KevPT comes in two editions.
The Standalone Edition is for running on one computer. There are no networking capabilities in this edition. It also does not require FileMaker Pro to run.
The LAN/Web edition is for serving to Web browsers and FileMaker Pro clients on a LAN (or across the Internet). It requires FileMaker Pro to serve to the Web, and/or FileMaker Pro or FileMaker Server to serve to LAN clients. Each client must be running a web browser or FileMaker Pro.
Standalone edition users can skip this section. There are no FileMaker passwords in the standalone edition.
KevPT has a FileMaker Pro Password that must be entered before using it with FileMaker Pro clients. Each staff member will also be assigned his/her own password which will be used in addition to this password. These two passwords are used to prevent unauthorised users from opening the KevPT databases. If you do not want your staff members to enter two passwords, you can have KevPT automatically enter the first FileMaker password for them.
The following are FileMaker Pro Passwords that are set by default in KevPT.
For security reasons, you may want to change these passwords. To change the password on the LAN/Web edition, start KevPT with the master password, log in as an administrator (the default username/password for the administrator is admin/admin), and choose Passwords from the Access Privileges menu in the File Menu. To change a password on the standalone edition choose Change Password from the File Menu. You must change the password for every .fp5 file belonging to KevPT. To do this, bring each .fp5 file to the front and go to Passwords under Access Privileges in the File menu.
If you are using the Web edition, you must also change the passwords in the Web Security Databases (see below on how to install the Web Security databases) if you change the webserver password. The field marked "database password" should match the FileMaker Pro password that is used as the web server. This password is originally set to "webserver", just like the password in the KevPT databases. Remember to set the database password in all entries in the Web Security databases.
Caution: If you forget and/or lose these passwords, only FileMaker can retrieve them for you, for a fee. I cannot retrieve lost FileMaker Pro passwords. I can, however, help you retrieve individual Staff Members' passwords.
Staff Members also have their own individual usernames and passwords. Administrators can create staff member usernames and passwords. For more information, see Staff Members below:
KevPT is simple to install. The standalone edition of KevPT can run from anywhere. Simply drag the KevPT folder to a folder or disk where you find it convenient.
The LAN and Web edition can be installed wherever you find it convenient. However, if you use the Web edition, the KevPTWeb folder must be dragged into the Web folder inside the FileMaker Pro folder on your server. You can also use an alias or shortcut in the Web folder instead of dragging the actual folder. The alias or shortcut must be named KevPTWeb. It is recommended, however, that the database files not be put in the Web or any other sharable folder for security reasons.
Go to the FileMaker Application Preferences (Edit menu, Preferences, Application). Click Plug-ins, select the Web Companion and click Configure. Make user the "Use Instant Web Publishing" checkbox is not checked.
To automate launching of KevPT (so you don't have to enter the password manually) place the "KevPT.fp5" file in your Startup folder. The first time you use it, you may have to locate your settings.fp5 file. You should only need to do this the first time. The KevPT.fp5 file uses the password "user" by default. To change this password (for example, to the "webserver" password), hold down the option key (shift key if using Windows), and enter the master password. Then go to Edit: Preferences: Document to change the default password to the password you want automatically entered.
KevPT ships with Web Security databases - these must be used and open in FileMaker Pro for Web clients to connect.
If you use this copy of FileMaker so serve other databases on the web, import the records from FileMaker's Web Security databases into these. The files are named Web Security.fp5, Web Users_.fp5, and Web Fields_.fp5. For each of these files, go to Import in the File menu and open the corresponding file from FileMaker's Web Security Databases folder. (the files are named exactly the same) FileMaker's Web Security databases are located in the Web Security folder in the FileMaker folder.
If you have FileMaker Server, simply open all of the .fp5 files, except KevPT.fp5, in FileMaker server. FileMaker Server can not serve web pages. One of your FileMaker Pro Clients will need to connect to FileMaker Server and serve web pages from there.
Copy the KevPT.fp5 to the client machine. Do not copy the other .fp5 files. You may also copy the help folder to give your users access to help.
Start KevPT on your Server.
Open the KevPT.fp5 file. The first time you use it, you may have to locate your settings.fp5 file. If so, select Open from the File menu and click on Hosts. Then, enter the host name and select the settings.fp5 file. You should only need to do this the first time. After the first time, the user only needs to open the KevPT.fp5 file to connect to the server.
The KevPT.fp5 file uses the password "user" by default. To change this password, hold down the option key (shift key if using Windows), and enter the master password. Then go to Edit: Preferences: Document to change the default password to the password you want automatically entered. Or uncheck the "Try Default Password" checkbox if you want the user to manually enter the FileMaker Pro password.
Start your web browser. Enter the following URL
http://your.server.address/KevPTWeb
where your.server.address is the address of your KevPT server. Your web browser will ask for a username and password. The staff member username and password should be entered. The user is then presented with the Home screen and can begin using KevPT.
To upgrade from a previous version, start the old Problem Tracker 1.x with the master password. For the client.fp5, problem.fp5, and action.fp5, and problemtypes.fp5 perform choose Find All (or Show All Records in later versions of FileMaker Pro) from the Records menu. After you are finished, close Problem Tracker 1.x.
Open KevPT 2.x and go to the Prefs screen
and click Import KevPT 1.x data
and follow the onscreen instructions. Please note that because KevPT
2.x stores names as first and last, some names that contain two words
in the last name may not be separated properly. Hyphenated last names
will be preserved properly. You now must create usernames and
passwords for each staff member. Don't forget to enable their
privileges as well.
To upgrade from KevPT, start your older version of KevPT with the master password and log in as an administrator. For each .fp5 file in KevPT (excluding the Web Security Databases) choose Show All Records from the Records Menu. Close KevPT.
Open the new KevPT and go to the Prefs screen
and click Import KevPT 2.x data
and follow the onscreen instructions.
KevPT comes with two staff member in the database - the
administrative user. You can log in with the username "admin" and the
password "admin". Once you have logged in, click the Prefs button
to set up your users and other important settings. The other staff
member is not used to log in with, see Default
Staff Members for more information.
KevPT ships with two default Staff Members. The first, Administrator, can be logged in with the username "admin" and the password "admin". You should change this password as soon as possible to prevent unauthorised people from editing KevPT preferences.
The second staff member named "All Users" should never be used or edited (with the exception of the password). It is present so that Problems can be assigned to All Users. You should also change this password as soon as possible.
To add a new staff member (a user of KevPT), click the "New Staff
Member" button
on the Prefs screen. Enter the user's name in the "Staff Member"
field, and the email address in the appropriate field.
To give a staff member administrative privileges click Yes in the field. Be careful, Administrative Privileges will allow the user to set privileges for all staff members, expunge deleted records, as well as edit the settings described on this page.
Each staff member has many database record privileges as well. Each database has settings for reading and writing (editing). You can set each privilege to All (user can access any record), Own (member can access own records, those which that member created), or None (member cannot access any record). In the case of Problem records, Own means the staff member can access records owned, or problems which have been assigned to that staff member (or All Users).
If the user logs in from the web, you must click "Enable Web Login" after making any changes. If you do not want the user to login via the web, click "Disable Web Login". The checkbox will be emply or full to indicate the status of web login.
Enter the user's username and password in the fields provided. All users can edit their own password, but they cannot enter their own username unless they have administrative privileges. Administrators can edit anyone's username and password.
The enabled checkbox enables that user. If it is not checked, the user cannot log in. If you wish this user to be able to log in from the web, click "Apply Web Security". If you want to disable web logins, click "Remove Web Security". You also must click "Apply Web Security" after making any change to the staff member's password or privileges.
To return to a staff member's screen, you can search for a user by
clicking Find Staff Member
on the Prefs screen, entering the search criteria, and clicking the
Perform Find button
.
You can list all staff members by clicking List in the Header on the
Home Screen, Prefs screen, or any staff members' details screen. In
that screen click the Go To Details button
beside the appropriate staff member.
Click the Problem Types button
on the Prefs screen to edit the problem types. Problem types help
categorise problems that your staff enters into the database. Some
sample types have been entered already but you may change them to
your own. They to do not have to be "contact" types. You can set them
to be Priorities, Customer types, or whatever you choose. To add a
new problem type, enter the name in the field at the bottom of the
list and click the Add Problem Type button
.
To delete the problem type, click the Delete Problem Type button
beside the problem type.
Click the Asset Types button
on the Prefs screen to edit the asset types. Asset types help
categorise assets and let you customise the fields assigned to the
assets. This allows you to customise the types of assets you track.
Some sample fields have been entered already but you are free to
change them. You can also add your own checkbox items to the
checkboxes items list. To add an item, enter the name of the checkbox
in the field at the bottom of the list and click the Add Checkbox
Item button
.
To delete an item, click the Delete Checkbox Item button
beside the checkbox item.
When staff members delete the records, they are not actually
deleted from the databases, they are only hidden from view. Clicking
the Expunge Deleted Records button
on the Prefs screen. Once the records have been expunged, they have
been permanently from the databases and cannot be recovered. You must
be signed in with the master password to Expunge Deleted Records.
If the Expunge Deleted Records procedure has not been performed, an administrator can recover a deleted record. You must open KevPT with the Master Password (you received this password when you registered or upgraded KevPT). To recover a deleted record, perform these steps:
When using KevPT from a web browser, the user has the ability to
send email to colleagues when editing problems. Click the Web Email
Settings button
and enter the address of your mail server, the address of the server
serving KevPT, and the From address to be used when sending email to
a client.