FAQs

Why don't my reports / job cards look the same on the screen as they do on paper?

Most printable items in the system are formatted to print correctly on A4 paper. The software is designed to make optimum use of your computer's monitor, which is almost certainly proportioned differently to an A4 sheet.

Which browsers does the system support?

We support the two latest major versions of Firefox, Safari, Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome. Older versions will still usually work but some specific features may not (the map view, for example). Always upgrade to the latest version if you can. Internet Explorer is not supported.

Why can't I log in to my 'live' and 'training' systems at the same time?

For security reasons you can only be logged into one system database in your browser at a time. However, you can log in to two systems from two different browsers at the same time.

Why are there two "Save" buttons and what do they do?

"Save Details" will save and return to the page you're looking at. Use this if you wish to continue working with that page. "Save and Close" will (typically) take you back to the previous page you looked at - useful for returning to a search page, for example.

Can I change the order of the main menu?

Yes, but note that this will affect all users in all groups. See the Manage menus page

What kind of documents can I upload to client and other records?

All common image files, all Office files, plus some others. You can always zip files and upload the .zip file.

There is a 30MB per file size limit.

What is the minimum screen resolution?

1024 x 768, but occasionally things get a bit crowded at this resolution. 1280 horizontal pixels is advised for the bext experience (so 1280x1024 on desktop screens, 1280x800 on some laptops).

What do I need to do when a user leaves my organisation?

Firstly, consider if they are being replaced. If so, find the old user in the Users section and use the copy button to copy all the settings from the old user to create the new one.

Secondly, set the old user to be inactive.

Thirdly, if the old user also has a staff/volunteer record (which they should, unless they are a funder or referrer with a login), set their staff/volunteer record to inactive and create a new record for the new user. Remember to link this new staff/volunteer record to the new user record.

What do I need to do on the system when a client dies?

From their Personal tab, set the 'Deceased' option to 'Yes', then save the record. This will take you another page where you can optionally enter the date of death and enter extra notes.

I've made a club/clinic non-active, and now it's disappeared! How do I get it back?

By default, when you go into the Clubs and Clinics option, you only see Active clubs.

If you want to see Non-Active clubs, you can untick the "yes" checkbox underneath "Clinic status", then click "Apply" to see all the clubs. You can then select a non-active club/clinic and make it active again if you need to.

I've heard that I can't paste content from Microsoft Word into letter templates - is this true?

It used to be. This was due to the very large volume of formatting information contained within Word documents. The letter section now automatically deals with the formatting so you can safely paste from Word.

I want to add another user, but have heard that I can only have x number of users. Is this true?

No. The charge for a system is based on the turnover of the organisation using it. In the voluntary sector it's common to have a lot of part time staff, so we find that this charging structure suits our customers better than a per-user structure.

I have a client who is also a volunteer, do they need 2 records?

No. Any organisation or person should only ever have one record. You should add the second Type to the original record if you want someone to appear in two lists. See Organisations And People for more details.

I am getting an 'Access Denied' message. What should I do?

This is almost certainly a Group Access issue. Contact your administrator to see if you can be put in a different Group, or have the access rights of your current Group changed.

How do I add to the various drop-down lists on the client and other records

Most of these are found under Orgs and people A-J or Orgs and people K-Z in the administrator menu.

How do I merge duplicate clients?

See Merge Record.

How long do I have before I get timed out? Can it be increased / decreased ?

The default is 1 hour of inactivity. This can be set anywhere between 10 and 60 minutes using the Security Rules section of Logging in/system access.

'Activity' in this sense usually means loading a new page such as saving a record, searching, clicking a menu item etc.

Note that each tab or window has its own 'timer', and once one times out you will be logged out of any other tabs/windows you have open. This usually happens if you have a report that you have opened and forgotten about.

How do I type dates and times in?

Dates can be typed using several shortcuts:

- 6 or 8 digits with no punctuation, e.g. 251224 or 25122024 for Christmas Day 2024;

- just a year, e.g. 2024 for the 1st January 2024;

- a day and a month with a dash or slash, e.g. 25-12 or 25/12 for Christmas Day this year;

- a month and a year, e.g. 7/2024 or 07/2024 for 1st July 2024

Times can be typed in with 4 digits with no punctuation, e.g. 1530 for half past three.

The system will punctuate them for you.

How do I back up my data? What can I do with the backup once I have generated it?

Click Administration > Database Operations > Backup System, then "Backup Database SQL Data". This will produce a single archive file of your entire database including its structure. As a compressed file, it cannot be 'run' locally like a spreadsheet on your computer, but is intended to be used by a database professional for reloading onto a MySQL server. As a local administrator, all you need to do with it is keep it safe - remember that it holds your entire client list, referrals list etc.

How can I reduce the number of duplicate records that my users are entering?

The two most common problems are failing to search to see if a client already exists before adding them, and mis-spellings. You are more likely to find a mis-spelled record if you search for 3 or 4 letters rather than the whole name, e.g. 'don' would find 'McDonald', 'MacDonald', 'Haydon' etc

Does the system have an address lookup from the postcode?

Yes. You will need to either enter a list of LSOA areas and wards, or purchase a licence from Postcode Anywhere to use their service. See the Add-ons section of the Administrator Manual for more details.

Does the system have a spell checker?

No, but most browsers have one built in or have one available to be installed.

Do we have to use the term 'Support Worker'? We call ours 'Home Helpers'...

You can change the terminology you wish to use for support workers. This will affect the menus, schedules etc.

See Roster terminology for these settings.

Can I delete/anonymise client records?

The records themselves cannot be deleted (to maintain the audit record), but they can be anonymised.

See Clease or anonymise records for more information