GL_Guy

:?) http://www.semerc.com :?)

You obviously confuse me with someone who is concerned with what others "accept" Geoff. I have been in this game for far to long to concern myself with what others think. To suggest I "masquerade" would imply that I am pretending to be something I am not. If this was the case then I wouldn't have mentioned who I work for. For me to accurately recreate everyone's working environment would be impossible, so to see how GL's products work within real live environments is a real boon for me and pays dividens when attending development meetings for future products. I don't want anyone to stop slating the products I support - On the contrary - If people are in difficulty then they should ask for help. If soeone can show me where a product is poorly written or bug riddled, then this is useful feedback for me to feed back up the chain to the development team. I don't visit this forum on a daily basis, as I have a job to do which takes up a great deal of my actual working day (not that I am trying to suggest that anyone spends all of their working day on here, whilst skiving). I don't visit during my free time unless I'm bored (wife's out, no footy on and I can't be bothered dragging my motorbike out), so the chances of me seeing a new thread which is about one of my company's products and being able to respond quickly are less than slim. If an administrator is "diametrically opposed" to what I do on this forum, then they are free to banish me from it.

Hi Tony, I'd rather not if it all the same - Not because I am unhelpful, and not because I am going to try to sell stuff. If people just come to me for a fix becuase of where I work, then it negates my reason for being here. I like to see how our software works in the real world and the issues it creates for real users - And I especially like to see how you all work around the issues you get. I prefer not to interject with a workaround straight away, and when I do, I always try to offer a free solution - After all, I do support, not sales.

But considering what I have just said above, why would I do that?

I'm not outsourced support - I have been a Granada Learning employee since August 2005. I know it's not ideal, but things are improving. We have new owners who seem to be injecting new life and energy into GL and are very forward thinking. The main reason for me not updating knowledgebase articles is because we are currently considering a new support tool - This doesn't mean that knowledgebase articles aren't being collated - As I said, I support over 1700 applications at the moment, so as you can imagine, I have loads of knowledgebase articles ready for importation into whichever support tool we use, with loads more stuck in my head because I don't have the time to get them into print... The more I can get into the support tool, the more "self service" hits it gets, the more time I will have to run over our new products and prep more knowledgebase articles for our customers.

Almost forgot - Craig, I sent you a PM

I don't do books, I don't do websites - They are the responsibility of someone else within GL. I have only written one section of a manual in my two years employment, which was the installation guide for NFER Nelson's Dyslexia Screener. What I do is make software work. I provide solutions, and where there are no solutions available I try my best to provide a workaround. I report bugs back to the development team and await an update or patch. If I get a patch, I upload it to http://priorityone.granada-learning.com along with a description. I collate feature requests fro future releases. To be frank, the quality of response depends entirely on the quality of query. over 90% of the work I get in involves an immediate response to the customer for additional information because their initial "Fresco don't work on my class computer" doesn't really give me anything to go on, and I can't honestly remember the last time a ticket came through that had ALL of the information I needed without me having to ask. They miss off flash version, or just put "latest one", thay mail with print issues, but don't tell me their printer memory, or connection method, they don't include the version of the app they have issue with etc etc. I am home based, and have a full test rig in my office, as most of the time I have to replicate as accurately as I can, my customer's operating environment in order to find a solution. I support over 1700 Granada Learning applications on all Windows operating systems from 98 upwards, and Apple Mac OS9 upwards - As you must be able to appreciate, I am quite busy for most of my day, which is one reason why our online help may not feature information on the application you are looking for. We have used this ticket logging system since Sept 2005, and I am the administrator of it - Having just ran off a report, I can tell you that the oldest ticket pertaining to GL CD based software that was in a state of "solution suggested" was in fact only five days old, although it is getting late and I may not have ran the report correctly. If you could give me a ticket number or account name, I can check Please bear in mind that I cannot use this forum as a replacement for GL tech support - Support is what I do and I am unfortunately not currently in a position that I can afford to have Granada Support dwindle to such an extent that my services are no longer required

OK Blackcat Supertools - An easy one for me as you have picked my best subject - Granada Learning Software! Suite of 8 applications... Fresco - Latest version 1.3 from the Supertools 1.3 CD - Available as a FREE upgrade if you have issues with earlier versions of Fresco such as the lack of undo feature. Logo - Latest version 1.3 from the Supertools 1.3 CD - Available as a FREE upgrade if you have issues with earlier versions of Logo such as unrecognised "command?" errors. Numberbox 2 - Latest version 1.3 from the Supertools 1.3 CD. Known errors are the CSV importation and usage of autofill function which do not perform as adequately as they could do. Information Workshop 2000 - Latest Version 2.1.4 from Supertools 1.3CD - Known to produce really large print files which can be bothersome to locally installed and/or shared laser printers with less than 128Mb memory. Pawprints - 2 patches available at http://supportcenteronline.com/ics/support/DLRedirect.asp?fileID=33610 - PawprintsUpdate fixes error caused when the copy buffer fills, and PawprintsUpdate2 fixes the error caused as a result of resizing stamp. Slideshow - Latest version 1.2.0.0 on the Supertools 1.3CD - No known errors, so no patches available. Decisions3 - Latest Version 1.1.0.8 on the Supertools 1.3CD - No known errors, so no patches available. Write Away! - Still on V1.0 on the Supertools 1.3 CD - Only patch is for print and print server improvements at http://supportcenteronline.com/ics/support/DLRedirect.asp?fileID=33601 does not support long filenames as it was originally written for Windows 3.1. Rule of thumb for ALL blackcat titles: After installation, check your "My Documents" folder for a hidden folder of the same name as the app you have installed - Delete it, start the app, press CTRL+T and ensure that both temp and save paths point to an area, locally or on your network, that restrictive accounts have full control of. Any available patches for Granada Learning titles are at http://priorityone.granada-learning.com To summarise: If you assume that I sit in judgement, then it is only because I am in a position to do so - I AM GRANADA LEARNING SUPPORT - I am THE person you assume does not know where the patches are - There is ONLY me providing support for GL CD based media, therefore, I am THE person you judged in your earlier statement. Do not judge lest you be judged yourself...

Not an entirely pointless remark Witch. I have seen people post in this section of the forum who are struggling to make old versions of applications work within their operating environment when there are free upgrades available which resolve issues they are whinging on about, if only they had common sense to contact the publisher and ask.

Why the hell are you looking on skillsite? The URL I gave you was for skillsfactory Best url to have for things Granada Learning, SkillsFactory, Blackcat, SEMERC, Anglia MM etc is The Granada Learning Support Page Just do a search in the box top left for the application you need help with

Have you thought of phoning them for an upgrade?

If you have Supertools 1.3, then ensure that you have installed the latest print drivers from the manufacturers website and that you close the History and Command windows under the ‘View’ menu before trying to print.

It's 75 years for the songwriter - 50 years for the singer

Aimed at nobody in particular... This application is approximately 9 years old - Why don't you just bite the bullet and upgrade if you are having issues? Dazzle '03 is brilliant and works flawlessly on XP...

The latest version of Supertools is 1.3. 1.3 was released to fix issues discovered in 1.2, and a free update is available from Granada Learning (if purchased directly from them) by contacting Customer Services on 0161 827 2927. If not purchased through GL direct, you must go back to your supplier.