Comments on usage

The text on screen may sometimes be displayed over varying background colours. To help improve readability hyperlinks change to a contrasting colour when the mouse pointer is rolled over them. If there is an issue with text contrast try swiping the text – hold down the left mouse button while dragging the text cursor over the text you wish to read.

Maximise (full screen) your browser.

If you do not use the online system for a while it will log you out. There should be some message to show this with a link to the login page.

 

Navigating pages

Move around by using the links found at the left side, also any underlined text [sometimes in square brackets]

Go back a page - Backspace key or browser back arrow or Alt + Left.

Scroll Page - up/down arrow keys or page up / down keys.

 

Screen Resolution

1280 x 1024 works best and allows most of the report form to be seen without scrolling the page too much.

1024 x 768 - the report form layout seems to work OK but will require more page scrolling.

If the page does not layout properly it maybe that you need to change your browser font size - some experimentation to suit your preference may be worthwhile.

Firefox 3.6: -

  1. Go to Tools - Options (maybe Edit - Preferences)
  2. Click the Content tab
  3. look for Fonts and Colours
  4. try a font size in the range 10 - 16
  5. Also try different fonts as some are easier to read on screen than others.

Internet Explorer 7: -

text size

  1. Go to View menu
  2. Click the Text Size - and select medium. Try the other sizes if you wish.

Font

1. Go to Tools - Internet Options menu
2. Go to General Tab - at the bottom, under Appearance click the Font button.

 

Log in

To access any part of the Report system you will need some login credentials from the admin team. The password is case sensitive.

The part of the login system available to users is dependant on their login credentials and permission level.

Click on the ‘login' link on the left side of the welcome screen. On the login page the username field should be the default field so you can type right away without selecting with the mouse. Once the user name is entered use the TAB key to get to the next field to enter your password then hit the Return / Enter key.

You will need your own account to be able to use the Reports System. If you do not have a username and password to login with, ask one of the admin team to create one for you (01375 413680). You will need to provide a working email address to be able to manage your password.

Forgotten password – follow the ‘forgotten password' link on the login page. A new password will be emailed to the email address registered with your account.

Once logged in you will see your reports listed and on this page you can create a new report, change a report's status as well as edit, view and delete them

Log out

To log out look for the ‘logout' link normally found screen left on most pages.

A number of tasks occur at this stage eg updating the users settings.

 

Browser Compatibility

The system works in Windows (tested in Widows XP up to Windows7), Mac OS, iPad and kindle and possibly other internet connected devices.

The following browsers have been tested for compatibility.

IE 6, 7, 8, 9 & 11 (IE 11 seems slow when creating pdf report output)

Firefox 22 to 53

Opera 15 to 45

Safari 6

Chrome 28 to 47

Netscape Navigator - not tested

Notes

Some variance in screen rendering.

Printing seemed slow in Opera.

 

 

Functionality

PHP and HTML (HTM if you prefer) does most of the work. As a server side program there is no requirement for client applications. Javascript use has been kept to a minimum and as a client side program does require users to have javascripting turned on and java runtime installed. As this is a widely used programming language there should be few issues. If it is not available some functionality is lost but the system will function OK.

JavaScript

These days, it's basically impossible to navigate the web without a JavaScript-enabled browser, so checking whether or not you have JavaScript enabled is not all that important. Chances are, the only way it will be disabled is if the company's IT staff has decided to disable JavaScript for some reason.

Enable JavaScript - Internet Explorer

In Internet Explorer 6/7 (download Internet Explorer ), you can check to see if JavaScript is enabled by navigating to the custom security settings that are somewhat buried (don't worry; we'll help you find it).

  1. Click on the Tools menu
  2. Choose Internet Options... from the menu
  3. Click the Security tab on the Internet Options pop up
  4. Click the Custom Level... button to access your security settings
  5. Scroll almost all the way down to the Scripting section
  6. Select the Enable button for Active scripting
  7. Click OK to finish the process
  8. Click Yes when asked to confirm

Enable JavaScript - Firefox

In Firefox 2 (download Firefox ) you can check to see if JavaScript is enabled by navigating to the Content settings under Options .

  1. Click on the Tools - Options - (maybe Edit - Preferences)
  2. Click the Content tab in the Options pop up
  3. Make sure that Enable JavaScript is checked
  4. Click OK to finish the process

Enable JavaScript - Opera

In Opera (download Opera ) you can check to see if JavaScript is enabled by navigating to the Content settings under Preferences .

  1. Click on the Tools menu
  2. Choose Preferences... from the menu
  3. Click the Advanced tab in the Preferences pop up
  4. Select Content from the list of items on the left
  5. Make sure that Enable JavaScript is checked
  6. Click OK to finish the process

 

Javascript is used for: - updating spell checked fields, some form validation eg limiting textarea input size, window / page navigation.

The browser status area (bottom of page) indicates how many characters you have left for the report text areas. Please note the amount of characters available depends on the word wrap imposed by windows. The character count may not show because most (newer) major browsers disable status bar messages by default. If your status bar doesn't change while typing it's probably because of this.

If you want this functionality, you can enable status bar messages by changing your browser settings.

For example, in Firefox:

  1. Go to Tools - Options (maybe Edit - Preferences)
  2. Click the Content tab
  3. Ensure that the JavaScript option is checked
  4. Click Advanced (next to the Enable JavaScript option)
  5. Check the Change status bar text option
  6. Click OK to save this screen
  7. Click OK again

In Internet Explorer:

  1. Go to Tools - Internet Options
  2. Click the Security tab
  3. Ensure that the Internet option is selected/highlighted
  4. Click Custom Level... (this launches the security settings for the Internet zone)
  5. Scroll down until you see Allow status bar updates via script (under the Scripting option). Click Enable
  6. Click OK to save this screen
  7. Click OK again