General Preferences are workgroup-wide options that can be set by a Tracker Administrator. To modify the General Preferences:

1. Login to the workgroup as Admin or a user that is a member of the Admin user group
2. Click on the Admin icon
3. Click on the General Preferences link
4. Make any desired changes and click OK to save them

Topics Covered In This Section

• General Options - system wide preferences such as how required fields should be displayed, whether a deleted record is removed permanently, etc.
• Add-On Features - enable add-on options such as Alerts, Discussion, Submit via Web.
• Home Page Options - set preferences related to the Home Page such as a customizable message for Standard or Restricted users.
• Help Options - preferences related to Help instructions and documentation, such as ability to customize the link used when a user clicks on the Docs link in the Status bar and the text used for the Task icon tool tip.
• Unregistered User Options - preferences related to the Submit Page and Submit via Email.
• Record Visibility Options - Preferences related to the option that allows you to configure access to each individual record.
• Configuring Record Visibility - general information about setting up record visibility.
• Record Visibility and Metrics - describes how record visibility affects metrics.
• Source Code Control Options - settings related to the source code control integration.

General Options

• Page Title - Enter the text that should be displayed in the browser's page title. By default, the text "<Template Name> Tracker (<workgroup>)" will be displayed. <Template Name> is the name of the template selected for the workgroup when it was created (e.g. Product Development, Web Site Development, Help, Support, Knowledge Base, etc.). <workgroup> is a variable to represent the name of the workgroup. Up to 80 characters can be entered.

• Required Field Highlights - Check the box(es) for each method you wish to use to highlight required fields on the Add Page, Submit Page and during the Task operation. Checking the box for "Color" will highlight the required field's label in a different color. Checking the box for "Bold" will highlight the required field's label in bold type. Checking the box for "Character" will append a character at the end of the required field's label. A text box to enter a character will be displayed when the box for the "Character" option is checked.

  Checking any of the boxes for this option will display the following text at the top of the Add and/or during the Task operation when required fields are present: "Fields marked with *, Bold and Color are required fields." Only the methods selected will be mentioned in this text. For example, if only the methods "Color" and "Character" are selected, the displayed text will be "Fields marked with <character selected> and Color are required fields." A sample with all 3 methods in use is available in the Add Page sample in the Fields section.

• Remove Records from Database on "Delete" Operation - This option determines whether a delete operation merely marks a record and associated records as deleted (sets "Deleted" field to "Yes", also known as a "soft delete") or executes a true delete and permanently removes these records from the database (also known as a "hard delete"). The default setting for this option is "No".

• Enable Session Locking with Administrator Level Override - A record edit locking feature is activated when "Yes" is selected for this option. Users who begin editing, deleting or task operations on a record will lock access to that record until moving to another operation. Record locks can be overridden by users with Administrator level privileges. When an override occurs, the Administrator is notified and asked to confirm the override. The user whose lock has been released, will receive a notification message that their operation was overridden and could not be completed. The default setting for this is "No" (i.e. Session Record Locking is disabled).

• Include "State Manager" in the Assignee List on Add Operation - Selecting "Yes" for this preference will allow the value "State Manager" to be displayed in the "Assigned To" field when this field is visible on the Add page. Selecting "State Manager" in the "Assigned To" field on the Add page will assign the newly created record to the user listed as the State Manager in the State Manager section for the combination of Form and Project set in the new record. Please review the Workflows section for an explanation of how State Managers are used as a means of automatic assignment.

• Make All Report Privileges Global - Selecting "Yes" for this preference will allow all privileges related to reports (Query and Metrics) to be applied globally. This indicates that any user group that has Query or Metrics privileges will have the privileges applied irrespective of the Projects and Forms that are visible to the user group. Selecting "No" indicates that the user groups will only have the privileges applied to the Projects and Forms which are visible to the user group. For more detail on what selecting "No" for this option indicates, please review the information about non-global privileges in the User Group Privileges Help section.

• User Name Format for Reports and Email Messages (Home, View, Query and History reports) - This option determines what will be displayed to identify a user in the Reported By, Assigned To and user pulldown fields in the Home, View, Query, History, and Email Notification Messages. The selection in this option will also affect the sorting of reports that use the Reported By or Assigned To fields in the layout.
  • When "User ID" is selected, the information entered in the User ID field of the user's profile will be displayed and used for sorting in the reports.
  • When "Full Name" is selected, the information entered in the First and Last Name of the user's profile will be displayed. The name will be sorted alphabetically by first name in the reports.
  • When "First Name" is selected, the information entered in the First Name field of the user's profile is displayed and used for sorting in the reports.
  • When "Last Name" is selected, the information entered in the Last Name field of the user's profile is displayed and used for sorting in the reports.

• Report Sort Order (Query and Metrics) - This option determines how reports will be sorted in the pulldowns which display the list of available reports on the Home, Query, Metrics and Preferences pages. Selecting "Report Name, then User Group" will sort the reports by name first, then by the user group to which the report is accessible. Selecting "User Group, then Report Name" will sort the reports by the user group to which each report is accessible, then by report name (e.g. all reports with "[Users]" listed after the name will be grouped together in the list as the primary sort order).

• Maximum Users (User Accounts Page) - This option determines how many users will be displayed per page in the User Accounts section. 50 is the default; a value from 5 to 100 can be entered.

• Maximum Menu Items (Manage Pulldown Page) - This option determines how many pulldown option menu items will be displayed per page in the Manage Menu Items page for a pulldown. 50 is the default; a value from 5 to 100 can be entered.

• Character Set - This value is set when the workgroup is created through the Workgroup Management System and determines the languages that the workgroup can support. For information about character set including which languages are supported by the one selected for the workgroup, please review the section Adding a Workgroup.

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The options displayed in the Add-On Features section are based on the features that have been licensed.

• Enable Alerts - Selecting Yes for this option allows you to use the Alerts feature. The Alerts feature allows you to configure Tracker to send an alert message at a specific date and time or when a record's state has not changed within a certain period of time. Please review the Alerts section for more details about using this feature.

• Enable Discussion - Selecting Yes for this option allows you to use the Discussion feature. Discussion allows various threads to be initiated within each record for users and groups to view and post messages. Please review the Discussion section for more details about using this feature.

• Enable API - Selecting Yes for this option allows you to use the Add API feature. This feature must be installed using its own installation setup program separate from the Tracker installation.

• API User - The user selected will determine the settings used when a record is created via the Add API. These settings include the privileges and field visibility granted to this user based on group membership.

• Enable Submit via Web for Unregistered Users - Selecting Yes for this option allows you to use the Submit Page. The Submit Page allows end users to add records to this workgroup without a user account. Please review the Submit Page section for more details about using this feature.

• Enable Submit via Email - Selecting Yes for this option allows you to use the Submit via Email feature. Please review the Submit via Email Overview for more details about using this feature.

• Enable Knowledge Base - Selecting Yes for this option allows you to use the Knowledge Base feature. This feature allows you to publish articles that can be searched by your end users to find answers to common issues or questions. Please review the Knowledge Base Overview section for more details about using this feature.

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The options available in this section are related to items displayed on the Home Page.

• Include "Default [Users]" in the Home Page Reports - Selecting "Yes" for this option will display the "Default [Users]" saved query for selection in the saved query pulldowns on the Home Page. Selecting "No" will exclude this saved query from being displayed in the saved query pulldowns on the Home Page. Default [Users] is a saved query that is included in a workgroup by default and is designed to display all records in the workgroup.

• Home Page Message for Restricted Users - Enter text to be displayed on the Home Page of all Restricted Users. This can be used to enter instructions or announcements. Up to 1000 characters can be entered and the text is treated as plain text. The Home Page image in the Home Page section of the User Guide shows an example of a Home Page message stating "Tracker will be upgraded over the weekend..." You can utilize format tags such as bold, italics and others as part of the instruction message. A complete list of available tags can be found here.

• Home Page Message for Standard Users - Enter text to be displayed on the Home Page of all non-Restricted users. This can be used to enter instructions or announcements. Up to 1000 characters can be entered and the text is treated as plain text. The Home Page image in the Home Page section of the User Guide shows an example of a Home Page message stating "Tracker will be upgraded over the weekend..." You can utilize format tags such as bold, italics and others as part of the instruction message. A complete list of available tags can be found here.

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The following options are used to provide additional information to your end users to help guide them through the process you have configured in Tracker.

Custom Help Link

You can customize the link such that standard or restricted users will be directed to the URL you desire when clicking on the Docs link in the upper right corner of the Status bar in Tracker. This can be used to direct users to your own custom Help documentation or to an intranet site or other URL that provides information to guide their use of Tracker.

Custom Help Link for Restricted Users
Enter the URL for the page that should be displayed when a Restricted user clicks on the Docs link on the right side of the Status Bar. The URL must start with "http://" or "https://". Leaving this option blank will display the default Tracker Help Guide page when clicking on the Docs link.

Custom Help Link for Standard Users
Enter the URL for the page that should be displayed when a Static or Floating user clicks on the Docs link on the right side of the Status Bar. The URL must start with "http://" or "https://". Leaving this option blank will display the default Tracker Help Guide page when clicking on the Docs link. Note: This setting does not apply to the "Admin" user account. The Admin user account will be directed to the default Tracker Help Guide page when clicking on the Docs link.

Task Icon Tool Tip

For the Task icon, you can customize the tool tip that is displayed when the mouse is hovered over the Task icon. This can be used to explain the purpose of the Task operation to your users using terminology specific to your process (e.g. "Update Record", "Mark Issue Complete", etc.).

Task Icon Tool Tip for Restricted Users
Enter the text that should be displayed as a tool tip when a Restricted user hovers their mouse over the Task icon in the Button Bar. Up to 255 characters can be entered. "Mark Task Complete" will be entered for this option by default.

Task Icon Tool Tip for Standard Users
Enter the text that should be displayed as a tool tip when a Static or Floating user hovers their mouse over the Task icon in the Button Bar. Up to 255 characters can be entered. "Mark Task Complete" will be entered for this option by default.

Field Help

Field Help is text that is customized per field to provide additional information about the purpose of the field on the form. Field Help text is configured in the Help Description property in the Fields section. Field help can be enabled on a user group level by setting Default User Preferences and pushing them out to user groups or can be set by an individual user in the Preferences section.

Display Field Help for Restricted Users
Select an option with respect to displaying the field help text for Restricted Users.

• Selecting "On Field Label Hover" will display the field help text when the mouse is hovered over the field label on the Add, Edit and Task pages.
• Selecting "No" will prevent any field help icons from being displayed on the Add, Edit or Task pages.
• Selecting "Above Each Field" will display the field help text configured in the "Help Description" property for a field above the field on the Add, Edit and Task Pages. The Task Fields image in the Marking a Task Complete section of the User Guide shows an example of the Field Help appearing above the field.
• Selecting "Below Each Field" will display the field help text configured in the "Help Description" property for a field below the field on the Add, Edit and Task Pages.

Display Field Help for Standard Users
Select an option with respect to displaying the field help text for Standard Users.

• Selecting "On Field Label Hover" will display the field help text when the mouse is hovered over a field label on the Add, Edit or Task pages.
• Selecting "No" will prevent any field help icons from being displayed on the Add, Edit or Task Pages.
• Selecting "Above Each Field" will display the field help text configured in the "Help Description" property for a field above the field on the Add, Edit and Task Pages. The Task Fields image in the Marking a Task Complete section of the User Guide shows an example of the Field Help appearing above the field.
• Selecting "Below Each Field" will display the field help text configured in the "Help Description" property for a field below the field on the Add, Edit and Task Pages.

Display Field Help in View Page for Restricted Users
Selecting "On Field Label Hover" will display the field help text when the mouse is hovered over a field label on the View Page.

Display Field Help in View Page for Standard Users
Selecting "On Field Label Hover" will display the field help text when the mouse is hovered over a field label on the View Page.

Default Value When Status or Assigned To Fields are Required During Task

The following options allow you to configure the default value that will be displayed when the user must select a value in the Status or Assigned To field while using the Task operation.

Required Selection of New State Prompt
Enter the value that should be displayed as the default option when the Status field is set as a required task field (this is done by setting "New State" to Prompt with State Group in the Properties of Transitions section). By default, "Please Select a Value" will be displayed.

Required Selection of New Assignee Prompt
Enter the value that should be displayed as the default option when the Assigned To field is set as a required task field (this is done by setting "New Assignee" to Prompt with User Group in the Properties of Transitions section). By default, "Please Select a Value" will be displayed.

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The following options are related to the use of the Submit via Web for Unregistered Users and Submit via Email features. Please review the Submit Page and / or Submit via Email Help sections for details about these features.

• Date Format - Select a format for the Date from the pulldown menu. The format that you choose will be used to display fields that contain date information on the Submit Page and outgoing email notification messages sent to the users of the Submit Page and Submit via Email features.

• Time Format - Select a format for the time from the pulldown menu. The format that you choose will be used to display all fields that contain time information on the Submit Page and outgoing email notification messages to the users of the Submit Page and Submit via Email features. Choosing 12 hour for the time format will display times followed by AM or PM to denote the appropriate 12 hour period, such as 02:05:38 PM. Choosing 24 hour as the time format will display times without the AM or PM designation, such as 14:05:38.

• Time Zone - Select a time zone from the pulldown menu. The time zone that you choose will be used to display all fields that contain time information on the Submit Page and outgoing email notification messages to the users of the Submit Page and Submit via Email features. For a list of available time zones in your operating system, please to the following section:
  Windows Time Zones

• Adjust To Daylight Saving Time (DST) - Check this box if you wish to have Tracker adjust time information to account for daylight saving time. If you selected a time zone in which daylight saving time is observed, we recommend that you enable this option.

• User Groups - This option determines which Projects and Forms are visible to Unregistered Users on the Submit Page. Any Projects and Forms visible to the selected user groups can be made available on the Submit Page. To see which user groups have visibility to a Project (and its respective form(s)), check the Project's Form Visibility section. In order to complete the process of making a form visible on the Submit Page, you will need to enable the privilege "Add via Submit Page" for any user group(s) selected for this option.

  This option also determines which set of privileges will be used to send email notifications to the users submitting issues via the Submit Page or Submit via Email features. The group(s) selected will determine what fields and other content (greeting, introduction, link, history comment, etc.) are included in the outgoing email notification messages. For more information on how fields are included in email notification messages for each user group, please review the User Groups - Field Visibility section. For more information on how other email content is included in email notification messages for each user group, please review the Privileges - Email Content section.

  Select one or more user groups for this option. To select multiple user groups, hold down the Ctrl button on your keyboard as you click on the user groups.

• Send Email Notifications On - Select the actions that will result in email notifications being sent to users of the Submit Page and Submit via Email features. Selecting "Submit via Web" will send email notification messages to users who submit issues via the Submit Page. Selecting "Submit via Email" will send email notification messages to users who submit issues via the Submit via Email feature. Selecting "Updates After Submit" will send email notification messages for any operation after an issue has been added (e.g. edited, change of status, change of assignment, etc.) to the email address captured in the "Unregistered User Email" field. Selecting <None> will not send any email notification messages to users of the Submit Page or Submit via Email features or to the email addresses in the Unregistered User Email field. For more information on actions after adding an issue that will result in email notifications, please review the Notification Rules section.

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Record Visibility allows a Tracker administrator to set up an environment where access to records is restricted on a user group basis. Disabling record visibility can have the benefit of faster performance since enforcing record visibility restrictions requires more complex database queries. Please review the Configuring Record Visibility section below for more information about setting up this feature.

Use the options below to enable and configure Record Visibility settings. Then, set the related user group privileges in the User Accounts section for internal user groups. If there are already records entered into the workgroup, you may wish to edit the record visibility of those records using the Edit Results operation in the Query page.

NOTE: Record Visibility is not applied to Restricted users since by design these users are already limited to accessing only those records which they themselves have submitted. If you have a mix of Standard (Static or Floating) and Restricted users in your system and you want to limit what records restricted users can access, but all of the standard users are allowed to see any record, you don't need to enable Record Visibility. Restricted users can only access the records they themselves have submitted. Record Visibility is not needed to ensure that Restricted users can only see certain records.

• Enable Record Visibility - Selecting "Yes" for this option will enable the Record Visibility feature, which will restrict the records a user can access based on his/her user group membership.

• Limit Record Visibility Selection To A User's Own Groups - For those users with the ability to edit the visibility of a record, this option selects whether they should only be able to select from user groups that they are a member of (Yes), or whether they should be able to pick any user group (No). For maximum security, it is recommended that this preference be set to "Yes". The user group privilege "Override Record Visibility" will override this property, meaning any user group with this privilege enabled will see all standard user groups available for selection in the "Make Visible to User Groups" field on the Add and Edit pages.

• Visibility for Records Submitted by Unregistered Users via Web - Since there is no registered user associated with issues reported via the Submit Page, this option allows you to configure the Record Visibility for issues submitted via the Submit Page. If the Submit Page and Record Visibility are enabled, select the user groups which should be able to access records submitted via the Submit page. The Admin user group is not available for selection in this field because the Admin user group can always access any record added via the Submit page. To select multiple user groups, hold down the Ctrl button on your keyboard while selecting the user groups.

• Visibility for Records Submitted by Unregistered Users via Email - When processing incoming emails, Tracker may not be able to map an incoming email to a user account (there is no user account with the same email address). In that case, this option allows you to configure the Record Visibility for issues submitted via email. If the Submit via Email feature and Record Visibility are enabled, please select the user groups which should be able to access records submitted via email. The Admin user group is not available for selection in this field because the Admin user group can always access any record added via email. To select multiple user groups, hold down the Ctrl button on your keyboard while selecting the user groups. If the option "Action for Unmapped Emails" is set to "<Delete Email>" in the Incoming Email Settings for a form, this option does not apply since it is only used for unmapped emails. For further information please review the Record Visibility for Records Submitted via Email help section.

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Record Visibility is a feature that restricts the records a user is able to access based on user group membership. This is useful in environments where you need to limit the records that are accessible to customers or external users while still allowing these users to access records that are pertinent to their company or account.

Before enabling Record Visibility, decide whether you really need it. Record Visibility should only be enabled if it is really needed because it involves extra configuration. If the configuration is not set up correctly, users will not be able to access records you intend for them to access.

If you have a mix of Standard and Restricted users in your system and you want to limit what records restricted users can access, but all of the standard users are allowed to see any record, you don't need to enable Record Visibility. Record Visibility is not applied to Restricted users since by design these users can only access the records they themselves have submitted. Record Visibility is not needed to ensure that Restricted users can only see certain records.

If you want to keep some of your Standard users from being able to access records added by other Standard users, you can use Record Visibility to achieve this. For example, if you have external customers, vendors or partners configured as Standard users and you don't want users from Company A to be able to see records added by users in Company B, Record Visibility can be used to be sure that users from Company A can only see records added by Company A.

To configure Record Visibility, please use the basic steps below or refer to the following Record Visibility Knowledge Base article for additional detail and examples: http://kb.nrtracker.com/Item.asp?id=79

1. Enable the feature and set the Record Visibility options in the General Preferences section described above
2. Set the Record Visibility privileges in the Privileges section
3. For any user that is not a member of a user group with the privilege "Override Record Visibility" (most likely all external users or customers), add the user to at least one user group other than the "Users" group so that this user can see the records he/she reported. For example, you may choose to create a user group for each company, vendor, or external user. This is required because one of the basic principles of Record Visibility is that by default records are not visible to the Users group since that includes every standard user in the workgroup. If the user is a member of only "Users" group, then he/she cannot even view the records they submitted. When a user has been added to another user group, when he/she adds a record, it will be made visible to the members of that user group. Refer to the User Groups section for details on creating user groups and adding users as members.
4. Set the visibility for any existing records in the workgroup. If you are enabling Record Visibility after records have already been added to the workgroup, you should set the visibility for existing records. You can use the Edit Records operation on the Query Results page. To use the Edit Records operation and set the visibility for records, you must be a member of a user group with the "Edit Query Result Set" and "Edit Record Visibility" privileges enabled. More information can be found in Privileges Help section. It is recommended that you enable these privileges for the Admin user group to perform the steps below.

   To set the visibility for existing records: Note: Please ensure you have a backup of your workgroup database and attachments as the Edit Records operation cannot be undone.

   1. Login to the workgroup as Admin (or a user with the required privileges mentioned above)
   2. Click on the Query icon
   3. Click on the Clear button
   4. Enter criteria to return the set of records for which you wish to change the visibility. For example, if you have configured one user group for each company of external users, you may want to search for records reported by any member of a particular user group (by selecting the appropriate user group in the "Reported By" field), then select that user group in the Make Visible to These User Groups field in a later step. Or, if you wish to return all records, do not enter any criteria.
   5. Click on the Run Query button
   6. Click on the Edit Records in the upper right corner
   7. In the field Make Visible to These User Groups, select the user group(s) to which you wish to make this set of records visible. To select multiple user groups, hold down the Ctrl button on your keyboard as you select the user groups.
   8. Click OK to save the change and click OK to confirm the operation

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Record Visibility and Metrics

Record Visibility is not enforced in the Metrics section. Metrics by their nature tend to be global. They are usually used by managers with access to most of the data. For situations where someone should have limited, you can use the Home Page Only user group privilege to show the user a defined set of charts that they can access from their Home Page.

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The following options are related to enabling the Source Code Control Integration feature. Please review the Overview and Requirements for more information about this feature.

• Enable Source Code Control Integration - Setting this option to Yes allows your database to interact with the Source Code Control system specified in the next 3 options.

• Source Code Control Product - Microsoft Visual Source Safe is the only product that can be used for Source Code Control Integration at this time.

• Path to srcsafe.ini - Specify the path to the srcsafe.ini file that is present on the server machine where Tracker is installed.

• Path to ss.exe - Specify the path to the ss.exe file that is present on the server machine where Tracker is installed.

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