There are certain things in Podio that annoy the crap out of me.  One of those such things is the Navigation areas.  Both the App Navbar and the Workspace navigation slideout area.  Generally they are fine, but when you start dealing with multiple Workspaces and 10 plus Apps things get a little awkward.

The Workspace menu only shows the 4 or 5 most viewed spaces.  To get to others you have to click on "view more".  

The App Navbar can only show a certain number of app links before having to click on that "Arrow" at the end of the line to open up another row of App Icons.  The number of apps before this happens depends on the width of your browser window.  

Enter the Podio Super Menu...

The Podio Super Menu is a free  extension for Podio that adds a new navigational system that is definitely an improvement.  It's from the same developer who created GlobiFlow and GlobiMail.

The "catch", if there is one, is that it is more of a Chrome Extension then a Podio Extension.  It basically works by detecting that you are on Podio.com and then adds features ontop of Podio using javascript, css and html tricks.  So Yes, this means you can only use the Super Menu when using a Chrome Browser.  This isn't a problem for me because that is what I always use, but might be for others.

Once you have the Extension setup (which is covered in the next section), it is very easy to use.  You just click on the Podio Logo to display the Super Menu.  

You can add links to any Workspace and any App that you like. Along with the App links, there is a super search and link to GlobiMail and their blog. There really isn't much to it, but I really like how you access it and they simple layout.

It is very easy to set this up.  I would say in less then 5 minutes you will be up and running. Here are the simple steps for installing the Podio Super Menu...

1. Open your Chrome Browser
2. Navigate to the Chrome Extension Store
3. Click "Add to Chrome"

Configuring your Super Menu requires you to go to the Podio Super Menu and Login.  It is linked to your Podio Account, just like Globiflow, and will pull in all your workspaces and apps.  Here is were you select which apps you would like to display on your menu.  

1. Go to Podio Super Menu
2. Click Sign In
3. Give Permission to Access your Podio Account
4. Select the Apps to put on your Super Menu

Nothing more then just checking the apps you want and unchecking ones you do not. Easy Peasy!

You may have to refresh your Podio browser window if you already have it open.  But other then that, you are all set.

The Podio Super Menu is not a one trick pony, it has some more useful features that are really cool.  I'll go over them and give an example of how to use them.

I never thought about having to do this, but I must admit it is pretty cool.  The Super Menu Extension will add a button to each App's main dashboard, called "Sheet".  Clicking this will bring up a spreadsheet that contains all the items you see in the grid.  With in this spread sheet you can edit values.

Here is what I like and don't like about the Spreadsheet editing.

What I like

• Very easy to update text fields if you have a lot of records to update.
• Category Fields give you a drop down of the possible options to select.
• Gives you the item_id of each record.  

What I Don't Like

• Calculation Fields are not disabled.  When I tried to edit one it locked up the spreadsheet.
• You can not sort the columns
• You want to make it act like excel but it is not.
• You only see the columns that are listed in the Grid.  Not all of the fields in your app.

In the end, it's main purpose is to quickly edit a bunch of record items.  I can see my self updating a bunch of statuses and perhaps add some notes using this tool.  Not much else.  

I give it a thumbs up though!

I really like this feature as it saves quite some time if you want to see or edit a flow that is triggered by the app you are in.  So simple yet so cool!

What I like

• It works!

What I Don't Like

• I have multiple Podio Accounts.  I found if I'm logged into one account and click the FLOW button it takes me to the right spot.  If I then log out of Podio (while leaving the GF browser tab open) and into my other Podio account and press the FLOW button it takes me to the original GF account.  And of course doesn't find the App.  Easy to work around by closing the GF Tab after use, but annoying.

Big fan of this feature!

You get a ton more toolbar options that you can edit your text with.  You can insert things like images, adjust font size, font type and even add tables. Who knew that the Podio Multi-lined text fields could handle all these formatting options?

What I like

• Being able to add tables
• Being able to update the font type and size
• Having a more more fully featured editor with more room.

What I Don't Like

• That it creates the need to edit a field in a different way then you normally would with Podio.  You have to click on the orange "Edit with SuperMenu" button instead of just clicking in the field. 

I see this feature as something I would not use all the time.  Only when I needed to add some special formatting to some text.  Not sure how often that would be though.

Normally you can only add reports/widgets to the Activity App, but now you can add these things to an App's sidebar.  I think this is very handy for getting a quick look at stats only related to an App.  

The normal category breakdowns and filters are okay, but if you have the full reporting features of Podio you can add graphs which is great!

What I like

• Being able to locate my reports within the app they relate to.
• Seeing Graphs instead of the basic category breakdowns that are on the sidebar.

What I Don't Like

• It works, but to get the full benefit of using the Podio Report feature you need the higher level Podio Accounts.

Not much to not like about this feature.  It ads something that I never thought about to much, but is a good idea for sure and it works well.

I think this is a brilliant feature!  You can assign the number keys on your keyboard (1-9) to open up any page in your Podio workpage.  

I have assigned mine to some of my most used Apps.  The most used shortcut is the one to my lead entry app.  No matter where I am in Podio I can press '1' and the app opens.  Saves a ton of time!

What I like

• Saves me a ton of clicks and improves navigation 10 fold!
• Easy to setup

What I Don't Like

• The shortcuts can only be configured to open up App main pages.  Would love to be able to go directly to an App's webform to enter in a lead directly.

The configuration for this feature is on the SuperMenu website dashboard.  Simply just assign the app to the number and you are off.

Here is a list of some other features that you get with the Super Menu.  

• Adds markdown support to multi-lined text fields.
• Enables you to widen the Activity/Comment section of an App Item. 
• Embed Iframe content into anything that supports markdown.  
• Create Clickable Checkboxes within Multi-Lined Text fields.

I haven't used any of these features yet, but they are nice to have just in case something comes up in the future.  I'm most intrigued by the IFrame ability.  At the moment I can't think of a use, though I'm sure there is something cool that can be done!

It is pretty obvious that I'm a fan of this free extension.  It doesn't do anything huge or game changing, but it does help smooth out some of the issues I have with Podio.  It is light weight and easy to setup and use so what is not to like?

Well, there is one thing I don't like.  The settings are a bit all over the place.

1. Menu items are setup at your SuperMenu Dashboard under Menu.  
2. Shortcuts are setup in another area of your SuperMenu Dashboard
3. There are global settings for your workspace apps under the Chrome Extension Icon
4. App specific settings are found in the apps by clicking on the SuperMenu Icon there.

While I understand the idea of putting these settings in places where they are relevant, it makes it feel a bit scattered!

Like I said though, I do really like this extension and hope the Andreas (the developer) continues to add useful things to it.

Here is a link if you are interested..

Podio Super Menu