Odoo Essentials: Odoo Navigation Overview
Purpose
This document provides an overview of how to navigate in Odoo 16, what the various Filters, Settings, and Views available within the applications do, and how to use the Activities and Reporting functions. We'll also include some handy tips and tricks for easily getting around the system and making the most out of your experience with Odoo.
To get started, navigate to your Odoo 16 Database home page and sign in.
Apps
Once you log in, you'll be on Odoo's main menu where applications, or Apps, are represented by icons. At first, you may not see very many apps installed. Each app adds new functions to the database and they're activated as needed.
To get started with building out your database, you will need to activate the necessary apps for your business needs. To do this, navigate to the Apps application by clicking its icon.
Good to Know!
Apps aren't listed in alphabetical order, but you can easily navigate to an app by simply typing its name from the main menu. As you type, the installed apps will filter as well as other related items. This is extremely useful when you have multiple apps installed.
Clicking the Apps icon will take you to the app repository where you can browse around for the apps that you want to activate.
From this screen, you can see which apps your database has installed already and you can browse through the available apps to use.
Please note the category menu down the left-hand side of the screen which makes finding applications much easier.
If you click on the LEARN MORE button on any application, you can see the application's overview page to see if you would like to use it before activating. When you're ready to use an app, simply click the ACTIVATE button and wait for the application to load.
Please Note: For larger apps, this process could take several minutes.
Once the app is ready, you will be routed to either the initial setup screen of the application to begin configuring it, or to your database's homepage where you can see your newly activated apps.
App Tours
Some new applications will appear on your home screen with a blue teardrop underneath indicating there is an Odoo tour available to help you learn how to use the app. To utilize the tour, click where the teardrop is pointing and you'll see on-screen steps.
Good to Know!
From any screen within any application, you can always get back to your homepage by clicking the waffle icon at the top left.
Application Settings
The majority of applications within Odoo have their own configurable settings and options that will affect functionality. There are two ways to get to an application's settings.
Option 1: From the Settings application on your homepage.
From within Settings, click General Settings. Once the page loads, you will see the General Settings for your Database on the main screen. On the left-hand side, you'll see all of your activated and configurable apps. To get to the Settings of any of the apps, just click on the app that you want to modify and its settings will display to the right.
Once you've modified the desired Settings in your app, be sure to click Save before clicking any other applications or any sub-menus on the page. Navigating away may cause you to lose your changes.
Good to Know!
From the search bar anywhere on the Settings page, you can type in the setting you're looking for to filter to it quickly. As you type, the settings matching your entry will be highlighted.
Option 2: Once a configurable application is launched (CRM is show in our example), simply click on CONFIGURATION and select the component you want to modify from the dropdown menu. Some applications will also have a general Settings menu option. If there is no general Settings menu option, then the app is dependent on other components in the database and inherits settings from there.
Search
The Search area is persistent in every application in Odoo and provides the ability to easily find information.
Search is a very straightforward feature and is tailored to the application you're using. For example, you won't be able to find a Sale Order from the search bar in the CRM app.
By typing in the name of a customer, project, employee, or another object, you can retrieve that to view within the application that you're using. For the purposes of this document, we've highlighted an enhanced search feature in Odoo that will make searching even easier.
As you type in the search bar, you will see a dropdown menu appear with different options available to help you quickly locate your desired information.
In this example, we've searched the CRM application for "Hibou". As you begin typing in the search bar, Odoo gives the option to search specific locations within the CRM application for the desired keyword.
Any option with the arrow icon next to it can be expanded with a click, and Odoo will display the available items for the data type that match your keyword. The example above shows the "Customer" section expanded and, as you can see, all customers with the search term "Hibou" in their profile are shown.
From here you can either select the specific customer record you want to see, or you can select the SEARCH CUSTOMER FOR: HIBOU option to display all customers with "Hibou" in their profile.
The search term(s) you use will be shown in the Search Bar at the top of the screen. To remove a term from the search, simply click the "x" top the right of the term.
Records + Pagination
When pulling up a recordset, you can find the pagination section on the top-right. This is available in several different views, depending on the app and data.
Record Count
By default, Odoo list views display 80 records per page, and the total number of records is shown after the foreward-slash (/). (Other types of views will vary in the number of records per page.) You can adjust the record count by simply clicking into the field and entering the range you'd like to have displayed. Click enter to leave the field and your record list will update accordingly.
Once this range is set, the pagination will apply to this range, only. To demonstrate this, we're viewing 1-5 of 33 records. Clicking the Previous or Next icons at this point will change the recordset by the same number of records.
We'll click the Next icon.
Here you can see the next set of records is 1-33 / 33. Now, let's click on the line of the third record from this recordset.
You'll see that the record is shown in its form view. From here, we can use those same Previous or Next icons to navigate through the 5 records displayed on the previous list view.
Filters
Filters appear directly beneath the Search bar and allow you to customize the data that is displayed on a given page within any application in Odoo. While the filters themselves will vary depending on what application you're using. For this example we will go over the basics of how to use filters in the CRM application.
To get started, navigate to the CRM app. If it's not installed, follow the instructions above to install it.
Once you've launched the CRM application, let's take a look at the Search area at the top right of the screen.
When you review the Filters that are available within each application, the options will be specific to the data that's housed within that application. The CRM application is displayed for this example, so the options you see in the menu are specific to CRM data. There will typically be a set of default filters that are present in the dropdown menu for you to choose from.
If you don't see the data that you want to view in the default filters, you can use the Add Custom Filter option to create your own filters.
Clicking this will display the first of the available fields (alphabetically) and its available operators. In the example below the field is "Action Needed" and the operator is "is true".
If you click on the field name you will get a dropdown list of all of the fields for which you can apply a filter in this view. You can move through the fields by scrolling up and down, or by typing the name of the field. Once you have made your choice, click on the field to select it.
You can apply an operator similarly. Note that the list of operators will change depending on the selected field.
When adding a custom filter, you can set as many conditions as you'd like for the information you need to pull. When you add multiple conditions to the same custom filter, Odoo automatically adds the "or" parameter to the search. So, if you want to search for customers who like Chocolate Icing OR Strawberry Icing, you would set the first condition, then click Add A Condition.
This opens a new section where you'll enter your "or" conditions. When you're done, click APPLY.
After you select the filters that you want to use, Odoo will automatically search the records in the model you’re on for the information you've selected. Your filter will be reflected in the search bar. The applied filter(s) will be shown in the Search Bar at the top of the screen. To remove a filter from the view, either click the Filters option and click the related filter (to remove the check mark) or simply click the "x" top the right of the filter name in the Search Bar.
Important!
Saving a Custom Filter
Custom filters, by default, will be lost once you leave the application that you're using. If you would like to save these custom filters for future use, then you'll need to utilize the Favorites feature, covered below, to accomplish this.
Group By
This feature allows you to change how your data is grouped to better visualize your information and inform your workflows. For example, you may want to see your pipeline data grouped by Salesperson, so you can review which opportunities are being handled by which of your salespeople. This is just one small example of what this feature can do.
Click the Group By option to review the Group By menu.
In a list view, applying groups will consolidate records by the data in the grouped field. If you group by Salesperson, you will see the name of the Salesperson in bold, followed by parentheses around the number of corresponding records. Clicking on that line will expand the list view to reveal the detail records within.
When grouping by more than one field, pay special attention to the order in which your items are grouped. Records will be grouped in the order the groupings are selected. This will be displayed in the search bar (along with any filters).
Like the Filters function discussed above, the ways that Odoo will allow you to group your data will depend on the application that you're using and the page that you're on within that application.
Also, like the Filters option, you can use the Add Custom Group option to create your own groupings if the default options do not suit your needs. Unlike Filters, custom groupings will only allow you to add one parameter to a Custom Group; however, you may create multiple Custom Groups and apply them together. Odoo will add the grouping methods to one another and group the data as you've specified.
To remove a grouping from the view, either click the Group By icon and click the related group (to remove the check mark) or simply click the "x" top the right of the group name in the Search Bar.
Important!
Saving a Custom Group
Custom Groups, by default, will be lost once you leave the application that you're using. If you would like to save these custom Groups for use in the future, then you will need to use the Favorites feature, covered in the next section, to accomplish this.
Favorites
This feature allows you to save custom searches that you've built using the Filters and Group By options covered above. Once you have your search or grouping parameters configured and selected, click the Favorites dropdown menu, then click Save current search and the following window will appear.
In this window, enter a name for your custom Search/Filters/Groupings selections, choose whether or not you want the system to default to this search when you open the application, or if you'd like to share this search with all other users of this application. You cannot select both of these options together.
Once you have made your selections, click SAVE.
After you've successfully saved your custom Search or Group to your Favorites, simply go to Favorites and select it from the dropdown menu to utilize them in the future.
Good to Know!
Deleting a Favorite
If you would like to delete any of your Favorites, you simply click the trash can next to the name of the Favorite you want to delete and then confirm the deletion.
Then confirm the action:
Views
This feature is similar to Group By, but instead of changing how the information is grouped on the page, it will change the method by which all of the data is displayed. Think of changing your Group By method like re-arranging information on a pie chart, while changing a View is like moving from a pie chart to a line graph.
Odoo has several different views that you can choose from. Not all of them are available in every application, but we will cover all of them in this document so that when you come across a view you will know what it does.
You can find the different views that are available within any application tucked under the search bar at the top right. Each view is denoted by an icon. Available views will vary between Apps.
We will be going through each one and will provide examples of how the views look when selected. For the purposes of this article, we will be using the same data for every view so that you can see the ways that your data can be manipulated simply by changing a View.
If you hover over each view's icon, you will see a tool-tip telling you the name of the View.
Note: With the exception of the last View, the CRM application is used in these examples. We'll be using the Time Off application to demonstrate the Gantt view, which is the final example.
Good to Know!
Time Ranges
On certain Views, a Filter will be available called Time Ranges. This filter allows you to view your data by a given time range and also compare that data to the previous period or from the same period last year. For example, you can compare your sales for the last 30 days to the previous 30 day period or from the same 30 day period last year to get a benchmark on your team's performance over time.
This filter is available on Pivot View, Graph View, Cohort View, and Dashboard View.
Kanban
This view will allow you to create a kanban board to view your data. Kanban is an organizational method that typically uses columns and cards to visualize data. As each project, task, or item moves through the kanban sequence from left to right, you can easily track where each item is in its lifecycle. The example below is from the Sales Pipeline within the CRM application. As you can see from the below screenshot, the kanban view is selected from the view options and we have the "My Pipeline" data organized by stages.
Each column represents a different stage in the Sales process and you can see the Opportunities under each stage. You can always change the stage that an item is in by dragging and dropping it into the correct column. You can also re-organize the columns by dragging and dropping them to the appropriate placement within the process flow.
To the far right, you also have the option to Add a Column to create a new Stage of the process flow but we suggest reading over the CRM documentation before doing this because it's really easy to create duplicate stages, which can be confusing down the line. Once created, you can drag-and-drop to wherever you'd like within the kanban view. Once your stages are set up, you can begin assigning items to them.
List
This View will organize your data into a list format. As you can see below, all of the same information from the Pipeline View is still present in our List view and some new information has become visible.
Some column headers will show an arrow on hover. This indicates that clicking that column header will sort it in either ascending or descending order, and clicking it again will reverse the sort order. Not all fields have this feature.
Good to Know!
Exposing Columns
On the top-right of many different list views in Odoo, you'll see the vertical ellipses icon. Clicking this icon allows you to expose other available columns. Because the data availability will change between apps and views, the options in this menu will also differ.
Calendar
This view allows you to see your Scheduled Activities in a calendar. You can see your upcoming events by the Day, Week, or Month. The calendar will only show items that are created under the Schedule Activity section for each item listed in our Sales Pipeline.
As you can see from the screenshot below, the Calendar View is selected from the view options and the calendar is displayed by the Month.
Pivot
This view allows you to display your data in a Pivot Table. In the following example, the Pivot View is selected from the view menu. This displays the pipeline data in this format, showing the Expected Revenue for August, September, October, and November at every stage. Note that our table only begins with August because that's when our sample database was created and there is no prior data.
Graph
This view allows you to create Graphs and visualize data points in four different ways:
Bar Chart
Stacked Bar Chart: This allows you to create a condensed visual by stacking data rather than placing it side-by-side.
Line Chart
Pie Chart
To change the input data that gets used to create the different graphs, click the Measures button and select the data that you would like to visualize from the dropdown menu.
Map
This view plots customers' physical locations on a map for ease in travel planning.
If you'd like to see the best route to navigate to all of these locations in one commute, click the VIEW IN GOOGLE MAPS button on the top left to calculate your route using Google.
There are two options to view the pop-out details and options for each location.
Option 1: To the right of the map there will be a list of Opportunities under the Pipeline heading. Note that only those in bold have accurate physical addresses saved to their profile. The grayed out listings cannot be plotted. Click any bolded customer on the list.
Option 2: Click any marker on the map.
With either option, you can click the edit button to change the details of this opportunity, or click the Navigate To button to show the best route using Google maps.
Activity
This View allows you to see all of your upcoming Scheduled Activities for your tasks, clients, leads, opportunities, or any other element in your Odoo applications. Activities in red are overdue, activities in orange are scheduled for today, and activities in green are scheduled for a time in the future. You can schedule additional activities by clicking the + SCHEDULE ACTIVITY button at the bottom of the table.
If you click on an activity in the grid, you'll see what the activity is, the scheduled date, and you can mark it as Done by clicking the checkmark icon that's greyed out on the right. You can also schedule additional activities for the row by clicking the + Schedule Activity button at the bottom of the pop-up.
Gantt
The Gantt View is not available in the CRM application. To get started, navigate to the Time Off application. If you don't have this application installed, please do so now.
This view allows you to see scheduled blocks of time as rows going along a calendar. This is helpful for seeing how different schedules overlap for each day and provides you with an overview of your time blocks for more effective schedule management.
Each employee who has requested leave is listed to the left of the calendar while the type of leave is shown on each requested block, respectively. If you have scheduled time blocks that overlap, or need to re-arrange items you can do so by simply clicking and dragging the item to the desired date range on the calendar.
Actions
This feature allows you to take specific actions on an object within Odoo applications. This could be anything from setting up access to your system for your users, sending a customer an SMS message, or editing a customer record. To get started, navigate to the Contacts application. If you don't have this application installed, please do so now.
The Action menu will only appear when you have an object selected in list view:
...or if you have a specific record open. Select any Contact from the main Contacts page. When you're on the resulting contact details page, you will see the Action menu at the top of the page, as shown.
When you click the Action menu, you will get a set of pre-determined actions that you can take to modify or interact with that object. These options will vary depending on the application that you're in, and what you are currently viewing or modifying. As you work in Odoo, keep an eye out for the Action menu as it can be a great shortcut to what you're trying to do.
Reporting
From within almost any application in Odoo, you will see a Reporting tab. This page allows you to customize reports for different kinds of data within that application. The reporting pages are built using different combinations of Filters and Views that you can modify to your liking to build custom reports. Reporting is similar to the Dashboard View we covered earlier and by using the descriptions and information about each Filter and View from the sections above, you will be able to customize your reports and navigate through the reporting page in almost any application in Odoo.
Also, like the Filters and Views sections above, once you have your reporting page set to your specifications, you can save it as a Favorite for later use. Please see the Favorites section above for more details on how to save a custom search as a Favorite.
FAQ
Activate Debug Mode
Navigate to Settings / Technical / Actions / User-Defined Filters
Select and the filter you'd like to see, and edit as necessary.