Ordering, registration and payment questions
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Can I register online? Yes, just complete the online order form and click the Submit button. We will email you a temporary registration key to unlock all the features of Master Planner and invoice you. When we receive your payment, we will send you a permanent registration key.
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Can I buy Master Planner in a shop? No, Master Planner is exclusively available directly from Ross Software. This enables us to give personal service to all our users worldwide.
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Can I pay by credit card? Sorry, no. We accept cheques in British pounds at the prices quoted on the price list. We can also accept cheques in any other major currency or electronic transfer of funds - email us for a quote at customerservices@ross-software.co.uk. Payment is not required in advance; when you order we will give you a temporary registration key to unlock all the features of Master Planner and invoice you. When we receive your payment, we will send you a permanent registration key.
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How many user licences do I need? You need a licence for every person who uses Master Planner - whether they edit, view or print a planner. The standard version is a licence for one user, the network version is a licence for the number of users paid for (4, 10, 20, 50 or unlimited). The network version may only be installed for use at one physical location, so if you want to make Master Planner available to staff at three different offices, you will need to buy three copies of the network version. This enables us to provide technical support to users at all locations.
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Can I try the network version before I decide to buy? Of course. Phone, fax or email us telling us how many users you would like to test with and how long you think evaluation will take. We will send you a temporary registration key to unlock all the features of Master Planner which will expire after the evaluation period. You can download a copy of the manual from the downloads page which contains full details of network and client installation. For large numbers of clients, installation can be automated (see the manual or help file for full details).
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What happens if my temporary registration key expires? On the Standard version, the program will revert to the demo (unregistered) version, which means that some features are unavailable. In addition, any planner files become read-only and cannot be edited. On the Network version, the program and files can no longer be accessed from the server, but local (stand-alone) installations and files will still run, but as the demo version. If you have ordered but not yet paid, we will automatically extend your temporary registration key once, and remind you before expiry. If you require a further extension, please contact us. Users evaluating will not receive an automatic extension, but we are happy to issue further keys on request.
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How can I cancel or change my order? If you have already submitted the online order form, or registered in any other way, it's not too late to change your mind! Just email us at customerservices@ross-software.co.uk to cancel or to change the number of users - remember to tell us your name and your company name, so we can trace your order.
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Using Master Planner and compatibility
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Will Master Planner run on Windows ME or a Mac? Master Planner has been tested and runs satisfactorily on Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000 and XP. It has not been tested on Windows ME, but you can download the demo version to try it out. Master Planner will not run on a Mac, and has not been tested on Virtual PC.
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Can I see how many days holiday an employee has taken this year? This option is available in the registered version of Master Planner - select Statistics from the Options menu.
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I'd like to set the number of days holiday an employee can take - can I do this? Yes, in the registered version of Master Planner 4, you can set holiday entitlement, calculated by year or month, and even reject any holiday bookings which exceed the employee's allowance. This information can be displayed on the planner for all staff to see, or restricted to users with editing rights. And of course this facility can be used in other ways, too - to track training days or sick leave, or for project management. Select 'Icon tracking' from the Options menu.
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My newly created planner starts with the current week - I'd really like it to start in January In the registered version of Master Planner, you can specify either a calendar year or specific dates for a planner - select 'File settings' from the Options menu, and select the Style tab.
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My planner is running out of future weeks You can change the range of dates on your planner. Select 'File settings' on the Options menu and click the Style tab.
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Can I share planner information with my colleagues in a different office? Yes - a planner is just a text file which can be attached to an email and sent to colleagues on the road or in another company office. If they have Master Planner installed they can then view the planner file. If the planner uses custom icons, these will need to be available. Remember, though, that (like any file) there can only be ONE master copy of a planner. Usually, a planner file for multi-user access will be held on the network server where Master Planner will ensure data integrity through the traffic light icon. Any copies of planner files sent to other offices or out-of-the-office colleagues must be regarded as READ-ONLY.
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Problems
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Help - some of my toolbar buttons are disabled (greyed out)! Usually this means that when you last ran Master Planner, it closed down abnormally - perhaps your computer crashed. Your planner file has been left read-only - to correct this, close Master Planner, open Windows Explorer and find your planner file (it will probably have a .mpf extension). Right click on the file, select Properties and uncheck the read-only option. Network version users This situation is normal for planner files held on the network server - use the traffic light icon to enable the toolbar buttons.
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Why is my planner slow to load? Like all graphical software, Master Planner's icons take some time to load. So the more icons you have on your planner, the longer it takes to load them all. To speed up loading, make sure you remove out-of-date sections of the planner regularly. You can also keep Master Planner open all day ready for immediate use - just minimise it when you have finished with it, instead of closing it down or set up Master Planner to run automatically when Windows starts (see the manual or help file for full details). Users accessing network files will be advised when the open planner has been updated - the traffic light icon will turn yellow. Just click to retrieve the latest information.
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| Can't find the answer here? Try the problem solver page which allows you to search for known bugs in the program either by version number or by type of problem. |
