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October 2017 | Issue #60
 
Current Releases: SM 8.0.056 (10/2) | AW 3.5.046 (9/20)
 
Webinar: ACEware Software Update  -  10/5 1:30 CDT
 Using Pocket Ledger - 10/19 1:30 CDT
ACEware Systems Newsletter - Information to Run Your Program
ACEweb - WCAG 2.0 Compliant
What is WCAG 2.0?

WCAG refers to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines set forth and recommended by the Web Accessibility Initiative ( WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium ( W3C) to make electronic content accessible for people with disabilities.

The current version, WCAG 2.0, became an ISO standard in October 2012, and in January 2017 the U.S. Access Board approved a final rule to update Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to include WCAG 2.0 criteria.

In a nutshell it consists of twelve guidelines broken down into four principles: websites must be Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust.
  
"A good website is a P.O.U.R. website!"
 
What does this mean for us?

If you are a federal organization or agency, then the Section 508 update mandates that your website meet these new standards.  Starting October 1st, 2017, all new installations of our ACEweb online registration software will meet WCAG 2.0 AAA standards.

Keep in mind that this refers to the base templates, without the content that is being served from your database (Student Manager), so continuous effort must be made on your part to keep content updated to remain compliant.  This content includes your course descriptions, instructor information, and any graphics you may use to brand your site.

Contributed by Jason Allen
 
Run Cashbox for Everyone Except WWWEB
About a year ago, a customer came to us with a need. They wanted to run the cashbox report for WWWEB separate from when they run it for everyone else. It was easy to do that (just select Specify Cashbox User and then double-click on WWWEB), but then they wanted the reverse of that. That wasn't easy to do since they had a bunch of users that could potentially take payments and they would have to double-click a bunch of users. So, we put this on the wishlist.

Fast forward to present time. Many of the wishlist items from yesteryear have moved to my to-do list. My schedule was clear enough this last month and this item was given a high enough priority that I got it done. When SM 8.0.056 drops (it is scheduled for today), it will have a new choice under Cashbox User for All Except WWWEB.

Hundreds of clicks will be reduced to a single one for this user. Will this also help you? Email me if it will. You can also ask your tech if you have any questions or if you have other wishlist items you would like to be considered.

Contributed by Matthew Olson
Improving Speed of Searches
From time to time we receive calls that the system seems, "sluggish."  We have four recommendations in these situations: 
  1. Archive CoursesLighten the load on your system by archiving old courses. We recommend archiving anything more than two or three years old. You can still access and report on archived courses. Information on archiving is found here, and your tech can help when needed. Archiving courses is one of several routine system maintenance tips. (You'll need your credentials for this document!  Let me know if you need them.)

Manage Preference Settings:

    1. In System Preferences, check the Disable 1st Word Auto Search box and un-check the Turbo Search Mode box.
    2. In Course Preferences, un-check the Display Due & Paid Totals box. Remember that if this is OFF and the user wants a quick view of due/paid on a course record, just click the Student List button instead. The Total Due/Paid will show there!

NOTE: These preferences are scoped per user. So, each Student Manager user must go into their own preferences and set these.

 

Name & Course Lookup Windows:

    1. Check the box at the top where it says Search Fields on a Begins With Basis.This preference can be turned on or off as you wish. We recommend that you keep it checked except in cases where you need to do  searches for keywords (i.e.: for Names, when you are looking for a hyphenated name Smith-Jones, or in Courses, when you are looking for a keyword anywhere in the title i.e.: "Spirit" or "Aromatherapy")
    2. On the Name Lookup: When you are searching by last name and first name, you can speed things up by just entering 2 or 3 characters of the last name, a space and then the first couple letters of the first name. You do not have to enter the complete last name. Partial entry is supported and a comma after the last name is not required. Just  single space between the two or three letters of the last name and letters of the first name. 

Work with Your Network Administrator: Verify that any virus scanners (especially those set up with real-time scanning) have an exception for the Student Manager data folder.

 

These tips can also be found here. You'll be zipping along again in no time!

Contributed by Sharon Brookshire
Tip of the Month: Shortcuts
Coming from an IT background, I tend to be a huge proponent for using shortcuts for programs. One of the great things about Student Manager is the vast number of shortcuts that you can use in your everyday work that saves you time. Some of my personal favorites are:
  • Ctrl+U = Shows who is logged into Student Manager (Tools > Show Users)
  • Alt+L = Opens Find Names window (Module > Names > Lookup Name)
  • Ctrl+K = Opens Find Active Course window (Module > Courses > Find Active Course)
  • F5 = Find Them (Person Locator) Tool
And my top two are:
  • Alt+S = Save, which works from any screen that has the save button.
  • And ESC which will close the window you are on. 
While these are my personal favorites and can make adding notes, changes to records, updating course information faster, there are still more shortcuts you can use. Check out help of press F1 (Help > Keyboard Shortcuts) in Student Manager for a full list. (Yes, there is a shortcut key to the list of shortcuts!)

Contributed by Joseph Sotkovski
Report of the Month: Course Enrollment & Income Summary
Someone asked me if there was a report that showed enrollment and income the other day. I was initially shocked before this customer reminded me that the department bifurcates job duties and so she does not typically have a need to run such a report. I showed her the Default report in the Income & Enrollment Summary area under Accounting and she was satisfied with the results.

In running this report, you are going to want to include canceled records, as this report shows how many enrollments and courses were canceled. Also, if you use pocket ledger to keep track of expenses, that will also be reflected. Here is a preview of the report:

Give this report a shot if you haven't used it before. . I just used course number begins as my query, but there are many aspects of the course that you could query by instead. Get with your technician if you need any help with that.

Contributed by Matthew Olson

Here's to your continued success!

Your ACEware team,

- Chuck, Sharon, AJ, Cheryl, Jason, Joe, Lindsey, Matthew, Mike, and Stein

 Aceware Systems
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We appreciate hearing from you! If you have questions, comments, or suggestions about this newsletter, please contact sharon@aceware.com

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Aceware Systems
800-925-2493 | matthew@aceware.com | http://www.aceware.com
 


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