Version 1.4.6 Released!

Changes to Literature Room Organizer include:

• Changed: All languages have been combined into a single version of LRO!  This means that all the literature items, the S-28 form, etc. will match the language you select.  And if you change it, it will change everything, not just the text!  This will be very useful in multi-language congregations that share a computer with LRO on it.
• Changed: All scripts have been replaced with VB.Net versions.  This should eliminate all false "virus" warnings that were still happening with LRO.
• Fixed: Updates are downloaded from new host sites (the old ones were either broken, or about to break).  Will download updates from Dropbox.com or Copy.com

Howdy all!

I know this doesn't sound like a very big update, but believe me, it is a MAJOR update.  Please make a backup of LRO before updating.

Now...even though it is a major update, it is VERY IMPORTANT that everyone download 1.4.6 as soon as possible.  In just a few days, everyone who is on 1.4.5 or lower will NOT receive notifications when there are updates to LRO.

Last but not least, I painstakingly replaced all of my AutoIT scripts with VB.Net scripts instead.  This should stop all of the "virus" warnings that people have been receiving.  This unfortunately means you need the .Net framework (at least 2.0) in order for the scripts to work.  Since most people have it, and since I am in a rush to release this version before the update check stops working, I am not checking for the .Net framework.  I'll worry about this with the next update.

If anyone still gets "virus" alerts, please let me know.  And even better, please contact your anti-virus vendor and let them know it is a false positive.  It would save me a bit of work.  ;-)

I hope all are doing well!  :-)

Updates to Portuguese literature items

Howdy all!

I've deployed a couple of spelling corrections for the following Portuguese literature items:

• 7074 - Gostaria de Conhecer a Verdade?
• 6654 - A Vida -- Teve um Criador?

I hope all are doing well.  :-)

New Literature Items and Offers

Howdy all!

I've updated the Offers through till March.  Please download the latest.


Regarding new literature items, I have the following updates:

For English users:

• 5142 - New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (pocket-size)

For Russian users:

• 7137 - Где найти ответы на самые важные вопросы?
• 9281 - Кто сегодня исполняет волю Иеговы? - На DVD

For Portuguese users:

• 7137 - Onde Encontrar as Respostas mais Importantes da Vida?

I hope all are doing well!  :-)

New Literature Items

Howdy all!

The following is included in the latest literature update:


For English users:

• 4119 - Imitate Their Faith—On Compact Disc
• 7137 - Where Can We Find Answers to Life's Big Questions?

For French users:

• 4248 - La route qui mène à la vie éternelle : l’avez-vous trouvée ? (sur disque compact)
• 8427 - Image d'une soeur conduisant une étude de Bible
• 8422 - Image d'un frère conduisant une étude de Bible
• 8410 - Image d'une Bible ouverte

For Russian users:

• 1546 - Русский жестовый язык - Первое и Второе Коринфянам - На DVD

For Portuguese users:

• 6814 - Índice das Publicações da Torre de Vigia 2014
• 6811 - Índice das Publicações da Torre de Vigia 2011
• 8421 - Cartão de visita para o site jw.org, 8421 [Dirigindo Estudo]
• 8410 - Cartão de visita para o site jw.org, 8410 [Bíblia Aberta]
• 5437 - Changed spelling to "Cantemos a Jeová - Edição Grande"
• 5438 - Changed spelling to "Cantemos a Jeová - Sem Pauta, Letra Grande"

I hope all are doing well!  :-)

New Literature Items & Correction

Howdy all!

The following changes are in the latest literature update:

For English, added:

• 8421 - Contact card for jw.org - Picture of sister conducting a Bible study
• 8422 - Contact card for jw.org - Picture of brother conducting a Bible study

And also changed item #8410 from "Contact card for jw.org" to "Contact card for jw.org - Picture of open Bible" (this is noted as a "Spelling Correction" in LRO).

I hope all are doing well! :-)

New Literature Items and Offers

Howdy all!

Just a quick little update here.  For English users, I've added the following items:

• 9282ASL - 'Come Be My Follower'--On DVD
• 1502ASL - Exodus--On DVD
• 9292ASL - Questions Answered in the Bible--On DVD
• 8410 - Contact card for jw.org

For Spanish users, I've added:

• 8410 - Tarjeta de contacto para jw.org

For Russian users, I've added:

• 2413 - Пойте Иегове (вокальное исполнение, на CD, диск 3)
• 8410 - Визитная карточка jw.org
• 8421 - Визитная карточка jw.org (8421)

I have not heard back from my French translator yet, but once I do, I'll add any new items that are pending for y'all.  And as far as Portuguese goes, my translator said there was no item 8410 available for y'all.

Also, I've made the literature offer for November and December available to download.

I hope all are doing well!!  :-)

Version 1.4.5 Released!

Changes to Literature Room Organizer include:

• Portuguese translation has been added!
• Fixed: False positive virus warnings
• Bug Fix: Export of LRO data was not working for the French version.

Howdy all!

Yep you read that right...LRO is now available in Portuguese!  :-) That makes 5 different languages!

To my Portuguese brothers who are already using LRO...if you have English (or Spanish) items in your Literature Items List, you can safely delete them all so that they'll be replaced with the Portuguese versions when you upgrade. To do this quickly and easily, go to "Literature Items List" -> "Edit Types of Items" and simply "Delete!" all of the types. It will clear your literature items list, and then you can download & install the latest version of LRO with all the Portuguese items.

Also, to my Portuguese brothers, you will need to go into Settings and change the language to "Portuguese".


I am currently working on the Italian version.  This one will take a little longer...I am planing to make some significant changes to LRO that will make switching between languages even better.  It will mean less work for me on future translations, and more functionality for everyone else!  I plan on adding the ability to switch the entire language of LRO (including the literature items, list of languages, S-28 form, etc) on the fly.

Currently, you have to install the primary language that you will be using, but you can switch the text in LRO as needed.  Everything else stays the same though.  It will take a little work to enhance this, and I apologize to my Italian brothers for making them wait a little longer, but with the current setup, I have to test 5 different versions of LRO every time I make a new release.  It's not very efficient, and as more languages are added, that time will increase.

So hang on just a little while longer my Italian brothers.  You'll be getting your translation soon.  Hopefully in a month.

I hope all are doing well!

Vacation time!!

Howdy all!

I'm on my way to vacation as I write this. I'd love to hear from any brothers in the Panama City Beach area!! If anyone can contact me via email and confirm that Beach congregation meets @ 10:00am Sunday, and is indeed meeting tomorrow, we'll be visiting y'all tomorrow!

Hope all are doing well and enjoying the international/regional conventions. :-)

Version 1.4.4 Released!

Changes to Literature Room Organizer include:

• Updated: Annual Items grid for recording and ordering annual items.  You will no longer see "Watchtower" & "Awake".  Instead, you will now see "Bound Volume" & "Yearbook CD".
• Updated: Annual Items Blank order form.  Same changes as above.
• Changed: On the Suggested Stock Item Orders screen, the sensitivity level will be saved so you don't have to adjust it every time you visit the suggestions.  This is a per congregation setting.
• Fixed: The Annual Items Gridview Entry screen might not have the publishers in alphabetical order (this was a very rare bug).

Howdy all!

I apologize for waiting until the last minute to roll out an update to the annual items grid.  I didn't think they would be ready to order so soon.  I hope this didn't inconvenience anyone.

A couple of notes on the update:  If you had orders entered into the annual items grid already, they will survive the update.  HOWEVER, the quantities you specified under the "Awake" column will be lost.  The Watchtower quantities will carry over to the Bound Volume column.  And in place of the "Awake", you will now see "Yearbook CD".  This should fit everyone's needs.  But once again, this is ONLY on the Annual Items Order Form screen, and it is ONLY if you started entering quantities already.

I hope all are doing well! :-)

Version 1.4.3 Released!!

Changes to Literature Room Organizer include:

• Added: "Suggested Stock Item Orders" is now a functional form (instead of just a report).
• Added: On the Reports screen, on the "Publication" tab, added a checkbox "Show Date instead of Request Month" under "Show Details" for quick switching between Request Month or Date visibility.  You must be showing details in order to use this option.
• Changed: On the "Search for Item" screen, the focus is set to "Select" if there is only one result. This allows you simply press Enter to select.
• Changed: Clicking "Reset Filter" on all of the order management screens refreshes the list (so checked off items will disappear) even if there was no filter set.
• Updated: Help information for custom threshold settings.
• Bug Fix: Inventory would not go to previous month if there was a filter with no results.
• Bug Fix: Inventory Management message about "order already in this language" would not translate the language.
• Bug Fix: Mock S-28 form's text "Printed via Literature Room Organizer" was getting cut off.
• Bug Fix: The "Request Month" setting was lost when LRO was restored after an update.  This bug was introduced in the last update.

Howdy all!  A lot of these changes are minor and help speed up (power users') ability to use LRO.  It will certainly save me a few seconds.  But the biggest change is to the Suggested Stock Item Orders.  For those who are using the Inventory system, this is a great enhancement for you!!  Now instead of just looking at the suggestions, you can quickly and easily act on them.  :-)

I also want to take a moment to give a brief shout-out to all my translators.  I have 5 main translators, and 4 backups.  I never needed my backups, until recently.  Brother Xavier has done the majority of the French work, but he is on vacation at the moment.  So I reached out to brother Raphaël, who does French translation for a living, but graciously helped me out for free with my recent need.  And then for Russian...my Russian translator, dear brother Xavier, has not responded to me in over a month.  He lives in the Ukraine, and no doubt our brothers there are experiencing hard times.  So, please keep them in your prayers.

All my translators have done an amazing job with the work, and this would certainly not be possible without their diligence and availability!  Even more exciting, I am hard at work with 2 other translators getting LRO translated into Italian and Portuguese!  I have been blessed with a lot of free time at the moment, and with the support and hard work of these brothers, we are making quick progress in enhancing LRO!  Much thanks to everyone for your support! :-)


I will enjoy this extra free time for 2 more months.  So please...if you have suggestions...let me hear them now.  I will be getting right to work on 1.4.4, and soon (either with 1.4.4, or 1.4.5), I will work on support for 64-bit Microsoft Access & Access 2013.

I hope all are doing well.  :-)

New Russian S-28 form, and new Russian literature items

Howdy all!

I was able to find another translator to help me complete my Russian translation.  I was able to add quite a few items that were missing, fix the spelling on a few, and even update the S-28 form.  So here are the new items that were added for Russian:

• 6662 - Что может наполнить вашу жизнь счастьем?
• 7130 - Что для вас Библия?
• 7131 - Каким вы видите будущее?
• 7132 - На чем строится семейное счастье?
• 7133 - В чьих руках этот мир?
• 7134 - Прийдет ли конец страданиям?
• 7135 - Будут ли умершие жить снова?
• 5419 - Подражайте их вере
• 6663 - Библия для самых маленьких
• 9284 - Блудный сын возвращается--на DVD
• 5118 - Священное Писание — Перевод нового мира (большой формат, роскошное издание, серый)
• 5117 - Священное Писание — Перевод нового мира (роскошное издание, серый)
• 8683 - Одежда и внешний вид для посетителей Вефиля
• 5100 - Другие Библии

I hope all are doing well!  I am working hard on version 1.4.3.  I will hopefully be done and release it by the end of the week.  Stay tuned!! ;-)

New Spanish Literature Items

Howdy all!

I've added a few more items for my Spanish brothers.  Here is what has been added:

• Cantemos a Jehová – Vocal – En CD, Disco 2
• Cantemos a Jehová – Vocal – En CD, Disco 4
• Cantemos a Jehová – Vocal – En CD, Disco 5
• ¿Cómo ser feliz en la vida?
• El hijo pródigo – En DVD

I also changed the spelling for the following items (so that everything matches what is on jw.org):

• Cantemos a Jehová – Vocal – En CD, Disco 1
• Cantemos a Jehová – Vocal – En CD, Disco 3

For my Russian brothers, I have found a backup translator who is helping me to complete my work for 1.4.3.  He is also helping to translate the newest literature items, so y'all will be getting an update shortly.

I am hoping to have 1.4.3 released by the end of this week.  Got a few exciting things...the most notable is that the Suggested Stock Item Orders report is no longer a report.  It is a fully functional form that allows you to quickly order the suggested items!!  That way you don't have to write down (or print out) the suggestions and then go order them.  :-)

Hope all are doing well, especially our brothers and sisters in the Ukraine and Russia!

Updates to Spanish literature

Howdy all my Spanish users!

I've deployed the following new literature items to yall:

• Lo que los jóvenes preguntan. Respuestas prácticas (vol. 1)
• Ejemplos de fe
• Escuche a Dios
• Escuche a Dios y vivirá para siempre
• Mis primeras lecciones de la Biblia
• ¿Qué es para usted la Biblia?
• ¿Cómo ve el futuro?
• ¿Qué hace falta para ser una familia feliz?
• ¿Quién controla realmente el mundo?
• ¿Dejaremos de sufrir?
• Asignación para la escuela del ministerio teocrático
• ¿Será posible que los muertos vuelvan a vivir?

I've also updated the Spanish S-28 form.  So it is now up to date.  If anyone notices any errors with it, please let me know.


To all my Russian users...I need to do updates for you as well.  But I have not heard back from my translator.  He lives in the Ukraine...I hope everything is alright with him.  It has been over a week now since I emailed him.  I will try reaching out to him again, but in the meantime, if anyone has the ability to translate from English to Russian, I could use your assistance.  Especially if Russian is your native tongue, but at this point I'd like to hear from anyone who can translate.  Please use the "Contact Me" button above and let me know if you are available to help with this.  Thanks!!  :-)

Hope all is well with everyone, especially our brothers in the Ukraine & Russia!

Version 1.4.2 Released!!

Changes to Literature Room Organizer include:

• Added: "Custom Code" button on the "About" page to expand functionality of LRO, as well as aid with troubleshooting.
• Added: Capturing of statistical information for program improvement.
• Changed: After searching for a literature item on the Order Form, focus is set to the "quantity" field to help speed up ordering.
• Changed: On the Inventory Management screen, the "Process Month" button is now called "Start New Month" in order to help prevent confusion.
• Changed: Grey highlight on S-28 form for the "Moved" column is now a few shades lighter to help increase readability.
• Added: FRENCH version of LRO!!

Howdy everyone!  Some rather exciting news today!  It has been almost 3 years since the last time LRO was updated.  My how time flies!  I have finally had some time lately to sit down and work on LRO itself, as well as work with a French brother to complete the French translation.  And well...here it is!  I hope LRO will be just as useful to all our French brothers as it has been to the rest of us.

NOTES ON THE UPDATE

As with any update...please MAKE A BACKUP of your copy of LRO.  I've done thorough testing, and there shouldn't be any problems.  But please...it's been almost 3 years.  Make a backup...just in case.  ;-)

With this version, I've added the ability for me to collect statistical information about LRO's usage.  This includes the # of orders, # of publishers, # of inventory items, and your settings.  None of the information collected is any personal information (I don't collect names, PC information, etc).  Because of this...your computer should give you an alert when you start LRO (asking if you want to block/unblock "LRO_Custom_Code.exe")  Please allow this file to have Internet access if you are prompted.  This statistical information will allow me to see how LRO is being used, and where I should focus my efforts for enhancements to the User Guide, as well as future features.

To my French brothers who are already using LRO...if you have English items in your Literature Items List, you can safely delete them all so that they'll be replaced with the French versions when you upgrade.  To do this quickly and easily, go to "Literature Items List" -> "Edit Types of Items" and simply "Delete!" all of the types.  It will clear your literature items list, and then you can download & install the latest version of LRO with all the French items.


Thanks a bunch for everyone's help and suggestions!  I am going right to work on 1.4.3, and hopefully the next version will be released in about a month.

Hope all are doing well and had a good memorial! :-)

New S-28 form is available!

Howdy all!

I've updated the S-28 form for LRO for English users.  Please download it so you are up to date.  LRO should automatically prompt you the next time (or two) when you open LRO.

Hope all are doing well! :-)

New Literature Items

Howdy all!

I've made the following literature items available for download:

• 5170 - NWT Deluxe (all colors) *This is just for inventory management
• 6662 - How Can You Have a Happy Life? (for Jews)

I also want to let all English brothers know that I am working on an update to the S-28 form, and will have it available in the next day or two.  Stay tuned!

Hope all are doing well! :-)

New Literature Offers

Howdy all!

I've deployed the latest literature offers through to July.

Hope everybody is doing well! :-)

LRO Update coming!

Howdy all!

Well it looks like I'm going to finally have some time to work on LRO itself and make a few minor tweaks to it.  I've collected a few things over the past year or so, and now I'm going to implement them.  It isn't much, so no worries...nothing MAJOR is going to change.

So now's your chance!!  Got something you wish would be different?  Something you'd like to see added?  A minor little tweak that would save you a headache??  Please let me know ASAP!  Either post a comment on this blog post, or send me an email directly (using the "Contact Me" link above).  I'd love to hear from you.  Even though I have time, it's still limited.  So not all suggestions may be accepted.  But it won't hurt to let me know.  There's no such thing as a stupid suggestion!  ;-)

Also in the works is a French version of LRO.

Stay tuned!