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Super Rolodex User Manual For Super Rolodex Versions 6.0 and above. By Chris Eckersley Developer of the Super Rolodex software program. Website: www.redhousesoftware.com Email: [email protected]

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Page 1: Super Rolodex User Manual - Red House Softwaremethods that you can use to align the fields in your CSV file with your Super Rolodex database. Method 1: Use the Super Rolodex Design

Super Rolodex

User ManualFor Super Rolodex Versions 6.0 and above.

By

Chris EckersleyDeveloper of the Super Rolodex software program.

Website: www.redhousesoftware.com

Email: [email protected]

Page 2: Super Rolodex User Manual - Red House Softwaremethods that you can use to align the fields in your CSV file with your Super Rolodex database. Method 1: Use the Super Rolodex Design

Super Rolodex User Manual

Super Rolodex is a popular custom database software program that is extremely easy to use and has many customization features. It can be used for personal or business use (or both). It can even be networked on your company server very easily so that multiple workstations can share and access the same database.

This user manual is for Super Rolodex version 6.0 and above. Super Rolodex is so customizable that the program may have been re-named to something else, in that case, either the original creator of the software, (or a distributor of the software) has re-named it and is distributing the software or selling it under a different brand name, and that is perfectly acceptable because that is exactly why this program was created; to be re-designed for different uses and distributed and re-sold, even under different names.

Technical HelpIf you have questions about this software, you can obtain answers in any of the following ways.

1. Check the website for help. At the top of the Super Rolodex main window you will find a link to our website. There you will find a Q&A, some tutorials, some videos and articles or blog posts covering a wide range of topics. Questions and answers from the Super Rolodex community will be posted frequently.

2. Check with your distributor. If you obtained your software from a distributor who is very familiar with it, they may be able to answer a question, however keep in mind that your distributor may not be intimately familiar with the software and in many cases may need to refer you to the software developer to answer your question.

3. Contact the software developer. Feel free to contact the software developer from the contact page on the website. We welcome your questions, and depending on the number of inquiries we are currently working with, we try to answer questions within 24-hours. But please take a moment to check this manual and our website for answers to your questions first.

Page 3: Super Rolodex User Manual - Red House Softwaremethods that you can use to align the fields in your CSV file with your Super Rolodex database. Method 1: Use the Super Rolodex Design

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction & Tech Help Page 2

Main Window - Buttons & Controls Page 4Add, Update, Refresh, Delete Page 5Searching & Highlighting Page 5Grid Button Page 6A-Z Column, Record List & Tab-Panels Page 7Labels are Hot-Links Page 8

File Menu Page 10Import a Data File Page 10Export a Data File Page 14Refresh, Delete, Print Page 14Register This Software Page 16Backup Database Page 21

Edit Menu - Change Font Size Page 22

Run Menu - Run Another Instance Page 24

Design Menu Page 26Color Preferences Page 27Design Mode Page 28Create New Software Page 30

Database Menu Page 34Database Manager Page 35Database Creator Page 36Database Favorites Page 38

Changing the Logo Page 39

Networking (using multiple workstations) Page 42

Connecting to another Database Page 45

Summary and History of Super Rolodex Page 50

Page 4: Super Rolodex User Manual - Red House Softwaremethods that you can use to align the fields in your CSV file with your Super Rolodex database. Method 1: Use the Super Rolodex Design

Main Window (Buttons & Controls)

The main window is where everything comes together. You should familiarize yourself with this window first. There are menu items across the very top which perform different tasks that are covered more in detail later in this manual.

Help Text: When you hover your mouse over an object on the window (such as a button, or a text box or label), a help text appears at the very bottom of the window to aid you in understanding what that function does.

The next page gives some quick explanations of the functions on this window.

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Add New: Anytime you want to start a new record, just click the Add New button. When you click on it, the program instantly creates a new blank record with a default name of *** NEW RECORD *** which also displays at the top of the record list on the left. Then just fill out the fields and click the Update button.

Update: Whenever you make a change to the data in the fields, you will need to update the record. When you click the update button, the record is updated in the database.

Refresh: The Refresh button will display all the records in the database and they will always be sorted alphabetically by the first field (Company Name). You will notice that the record list always displays a list of records by Company Name. NOTE: This program is very customizable, so the first field label (Company Name) might have been re-named to something else. The important thing to remember is the first field (on Tab-1) is what will always display in the record list on the left. More on Tabs later.

Delete: The Delete button deletes the record that you are currently viewing. You will be prompted to confirm the delete or cancel.

Search Filter: The Search Filter is comprised of two selections from the boxes shown above.The first box is a list containing the field names. The default is to search ''Company Name'' (or whatever the 1st field is on Tab-1).The 2nd box is the actual list of filter criteria which the default is ''Contains'', but also has other selections such as ''Is Exactly”, ''Begins With'', ''Ends With''.

Page 6: Super Rolodex User Manual - Red House Softwaremethods that you can use to align the fields in your CSV file with your Super Rolodex database. Method 1: Use the Super Rolodex Design

Search Field: The Search field is where you type the name or word that you are trying to find.

All Fields check-box: When this is un-checked, only the first field of all the records will be searched. Likewise, when it is checked, it will search ALL the fields of ALL the records to find a match.

Highlight button: The Highlight button will pop up a new search window. In this new search window you type the word you want to find (or highlight) only on the current record you are viewing. This works great especially if you have a field with a lot of text. All the words that match your search will be in bold red-colored font and the text box field that they are found in will have a light yellow background. This is also a nice feature because if for example you have a highlighted word but it is buried down below the bottom of the text-box, knowing that the field has turned yellow will let you know that you need to scroll down to reveal the highlighted word.

Grid button: The Grid button (located at the top left of the record list) allows you to toggle between Grid View and Record View. The Grid View simply expands the width of the record list so you can see all 10 fields of Tab-1 of all the records in the list. Click the Grid button again to toggle back to Record View (shrinks the grid). NOTE: While in Grid View, ONLY the 10 fields of Tab-1 can be viewed. The database has up to 100 fields, but the grid will only display the first 10, all of which are on Tab-1.

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A-Z Column: The column A-Z (located directly to the left of the record list) is a quick way to display all records that start with the letter you click on. For example, if you click on the letter “A”, all records that have a company name that starts with “A” will display in the record list. Click the Refresh button to re-list all the records again.

Record List: Click on a record in the list to view the record. The Record List is where all the records of the database are listed. When you click the “Refresh” button, ALL the records in the database will be listed. If you perform a search, ONLY the records that match your search will display in the record list. If you double-click on the record list, it fires the “Grid” button code which toggles between Grid View and Record View.

Tab-Panels: You will notice that there are 10 Tabs shown across the top of the fields area. Tab-1 probably does not say “Tab-1”, it probably says “Contacts” or it might say something else, that's because this software is completely customizable and all the tab names can be changed. There are 10 fields (text boxes) available for each of the 10-tabs, which means that there are up to 100 fields available (per record). The names of each tab can be changed, and also the fields and labels can be moved to position them where you want them to appear on the Tab Panel, and their sizes can be changed as well. This is handled using the Design tab at the top of the window. Designing and customizing is covered later in this manual.

Page 8: Super Rolodex User Manual - Red House Softwaremethods that you can use to align the fields in your CSV file with your Super Rolodex database. Method 1: Use the Super Rolodex Design

Labels are Hot-Links

All labels are hot-links:When you hover your mouse over a label (next to its text-box) the label becomes active and will function like a hot-link. In the example shown above, our website is in the text-box. If you click on the label, the website will launch in your default browser. If you click on a label next to an empty text-box, you will get a file navigation window that allows you to browse to a file that you want to populate the address into that field. As long as there is a valid address to a file in the text-box field, whether it be a website or a word doc, or pdf, or JPEG picture or whatever, the file will open when you click on the label.

I suggest using the Design feature (in the Database menu) discussed later to setup a tab with fields for misc links. Maybe put 10 fields on Tab 10 for this.

Page 9: Super Rolodex User Manual - Red House Softwaremethods that you can use to align the fields in your CSV file with your Super Rolodex database. Method 1: Use the Super Rolodex Design

Menu Functions

The next several pages gives you a quick overview of the menu functions on the Main window.

Page 10: Super Rolodex User Manual - Red House Softwaremethods that you can use to align the fields in your CSV file with your Super Rolodex database. Method 1: Use the Super Rolodex Design

File Menu

The functions in the file menu are listed below.

A lot of information below is dedicated to the Import function because it may require some additional work on your part.

Import a data file (TAB or CSV) file: You can import records into the Super Rolodex database from a CSV (Comma Separated Value) file, or from a TAB delimited file. Most database programs, such as Outlook for example, allow you to export records into a CSV or TAB delimited file. It is that CSV (or TAB delimited file) that you can import into Super Rolodex.Warning: This could require some playing around with in order for the program to display the imported data properly, and it is highly suggested that you use

Page 11: Super Rolodex User Manual - Red House Softwaremethods that you can use to align the fields in your CSV file with your Super Rolodex database. Method 1: Use the Super Rolodex Design

Super Rolodex to create a new database to experiment with. For example, the field names in Super Rolodex probably wont have the same names nor the same order as the ones in your CSV file. The good news is that you have two methods that you can use to align the fields in your CSV file with your Super Rolodex database.

Method 1: Use the Super Rolodex Design function to manipulate the fields and data after you have imported the CSV file into Super Rolodex. The Design function can be found in the Design menu at the top of the Super Rolodex Main window. The Design function is covered in depth later in this manual.

Method 2: Use a spreadsheet program like Excel to arrange the columns of data before importing to Super Rolodex.

The flow-chart and info below sums up the steps needed for method 2 as described above to prepare a CSV file before importing it into Super Rolodex.

Page 12: Super Rolodex User Manual - Red House Softwaremethods that you can use to align the fields in your CSV file with your Super Rolodex database. Method 1: Use the Super Rolodex Design

STEP 1: PREPARE THE SOURCE FILE

It is best to use a program like Excel or some other spreadsheet program to manipulate the columns of data from the source file so that they are in the same order as you want them to appear in the program.

For example, the first field in Super Rolodex is Company Name, so you will want to move the columns of your existing data in the spreadsheet into the same order as how the fields display in Super Rolodex. Or, you can change the layout of Super Rolodex (in other words change or design your own user

Page 13: Super Rolodex User Manual - Red House Softwaremethods that you can use to align the fields in your CSV file with your Super Rolodex database. Method 1: Use the Super Rolodex Design

interface by moving the fields around or changing the field label names).

Before importing, you need to export the source data to a TAB or CSV file using the export feature of your spreadsheet program as outlined above. Then import that file into the Super Rolodex program using the Super Rolodex import function.

Below is an example of a spreadsheet that needs to be corrected before exporting the data because the fields are not in the same order as they are in Super Rolodex.

Column “C” should be moved to Column “A” because Column “A” is the first field in the Super Rolodex database, and it is also the column that appears in the Super Rolodex Record List on the main window.

Below is an example of a spreadsheet that is ready to export. The Company Name column has been moved to column “A” which would be the preferred field to display in the Super Rolodex record list, and which is also the default search field.

STEP 2: SAVE THE CSV FILE, AND IMPORT IT TO SUPER ROLODEX

Save the file giving it a name such as MyContacts.csv (or any name that is meaningful to you). Now use Super Rolodex to import that CSV file into Super Rolodex.

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The Export function allows you to export your Super Rolodex records into a CSV or TAB delimited file to be read by other programs.

The Refresh button will list all the records in the database and display the first field of each record in the record list.

The Delete button will delete the current record you are viewing. You will be prompted and asked to confirm the delete.

The Print Options button will open the Print Format Options window with various print options such as Print Current Record, Print Record List, and Print All Records. There are other options to choose from as well. See the Print Format Options window below. You can mouse over each option for more information.

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The Register This Software button will open the Registration window. Un-registered versions of Super Rolodex will only allow you to create 20 records in the database which is sufficient for trial purposes. Assuming that you want to be able to add more than 20-records in the database, you will want to register your copy of Super Rolodex. The registration process is outlined below.

The registration page on our website is launched.

Page 17: Super Rolodex User Manual - Red House Softwaremethods that you can use to align the fields in your CSV file with your Super Rolodex database. Method 1: Use the Super Rolodex Design

This is a screen shot of the registration page on the website. Here you will do the following...

1. Paste the serial number (from the software) into the serial number box on the website.

2. Enter an SDN # (if any) or enter NONE. This is so that we can pay our distributor/re-seller their sales commission.

3. Click the Buy Now button to initiate the one-time transaction.

Page 18: Super Rolodex User Manual - Red House Softwaremethods that you can use to align the fields in your CSV file with your Super Rolodex database. Method 1: Use the Super Rolodex Design

After you have clicked the Buy Now button, the Paypal transaction summary should look similar to this:

After the transaction is completed we get notification from Paypal that the transaction has occurred. We then email you the registration key to unlock Super Rolodex. The email we send you could take up to 24-hours but is usually much quicker than that.

Page 19: Super Rolodex User Manual - Red House Softwaremethods that you can use to align the fields in your CSV file with your Super Rolodex database. Method 1: Use the Super Rolodex Design

After you receive our email containing the registration key, you will be instructed to do the following...

1. Open the Super Rolodex program.2. On the main screen click File, then click Register This Software.3. The registration window opens.4. Now click on the Tab called “Enter a Key”.5. Paste the information from the email into the appropriate fields.

Page 20: Super Rolodex User Manual - Red House Softwaremethods that you can use to align the fields in your CSV file with your Super Rolodex database. Method 1: Use the Super Rolodex Design

After you paste in the registration key and your name or email address, and the SDN # (Sellers Distributor Number) in the fields as shown in the screen-shot above, then when you click the “Save” button, you will get the following congratulating message advising that you are now registered and the 20-record limit has been lifted and you can now create as many records as you want.

Page 21: Super Rolodex User Manual - Red House Softwaremethods that you can use to align the fields in your CSV file with your Super Rolodex database. Method 1: Use the Super Rolodex Design

The Backup Database button will do just that... backup the database that you are currently connected to. It does this by making a new folder called “Backup” and it places it in the C:\ drive. As you can see in the screen-shot below, the name of the folder includes today's date so you can easily identify the dates the database was backed up. The actual backup is a copy of the database inside that folder. See the screen-shots below.

Page 22: Super Rolodex User Manual - Red House Softwaremethods that you can use to align the fields in your CSV file with your Super Rolodex database. Method 1: Use the Super Rolodex Design

Edit Menu

In the Edit menu, there is a function called “Change Font Size”.

Page 23: Super Rolodex User Manual - Red House Softwaremethods that you can use to align the fields in your CSV file with your Super Rolodex database. Method 1: Use the Super Rolodex Design

The Change Font Size button allows you to increase or decrease the font size of the text that appears in all the text boxes. Depending on how you have the screen resolution set on your computer will depend on how small or large the text appears in the Super Rolodex text-boxes, but this can easily be changed by clicking on the “Change Font Size” button.

Something to keep in mind however is that if you make the text size large enough, you may need to increase the size of the text box to visually accommodate the larger text size. Increasing the size of the text boxes is a subject that is covered in the “Design” section.

The screen-shot below shows how to change the font size.

Page 24: Super Rolodex User Manual - Red House Softwaremethods that you can use to align the fields in your CSV file with your Super Rolodex database. Method 1: Use the Super Rolodex Design

Run Menu

In the Run Menu, there is a function called “Run Another Instance”.

Page 25: Super Rolodex User Manual - Red House Softwaremethods that you can use to align the fields in your CSV file with your Super Rolodex database. Method 1: Use the Super Rolodex Design

The “Run another instance” function runs a 2nd copy of Super Rolodex.For example, if you have created additional databases with Super Rolodex, there may be times that you would want 2 or more copies of the program running simultaneously on your computer so you have instant access to multiple databases.

Let's say that you have a contacts database, and a separate vendors database, and maybe a parts database. It would be convenient to have quick access to all 3 of these databases if you use them constantly throughout the day. If you run another instance (a 2nd or 3rd copy etc) then on each one you can use the Database Manager to connect to a different database.

Page 26: Super Rolodex User Manual - Red House Softwaremethods that you can use to align the fields in your CSV file with your Super Rolodex database. Method 1: Use the Super Rolodex Design

Design Menu

In the Design Menu, you can:

• Set Color Preferences• Design the layout of the interface• Create New Software• Make money promoting our software

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Color Preferences allows you to:

• Set the header background color.• Set the header label colors.

When you click on the appropriate rainbow button, you will be presented with a color pallet to make your selection.

Page 28: Super Rolodex User Manual - Red House Softwaremethods that you can use to align the fields in your CSV file with your Super Rolodex database. Method 1: Use the Super Rolodex Design

The Design Mode allows you to change how the user interface looks. You can change:

Text-Boxes:• Change a text-box height property (click small up/down arrow buttons)• Change a text-box width property “ “• Change a text-box top position property “ “• Change a text-box left position property “ “• Change a text-box visibility property• Move a text-box with click, drag & drop.

Labels:• Change a label name• Choose where to dock the label to the text-box.

Tabs:• Change tab captions.• Add text-boxes to a tab (10 field text-boxes per tab)

Field Assignments:• Exchange fields (swap one column for another) to achieve the desired

order.

Change Color Scheme:• The rainbow button opens the color scheme window.

Change Font Size:• The Font Size function allows you to change the font size of the text in the

text-boxes while in the design mode so you can adjust the font size or text-box size.

There are other design tools in the File menu of the Design window.

See the Design Window screen-shot on the next page.

Page 29: Super Rolodex User Manual - Red House Softwaremethods that you can use to align the fields in your CSV file with your Super Rolodex database. Method 1: Use the Super Rolodex Design

Design Window

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Creating New Software might sound complicated, but in this case, all that is happening is the program copies itself into another folder, and it allows you to give it a name and set some initial properties. Then I suggest you put those files into a single file for upload to your website. The setup file of Super Rolodex was created with “Inno Setup” a free compiler that allows you to compile a group of files into one executable file suitable for download over the internet or CD or Thumb-Drive. Most users don't mess with this function, but if you like the idea of selling a customized digital product on your website, then this feature was built for people like you.

The process is not as difficult as you might think. If you already have a website and know how to upload files to it, then you already know how to do the hardest part. The rest is easy.

Page 31: Super Rolodex User Manual - Red House Softwaremethods that you can use to align the fields in your CSV file with your Super Rolodex database. Method 1: Use the Super Rolodex Design

As you can see from the screen-shot above, on the Distributor Info tab, all you do is type in your name and your Seller Distributor Number that was provided to you in the registration email we sent you when you registered Super Rolodex.

Below we will examine the Program Name tab.

On the Program Name tab, all you do is type the name you want to use for your program. You can leave the Sub Name and Design Version boxes blank if you want, those are optional.

On the next screen-shot we will look at the Publish tab.

Page 32: Super Rolodex User Manual - Red House Softwaremethods that you can use to align the fields in your CSV file with your Super Rolodex database. Method 1: Use the Super Rolodex Design

The next screen-shot shows the files list window that pops up and shows you the folder name and all of the files that were just created and placed in that folder. The folder should have been created inside the Super Rolodex directory which should be something like: C:\SuperRolodex6\PUBLISH-SuperRolodexThe files inside the PUBLISH-SuperRolodex folder are what you need to compile into a setup program. As mentioned previously, I recommend using “Inno Setup”. It's a free program. You should be able to get it from: http://www.jrsoftware.org/ or just google INNO SETUP. An alternative to using an actual setup program like Inno Setup is to simply put all those files into a ZIP file, and distribute the ZIP file on a CD or Thumb-Drive, or upload it to your website for your site visitors to download.Be sure to read up on the “Make Money Promoting Our Software” section, which is also posted on our website under Earn Cash – Become a Distributor.

Page 33: Super Rolodex User Manual - Red House Softwaremethods that you can use to align the fields in your CSV file with your Super Rolodex database. Method 1: Use the Super Rolodex Design

Below is a screen-shot of the list of files that you need to put into a zip file or compile into a set-up program using free software like Inno-Setup as mentioned above.

Note: The database file is SuperRolodex.rsd and in that database is your SDN# (Sellers Distributor Number) that you entered earlier on the Distributor Info tab. This is important to know because when you upload the files (in a setup file as discussed) to your website for your website visitors to download, when users download it and register their copy, it will have your SDN # in their copy so that when they register their copy, we send you a sales commission through Paypal. You can read more about this on our website at:http://www.redhousesoftware.com/referral.html

Page 34: Super Rolodex User Manual - Red House Softwaremethods that you can use to align the fields in your CSV file with your Super Rolodex database. Method 1: Use the Super Rolodex Design

Database Menu

In the Database Menu, you can access:

• Database Manager• Database Creator• Database Favorites

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The Database Manager allows you to browse and connect to other databases that you have created with Super Rolodex. Click the “Browse for a Database” button and a file navigation window will open and allow you to browse and select the database that you want to connect to.Note: If you have your computer set up to show file name extensions, then you will be looking for database files that have an “.rsd” extension. For example: SuperRolodex6.rsd is the database that comes with Super Rolodex and can be found inside the Super Rolodex folder. The address should be something like C:\SuperRolodex6\SuperRolodex6.rsd

Networking: If your computer is on a shared network and you intend on having multiple workstations running Super Rolodex, they can all access the same database. More on networking is covered later in this manual and an article on networking can be found on our website too. But to give you a quick idea on how simple it is to set up, click on the “How to Network” button at the bottom of the Database Manager window.

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The Database Creator allows you to create new databases. The database that comes with Super Rolodex is set up to be a contacts style user-interface. As mentioned earlier, that database is called SuperRolodex6.rsd.

Why create new databases? There are a couple reasons why you may want to create new databases.

1. Create new databases for testing purposes. For example you may want to experiment with importing records from a CSV file that you have from another database program or spreadsheet.

2. You may have a need to have multiple databases. For example you could have one for Customer Contacts, and another one for Vendors, and maybe another one for Products. Each one of these databases would have a different looking user-interface, with different text-boxes and different labels etc, so you would do the customization of each of these databases by first using the Database Manager to connect to the database you want to work with, then use the Design function to design how you want that particular database to look by changing the text-box sizes and positions and their labels, adding additional tabs and adding more text-boxes if needed. All this of course is covered in the Design section.

The database creator window is pictured on the next page.

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Database Creator Window

Creating a new database is pretty easy and straight forward. All you need to do is give it a name, such as MyContacts for example (or whatever name you want), then click the “Create New Database” button. You will be prompted to confirm that you want to create a new database.

What the program does at this point is it makes a copy of the current database that you are currently connected to and puts this new database in a folder called MyDatabase-MyContacts (or whatever name you specified).

You will be prompted to choose whether you want to keep the records in the database or start with a blank database with no records.

Now that a copy of the database has been made, all you need to do is use the Database Manager to connect to the new database, then use the Design function to design how you want it to look by setting the positions of the text-boxes and naming the labels etc. Connecting to Databases is covered later.

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Database Favorites allows you to setup a list of databases that you want quick access to. For example, lets say you have 2 or more databases that you use in Super Rolodex, and you use them constantly. Normally, to connect to a different database you would go into the Database Manager, then Browse for the database you want to connect to. Although doing that is fairly easy, setting Database Favorites would streamline the process, so all you would do is click on Database Favorites, then click on the database in the list that you want to connect to.

We will discuss how to change the logo of the program on the next page.

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Changing the LogoChanging the logo is another great way to customize the program.

Why would you want to change the logo?The idea behind Super Rolodex is that it basically morphs into the design layout of the database that Super Rolodex is currently connected to. So if you posses the desire to use Super Rolodex to create new brands of software and sell them, then you might want to change the logo to match the theme of the design of your database.

For example, lets say you have used Super Rolodex to create a new database and you have given that database a name of WWIIPilots. And you have used the Database Manager to connect to that WWIIPilots.rsd database. And you have used the Design function to design how you want the fields and labels to appear on the screen, such as Pilot Name, Pilot Rank, Age, Sex, Station, Training, Skills, etc... At this point you have a great looking program except for one thing... the Super Rolodex logo. Wouldn't it be better if the logo was a picture of a WWII aircraft or something like that? Well it can be, and all you need to do is create your image using whatever imaging software you might have like photo-shop or heck, you can even use Microsoft paint to manipulate a picture. Once you have the image you want to use, follow these basic steps...

1. On the main window of Super Rolodex, hover your mouse over the logo area at the upper right. A text will appear telling you the size of that image. Make a note of what that size is because that is the size you need to make your image.

2. Use your photo editing software to re-size your image to the size that was shown when you hovered your mouse over the Super Rolodex logo.

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3. Name your image the same name as the database it is intended for. For example, if your database is called WWIIPilots.rsd then the image needs to have the same name (but with the .jpg file extension) WWIIPilots.jpg.

4. Copy/Paste the image file into the same folder that the database is in.Hint: If you are not sure where the database file that Super Rolodex is currently connected to is located, on the main window click Help, then About. One of the valuable pieces of information you will see on that screen is the address to the database.

Now that you have a picture file of the same name as the database file, and you have put it into the same folder as the database, that picture will be the logo that appears in the upper right corner of the program when you connect to the database. Think of the logo image as either a way to brand the software, or simply to visually distinguish what database you are connected to.

Now here's the really cool part... You can type a website address or any valid file path so that when a user clicks on the logo it will open that file or website. See the screen-shot on the next page.

Page 41: Super Rolodex User Manual - Red House Softwaremethods that you can use to align the fields in your CSV file with your Super Rolodex database. Method 1: Use the Super Rolodex Design

You can access this window “Edit Logo HTML Link” feature from the link at the bottom left in the Database Favorites window as shown in the screen-shot of the last section on Database Favorites.

Page 42: Super Rolodex User Manual - Red House Softwaremethods that you can use to align the fields in your CSV file with your Super Rolodex database. Method 1: Use the Super Rolodex Design

NetworkingMultiple workstations accessing the same database.

Many Super Rolodex users may not know this, but it is pretty easy to network Super Rolodex. Basically all that means is if you have more than one computer that has Super Rolodex installed, and you want all of them to be able to access the same data, then you simply put a database on the server and tell each Super Rolodex program to "point" to that shared database.

For example, let's say that you have 4 employees who use Super Rolodex from their computers. They would all benefit greatly from sharing a common database so that if one user were to add or update a record, then the other employees will see that updated record from their computers running Super Rolodex.

The image (below) shows the 3 simple steps to network Super Rolodex which consists of:

STEP 1: Create a new folder on your server. (This folder must have "shared" access).

STEP 2: Copy the Super Rolodex database that you want to use as a shared database, and paste it into the new folder you made on your server.

STEP 3: Point Super Rolodex to the database on your server by using the Database Manager in Super Rolodex to navigate to the database, select it, and click "open".

Repeat step 3 for all computers that are running Super Rolodex.

The next page gives you a better visual of what networking is and how it is done.

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Networking Super Rolodex to a shared database on your company server.

As discussed in earlier sections of this manual, the database file is stored locally and is probably in: C:\SuperRolodex6\SuperRolodex6.rsd.

Page 44: Super Rolodex User Manual - Red House Softwaremethods that you can use to align the fields in your CSV file with your Super Rolodex database. Method 1: Use the Super Rolodex Design

SuperRolodex6.rsd is the database that you would typically Copy, then Paste into a shared folder on your server. You can even re-name it if you want.

If you would like the Logo to appear in the upper right corner of the main window of the program, then you need to also copy/paste the logo picture file into the same folder on your company server as the database. This is also discussed earlier in the Change Logo section.

Once you have the database and logo file together in a shared folder on your company server, you are ready to get all the computers running Super Rolodex to point to that shared database. You do that in the Database Manager window as discussed earlier.

Below is a view of all the files that are currently in my system as I write this user manual. The files are all located in: C:\SuperRolodex6\

Notice how the program file, the database file, and the logo file below all have the same name except for their file extensions of .exe .rsd .jpg.

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Connecting to a Database

Here we will show how to connect to another database using the Database Manager.Step 1:

At the top of the Super Rolodex main window, click Database, then click Database Manager as shown in this screen-shot.

The Database Manager window opens...

Page 46: Super Rolodex User Manual - Red House Softwaremethods that you can use to align the fields in your CSV file with your Super Rolodex database. Method 1: Use the Super Rolodex Design

The Database Manager Window

Step 2:

Click on the “Browse for a Database” button as shown in the screen-shot above.

The file navigation window opens...

Page 47: Super Rolodex User Manual - Red House Softwaremethods that you can use to align the fields in your CSV file with your Super Rolodex database. Method 1: Use the Super Rolodex Design

File Navigation Window

Step 3:

Double-Click on the folder containing the database that you want to connect to as shown in the screen-shot above.

On the next screen-shot, the file navigation window will show the database file that we are going to open.

Page 48: Super Rolodex User Manual - Red House Softwaremethods that you can use to align the fields in your CSV file with your Super Rolodex database. Method 1: Use the Super Rolodex Design

File Navigation Window

Step 4:

Click on the database file that you want to connect to and click Open as shown in the screen-shot above.

The Super Rolodex program connects to that database and now you are ready to work.

On the next page we will see that we are connected to the MyContacts database.

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Summary and History of Super RolodexSuper Rolodex was born simply out of my personal necessity for a piece of software that would help me in my job as an Industrial Parts Consultant. There was a lot to learn and remember in that job, and no spreadsheet or word document was going to help – not by a long shot. So I sat down and began plunking away at my keyboard on what would eventually become the first version of Super Rolodex.

There were many initial versions until it became a useful viable product. Once I felt confident that it was good enough to share at work, we installed it on several computers, and put the database on the company's server so that Super Rolodex would then be networked and everyone could benefit from sharing the data that we were constantly pouring into it. - It was an instant hit!

We use Super Rolodex for customer management stuff, but we also use it for everything, like: Hard to find parts and looking up sizes of tires and forklift forks, wire harnesses and quick links to open bulletins and other pdf files on our server put out by our suppliers or even internal documents that we create ourselves. Anything that we ever thought that we might need to know in the future was entered into Super Rolodex, especially anything that took some research to find – that way the next time it would be a piece of cake, quick and efficient to find in Super Rolodex.

Super Rolodex is far better at providing additional information than our in-house software we already had. This was because with Super Rolodex, everything was search-able. You could find a vendor's phone number without even knowing the vendor's name – so long as there was some kind of related keyword on the record, such as a list of what products they sold, and of course all the people and departments that we might deal with and their phone numbers and email addresses. We even would put in what extension number to hit on the phone so that we could bypass the long-winded auto attendant.

Super Rolodex has made us much more efficient. This little Super Rolodex program has become an important ingredient to my success in my job making my research tasks much more quick and efficient.

I started a website and made Super Rolodex available for download, offering it at a very affordable price. The site is: http://www.redhousesoftware.com/ I have plans for other software products to

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be released so when I decided on a name for that site, I didn't want it to be a name that would only represent Super Rolodex. I wanted the site name to be easy to remember, and have a clean simple logo. At the time of writing this manual, Super Rolodex is the only product on the site. However, as you may know by now from reading this manual, Super Rolodex can be transformed into new software products in its own right because of it's flexibility to adapt to the users needs and using the Create New Database feature and the Design feature.

The entrepreneur minded people will appreciate Super Rolodex as a product they can promote and sell themselves, because it has a built-in ability to market itself. All you do is point traffic to our website by making posts on social networking sites and however else you deem suitable for driving traffic to the site. When someone registers Super Rolodex on our site using your Sellers Distributor Number we provided you, that cues us to pay you a sales commission. This is covered earlier in this manual and info is also available on the website at: http://www.redhousesoftware.com/referral.html

Support for Super Rolodex is handled by me, (the guy that wrote Super Rolodex). Although most everything is covered in this manual, and in articles and Q&A's on the website, if you should have a question then by all means please send me an email to [email protected] and I will do my best to address it in a timely manner.

I would love to hear your input about the software and/or the support you have received because it is extremely important for me to know that I am developing happy customers, and am always looking for content to add to the website. And in doing so, if you have a website, I would be glad to link it to our user tribute page: http://www.redhousesoftware.com/usertribute.html

Thanks for your interest in Super Rolodex,

Chris Eckersley

Software Developer

[email protected]

www.redhousesoftware.com