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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!!