Sivadam

When we migrated last February it coincided with a move to a new SIMS server at the same time. We had to get Capita to do the reconfiguration on the new server. We are Capita SLG Hosted as well and we obviously do not have the Passwords to Capita's servers. We were charged, but that may have been more to do with moving SIMS Servers at the same time.

Duly supported. Don't forget to add your own two votes too!

Or before my colleague .............. LOL Nope! - it ain't a competition. It'll depend on what days we are working this hols and when the various 'bits' are actually released. Though we have planned for the scheduled dates! He has to take servers down this hols, for maintenance work tho', so we may not be able to respond immediately!

Then parts of the post that closed the thread should not have been aimed directly at myself with no right of reply!

Fine with me - as long as I get no further posts against me personally! Ain't it a good job that none of you worked with me when I was a lot younger? Now in those days I really could enjoy a good argument! By the way Dos_Box. Can you please remove the record that states that I started the other thread. It was not myself. It was the person that picked up my (and possibly others') comments and pasted them into a new thread, which put them totally out of context! ... and now for coffee ...... (I hope!)

Anything written directly to me with my user name on it must be aimed at me! Or at least that is what logic tells me. If you want a comment to be addressed to all users then kindly do not refer to me directly as this could infer that all the comments in the thread were directed at myself! And I have no need to calm down. I am already calm and collected. I would never let an little irritation like this affect me. I am far to old for that! And every word I post here has been thought about a lot - not a little! (though I may have to re-visit to correct the typos!! As for somebody from Capita following the thread - then Yes! I can virtually guarantee that they will be!

Quote by DOS_Box from other thread:- "Right. I think that's about enough. Deliberately trying to force someone to see a point of view does not work. In fact there was research released last week that came to the conclusion that those who held incorrect beleifs or assumptions often beleived them more strongly when faced with the truth. I'm not going to argure for or against Capitas SupportNet, however I did find this comment.... Do you receive support from your local LEA or Regional Centre support team? If so, please contact them first before using any of these Hot Topic solutions. ...a little offputting, and the layout dated. However, you can't make people like something they find unhelpful and awkward to use, which is where the heated opinions here seem to be kicking in. So Sivadam, please stop trying to force peoples opinion, when their experiences tell them something differant. I know Capita have most probably been following this, and any points raised noted. So I'm going to lock the thread now and ask everyone to calm down." Just for the record - I am not trying to force anybody to do anything. I am just trying to correct the misconceptions that some users have re. both SupportNet and Edugeek! It is not my fault that one of your moderator's does not like me addressing the truth! Now you can close this thread as well if you wish! However, I find extremely rude of you to make a comment against me personally and then close the thread with no right of response. Close a thread by all means but please refrain from commenting directly against myself before you do so. Else this has to happen - a response in another thread!

As I said when I 'returned' - the number of users here who contacted me personally to ask me start posting again was extremely gratifying. How could I refuse them .....? And derailing a thread must be allowed because that is exactly what I have done and will continue to do - if that thread contains inappropriate statements. There would be absolutely no good reason for putting it in another thread - the errant person may well never read that thread. It would also be no good in the case of the suspect posts that appear here, with the (I assume) intent on stirring up trouble. They need contradicting there and then so that others who jump on the bandwagon realise that there are some users who really do know what they are talking about! And they are willing to stand up and say so! Probably the only reason that some of those posts are investigated was because some of us challenged them!

Of course it isn't. I wanna reform the whole world as I have always done from being a young man. The trouble is there are those that will never understand that! My campaign here has helped to reduce the untrue statements that abounded when I was simply a 'listener'. I think I have also helped encourage others to stand their ground and directly oppose those inaccurate and often abusive statements! I have certainly had plenty of support on a personal basis! Long may I reign ...............

If that mistake that causes shame is the unfair denigration of the software then we can regard that as a successful outcome. The perpetrator has seen the error of their ways and, hopefully, will make a more appropriate post next time!

If I am not abiding by the rules of the Forums then you have 4 choices: 1) Change the rules. 2) Ban me. 3) Put up with me. 4) Explain the rules to those that denigrate excellent software for no good reason! Maybe 2) would be the best option - but then the readers here might just have an inkling why and that action could even lead to others followuing the lead that I and a few others have made! When I respond to a statement directly related to the intial post - as I did in this case then IT IS directly related to that post! One wonders how you can infer that it is not!

I told you once before - I ain't gonna report anybody! If you cannot see that some initial comments in a post are not appropriate then you will continue to get the feedback that the post deserves! It is only when somebody takes a stand that others can then start to offer support. These Forums were disgusting in some instances before I started challenging the inappropriate statements! And the thread did not get off topic until you decided to remove certain posts and put them elsewhere. The initial post included an inappropriate statement that needed correcting. If the moderators would not do it then somebody else had to. If anybody is frightened off by me then it will because they have written something inappropriate about SIMS or some other software that I rate highly. Maybe next time they want help they will think twice and then ask in a more appropriate manner and, as SupportNet Users know only too well, I will willingly give what advice I can!

Nice one Creese! I wonder if we are starting to get through............ Nah - the fog is too thick in here!

You don't even have to do that. You can register at the login page! (Link posted earlier!)

Every single SIMS user in the whole universe has access to SupportNet! They only have to register - as I have posted before! One of the options on the Poll is completely misleading! And the forums would not need denigrating if they were 'moderated' correctly! No doubt this post will now get 'moderated' just as some others have when I have criticised the Forums. Yet the original posts that sometimes cause the initial offence are usually ignored!

Have you tried the new Timetable Reports that the Summer Release has given us? You can 'print' a full staff timetable and then export it! As with NT4 Reports the format of this report is editable.

I have a working knowledge of FMS but I am not sure that you can change the setup to do what you want to do. However, we have to work within the remit of the LA and it may be that there is such a setup but we would be unaware of it, as it is outside our experience. It may well be that you can re-define the Ledger Codes to do what you want with the Ledger Code Definition Creation Wizard. You can set up your own VAT Codes and it may be possible to align them to your own definitions. Unfortunately my Financial colleague is now on holiday. She will probably be in school at some time and I will ask her if I do see her. Have you posted a case with Capita Support? You should get a quick response as to whether it is possible or not!

I totally agree. I have respect for many ex-users of SIMS as I know them personally. However, if somebody does not have access to SupportNet then it obviously means that they no longer work with SIMS. The longer that period of non-SIMS usage is then the more 'unsafe' any advice from those people becomes. Maybe that is why we get so much misiniformation and unfair comments about MIS Systems on these Forums! I would not want anybody to follow any advice from anybody who no longer works with SIMS! Maybe this forum should serve as a warning to new users!

The delete Unlinked Contacts problem is an ongoing issue. I raised a case in April re. this after sorting some duplicate contacts. Patches were issued that caused further issues. The small list of Unlinked Contacts was swelled to over 2,500. These were obviously produced by unlinking contacts from pupils who had left years before. Further Patches were issued that reduced some of these down - but not all. A further Case was registered and the Patches were re-worked and re-issued. My list of Unlinked Contacts is now down to just 12! The case has been autoclosed as I have not pursued these last few due to being extremely busy in the last week or so of the year. All 12 have 'unexpected data attached'. I will probably pursue this later in the year. Some of the Patches I have mentioned above have been included in various releases of SIMS and may explain why some of you now experience this issue after the Summer Upgrade.

Now that I do agree with. It is difficult to manage lots of things for pupils taken off timetable - though not impossible. That is why Capita are looking to release the 'Alternative Curriculum' functionality in Spring 2011. I was at the testing of the initial build of this a couple of weeks ago. Despite it being very early days yet in the process it did look extremely encouraging! I think it will solve the problem of pupils 'off timetable' that you describe. And, of course, we did point out early issues and gave suggestions for enhancement! I was actually testing on my dataset for the next Academic Year. Because I had had to upload this dataset to the UAT Site a month before the meeting, most of the issues I encountered were actually due to my Group Memberships etc. not being complete! On reflection, I should have tested on this year's dataset and I could have then spent a little more time routing out real issues! My advice would be not to spend any money on an external package when the functionality you require may well be in SIMS in a matter of a few months (Hopefully!). (Wes. Apologies re. the way I first responded - I guess I am now getting paranoid because of all the SIMS knocking that has resurfaced on this site!) (For the benefit of my critics - how about that for advice! Did anybody else here have that information to that depth of knowledge? You see I can respond positively to a help request if it is written in an appropriate way! Those that know me expect nothing less on SupportNet!)

One assumes that you do not use Profiles then ...............!! One wonders what you want to do that this functionality does not allow ............!!

Absolutely nothing! What is a problem is those that attack MIS systems when they do not really understand how to use the software. That just gets the backs up of those that may well be the very people who can offer help! If you can't find help on SupportNet then this Forum is of great value. There are experts here in all fields. So why upset them with some of the comments that appear. If you want help then just ask! If you have not used SupportNet for years then give that a go again as well! My post earlier demonstrated how easy it was to get the solutions to the original question that was posed, which caused all this discussion.

Agreed! All the points you have noted were registered at testing. And yes - I still send to NT4 from NT6 for printing purposes but I have now set up some of the reports in the SIMS Routine. There are other issues that you have not mentioned! A Polishing Project is definitiely needed!

I can't argue against that as I don't know what you wanna do wiv 'em! One has to admit to being a little curious tho'. Nah ...... Then again ........... Better not start me off again!

Profiles/AssMan ain't flexible? Well, well! How interesting ............ And there's me thinking they were! Ooop! There I go again!