GuideWay II was developed as a universal resource tool for use by any Macintosh User Group. GuideWay II allows members to find answers to their problems by utilizing the abilities of other members in the user group.
GUIDEWAY II NAVIGATOR
GuideWay II uses a simple button navigator so that any of the functions supported can be readily accessed with a simple mouse click. At the end of each function, you’ll always return to the GuideWay Navigator.
If you prefer, you may use the command key equivalents under the Directory menu.
The following information is an overview of each of the GuideWay II functions.
ABOUT GUIDE
This function will display the GuideWay II logo and some information about the current GuideWay II file. The display will initially show the total number of users and applications (hardware and/or software) in the database. If you wait for appoximately 2-3 seconds, the "Signboard" will change and you will see the dates when each of these portions of the database was last updated.
EXECUTIVES
This will display a directory of the executive members of your user group. A mouse click on any topic in the directory will display detailed information as it pertains to your user group.
HELP
Will display this text file. If you have an extended keyboard you may press the “HELP” key to call up this function.
MEMBERSHIP
Will display a screen where all of the current members will be displayed in a list. Each entry contains the members first and last name, along with home, work and FAX phone numbers where applicable. In addition it also shows an ICON list of the type(s) of Macintosh computer(s) the member is either using or familiar with (up to six may be shown). Lastly, there is an individual comment area for each member that may contain pertinent information regarding that member.
• MEMBERSHIP HOTKEY FIND
To quickly search through the member listing, you may type in a portion of the members name you are looking for. GuideWay II will search through the list of members and if a match is found, the list will scroll to that member and display their information. If GuideWay II is unable to locate a matching entry, it will beep to let you know nothing was found.
Searching is initiated according the HotKey setting in the Preferences dialog.
• MEMBERSHIP FIND BUTTON
For a more complete search function, you may invoke the use of the FIND button. This will allow a search by an exact match, one which is contained in and one which begins with the string of characters you may enter.
• CALLING A MEMBER
Providing you have a members information displayed, clicking on the one of the phone icons will make GuideWay II call that member by using your modem as a “smart dialer”. It is therefore necessary that you have your modem configured in the Preferences dialog (under the FILE menu), turned on and ready to accept commands. GuideWay II assumes a Hayes™ compatible command set to control your modem.
If the call you are going to make is long distance, hold down the “OPTION” key when clicking on the phone icon. GuideWay II will then make a long distance call by dialing a 1 as a prefix to the phone number.
NAME FORMAT
GuideWay II stores all names in the following format. Last name, a comma, a space and first name. This information will be useful if you use the FIND button.
ADVERTISERS
This will display a directory of any local advertisers that your executive has decided to make available in the GuideWay II database. To view more information on any advertiser in the directory, click on the name.
SOFTWARE XREF
While the reference implies software, the list may contain both hardware and software items. This is GuideWay II's most useful function for the simple fact that it links up to fifteen items in this list with each member. Exactly like a relational database would do! For example suppose you have just purchased “PixelPicker 1.1” from your local dealer, it’s after 6 p.m. and you are baffled by the installation instructions. Start up GuideWay II and scroll through the listing until you find the name of the software (always starts from the beginning of the list) or hardware (always at the end of the list) that you are having trouble with and click on it. GuideWay II will automatically do a search of its member list to see if there is a person who also uses that item. If a link is found, that members information will be displayed so that you can see if they are using the same Macintosh system, and possibly any special notes regarding that member. In the event that GuideWay II finds more than one match directional arrows will become visible.
To help narrow down the software and hardware list, if you press the [TAB] key when you have the software items shown, GuideWay II will advance to the start of the hardware list. If you are presently working with the hardware list, pressing [TAB] will reset GuideWay II to the first item in the software listing.
• SOFTWARE XREF HOTKEY SEARCH
To quickly search through the software/hardware listing, you may type in a portion of the name you are looking for. GuideWay II will search through the list to locate that software and check the member database to see if any links are set for that software. If there are links set, GuideWay II will display the first members information. If there are more than one user linked, the directional arrows will become visible.
Searching is initiated according the HotKey setting in the Preferences dialog.
• CALLING A MEMBER
This works exactly the same as previously described in the member listing section.
MEETINGS
This will display a directory of any general information about your user group such as meeting times, mailing address, maps etc that pertains to your group. To view the information in the directory, click on the name.
QUIT GUIDEWAY II
Exit GuideWay II.
To contact the author about licensing GuideWay II for your user group or additional information, write to :
