SpiritWorks Software Inc. creates easy-to-use software for creative, legal and technical professionals and rental property managers.  Time, Expense, Inventory and Rental Property Tracking
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Tips for using Contact, Schedule, & Task Tracker
plus the Universal Calculator and Preferences

Here are step-by-step directions for:


Navigation & Common buttons

Use the colored Menu button on the Welcome screen, and in the lower left corner of all the main windows, to access all the components of the software.

Each component of the software has a New button (for creating new records), a Delete button (for deleting one or more records), a Find button (for searching for text on another record), a Sort button (for sorting the records by predetermined fields), an Import button (for importing sample or archived records) and an Export button (for backing up your data).

You will find a Help button on most of the windows in the software. Included in the Help system is a Tutorial, which will introduce you to the most important features of that component. Just click the Tutorial button near the top of the Help window. More detailed explanations can be found by clicking the other buttons found near the top of the Help window.

There is also a Quit button and a Save button on each main window. Although records are normally saved when going to another record or closing the component, it is often a good idea to click the Save button after making changes, just to be safe.


Reports

Each component has its own report feature. In some cases you will use an intermediate screen to select options and sort orders for your report or invoice. In many cases you will go directly to the report. There is a Help button on each option window with more information about the report options.

On the output window you will find the following buttons: Save As... (saves the output as a text file for archiving or exporting to a word processor for formatting, etc.); Font (allows you to specify the size and font of the text in the report output); Print (usually just prints the output - you may need to print some reports in landscape mode); and Edit Report (allows you to make changes to the report before printing or exporting - when this button is unchecked (its normal position) you can click the main line of each record's output to go directly to that record.

There is also a row of buttons, just above the report's output field, that allows you to change the width of the columns (the tab stops) in the report. Just drag any of the little rectangles left or right to make the report more readable.


Tips on using Contact Tracker

You can use Contact Tracker to keep track of information about customers, vendors, family and friends. This component contains several useful tools, such as a Mailing List (form letter generator), a World Time Map, an Area Code Locator, and a Frequently Called Contacts List.

1) Begin (as usual) by clicking New. The fill in the First Name, Last Name and Company Name (if appropriate). There are two sets of address fields accessed by clicking Mailing or Shipping.

The Address Format for this Contact menu determines the order and format of the City, State, Province, and Zip or Postal Code when printed. There is a similar menu in the Formats section of Prefs window that becomes the Default, but you can specify a different format for each contact if you wish. The Address Format settings apply to Contact Lists, Envelopes, and Mailing Lists.

2) Enter other information such as: E-mail, Phone Numbers, and Family or Associates. Choose a contact Type from the menu provided. Choices include:Client, Customer, Guest, Friend, Family, Vendor, Owner, Employee, Sales Rep, or Other). A TaxID# field appears for Owners and Employees, and an Employee # field appears for Employees. A Customer # field appears on Contacts with the Type of Customer. You can Sort records by Contact Type.

3) Contact Tracker has four Miscellaneous fields that you can use for any purpose. These are accessed by clicking the Show Misc. Fields button. To change the label, just click on the Change buttons above them. The labels on all records will be changed to the new names. You can Sort your contact list by these fields.

To print out the information for a particular record, click the Prepare Envelope button. You can print just the name and address or all the information from the record by clicking the Show Email, Phone & Notes option. You can also add a Return Address to your envelope by using the option provided.

You can print out some or all the information on every record by clicking List Contacts in the main window and then choosing the various options provided. You can also choose a sort order for your list. To generate a list of just email addresses, select only the E-mail option. You can also add the Name option if you wish.

Click the Area Codes & WTM button to access either the Area Code lookup tool or the World Time Map where you can see at a glance what time it is in any part of the world.

Clicking the Area Code Locator opton brings up a window where you can enter an area code. After clicking the Search button, several major cities within that area code will be listed. Or if you know the city's name and want to know the area code, you can enter the first few letters of the name into the field near the center of the window.

You can also just scroll through the bottom field to find a city name. You can add cities or change area codes in the bottom field by typing the city name, a tab and then the area code on a new line. (The tab is very important and if you add a line, you should put it into the correct alphabetical order.) A list of international codes is available on request.

The Mailing List button allows you to create a form letter for any or all of your contacts. First you will see a Contact Chooser window where you can specify which contacts to send the letter to. Then click Create Form Letter and then Edit Form Letter Template in the Send Form Letters window to create your letter.

You can add a logo and create a letterhead by clicking the Edit Header button. You can also print envelopes by clicking Prepare Envelope in the Send Form Letters window. Click Help in that window for more info about modifying the header. Click Help in the Contact Chooser window for more info about the Mailing List feature.

The FCC List button brings up the Frequently Called Contacts List window where you can add contacts that you want easy access to. Click Help in that window for more info.


Tips on using Schedule Tracker

Use Schedule Tracker to keep track of appointments and print calendars.

1) Start by clicking New and choosing a date for the event.

2) Next enter an Event Description. You can also enter a Location and a Purpose, but these fields are optional.

3) Enter the Start Time and End Time by using the Edit or Choose buttons be each field. These fields are also optional. If neither is filled in the event will be scheduled for the entire day.

4) If the event is a repeating event, choose one of the following from the Click to repeat menu: Daily, Weekly, Weekdays, Day of Month, Monthly, and Yearly.

If you choose Daily or Weekly, you will next have the option of specifying if the event repeats every day or week or every other day or week.

Next you need to enter a date to stop repeating the event by clicking the Edit or Choose button that appears above the Until field near the middle of the window.

If the Until date you choose does not match the logical last date for the event (for instance, if you have a repeating event for the same day every month, and the Until date you choose is not the correct day of the month) then the correct day will be entered.

You can edit the list of repeating dates by clicking the Show Repeat Dates button that appears below the Until date field. If you make changes to this list, make sure you have only one date per line, don't leave any blank lines or use a different date format.

Use the View Schedule button to create a text file that you can print or export to another program. You can choose the current Day, Week or Month or specify a Start Date. If you click Other you will be asked for an end date.

Click the Month, Week or Day button below the Notes field in the Schedule Tracker window to view a table view of your schedule.

In the Weekly View and Daily View window there is a Table Options button that allows you to specify the Start and End Times for the table as well as the time increments (:05, :10 or :15 minutes).

In the Daily View window you can also choose what to display in the three columns. The choices are Single Booking (conflicting appointments will be shown in red and the Location and Purpose of the appointment will be displayed), Single Booking & Tasks (the Purpose column is replaced by your current Task List from Task Tracker), Double Booking & Tasks (conflicting appointments are shown in the second column instead of the Location) and Triple Booking (appointments that conflict with the first column are shown in the second and appointments conflicting with those in the second column are shown in the third).

In the Monthly View window there are two small arrows at the top left corner which toggle a Month menu with a Start Date field. Click the Choose button to select a date in the week you want to be the first week of the monthly calendar.

Clicking the Add to Schedule button in Task Tracker will automatically add the task to Schedule Tracker. You will need to choose a date and perhaps a time for the event. You can also specify a location and purpose for the event.


Tips on using Task or Goal Tracker

Keep track of all your things to do and assign priorities, deadlines and notes with this simple tool.

1) Click New and enter the Task or Goal Description.

2) Choose a Deadline and enter any Notes you want to reference.

3) Set a Priority for the task. Records and reports can be sorted by Date, Priority, Deadline or Task.

4) When each task is done, just enter the date in the Completed field.

Click Tasks To Do Lists to see a list of all your tasks. You can show All Tasks, Urgent Tasks, Uncompleted or just Completed tasks.

You can also use the Add to Schedule button to open Schedule Tracker and create a new record. Then you will have two ways to help remind you to get the task done.

Tasks can be added to the Daily View (or Daily Briefing) by clicking the Table Options button.


Tips on using the Universal Calculator

The Universal Calculator has several tools you will want to explore. In addition to a simple Numbers calculator, it will also add or subtract Dates that are some number of days before or after a date you specify. You can also find out what Time it is anywhere in the world and compute time differences.

The Measurement calculator easily converts just about any US or British length, volume or weight to its metric equivalent or the other way around.

The Currency calculator is divided into three sections. Click the three tabs to access the following options. The Discounts & Sales Tax option easily computes discounts and sales tax on any amount. The Money Exchange option computes the amount of foreign currency that a number of dollars is worth (or the other way around) given the current exchange rate. The Payments option lets you compute loan payments, amortizations (months to pay for something) or the Amount an investment will be worth in the future.


Preferences

Click Prefs in any main component window to access the Preferences window. There are four sections, General, Colors, Formats and Translations.

In the General section you will find Monetary Symbol & Format controls, along with Tax Type and other preferences. Click the Help button for more information.

Most users will want to have certain windows open all the time, and others open only when needed. You can open and arrange any number of windows on your screen, as long as the Open Components in a New Window option in the Preferences window is enabled. If you would rather have only one window open at a time, disable this option.

In the Colors section, you can change the button and background colors of each component. Click the Background Colors option to show a list to choose from. Click the Button Colors option to show another list to choose from. You can Use these colors in all windows or choose different colors for each window.

To set different colors for each component, start by clicking the Prefs button in that component and then selecting new colors from the two lists in the Preferences window. If you want to return to the original colors just click the Default Settings button in the Preferences window. To save your new colors, close the Preferences window and then click the Save button in the component's window.

In the Formats section you can change the Time Format, Distance Format, Date Format and the Liquid Format. You can also add International Version features. Click Address Preferences to change the Address Format used for printing.


Backing Up and Recovering Missing Data

It is always a good idea to backup your data on a daily or weekly basis. There is an Auto Backup feature that will create a backup file whenever you click the Quit button in any main window. After creating a backup file, it is a good idea to make sure the new file is at least as big as the previous one. Then copy the .bak file to an external disk or USB drive.

You can also click the Export button in any component and then choose to create a Backup file or an Export file of just the records in that component. You will need a current backup file whenever you update the software. You can also use the Backup Records button on the Welcome screen for this purpose.

Occasionally during a save or a crash, a database will get corrupted. If this happens the name of the component will not appear in the main Menu button. Fortunately the file is always saved with an .rev~ extension first. So if you ever have problems opening a component, look for a file with the .rev~ extension in the application's folder. (In Windows look in your Documents folder.) If you see one, delete the file with the same name (but without the .rev~ extension) and then rename the .rev~ file to just .rev. For example, if contacts.rev were to get corrupted, you will find an contacts.rev~ file. Just delete the contacts.rev file and change the name of contacts.rev~ to contacts.rev.

By backing up your records frequently, and copying the backup file to another disk, you can be sure your data can be easily restored to a new copy of the software, in case something goes wrong with your computer.



There is much more information about each component of the software available by clicking the Help button in that component or window.

If you have any questions or comments about the software, feel free to contact us.