In Xactimate, preferences can make a big difference in the user experience with this software. What some users don’t understand is that there are actually two separate sets of preferences that need to be set in Xactimate. The reason for this has to do with access.
Both sets of preferences are found in the control center tab. The first set is the ‘User Preferences’. This is where you will set preferences, such as the default price list and sketch preferences, to name just a few, for each person who may have access to your computer and Xactimate.
Start by accessing the grouping tree on the left side of the screen. This tree will contain all the categories where a preference can be set for the individual user. One preference in this area that you definitely want to set is the ‘Auto Save’ interval. It’s below the default section of the tree. This setup will literally save your hide if your computer crashes while you’re working on an estimate! You must make a decision about how much information you are willing to lose based on the time period you choose.
The second set of preferences are ‘system preferences’. These preferences affect all users in general and many of them are identical to user preferences. The main difference between the two is in the tree system section and the autoload section. These 4 sections do not appear in the user preferences.
The first three appear in the system section of the tree. There is the computer/software information section, the security settings section, and the inspection residue settings. The information section is exactly what it says: information about the software. The security settings section is all about passwords, how often they are required, and how often they need to be changed. The Inspection and Scrap section is the third area and is where you set the scrap factors and settings for the inspection wizard.
The last section of the preferences that is different is the autoload section of the tree. This section allows you to choose how often the software will connect to the servers and upload all your projects. Uploading can be a good thing as it acts as a data backup. It will push all your projects to the servers at regular intervals.
The last thing about preferences is to spend some time with the settings and experiment to see what works best for you.
