Upline Support frequently asked questions (FAQ)

General

1. How do I get started?
2. How do I report a problem?
3. What is a 'corporate sponsor'?
4. How do I change the corporate sponsor?
5. My temporary licence is about to expire - what should I do?
6. How do I capture a screen image?
7. Why would I want to capture a screen image?

   The Navigation Grid

8. What is the 'Navigation Grid'?
9. How do I add/remove/rename Grid columns?
10. How do I view more rows in the Grid?
11. Can I save my Grid settings?
12. How do I select several Grid rows at once?

    Contacts (i.e. Customers, distributors, prospects etc)

13. Can I open more than one contact window?
14. What are delivery zones?
15. How do I organise a catalogue drop?
16. How do I create contact records for all addresses in a street?
17. How do I set up my downline/genealogy?
18. How do I import contacts?
19. Can I rename fields on the screen?

    Reports and outputs

20. Why is my report producing no output?
21. How do I set up my own reports?
22. Why are report columns split across two pages?

    The database

23. What kind of database does UpLine use?
24. Where is my data stored?
25. How do I empty the database?
26. What is MSSQLServer?
27. What is the green arrow in my system tray?
28. What is the red square in my system tray?
29. How do I back up my database?

    Email

30. How do I send emails?
31. Why are email options not appearing?
32. How do I change document templates?

    Miscellaneous

33. How do I use the Checklists?
34. What is the Output button for?
35. How do I add items to a catalogue?
36. How can I assign a blank value from a list?

General

How do I get started?

If you want to get up and running quickly and you are reasonably familiar with Windows® software products in general, try following through the Quick Start Tutorial available from UpLine's own Help menu.

The 'Tips' (also on the Help menu) offer some valuable insight into some of the useful features that you may not have come across in many other software products. It is worth stepping through the list of tips.

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How do I report a problem?

Firstly, please check existing sources of help before you contact us. It could resolve your problem much more quickly. Consult the product's own help file and these Frequently Asked Questions. If these do not provide a solution, please email us with as much detail of your problem as possible. There is also an email link in UpLine's licence window (available from the Help menu) that will trigger an email containing additional technical information that could prove useful to us when investigating your problem.

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What is a 'corporate sponsor'?

The Corporate Sponsor is essentially the company that supplies the products or services that you sell to your customers. Examples of corporate sponsors include Kleeneze, Amway, Herbalife and Betterware.

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How do I change the corporate sponsor?

You should specify the appropriate corporate sponsor after you first install the software. It can be entered in the Licence Activation window that will continue to appear until you purchase and activate the software. Provided you make the correct selection in the first place, you should have no need to change it.

You can only change the corporate sponsor using the Tools/Options feature. If you have already set up catalogues or assigned bonus levels to contacts, you cannot change the corporate sponsor without first removing those catalogues and clearing any bonus levels assigned to contacts.

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My temporary licence is about to expire - what should I do?

If you have been using an evaluation version of the software, you will have accepted a temporary 30 day licence. If you want to continue to use the software beyond the 30 day limit, you must pay for the software and 'activate' your licence.

To buy the software, either click here or click the Buy button in UpLine's licence window which will display every time you launch the evaluation version of UpLine.

Once you have completed the purchase, there is no need to download the software again unless you are instructed to do so during the 'activation' process. To complete the activation process, you will need the sales invoice number allocated at time of purchase and the email address you used when buying. Enter these into the licence window and click the 'Activate' button. This will connect to our web site, validate your purchase and remove the 30 day licence restriction.

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How do I capture a screen image?

You can do this within UpLine using the Tools/Screen Dump option. This will take the current UpLine screen image, open a copy of Wordpad and paste the image into the Wordpad window. The screen dump can then be printed, edited and manipulated.

If you'd prefer to use a tool other than Wordpad, just use the 'Print Screen' key while the required window is on display (to capture the entire screen) or combine with the ALT key (to capture only the UpLine window) then switch to your preferred application and use the Edit/Paste function (or SHIFT-INS) to paste the image into the application.

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Why would I want to capture a screen image?

You may want to just print out a window, email it to a distributor in your downline or perhaps email it to Phase Software to illustrate a query or problem.

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The Navigation Grid

What is the 'Navigation Grid'?

The Navigation Grid appears at the top of most UpLine windows. It allows you to view a group of records at a glance, to scroll through records in a chosen sequence and find specific records - all in a spreadsheet-style display.

This Grid is particularly significant within UpLine as so many features are available from it. Try opening up the main Contact Window, position over some data in one of the Grid cells and right click the mouse. You will see the various options available to you.

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How do I add/remove/rename Grid columns?

Position your mouse over the column you want to remove or the column before which you want to insert a new column then right click. A menu should appear that will allow you to select from a number of options including Insert Column, Delete Column and Rename Column. The Insert option will present a list of items available for inclusion.

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How do I view more rows in the Grid?

Either right click on some data in the grid and select 'view more/less rows' or use the small button below the Grid itself with the icon showing horizontal lines and a downward arrow. This will allow you to temporarily view many more lines (at the expense of being able to view or modify the detail of each row while in 'expanded' mode').

Another option is to decrease the height of the visible rows. Position the mouse pointer on the division between the grey record selector 'buttons' to the far left of the grid. The mouse pointer will change to a horizontal line with opposing vertical arrows. Dragging the mouse will adjust the row height.

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Can I save my Grid settings?

Yes. Any changes you have made to grid content, column headings, row height, column width, Grid colours etc can be stored permanently and retrieved for later use. This is a powerful feature that is worth familiarising with.

Just right-click on some data in the Grid and select 'Save/load grid view (Settings)'. A small window with a drop down list and its own save button will appear. To save the settings, type in a name for these settings (e.g. 'Postcode sequence') and click the small save button. Alternatively you can retrieve or overwrite previously named settings by selecting from the dropdown list

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How do I select several Grid rows at once?

Often you may want to perform an operation on more than one row simultaneously - e.g. a print, email or delete function. To achieve this you need to know how to select multiple records from the Grid.

Take note of the far left 'column' of the grid - i.e. the one before the first displayed data column. It appears as a (rather dull) column of grey 'buttons' - one of which may have a black arrow/triangle indicating the currently selected record. These 'buttons' are called record selectors. Just use CTRL-CLICK on your mouse on the record selector for each required record.

If you want to select adjacent rows on the Grid you can either use the same approach or click on some data in the first row of interest then use SHIFT and DOWN-ARROW or UP-ARROW keys to select the adjacent records.

Notice the selected record count at the bottom right of the grid panel. This indicates the total number of records selected.

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Contacts (i.e. Customers, distributors, prospects etc)

Can I open more than one contact window?

Yes. But this can be confusing so the capability is switched off by default. In the real world, you may be setting up a new customer record when a call comes in from a fellow-distributor. You want to view his details without abandoning the entry of the new customer details. Here's how...

Go to Tools/Options and check whether 'Allow multiple contact windows?' is ticked. If not, tick it and save the change. Provided this option has been enabled, each time you select the Contacts option from the Contacts Menu or click the corresponding contacts button on the menu bar, a new copy of the contacts window will open (up to a maximum of 3).

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What are delivery zones?

Delivery Zones provide a mechanism for organising deliveries - whether the delivery is a simple blanket drop of catalogues or other promotional materials or of items that have been ordered by customers.

Think of the Zone itself as a self-contained area - e.g. a particular suburb or part of a suburb and think of the sectors as the streets or part of streets within that suburb. The Delivery Zones feature helps you create a logical sequence in which these streets should be visited when you physically make a trip to that area.

The FAQ's immediately below this one offer further detail.

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How do I organise a catalogue drop?

Use the Delivery Zones feature from the Contacts menu. Say you are going to start deliveries to a new area 'Waters End', a suburb of Fulchester and the logical order of delivery is:

1. East side of Hardy St (even nos)
2. West side of Hardy St (odd nos)
3. South side of Chenley Rd (even nos 2-24)
4. North side of Gilmour Cres (even nos)
5. South side of Gilmour Cres (odd nos)
6. South side of Chenley Rd (even nos 26-100)
7. North side of Chenley Rd (odd nos)

Obviously, if you do not know the area and have not surveyed it in advance, you may not have information about street numbers but the data can always be refined later to improve future deliveries.

In the Delivery Zones window, click add, and enter 'Waters End' in the Zone field and 'Hardy St' in Street/Sector. Select 'even numbers only' and enter '001' in the delivery sequence. Save the record and repeat the process assigning ascending sequence nos ('002', '003' etc) as you work through the list.

If you want to automatically generate new contact records for each address, you can do this as you set up each such zone/sector combination. Just use the 'Go' button beside the text 'Generate contact records for this zone'.

If you want to make life easier by marking the sector on a map - click on the 'Map' tab and either paste in a map obtained from another application or browse for an existing map image on your disk. Then just click on the map at the correct position to mark (a red dot will appear) the location of this sector.

Having defined these zones/sectors, any new contacts you set up in future whose address falls within any such zone/sector will be automatically assigned to that zone/sector.

Run the Blanket Catalogue Drop List from the reports menu. This should list all the sectors to which you need to deliver in delivery sequence within each zone. You can then use this to guide you through the physical delivery process.

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How do I create contact records for all addresses in a street?

If you are targetting a new area, you may want to set up contact records for all the addresses in that area - perhaps so that you can send a mailing to 'The Occupier' at each address for example. Alternatively, perhaps you are planning to visit the area and record details of each house as you deliver catalogues or other promotional material (with a view to recording this information within UpLine) - e.g. 'Vicious dog', 'Rolls Royce in driveway', 'property for sale', '283 steps to front door', 'rude children' etc.

You can do this street by street using the Delivery Zones window. Just set up a zone/sector for the appropriate area and street and, after saving the details (make sure you include start and end house numbers), click the 'Go' button beside the text 'Generate contact records for this zone'. It should generate the correct number of contact records (which you can view or modify in the Contact Window).

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How do I set up my downline/genealogy?

By adding contacts through the contact window. All such contacts must be the right type (a 'customer' cannot be included in a downline but a 'distributor' can). Also each member of the downline must be assigned a 'sponsor' (i.e. an immediate upline). Enter details of sponsors before details of those they actually sponsor.

Make sure the distributor tree is visible in the contact window. If it is not, tick the 'Show' box towards the bottom right of the window. This will allow you to view the structure of the downline as you enter it.

At any point during the process, you can select a distributor in the tree (e.g. you!), click the Output button and select one of the 'Downline Chart' options. This will present the downline/genealogy in a traditional chart format.

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How do I import contacts?

Open the Contacts window by selecting 'Contacts' from the Contacts menu and click the import button. This will fire a further window which supports importing records from comma delimited (CSV) files. These files are text files within which each line represents a separate contact and the fields relating to each contact are separated by commas. Many applications (e.g. Excel®, Access) allow data to be exported in this format.

Once you have selected the file from which data is to be imported, UpLine will allow you to decide which items in the file are to be imported and which corresponding fields in the UpLine contact database the items should be copied to.

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Can I rename fields on the screen?

Yes - in the contact window. The contact window is unique in that it does allow you to assign your own names to fields in the window. This is only available under the Miscellaneous tab for the fields named Text 01, Text 02, etc and Date 01, Date 02 etc.

Just right click on the text you want to change (e.g. on 'Text 01'), select 'Rename this item' and enter the new name. That's it.

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Reports and outputs

Why is my report producing no output?

There can be a number of reasons:

1. If the report requested parameters (e.g. a date range) and did you enter 'sensible' values for which you know data is present?
2. If you are producing the report using the 'Output' button and, in the subsequent window, is 'Output selected record(s) only' ticked? If so, the report will be based only on records you have selected in the Navigation Grid in the window that you clicked the 'Output' button. If you have also entered parameters (e.g. a date range), you may find that none of the selected records are in that range so there is nothing to report. If you want the report to be based on all records, untick 'Output selected record(s) only' enter a new name (e.g. 'My default'), click the small 'save' icon and take a note of the new name.

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How do I set up my own reports?

This can be achieved by use of the navigation grid in any window. Proceed as follows:

1. Right click on the grid and select 'save/load grid settings'.
2. If the current view has a name, take a note of it. If not (i.e. blank), enter a new name (e.g. 'My default'), click the small 'save' icon and take a note of the new name.
3. Right click on the grid to add, remove, resize or even rename columns that you want to include in the report.
4. Change the row height if some text items are very wide and you want them to wrap (rather than be truncated) in the final output.
5. Sort the columns by clicking the caption at the top of the column header. Nested & reverse sorting is supported by use of SHIFT-CLICK or repeated clicks respectively.
6. If you only want to print selected records from the grid, select the relevant records by using CTRL-CLICK on the record selectors to the left of each row or use SHIFT-DOWNARROW to select a group of adjacent records
7. Now click the Output button and, only if you want to list all rows from the grid, make sure the 'Output Selected Record(s) Only' option is unticked then click the Go button.
8. You can save the changes you have made to the grid content and order using right-click on the Grid and select Save/Load Grid View and use a different name to that used at the beginning of this process.
9. You can restore the original grid settings using right-click on the Grid and select Save/Load Grid View - then select the 'view' you noted at the start of the process.

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Why are report columns split across two pages?

This could be connected with the default paper size or the 'unprintable area' defined for the printer to which you are trying to direct the report. Most reports have been designed with an A4 paper size in mind. You may be able to adjust the 'unprintable area'.

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The database

What kind of database does UpLine use?

Data is stored in a Microsoft® SQL Server database. A re-distributable version of the server is installed alongside UpLine itself.

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Where is my data stored?

The database is stored in two files - UpLine.mdf & UpLine.ldf in the same folder you installed UpLine (default C:\Program Files\UpLine).

Note that the database may not be the sole source of information required by UpLine. For example, UpLine may need access to other files on your system - e.g. documents or spreadsheets that you have linked to diary entries or maps you have linked to Delivery Zones.

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How do I empty the database?

Please think carefully before you consider such a step! Clearing the database will essentially reset your system to the same status as to when you first installed the software and you will have to re-activate your licence.

If you are sure that this is what you want to do, firstly take a note of your Activation Key (Help/Licence) then close all windows and select the Restore Database option from the File menu. Choose UpLineInit.BAK as the file to restore from.

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What is MSSQLServer?

It's an abbreviation for Microsoft® SQL Server - the component that manages your UpLine database.

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What is the green arrow in my system tray?

It relates to the database server component (Microsoft® SQL Server) required to support your UpLine database. The green arrow that overlaps the 'server' graphic simply indicates that all is well with that component.

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What is the red square in my system tray?

It relates to the database server component (Microsoft® SQL Server) required to support your UpLine database server. The red square that overlaps the 'server' graphic indicates that this component has been stopped for some reason. UpLine will not work if the SQL Server component is not running. Please do not attempt to stop it unless you have a very good reason for doing so. To restart the server, right click on the icon and select the Start option.

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How do I back up my database?

While there is more than one way of doing this, we recommend using the Backup option from the File menu. This allows you to make a backup copy of the database in a file where you choose the name and location. The Restore option from the same menu can then be used to restore data from backups made in this way.

Please note that this option will not backup the UpLine software itself nor any other disk files that the database happens to reference (e.g. files containing maps, document templates, or files linked to diary entries).

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Email

How do I send emails?

There are two different ways:

1. Using your existing mail 'client' (e.g. Outlook®, Outlook® Express). If you select one or more contacts within the Contact Window and then click the Email button, UpLine will open a familiar window that will allow you to type an email that will include all the selected contacts as recipients. Simply type the message and send in the usual way.
2. Using UpLine's built-in email capability. This is a much more powerful option as it allows you to 'blast' an email to a group of recipients with an attachment that is personalised for each recipient - e.g. a standard letter, catalogue drop slips etc. This option is available for selected documents and outputs available from the Output window (triggered from the Output button). See also the FAQ immediately below.

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Why are email options not appearing?

There is an email button in the Contact Window and email options available from the Output window (triggered by the Output button available in most windows). These functions can be disabled if:

1. An outgoing mail server has not been set up (see Tools/Options) OR
2. You have not yet set up your own email address in your own personal Contact record (click 'Find Me' in the contact window) OR
3. The output you are trying to produce is not available for email. Typically email support is enabled for outputs where the content is 'personalised' in some way for the designated recipients. For example if you were producing catalogue drop off slips for a group of distributors in your downline, you would expect different contact details to appear on slips for different distributors. The process would generate a separate email for each of the selected contacts with a different attachment for each.

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How do I change document templates?

Document templates store the underlying layout and control the basic content of some of the special forms and documents that UpLine generates - e.g. Customer Orders, Catalogue Drop Slips, and the standard contact letter.

While we do not offer any formal support for those who choose to modify document templates, we do recognise that some UpLine users will want to do this and consequently offer this guidance.

Document templates are, by default, saved within the 'Reports' folder below the UpLine install folder - typically this is 'C:\Program Files\UpLine\Reports'. All files have a '.rtf' extension and can be modified using, for example, Microsoft® Word.

All template documents start and end with a blank page. This is by design - please do not remove the blank pages.

Warning: modifying document templates can cause unpredictable results and could even cause UpLine to crash. We cannot accept any responsibility for such failures. Take a backup of the supplied template prior to any changes so that, if problems arise, you can recover the original file.

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Miscellaneous

How do I use the Checklists?

Checklists can be used for different applications - simple to do lists or a daily schedule for example. A Checklist is even used to control the Quick Start Tutorial. However, before you can set up any checklist you must choose or create a template on which it is to be based.

Say you want to create schedules for Monday to Friday evenings. You may find the 'Evening Schedule' template satisfactory for this purpose. If so, select 'New list from template' from the Checklists menu then select 'Evening Schedule' from the dropdown list. If you want to assign tasks for Monday evening, enter the tasks in the available slots, type 'Monday' in the 'Save In' text box and click the 'Save In' button and close the window. 'Monday' will now be available directly from the Checklists menu. Repeat the procedure for Tuesday, Wednesday etc.

The individual daily checklists can subsequently be retrieved directly from the Checklists menu and updated. If you need to set up a different style of schedule for Saturday and Sunday, try creating a new template called 'Weekend' first. You could base this on the 'Evening Schedule' template with appropriate amendments (you can replicate the template using the Grid's Copy & Paste functions). Once you have the template as you want it, try applying the same process as for the weekdays to create 'Saturday' and 'Sunday' checklists but using your new 'Weekend' template.

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What is the Output button for?

Primarily it's for printing. However it can also be used in some windows to generate emails or export data to external files.

Each window within UpLine will have different output and reporting options available to it. Firstly, if you are interested in generating output based only on a handful of records, make sure you select these records in the Grid first then click the Output button. If you want to generate a report based on all records, just go ahead and click the Output button.

Once the Output window appears you can choose the kind of report/output you want from the dropdown list. Make sure you untick the 'selected records only' option if you want the report to be based on all available records. Click the 'Go' button and the requested report/output should then be generated.

Use the output option in conjunction with different Grid views, Grid selections etc to generate a variety of different reports, mailings etc. You will notice that the Output Window offers further options which are explained in more detail within UpLine's own help file.

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How do I add items to a catalogue?

There are several ways to do this but, whichever way you choose, you must first create a catalogue using the Add button from the Catalogues window available from the Products menu. You can then do any of the following:

1. Use the Import button on the Catalogues window to import items directly from an external file.
2. Use the Products button on the Catalogues window to open a Products window that will allow new items to be added to the selected catalogue.
3. Use the Orders button (in the Contacts Window) to enter details of customer orders. Select the catalogue you created as the default and enter details of products ordered. If any of these items do not correspond to existing catalogue items you will be given the option to automatically add these to the selected catalogue.

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How can I assign a blank value from a list?

Many fields within UpLine are populated from a dropdown list of options and, in many cases, it is not mandatory to select an entry from the list - i.e. the item can be blank. To reset a selection to be blank, click once on the list (which will trigger the list to drop down) and click a second time (which will highlight the current selection), then press the Delete key which should clear the entry.

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