Handbook Manager - Instructions – Gradience Support

Gradience Handbook Manager Instructions

System Requirements

Windows XP Professional (SP2) or Windows Vista (Windows 7 is supported in Version 12)

Pentium IV or higher processor

1 GB available RAM (Random Access Memory) and 60 MB available hard disk space

CD-ROM drive unless you plan to install via download.

SVGA monitor with 1024 x 768, High Color or higher

Windows-compatible graphics quality printer

Unlocking the Demo

Open Handbook Manager.

Enter your code at the Enter Product Key screen or click Help and when the menu opens click Enter Product Key and enter the product key. It is located in the Quick Start Guide and/or sent to your e-mail address.

Click OK. The Product Key is not case-sensitive.

Note: There is a different Product Key for each Gradience product.

SmartUpdate by ComplyRight™

Periodically, FREE updates may become available for this version of Gradience Handbook.

Create a Manual

You’re ready to create your first Policy Manual! Double-click on the Gradience Handbook Manager icon to launch the program. The Welcome screen and Message are displayed.

At the Disclaimer screen, click I Agree if you agree to the disclaimer and wish to continue.

At the Welcome Screen, the following options are presented:

Create New Policy Manual – Start a new Policy Manual from the beginning.

Create From Existing Policy Manual – Start a Policy Manual by copying an existing one.

Edit Existing Policy Manual – Open a Policy Manual and make changes to it.

Import from Gradience Handbook Manager – Start by importing an existing file created by Gradience Handbook Manager

Exit Supervisor’s Handbook Manager – Close the application.

STEP 1 – Setup

Enter company information to get recommended policies specific to your organization. When finished, go to Step 2.

Create One Handbook for multiple States/Territories/Possessions

The software is designed to produce a handbook (per State/Territory/Possession such as Guam or Puerto Rico, etc.). To make one for multiple states, territories, or possessions follow these steps...

1. Create a Policy Manual for the first state, territory, possession.

2. While in Step 4 click View / Publish. A drop-down menu will appear.

3. Click on Print to RTF. A standard Save As popup window will open. Select a location on the left side of the popup, enter a File Name and click Save.

4. Return to Step 1 and change the state/Territory/Possession.

5. Click Step 2 and click OK to any changes to State Policies and then click OK to the popup that appears.

6. Ensure that any additional policy edits or inserts are done in Step 2 and Step 3.

7. Click Step 4 and then click OK to the popup that appears.

8. Click on Print to RTF. A standard Save As popup window will open. Select a location on the left side of the popup, enter a File Name and click Save.

9. Return to Step 1 and change the state/Territory/Possession and repeat this process for each additional state, territory or possession. You can then open each finished handbook in Word. Cut sections from individual handbooks and paste them together into one and then publish the single policy manual from Word.

Important

Menu Items

Policy Manual

Main Menu – Opens the Welcome Screen.

Save – Saves the file.

Save As – Saves the file with a specific name assigned by the user.

Exit – Closes Gradience Handbook Manager.

Reports

Published History – A report showing how many times and when a Policy Manual has been published.

Selected Policies – A report of all the policies being used in the current Policy Manual.

Policy List – A report of all the available policies within Gradience Handbook Manager.

Category List – A report of the categories being used in the current Policy Manual.

Book List – A report of the available Policy Manuals

Available Policies – A report of all the available policies for your specific company.

Preferences

Reload Policy from Original Template – Changes a Default Policy (Policy shipped with the program) back to its original text.

Check for Updates – Checks for the newest updates to the content of Handbook Manager.

Unhide Popup Hints – Turns on/off the Popup notifications for each step.

Set Password – Set a password to protect your Policy Manuals.

Set Default Title Page Logo – Assign a logo to appear on the title page.

Help

Contents – Opens the Help File.

Enter Product Key Code – Enter the product key code to activate the full features of the software.

About – Information about the version of Gradience Handbook Manager.

STEP 2 – Select/Edit

In Step 2, you'll see a list of policies we recommend. Select and edit which policies you’d like to include in your Policy Manual.

Selecting your policies:

As you scroll down the categories, click the boxes next to those policies you’d like to add to your Policy Manual. A check will appear in the box. Uncheck policies you do not wish to include. You also can click on a policy category or title and drag it to a different place. This allows you to organize your Policy Manual differently from the default settings.

Editing your policies:

Click EDIT on the right to change or format the policy. You can click inside of the field or click the Edit button to use the text editor. Review each policy and copy/paste your own company-specific information. Just click on the Edit button. You will see a warning sign that urges you not to delete Insert Text fields. An Insert field <****INSERT****> is text that will be filled in Step 3. These fields allow you to personalize your policy text.

Note: In Step 3 you'll find the inserts, so don't type within or delete any part of anything that looks like "<****INSERT****>".

Make sure there is a <****POLICY****> tag in each of your policies to ensure that your company-specific policies print.

Note: This only applies if you imported policies from the Welcome Screen.

Type in the Policy Comments field to type in notes about a policy. For example, you might want to indicate why you changed or added a policy.

Note: Text in the Policy Comments field will not print out in your Policy Manual.

Checkmark — This denotes a recommended policy.

Show Only Selected — Click here to display only those policies you’ve selected; unclick it to review the entire list of policies.

“+/–" – Use these to expand and collapse the lists of available policies along the left side of the screen.

Important Menu Items

Select/Edit

Create New Category – Create a new category for the content of the Policy Manual.

Edit Category – Edit the categories you create within the Policy Manual.

Delete Category – Delete a category from the Policy Manual.

Create New Policy – Create a new policy for the content of the Policy Manual.

Edit Policy – Edit the policies you create within the Policy Manual.

Delete Policy – Delete a policy from the Policy Manual.

Assign Default Category to Policy – Assign a category to the policies you create.

STEP 3 – Edit Inserts

Here you can fine-tune your Policy Manual. This is the final editing step for policies that need personalized company information.

As you scroll down the highlighted policies on the left, you will see the Inserts at right.

Edit Inserts — Allows you to edit the Insert field.

Previous Insert — Moves you to the previous Insert field.

Next Insert — Moves you to the next Insert field.

<****INSERT****> is a placeholder informing you that you need to enter company-specific text.

Make sure there is a <****POLICY****> tag in each of your policies to ensure that your company-specific policies print.

Once you've entered the information in the appropriate field, it appears throughout your Policy Manual.

The company name you entered in Step 1 has been automatically inserted throughout the Policy Manual.

Fill in the needed Insert or click the Edit Insert button for a full Edit screen. You must edit all fields in red before continuing to the final step. Incomplete Insert fields have a pencil beside them and appear in red.

Important Menu Items:

Inserts

Edit – Make independent edits to the content of an insert.

Previous Insert – Move back to a previous insert to edit it’s content.

Next Insert – Move ahead to the next insert to edit it’s content.

STEP 4 – View/Publish

Step 4 allows you to view and publish your Policy Manual. If you want to make changes, go to the appropriate steps using the Previous or Next Step buttons. You also may use the Step 1-4 buttons at the top.

Important Menu Item:

View/Publish

Page Setting Button

Title Page – Make changes to the title page. Insert and resize an image appearing on the Policy Manual title page.

Header/Footer

Header/Footer – Allows you to select header or footer text.

Insert Calculated Text – Allows you to include page numbers, total pages, date and time.

Table of Contents – Gives options for a table of contents.

Page Layout

Page Layout – Allows you to set the page to portrait or landscape.

Width – Sets the width of the page.

Height – Sets the height of the page.

Margins – Sets the margins on the left, right, top and bottom.

Orientation – Sets page in portrait or landscape.

Publish Button – Changes the manual status from “Draft” to “Publish” and puts a time/date stamp and version on it.

Print Button – Sends your manual to the printer.

Policy Manual Sharing — Lets you share your Policy Manuals with other Handbook Manager users just as easily as any other electronic file.

Common Terms

Here’s a quick reference to Gradience Handbook Manager terms:

Insert fields or <****INSERTS****> – Appears on screen as red, highlighted, fill-in-the-blank requests where you type and edit information to personalize policies.

Policy tags or <****POLICY****>

These appear where your company-specific policies will appear in the final version of the Policy Manual.

Published vs. Unpublished

Published means you’re ready to print a final draft, and that you want to "stamp" the Policy Manual with a date and version. Unpublished means you’re still working on the Policy Manual and haven’t distributed it to employees yet.

Product Key Code

Also known as the "unlock code", this is a 32-digit alphanumeric code printed in the Quick Start Guide. When entered, it allows you to use all functions of the program.

Demo Mode

If you do not enter the Product Key Code, the program will operate in Demo Mode. However, editing of policies, exporting to PDF and printing will not be available.

Web site download

This is another option for reinstalling your program in case the CD-ROM is lost or damaged.

Back up your Manual

OPTION ONE:

Click Policy Manual.

When the drop-down menu opens, click Save As.

When the Save As popup opens, save the handbook to a drive and folder of your choosing.

OPTION TWO:

Open a finished handbook to Step 4.

Starting at the title, hold down your left mouse button and drag the mouse to the end of the handbook to highlight the content.

On your computer keyboard press Ctrl-C to copy the entire content.

Open MS Word and press on Ctrl-V on the keyboard to paste the content into a Word document.

Save that document into a folder on your server.

If you cannot open your handbook do the following.

Copy the Handbook Manager folder. The path is C:\Program Files\Gradience\Handbook Manager

Paste it to a drive and folder of your choosing.

If your PC crashes, install the program onto a new PC.

Recopy the Handbook Manager folder from the server and paste it over the "blank" one on the new PC.

Update Old Policies

The Update Old Policies feature in the Preferences Menu will update the current Policy Manual with selected new and revised policies.

Note: The updated policies will not be available for existing Policy Manuals UNLESS you run the Update feature. They will be available when creating a new Policy Manual.

The following describes the Update Old Policies feature:

Add/Update

This adds the selected policies to the current handbook’s available policy list. The available policy list is a list of all policies you may select from.

Include in Handbook

This allows the selected policy to be included in the current Policy Manual. This column will be checked automatically if the selected policy is already a part of your Policy Manual.

Policy

This is the name of the policy. The policy name may have changed if the Reason column says Update. Review the Old Policy and New Policy names.

Reason

The reason for the update either can be Update or New Policy. Update signifies policies that are in the current Policy Manual and have been revised with updated material. New Policy signifies that this policy is a new addition to the core Handbook Manager policies.

Old Policy

This displays the current (unchanged) policy. Clicking Print Old will allow you to send the policy to the printer for your review.

New Policy

This displays the new policy. It may be a good idea to print both the Old and New Policies for review before making any changes.

Clicking OK makes the necessary changes from the selected options. Changes cannot be undone. We recommend leaving the default check marked policies selected when clicking OK.

Cancel

Clicking Cancel doesn’t save changes. Go to Update Old Policies by going to Preferences > Update Old Policies from Step 1.

Save your manual in Word to increase editing options.

In step 4 when the handbook is complete, put the mouse at the beginning, hold down the left mouse button and scroll to the end to 'highlight the entire contents. Then press Ctrl C to 'copy' what you have highlighted. Then, open MS Word and right-click inside a blank document and choose Paste. If you cannot select Paste, press Ctrl V to paste into Word.

Support for Handbook Manager:

The software is supported until 12/31 of the licensed year. After that, it will stop functioning and it will no longer be supported and it will no longer be periodically updated for free.

Versions prior to 2011 are [not] compatible with Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 or Server 2008.

The current version [is] compatible with Vista, Windows 7, and Server 2008. Testing continues for compatibility with Windows 8.

No versions are compatible with a Mac or Terminal Services or Citrix and are therefore not supported when so deployed.

The software can only function on one workstation. It cannot be installed on multiple computers or as a server-client.

Annual License Renewal

The license expires at midnight on 12/31 of the [licensed year] causing the software to literally stop functioning after that. To have use of the software beyond that point, you would need to purchase the license for the following year.

Safeguard the data by backing up to a network folder.

Solution:

Option One:

1. Click Policy Manual.

2. When the drop-down menu opens, click Save As.

3. When the Save As popup opens, save the handbook to a drive and folder of your choosing.

Option Two:

1. Open a finished handbook to Step 4.

2. Starting at the title, hold down your left mouse button and drag the mouse to the end of the handbook to highlight the content.

3. On your computer keyboard press Ctrl-C to copy the entire content.

4. Open MS Word and press on Ctrl-V on the keyboard to paste the content into a Word document.

5. Save that document into a folder on your server.

If you cannot open your handbook

1. Copy the Handbook Manager folder. The path is C:\Program Files\Gradience\Handbook Manager

2. Paste it to a drive and folder of your choosing.

3. If your PC crashes, install the program onto a new PC.

4. Recopy the Handbook Manager folder from the server and paste it over the "blank" one on the new PC.

Password Forgotten/Invalid Password

Through Windows Explorer (not Internet Explorer) navigate to C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Gradience\Templates\Handbook.ini

Find the following lines:

[Book]

bRequirePW=true

Change the second line to read as follows:

[Book]

bRequirePW=false

Move this software and your manuals to a new computer

At the original computer, go to C:\Program Files\Gradience.

Copy the Handbook folder onto an external drive (USB device) or paste a copy of it onto a network drive.

At the new computer, install the program via a download from the web to be sure you have the latest update.

Retrieve the copy of the Handbook folder and paste it at C:\Program Files\Gradience.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How do I create a new Category?

A: Choose Select/Edit > Create New Categories at Step 2 – Select/Edit.

Q: Why aren't my company-specific policies printing?

A: Make sure the <****POLICY****> tag is present at the top of the policy you are editing.

Q: Why aren't my company-specific policies printing?

A: Make sure that the <****POLICY****> tag is present at the top of the policy you are editing.

Q: Does Gradience Handbook Manager translate text from English to Spanish or from Spanish to English?

A: No. Text translation is not available. Editing a policy must be done in both languages separately by the user.

Q: Why don't my Policy Comments show up when I print the Policy Manual?

A: A Policy Comment is a memo specific to that policy. For example, "Created No Smoking Guideline on 2/14/2002" may be helpful reference information – but not necessarily text you want to appear in your Policy Manual.

Q: How do I insert a header or footer into my Policy Manual?

A: From Step 4 – View/Publish, go to Page Settings, and then click on Header/Footer.

Q: What does Publish do?

A: Publish sets the date/time stamp and version number. This designates that the Manual is ready for printing and distribution.

Q: How do I share my Policy Manual files with other Handbook Manager users?

A: Policy Manual files are just as portable as other popular electronic file formats.