3rd option is on numeric fields, and the last is only date and datetime fields.  In the example above, we are only viewing date and datetime fields.

The Field Menu can tell you a lot of information.  Let's look at an example.  The Folder title tells you the Object where the field is located.  The icon next to it tells you what type of field it is, and then you have the name of the field itself.  Get to know what fields are located in what objects.  It will make creating reports much easier.  

The best way to get to know the fields is to look at the objects the fields live in - and learn the NAME of each field that has the relevant info you want in the report.  (Many HandsOn Connect fields have similar field names so it helps to write down which field you are looking for)

We have highlighted the Birthdate.  We know that this in the Object: Contact  (Folder name), it is a date or datetime (Icon beside name) and the name of the field.

This is a much more robust feature than on the Run Report Window.  ADD FILTERS allows us to create complex parameters, which we will learn about in the Creating Filters section.  Note that, like the Run Report Window, you have Time Frame parameters, and View Parameters as well.    You will note at the bottom of the Filters Menu, it shows you the current filters on the Report.  You can choose to remove these from the link beside it, or through the Edit Custom Filters button.

Consider this section your workspace.  It brings back sample data so you can begin to see what your report is going to look like.  It is important to note that this is just a sample of the data, and not the complete set of records that match the options and parameters you have laid out in the report.  

We will be going over how to use a lot of these buttons in other lesson (like Data Format / Summaries).  Again, just like in the Run Report Window, we can show details or hide details.  Since there is no summary in this report, our only option is show.  You can also hit the field headers to sort the information.  Remember, however, that this is not the complete list of records... and the results listed here are not links to the records.  Later we will go into the different Formats of a report: Tabular, Summary, and Matrix.

Now let's learn how to Add Fields to this report.