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Sunday, December 18, 2011

New Offers for the Month

Howdy all!

I just put out an update for the latest offers of the month all the way until May. It looks like I was late in getting the January offer, which is the Bible Teach book. I hope this didn't inconvenience anyone...

I've got a lot going on right now, so please, if I forget to put out an update for the Upcoming Offers in a timely manner, feel free to shoot me a friendly reminder e-mail. Also any recommendations or suggestions for improvement are always welcome. I may actually update LRO in the next month or two... ;-)

Hope all are well!

Monday, September 19, 2011

New Literature Items and Offers

Howdy all!

The following items have been made available in this update for English users:

  • Watchtower Library--2011 Edition
  • Watchtower Bound Volume 2011
  • Awake! Bound Volume 2011
  • 2012 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses--On Compact Disc
  • 2012 Yeartext (for Kingdom Hall use only)
  • 2012 Memorial Invitation
  • Questions Young People Ask--Answers That Work, Volume 1
  • Listen to God
  • Listen to God and Live Forever

New items for Spanish users are as follows:

  • Watchtower Library - Edición 2011
  • Volumen Encuadernado de La Atalaya 2011
  • Volumen Encuadernado de ¡Despertad! 2011


And also the Upcoming Offers has been updated to have the following offers for December:

  • The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived
  • Learn From the Great Teacher
  • My Book of Bible Stories (Large)

Friday, August 26, 2011

New Literature available

Howdy all!

The following literature items are now available to download for English users:

  • 2413: Sing to Jehovah--Vocal Renditions--On Compact Disc, Disc 3
  • 2414: Sing to Jehovah--Vocal Renditions--On Compact Disc, Disc 4


For Russian users, the following items have been added:

  • Библиотека Сторожевой Башни 2011
  • Ежегодник Свидетелей Иеговы 2011 (на CD)
  • Ответы на твои вопросы. Том 1
  • Переплетенный том «Сторожевой башни» за 2011 год
  • Переплетенный том «Пробудитесь!» за 2011 год
  • Что Бог говорит нам через Иеремию (крупный шрифт)
  • Слушайся Бога и живи вечно
  • Слушайся Бога
  • Основательно свидетельствуем о Царстве Бога (MP3)
  • Библия и ее главная тема (шрифт Брайля)
  • Свидетели Иеговы - вера в действии. Часть 2. Да воссияет свет (на DVD)

And also for Russian users, the following items have been renamed to what you see below:

  • Прочный мир и счастье: как их найти (для китайцев)
  • Ежегодник Свидетелей Иеговы 2012
  • Календарь Свидетелей Иеговы 2012

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

New Literature Items & Spelling Correction

Howdy all!

The following items are available for download by English, Spanish, and Russian users:

  • 6912 - Examining the Scriptures Daily--2012
  • 7012 - Examining the Scriptures Daily--Large Print--2012
  • 7212 - 2012 Calendar
  • 5912 - 2012 Yearbook

Also for English users, I have made an update to the spelling for item #4115. I put "--On Compact Disc" at the end of it, to match what is on the JW.org site.

Please note: The above items may not be available to order in your area yet, but at least LRO will be ready for when they are.

Monday, July 11, 2011

Literature Updates

Howdy all!

Been a long time since I put any kind of update. Don't worry, all is well with me and LRO. :-) Literature updates are for English and include:

  • Item #9401 renamed to "New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures--MP3"
  • Item #5108 renamed to "New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures--With References"
  • Item #9240 renamed to "Organized to Share Good News and Whole Association of Brothers--On DVD"
  • NEW Item: #5810 - "Watch Tower Publications Index 2001-2010"


Also the latest Upcoming Offers are available for download:

  • September (Primary offer) - What Does the Bible Really Teach?
  • October (Secondary offer) - Would you Like to Know the Truth?
  • November (Primary offer) - The Bible - What is its Message?

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Version 1.4.1 Released!

Changes to Literature Room Organizer include:
  • Added: The threshold for the "Suggestions on Stock Item Orders" report can now be set by the Type of Item, and is NOT limited to be "5, 10, or none". You can now specify any value you'd like.
  • Added: For all "download update" features, there is now a mirror site for the updates. So if my primary site for deploying updates is down or otherwise unreachable, the mirror site will be used.
  • Bug Fix: TLA import feature was not working.

Surprise! Got one more update to LRO. I thought it was important to change the "threshold" feature for Suggested Stock Item Orders so that it would be more flexible. You can access this new feature by visiting the "Literature Items List" screen and then going to "Type of Items list".


Here is where you set the threshold for each type of item. What this means, for example, is if you set the threshold for Tracts to 250, then whenever a particular tract in your current inventory quantity is below 250, that tract will show up on the Suggested Stock Item Orders report, regardless of how fast that tract is moving per month.


You will notice some default values there after you upgrade. You can change them as needed by your Kingdom Hall. The default values are based on the branch's recommendation for 1 congregation.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Update for Upcoming Offers (July 2011)

Howdy all!

The latest Upcoming Offers is now available for download. The following offer was added:

  • 6654 - Was Life Created? (offer for July 2011)

I hope all are enjoying the field ministry during this special campaign! I know I am! :-)

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Version 1.4.0 Released!

Changes to Literature Room Organizer include:

  • Added: On Inventory Management screen, the Inventory Month is now a dropdown so you can easily jump to a particular month/year.
  • Added: On S-28 Builder screen when Linking Items, the fields "Item Name" and "Type of Item" have been added to assist you.
  • Changed: Modified Mock S-28 form to have a little more space due to becoming 3 pages with the recent S-28 updates.
  • Changed: When trying to open the Mock S-28 report, the warning message about "items not linked" is now limited to the range of dates you selected.
  • Changed: S-28 File Exports are now capable of being imported. So if you make custom changes to the S-28 form, you can export the files with your changes and keep them somewhere safe as a backup. Originally, the Export option was going to just be for you to send your changes to me so I can make adjustments to the S-28 for other languages. But now the Export system can serve as your own backup if you made changes, and it can be easily imported by putting the files in the same directory as LRO, disconnecting from the internet, and then clicking "Download S-28 Updates". NOTE: The files will be DELETED after importing.
  • Changed: On Inventory Management screen, the "Item Name" combo box now has its items sorted by "Name" first instead of "Item Type".
  • Changed: On S-28 Builder screen, when pressing Enter on the "Sort Order" field, the focus will move downward instead of to the right.
  • Changed: On S-28 builder screen, when there is a Sort Order conflict, the item will be INSERTED at that conflicting number rather than SWAPPING with the item that was conflicting.
  • Fixed: When doing a "Restore" of a LRO backup file, LRO will make sure the backup location is in the trusted zone so you don't get 15 or more "warning" messages (Access 2007 & 2010 ONLY. It is not necessary with previous versions).
  • Fixed: On S-28 Builder screen, minor cosmetic issue.
  • Fixed: On S-28 Builder screen, no more error when clicking "Link Items" for a brand new entry.
  • Fixed: On S-28 Builder screen, I now force a screen refresh after linking an item.
  • Bug Fix: When changing Congregation name or Publisher name, an error about Annual Item's table occurs (under certain conditions).
  • Updated English & Spanish S-28 form.

Howdy all! After using LRO to update the S-28 form with the most recent changes, I decided the S-28 Form Builder needed some changes. Now things will be easier for you, the user, to make any custom changes you need. Or if your region uses a different S-28 form (I'm thinking of my UK brothers), then you will definitely need to do some customizing. So these updates should help you out. ;-)

Now...back to focusing on new translations. It seems LRO's next language will be Polish!! At the moment, there is only ONE brother who is working on the translation. As you can imagine, this is a HUGE task for him. If there is anyone out there who speaks Polish natively, and can translate from English to Polish, then please make it a matter of prayer and see if you can fit it in your schedule to help this brother with the translation work. You must also meet these requirements:

  • Must have Microsoft Excel (or be capable of editing spreadsheets)
  • Must be detail-oriented
  • Must appreciate accuracy AND consistency
  • Must have good organizational skills
  • Must have lots of patience!! ;-)

If you meet the above requirements, speak Polish natively & can translate, but prefer to wait until AFTER April, then that is perfectly fine. I know April is going to be a busy month for all of us...myself included. And we must make sure to put the more important things first (Philippians 1:10). But you can still e-mail me now and I can have you lined up for work when things calm down.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Updated Spanish S-28 form & New Items available

Howdy all!

Spanish users can now download the latest S-28 form. Also, Spanish users will get two new items:

  • #6653 - El Camino a la Paz y Felicidad (Para Budistas)
  • #6656 - Una Fe Real--Su clave para una Vida Feliz (Para Musulmanes)

And one spelling fix:

  • #2510 - Watchtower Library - Edición 2009 (it should be 2010)


Version 1.4.0 of LRO is scheduled to be released either late Sunday or Monday. Stay tuned!

Saturday, February 26, 2011

New S-28 Form & Item

Howdy all!

I just received the updated S-28 form for English, and have made the changes to LRO. They are now available for download (via Inventory Management -> Build Mock S-28 Form -> Download S-28 Updates). Or you can just wait until LRO prompts you to download the updates. ;-)

For Spanish users, I have not received any word on an update for you yet. I will check into it and if one is available, I will make the changes. LRO will inform you when it is available.

For Russian users, I heard there was no update yet for your S-28 form.


Also, I have made the 2011 Memorial Invitations (#7681) available for download for English users.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Version 1.3.9 released!

Changes to Literature Room Organizer include:

  • Added: On the Publisher's Orders screen, if the publisher has items in another congregation, you will be notified.
  • Changed: Suggested Stock Item Orders is now always based off of 9 months of data.
  • Changed: Moving a publisher to another congregation will no longer move their Pending and Deliverable items, since these must be taken from their original congregation.
  • Improved: Other Tools - When trying to restore from a backup, if a backup is not found at the path you specified, you will be prompted to locate it and select the actual file.
  • Improved: Other Tools - When trying to restore from a backup, the backup file is checked to ensure it is actually a LRO backup file. If it isn't, the restore process is halted.
  • Improved: Other Tools - When importing TLA data, if a failure occurs, LRO will stop the import process rather than trying to continue.
  • Fixed: "Editing Currently Allowed!" was not being translated on the Deliverable Items screen.
  • Fixed: When moving a Publisher to another congregation, annual item orders on the annual item gridview are now transfered with them.
  • Bug Fix: Suggested Stock Item Orders report didn't always "listen" to a minimum threshold of 10.

The bug I had found with the Suggested Stock Item Orders has been fixed. In addition to a couple of other fixes, I've made a few minor adjustments based on common questions & "issues" while working with LRO.

Thank you all for your feedback, as always! :-)

Friday, February 11, 2011

Bugs? Anyone?

Howdy all!

I found one more bug in the Suggested Stock Item Orders report...in some cases, it may ignore the threshold of 10 and use 5 instead. So I will be fixing that, along with improving a couple other things.

If anyone has any bugs to report, or any ideas for improvements, please let me know ASAP.

Thanks!

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Literature update for Russian users, new Upcoming Offers, and a new poll

Howdy all!

Russian users have quite the update! 325 items have been renamed to match what is on the jw.org website. And there are 2 new items for them as well. If any of my Russian users want to see the details, you can download the files here:

The upcoming offers for June are now available for all users to download. They are as follows:

  • (Primary) What does the Bible Really Teach?
  • (Secondary) Knowledge that Leads to Everlasting Life
  • (Secondary) Worship the Only True God.

Finally, I have a new poll for everyone. I have noticed that the suggested stock item orders are NOT accurate for the hardcover Bibles. That is because we didn't start stocking the hardcover Bibles until just recently. Due to the very low movement from the months before this change, the threshold for the hardcover Bibles is very low. To remedy that problem, I believe I should limit the suggestions based on only the past 9 months of data. I think it is enough data for accurate predictions, and yet not too much that it would be influenced by those that used to barely move or move a lot. So the question is...

For the Suggested Stock Item Orders, should the suggestions be based on... This poll is now closed.

  • ALL historical data (this is how it currently is)
  • Just the past 9 months
  • Just the past 1 year
  • ALL, but with a weighted average for the last year

Using a weighted average is another idea, though I'm not sure if that would be any better. I give it as an option to you since I like choices. Though this method might increase the processing time required to make the suggestions...not much though. :-P

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Version 1.3.8 Released!

Changes to Literature Room Organizer include:

  • New Feature: Export LRO Orders to Excel! You can now export all of the orders in LRO to Excel and make your own custom reports...if you know how to use Microsoft Excel. This is found on the "Other Tools" screen.
  • Added: Disclaimer when downloading upcoming offers for non-US users.
  • Changed: Required fields no longer "fuss" when you remove their value. Now they will just put the old value back.
  • Fixed: A few things that were not being translated.
  • Bug Fix: Inventory Management did not delete a brand new entry successfully.
  • Bug Fix: "Order Placed Successfully" would not disappear if you navigated to another screen before it faded away.
  • Bug Fix: The "Stock" publisher could be accidentally created twice (and would appear twice on publisher selection boxes). Not sure how this could happen, but it will be automatically corrected when it does.
  • Bug Fix: If you changed your congregation's name, you would "lose" all the Annual Item orders on the grid tool for that congregation.
  • Bug Fix: If you changed the publisher name, their name would NOT be updated on the Annual Items grid tool.
  • Minor cosmetic and behind-the-scenes changes.

Mostly bug fixes with this release. However, there is a new feature some of you may appreciate. I've added the ability to export all of your orders to an Excel file. There is NO filtering done on the orders, you get them ALL, including completed ones. Some of you may want to make a special report, which LRO doesn't have, and so you can use this feature to make whatever kind of report you want with the orders. This new feature is found on the "Other Tools" screen.

This is the last planned update at this time. Of course, if anyone finds some bugs, or comes up with a really good idea, then there will be another update. Otherwise, it is time to change focus to translation and a more complete user manual.

Speaking of which...I've only got TWO volunteers so far. Both are for proofreading the manual when it is done. Still a lot of help needed! I hope there are some brothers out there who have the time and ability to help out. If you are interested in volunteering, please see the last post for details...

Thanks!

Monday, January 17, 2011

Help Wanted - Writers, Proofreaders, and Translators

Howdy all!

As you may or may not know, I am busier nowadays than I used to be. Not only that, but I think I'm overdue for a break...a nice long one. In addition, I have a goal of giving my first public talk soon, and also I have 2 Bible Studies I am trying to conduct. Which in order to do so successfully, I need to take time to properly prepare before I go visit them. So...that means I need some time. ;-)

Which is why I'm appealing to you and looking for the following volunteers:

1 Brother who will write the new FULL manual on using LRO.

Requirements:

  • Must speak English natively.
  • Must have Microsoft Word and know how to use it adequately. You might receive a little training as needed...
  • Must be able to follow instructions.
  • Must be familiar and comfortable with using LRO, and have been using it for at least a month.
  • Must be detail-oriented.
  • Must appreciate accuracy
  • Must be good and CONSISTENT at making important things Stand Out in Different Ways.
  • Must know how to take screenshots and effectively utilize them.

This brother would be provided an outline of what will be required to be written. You will also be tested before hand, to see if your style of documentation writing meets my requirements.

Take note of how I did my documentation by looking at my Quick-start User Guide. If you think you can write directions very similar to that, then you'll do fine. :-)


4 Brothers who will proofread the new manual

Requirements:

  • Must speak English natively.
  • Must have Microsoft Word.
  • Must have time to read the manual THOROUGHLY to proofread it.
  • Must appreciate accuracy

1 brother will proofread grammar. 1 brother will proofread the consistency of instructions and how certain things stand out. The 3rd and 4th brothers will proofread for understandability. One of them should be Tech savvy, the other should not be "not-so-savvy" with computers. ;-)


4 Brothers who will assist with Translation work

Requirements:

  • Must speak English natively.
  • Must have Microsoft Excel.
  • Must be detail-oriented.
  • Must have good organizational skills.
  • Must appreciate accuracy.
  • Must be good communicators (as you will work with the Translators directly).

These brothers will basically proofread the translations. When they receive the translated text, they will take the text and run it through Google's translation system, to ensure that it is the correct translation and makes sense. It will also help to catch spelling issues.


2 Brothers to translate LRO into Italian

Requirements:

  • Must speak Italian natively.
  • Must have Microsoft Excel.
  • Must be familiar with LRO, or at least capable of running it to see how the text will be used.
  • Must be detail-oriented.
  • Must appreciate accuracy AND consistency.
  • Must have good organizational skills
  • Must be fairly fluent in English, and be capable of communicating with someone who ONLY speaks English.

I already have 2 brothers who can handle this translation, now I am looking for 2 more. The more hands, the lighter the load. :-)


When taking my request into consideration, please know that these responsibilities will take time. However, there is NO deadline for getting any of these done. But I am hoping that the FULL manual will be done by June, and the Translation to Italian I hope to see by April.

It is my hope that those who volunteer will work in their spare time and will NOT neglect their family or spiritual responsibilities. If anyone wishes to apply to help out with any of the above requests, please send me an email at: literatureroomorganizer@gmail.com

Thanks!!!

Saturday, January 15, 2011

New Items available for download

There are new items available for download:

English

  • 6678 - Charitable Planning To Benefit Kingdom Service Worldwide
  • 7581 - 2011/2012 District Convention Handbill
  • 7481 - 2011/2012 District Convention Handbill (Sign Language)

Spanish

  • 7581 - Hoja Suelta para Asamblea de Distrito 2011/2012
  • 7481 - Hoja Suelta para Asamblea de Distrito 2011/2012 (Lenguaje de Señas)
  • 6678 - Donaciones Planificadas para Favorecer el Servicio del Reino en todo el Mundo (I Just added this one 1/16/2011, please re-download to get it.)

Russian (This was made available 1/16/2011)

  • 7581 - Приглашения на областной конгресс 2011 года
  • 7481 - Приглашения на областной конгресс 2011 года (жестовый)

I'm not sure if these are available in Russian. I will check with my Russian translator to see if they are, and if so, my Russian users can expect the same update soon.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Version 1.3.7 Released!

Changes to Literature Room Organizer include:

  • New Feature: The ability to keep track of Upcoming Offers and quickly place orders for them! NOTE: This screen can be reached by visiting the Order Form screen and clicking on "Upcoming Offers..."
  • Added: Ability to edit orders on the "Deliverable Items" screen.
  • Changed: Inventory Reports screen no longer closes after you run a report. It will stay open.
  • Changed: Deliverable Items screen's default sort order. Now sorts everything by Publisher Name first.
  • Fixed: Tab order on Inventory Management and Update Management.
  • Fixed: Inventory Reports screen now resizes, if you have the window resize setting turned on.
  • Fixed: Publisher dropdown list on "Pending Items" screen was not sorted alphabetically.
  • Fixed: Tables for the annual order grid system were not being imported after upgrades or restores.
  • Fixed: Combo boxes for certain screen (Login & Inventory Reports) would change their background to transparent, thus making them hard to see. Issue for 2007 & 2010 users.
  • Fixed: "#ERROR" on Detailed reports by Publication, whenever there was an order without a Request Month and the Request Month setting was turned on.
  • Cosmetic Improvements: Removed background image from several screens, and changed the color of a few screens.

NOTE: If anyone was using the "Preorder" feature...to keep track of orders for literature items that are not yet available...PLEASE look at that screen and write down what you have before upgrading, because the "Preorder" system has been removed with this upgrade.

With the new feature of "Upcoming Offers", you can now be reminded to place orders for the items that will be offered in the upcoming months. It is my hope that this system will not only remind you to order the items, but also help you to decide how much to order of each. But in order for it to do that, you will need to be using the Inventory Management system. If you aren't, then this new feature will just be a good reminder. ;-)

First of all, if you have the same cutoff day each month...in other words, you place orders for literature on the same day every month...then you may want to head over to "Settings" and put that day in the new setting called "Cutoff Day for Upcoming Offers". Then, when you download new offers, it will automatically assign a date 2 months early so that you can be sure to order some of that offer well in advance. In other words, if my cutoff day is the 28th, then the deadline for the offer of May will be 3/28/2011. You can always change the deadline if you wish...

If you do not have the same cutoff date each month, then you should leave this setting alone. When you download literature updates, you will see the deadline as "May '11". This tells you the offer's month & year. You will have to manually assign a deadline for that offer. So use your discernment.

When you download new upcoming offers, they will be added (separately) to each congregation in LRO. However, if you are using the setting "Which congregation handles stock orders?", then only that congregation will receive the upcoming offers that are downloaded.

Also, when looking a the Upcoming Offers screen, you will notice a box before each order, with a "1" or a "2" in it. The "1" represents the Primary offer of the month. The "2" represents the Secondary offer(s) of the month. You can change these numbers as you wish (and even enter others...3, 4, 5, etc.). If you manually add an offer, this field is not required.

Last but not least...do NOT delete offers that you download. Just mark them as "Done" if you don't want to use them, or if you are actually done with them. Otherwise, if they are deleted, they will get re-downloaded with your next update.


This is the final planned update for LRO. I will give it 2 weeks before I shift gears and work on a more detailed user guide and more translations. Of course, if there are bugs, or really good ideas, then there will be more updates. But as of now, there are none scheduled.

Thank you all for your support & feedback!!