Frequently Asked Questions - Developed by Expinion.net

What Contractor Reports Are Available?

Q: How do I update my association's logo?
How do I get my company logo to show up on the Site-Master Menu and all the email sent out to the users?

A: Login into Site-Master and go to the option called Association Info. The bottom part of this screen allows you to browse your hard drive and upload a logo. For best results Tech Support suggests you use a small gif/jpeg/png file smaller than 125px by 125px.

Q: Where does my login take me?
When I login, what does my login allow me to do?

A: Your login is your email address and where it takes you depends on your role in the association. As a user you will be able to submit Work Orders directly into the on-line work order database and view documents restricted to users only. The next role is a Board of Director that can see everything a user sees plus reports intended just for the Board of Directors. Another role is a Web Updater that has access to update parts of the web site including the Home Page, About Us, Pictures, Calendars, and Links. Your login will look at your role and display the correct menu for your login.

Q: How do I add links to my website(s)?
How do I add links to my website(s)?

A: You can add different links to each website you manage under Sitemaster-Online by choosing the website off the main Sitemaster menu and logging into the actual site. Your login and password determines if you are able to change the content of the website. Choose Manage Links and add a new link. You can type a title for the link and then enter the web address for that link.

TIP1

Tech support suggests you open a second browser and go to the site you want to link to, so you can ensure it is the correct site. Use the copy feature of right click. Highlight and copy to capture the correct website address or URL. Then navigate to the add link option for that complex and right click paste to fill the URL.

TIP2

Examine the link to ensure it is correct for your needs. Searching for a link for a local city resource such as the Public Library might return with sites from other parts of the country if the State is not specified in the search criteria.

Q: What are some links I can put on my website(s)?
What are some links I can put on my website(s)?

A: Coming up with good links for your sites is a process that can take some time and feedback from your users. To start with, Tech Support suggests you add sites that are local to the community or with similar interests including:

Local Library

Area Colleges

City Offices

Local Schools

Local Historical Societies

Local Art Museums

City Parks and Recreation

Your own website

Q: What format should my documents be in to upload?
I want to upload documents into a website. What types of documents does Sitemaster-Online allow me to upload?

A: Sitemaster-Online will allow you to upload any type of document including Word, Word Perfect, Excel files, Adobe Acrobat, databases, pictures, etc. Not all users have access to these programs. Tech Support suggests you limit your uploads to Adobe Acrobat files. The Adobe Acrobat reader is free to all users as a download from the Adobe web site.

Q: Can I add a link to all of my websites at once?
I need to add a link to all my websites and do not want to go into each site to add the link. Is there a way to add a link to all my websites at once?

A: Yes you can add a link to all websites at once. Log into your sitemaster menu and choose Manage Complex Info. Choose All Complexes and then Add Links and Manage/Upload Documents will become highlighted. Choose Add Links and add the Link Text and the Link URL then save your selection. A new link will be placed on each of your websites at once.

Q: How Do I create an Adobe Acrobat File?
How can I create an Adobe Acrobat PDF file to upload as a document?

A: You can purchase the full Adobe Acrobat program or download a free pdf generator such as CutePDF

. Both programs create a printer for generating PDF files. Anything you print from Windows you can convert to a PDF using these programs.

One feature of Adobe Acrobat is the program can compress the document into a smaller pdf file. This becomes important for large documents such as Master Deeds that can become very large PDF files. Sitemaster-Online can handle these large documents but tech support suggests you compress the large pdf files to speed up the download process.

Q: My Adobe PDF files look fuzzy!
I have taken my standard forms and converted them to PDF but they look fuzzy and are off center. How do I make my PDF files look better?

A: This is typically caused by scanning an existing document and converting it to a PDF document. Tech support recommends going to the original source such as a Word Document and convert that directly to a PDF document. If the forms are not large, they can be retyped and converted to a PDF.

Keep in mind you can add color to your forms is most word processors and the PDF file will display these forms in color.

Q: My Pictures are Too LARGE!
The pictures I am uploading for the logo, the home page collage of pictures and the photo albums are taking up the whole screen and are taking too long to display.

A: The pictures need to be resized to a smaller format to display properly. Tech support suggests the .jpg format for uploading pictures. Below are the typical sizes in pixels to allow for a decent size picture and to keep the website displaying or downloading the pictures quickly.

Logo Width 200 pixels

Home Page Pictures No Larger than 250 Pixels Wide by 150 Pixels High

Photo Album Pictures Width 490 Pixels

Only the Width of the picture is given. The program you use should re-size the height of the picture as you change the width in pixels. The resulting files should be the correct size to display properly on the web page and not slow down how quickly the web site is displayed.

Q: What programs do you recommend for cleaning up pictures?
What programs do you recommend to clean up and re-size pictures before uploading them to our sitemaster program?

A: There are a number of programs that come with your camera or that you can purchase that will clean up and re-size pictures. Tech support recommends Microsoft Paint and a free program called IrnfranView

to manipulate your pictures.

Microsoft Paint is very powerful free program provided with Microsoft Windows that allows you modify and convert pictures.

Irfranview is a free program that provides tools to re-size, sharpen the picture, and save your pictures in different formats. Be sure to download the program and the optional plug-ins to take full advantage of the program. To re-size a picture, choose Image then Re-size/Re-sample Image. Plug in the Width of the picture in pixels and check the option below to Apply Sharpen after Re-sample. Save your picture as a jpg format and it is now ready to upload to your sitemaster.

Q: Tips on Improving PDF Download Speed
Do you have any tips on improving the speed a pdf will download from my website..

A: Tech Support suggests you keep the pdf files as small as possible to keep download speed fast. Adobe has a compress option in their product that will reduce the size of the pdf file without sacrificing the document quality. If you are using a free pdf generator such as CutePDF, then look at any images in the document and make sure they are optimized for the web. The pictures in documents should be saved as .jpeg files to keep their size to a minimum.

Smaller pdf files mean your customer can download the document in a reasonable amount of time. The time needed to download a file is determined by the size of the file and the speed of the Internet connection at your client's computer.

Q: Tips On Improving PDF Documents
Do you have any suggestions on improving the quality and impact of my pdf documents.

A: All images in the document should be optimized for the Internet and saved in a smaller footprint format such as jpeg. Any scanned documents tend to be fuzzier and less readable then a document generated by a program such as word processor. You should also make sure you put your company logo and contact information so you're advertising your company and providing contact information on how to reach you. You never know where your forms end up and you want to advertise your company whenever possible.

Q: How Do I Register My Site With Search Engines
How do I get search engines to find my web site?

A: Under Manage Complex Information, choose a website and go to Company/Complex Information. At the bottom of that page there is a box for Meta Keywords and Meta Description. Meta keywords are words you want the site found under when using a search engine. A Meta description is a short description of what your company provides. Both are used by search engines but are not the only criteria for search engines. Try to keep your keywords to less than 40 words and your description to a paragraph of up to six sentences since search engines are known to penalize excessive use of these words. It will take several weeks for the effects of meta keywords and description on your search engine placement.

Q: My reports will not display!
When I request a report - nothing happens!

A: The report generator is trying to display your report in a new browser window. Most modern browsers have Pop-ups disabled as a default. At the top of your browser screen you will probably see a message that says Pop-up blocked. To see this pop-up or additional options click here ....

Click on that line and you will be offered several options.

Temporarily Allow Pop-ups.

Always Allow Pop-ups from this Site.

Settings

More Information

Choose Temporarily Allow Pop-ups if you only want to see the report for this login session. You will be asked again to unblock Pop-ups each time you log in and request a report.

Choose Always Allow Pop-ups from this Site to always display reports from your site without prompting.

More Settings will allow you to specify which sites you will authorize Pop-ups to work.

Q: What is a Work Code Report?
What is a Work Code Report?

A: Work Codes are a list of repair services that are performed by your contractors. Sample work codes are electrical, snow removal, plumbing, etc. This report will display all available work codes in your system.

Q: What size should I make the logo and header graphics on the web page?
What size should I make the logo and header graphics on the web page?

A: Here are the suggestions on the graphic sizes for the web page.

Keep the header graphics at 115px high max if possible to avoid flickering.

Logo in upper left - 200px wide by 115px high.

Header image in the middle - width is variable by 115px high - keep this graphic as small as possible to avoid slow page loads.

Q: Where will my report print?
Where will my reports print?

A: As a default the report will first display on the screen. Any report can print to any printer attached to your computer. In addition the report can be exported and saved to your computer in several formats including TIFF, Adobe Acrobat PDF, Rich Text Format, Web Archive, Excel or CSV (comma delimited).

Q: Where are my reports located?
Where are my reports located?

A: You reports are located in the sitemaster administration page for your company and are labeled Administrative Reports. If you do not have this option on your sitemaster menu, then you do not have any reports available for the products you have subscribed to.

For example, Work Order reports will only display on your sitemaster administration page if your company is subscribed to the Work Order system.

Q: What is a Status Report?
What is a status report?

A: A status change is an action that is performed to manage a work order. This report lists all available status codes, the actions taken by this status, plus default messages sent to the contractor and the owner/resident.

Q: What is a Work Order Report by Category?
What is a Work Order Report by Category?

A: This report will list work reports sorted by their work codes. You can filter the output by:

Complex or All Complexes

Date Range

Work Performed By

Open/Closed or Both

Q: What is a Work Order Open/Closed Report?
What is a Work Order Open/Closed Report?

A: This report will list work reports sorted by complex. You can filter the output by:

By Complex or All Complexes

Date Range

Work Performed By

Open/Closed or Both

Q: What is a Work Order Summary Report?
What is a Work Order Summary Report?

A: This is a summary report by management that will give you work orders at the beginning of the date selected, how many new work orders, how many closed work orders and the ending balance of work orders. Each Work Code is listed with the number of open work orders. You can filter the output by:

By Complex or All Complexes

Date Range

Work Performed By

Q: What Contractor Reports Are Available?
What contractor reports are available and what do they do?

A: There is a general report for contractors that list their contract information plus which complexes they work on and their work codes they cover. Thus you might have a contractor listed that handles just electrical repairs and works on certain complexes that are located in their service area.

A second report will list your contractors with their liability and workers compensation insurance information including expiration dates.

An automatic email/fax letter is available to notify the contractor that you need updated insurance information.

All reports allow for the user to narrow their report to include only a certain contractor by name, work code or by the complexes they service.

Generated using FAQ Generator 2.5, developed by Expinion.net