Web Site Updates

We've made several updates to our web site offerings this week. 1) First I want to note that the demo of on-line permit application submission web site has been thoroughly revised. This site is still in beta testing but getting closer to use in production. 2) The Public web site was recently expanded to include permits in the Extra database. 3) A special print option was added to the Building Inspection page in the Staff web site.

Trouble Opening Or Editing Spreadsheets Created By Excel

I've had a couple of customers call recently saying they are having trouble opening or editing the spreadsheets that they generate from ZonePro. The culprit is some security changes that Microsoft made recently. You can resolve it easily enough by making some changes in your Excel settings or your registry to allow you to open and edit early Excel spreadsheet formats. Here is a link to a Microsoft page that explains how to handle this in Excel 2010, 2007 or 2003.

Windows 8 and ZonePro

Just got a new Windows 8 laptop in the office and loaded the ZonePro SLQ demo to the desktop and it runs fine. Windows 8 is a big adjustment to use in general though. Bear in mind I've only been on it a few hours but it quite different from Windows 7. I don't know how popular it will be in the work environment. To me it seems more geared toward the home consumer. Also keep in mind that right now there are two different versions of Windows 8. I tested the version for PCs and laptops. There is also a version called Windows 8 RT for tablets that I believe only supports apps and would not therefor support the Windows version of ZonePro. You could still access it via your web interface though just like with an Android or Apple tablet.

Building Inspection Solo Print Option

I recently had a customer ask me if there was a way to print the notes from just one Building Inspection Detail instead of always printing them all. The scenario he painted was wanting to hand a contractor the notes from the final inspection without having to include the pages of notes that belonged to the inspections that had come prior. The existing Print button could not handle this request so I added a second Print button on the Notes tab that only prints the currently selected Inspection Detail. The download is available now. I also posted a short Training Video on the topic.

Use Group Reporting Video

The State of Ohio requires building departments to supply subtotals by Use Group of all the building permits they issue. You can easily obtain this information from ZonePro by following a few simple steps to add the "Use Group" field to a report and also add a "Use Group" sorting option to your report screen. A new Training Video shows you how!

Report & Document Backup Option

Your data is stored on the cloud in ZonePro SQL but your documents and reports are stored locally. This means that they are vulnerable to loss if something should happen to your local system. But, since every ZP SQL customer already has an internet account, there is no reason why we can't backup a copy of the \REPORTS folder and store it in the cloud too. This new feature is now available off of the Installed Modules Screen in Maintenance. To avoid clutter I created a new screen that houses several extra installation functions including two new ones. One lets you zip up your \REPORTS folder and upload it to your internet account as backup. The second lets you retrieve the stored REPORTS.ZIP file and unzip on your local machine. These two functions are useful for keeping your files protected and also for pushing changes to the files to users outside the office. You can download the update now and also watch a Training Video on the topic on our web site.

Contact Merging Training Videos

I have recently posted new Training Videos that cover the Contact File merging options discussed in the previous two posts. Check them out.