Designer Tool
Customize Reports in MLXchange
Designer Tool is a downloadable application that allows you to modify the layout and contents of existing listing reports and create new reports altogether. MLXchange comes pre-loaded with dozens of listing reports, but as comprehensive as these reports are, they may not always address your specific needs. What if you want to include your company's logo? What if you want to change the color? What if you wan to add an information field? Or remove one? That's where Designer Tool comes in: it allows you to customize any report to fit your requirements.
Why use Designer Tool?
Designer Tool helps you stand out from the crowd. With thousands of Realtors® competing, buyers and sellers are likely to see the same standard reports over and over. If yours looks different, and (more importantly) if you customized the display fields to include all the information your client wants-and only the information your client wants-you immediately have an advantage over your competition. Major corporations spend millions on their brand identities in order to set themselves apart. Designer Tool gives you the ability to do it for free as part of your subscription, and it only takes a few minutes.
How to download Designer Tool
- From the navigation bar in MLXchange, select "Tools."
- From the "Tools" menu select "Report Tools" and then select "Install Designer Tool" from the dropdown.
- Follow the onscreen instructions to initiate the download.
- After you follow the download instructions, you'll need to restart your computer before you can start using Designer Tool.
- Once you've restarted, you should find a Designer Tool icon on your desktop.
- Double-click the icon and type in your Login and Password.
How to use Designer Tool
If you're not familiar with standard design and layout software, learning the interface may take a little getting used to-but the perceived complexity is only a function of the software's sophistication. Once you get the hang of it, using Designer Tool is easy. Here are a few basic pointers:
Getting Started: Rather than create a new report from scratch, you may want to start by modifying an existing report. From the "Existing Reports" menu, select the standard report that you'd like to modify. It will open in a layout mode in Designer Tool. Before you make changes, use "Save As" to save the report under a new name because the system will not allow you to save over an existing standard report.
Using the Grid: The grid allows you to position elements on your report form. Use the mouse to drag and drop any element to any position on the grid. To get rid of an element, simply select it and hit "delete." To add an element, drag and drop the element from the Property Information sidebar. TIP: Check the "Include Label" box so you can see the name of the field on your form.
Previewing Your Report: Designer Tool is not a "what you see is what you get" application. This means that the final report will appear more polished than what you see in the layout mode. To view your work, save it and open MLXchange and select your new report from the Details Page of listing results. (If MLXchange is already open, you will have to log out and reopen the application before you can see your new forms.)
Designer Tool Training
MFRMLS offers a training class dedicated to helping you get the most out of Designer Tool.
Designer Tool Resources
Search our Helpful Resources for documents and web links for Designer Tool.
Designer Tool News
Search the MFRMLS News Archives for updates and helpful hints and tricks for using Designer Tool.