How to install Tourwriter on a Computer (Online)

1. Download and install Tourwriter: (Reach out to the Support team to access the latest Tourwriter build)
2. Open Tourwriter
3. Click on Online Database (or click Setup and then do this)
4. Enter the Connection Key (provided by your Tourwriter Implementer); we recommend that you copy and paste to avoid typing errors
5. Click the OK button (this setting will be remembered)
6. Login with your existing Tourwriter username (ask an existing Tourwriter User to add you, if you do not have a login: Tools > Setup > User Accounts).

How to Install the Online File Server / Network Drive on a Computer

Tourwriter users who opt to host the Tourwriter Database and TourwriterData folder online with TravelMesh, will need to take the following steps to:

1. Install the online file server / network drive on a computer
2. Link the Tourwriter Data folder to the Tourwriter Database

IMPORTANT: Tourwriter uses Travelmesh – My Secure Backup to create and host the online file server / network drive for Tourwriter clients.
Each staff member must set up access to the online file server / network drive from their own computer.
Each staff member should choose the same drive letter for their online drives.

To install the online file server / network drive:

1. Download from here
2. Install and setup the online drive
3. During install, you will be prompted to enter the following login:

Domain: travelmesh-c3
Username: xxxxxxx (provided by Tourwriter)
Password: xxxxxxx (provided by Tourwriter)

Tourwriter users can access the online file server / network drive from any web browser (no install required), just go to this address www.mysecurebackup.net and enter the above login.

Note for Mac Users
When choosing your My Secure Backup installation file, please select the appropriate Windows download option (not Mac), as you will be installing this software on the Windows side of your Mac.

How to Link the TourwriterData Folder to the Tourwriter Database

Once your TourwriterData folder and sub folders have been created, please follow the instructions below, to link your TourwriterData folder to your Tourwriter database:

1. Log into Tourwriter
2. Go to Tools > Setup > Administration > Folder settings
3. Click to the right of the empty External files field
4. Navigate to the TourwriterData folder you have created (select the TourwriterData folder name only)
5. Click the OK button. Your Default file location will now say e.g. C:\TourwriterData
6. Save this change in Tourwriter (Ctrl + S, or the Save button on the toolbar)
7. The TourwriterData folder setup is complete.

The post Installing Tourwriter appeared first on Tourwriter Knowledge Base.

1. Tourwriter will provide you with a backup copy of your existing online database (.bak file). This will be sent to you via email as an attachment.
2. Save the .bak file to a location on your computer e.g. Desktop. This should be the computer you will be installing Tourwriter onto.

If the computer you receive the backup email on, is not the computer you will be installing Tourwriter onto, you can transfer the .bak file using a USB drive.
IMPORTANT – At this point your online database should not be accessed by yourself, or other staff, until the offline database setup  (detailed below) has been completed.

Setup New Office Server (performed by the client):

1. On the new computer / server, download and install Tourwriter: support.tourwriter.com/download
2. When Tourwriter starts, (if you see Tourwriter Login window here, click Setup, then..) select Office Database
   
3. Click Install Server Software
4. Click Advanced Options
5. Click the Choose my backup button and browse to the backup file (.bak) provided above
6. Click the Install button at the bottom of the window and follow the prompts to complete the install. This process may take up to 10 minutes to complete
7. Click the OK button
8. At the Tourwriter Login window, click the Setup button
9. Click Office Database
10. Click the Search button and select your new Server Name.
11. Click the OK button
12. You can then login with your existing username and password.

Following this, connect each staff member’s Tourwriter application to your new locally installed database by completing the steps detailed below:

1. On the staff computer(s), download and install Tourwriter: support.tourwriter.com/download
2. Open Tourwriter
3. At the login screen, click the Setup button
4. Click Office Database
5. Click the Search button and select your new Server Name.
6. Click the OK button
7. You can then login with your existing username and password.

Relocation or Creation of the TourwriterData Folder

You will also need to relocate or create your TourwriterData folder, which is used to store any customised email templates, reports and images.
For existing customers, locate the TourwriterData folder and copy all files to a location on your Server. You will need to relink your TourwriterData folder to your Tourwriter database, refer Step 2 from this article.
For new customers, who do not yet have a TourwriterData folder, please follow steps provided in this file for setup info: TourwriterData folder setup instructions.
Once you have completed all of the above steps, and you have logged into your Office Database, please contact your Tourwriter Customer Success Executive to ensure your online database is switched off and our billing records are updated accordingly.

The post Tourwriter Offline Database Installation appeared first on Tourwriter Knowledge Base.

Use this document as a quick-start user guide to get up and running with the Online Drive, and troubleshoot common issues.

Download

1. Download My Secure Backup from here.
   If you are unsure which Windows download file to choose, you can check on your computer by clicking on your Start button, then right-click on Computer, choose Properties. This will indicate whether you need 32 or 64 bit download file. If you are still unsure, then choose the 32 bit.
2. Choose Run, or Save and then after download double click file to run.

Install

1. Run the installer file.
2. Click Next at the Welcome screen.
3. Tick the checkbox to accept the terms, and click Next.
4. Click Next to accept default install directory.
5. Click Install.
6. Click Finished when then the install completes.
7. Click Yes to restart your computer (required to start the background network services).

Setup

When the computer restarts, the Setup screens will start automatically.

1. At the welcome screen click Next.
2. Account Information: enter your login details (see email), then click Next.
3. Wait while account access is verified.
4. Network Drive: choose a drive letter for the network drive (this can be changed later).
   NOTE Tourwriter users should choose the same drive letter for all staff.
5. Click next, then click Finish to complete.

The activity monitor may automatically open, you can close it for now.

Running the My Secure Backup Software

Open My Computer and look for you new Drive (eg S: drive). Double-click to open the drive, and use it just the same as you would any other drive, adding folders files etc. and managing them as you wish.

Note that there will be a delay the first time you upload or open each folder, or file, as the data is transferred from the internet. But after this it is cached (copied) locally and will be just as fast as normal.

Running the drive with Tourwriter

New Tourwriter users should create a folder called TourwriterData and link Tourwriter to it (in Tourwriter go to Tools > Setup > Folder options, and browse to the new TourwriterData folder).

Existing Tourwriter users can drag-drop their existing TourwriterData folder into their new online drive (note the initial sync can take a couple of hours), and then re-link it in Tourwriter (Tools > Setup > Folder options, and browse to the new TourwriterData folder).

Activity Monitor and Settings

Either double-click the My Secure Backup icon in the taskbar at bottom right of your computer screen to open the Activity Monitor, or open My Secure Backup Activity Monitor and Settings from the Windows Start menu.

From here you can click Configure on the top right to change settings.

Web Access

You can also access your online drive via this webpage (use the same login detail as for above drive).

The post Setting Up My Secure Backup appeared first on Tourwriter Knowledge Base.

The TourwriterData folder is a storage folder for all Tourwriter documents such as email templates, images for reports, and customised report files (e.g. Voucher, Client Pricing and Quotation).
Tourwriter will also save a copy of all emails sent from the system here, as soon as you start sending booking requests to your Suppliers.
Your TourwriterData folder sits outside the Tourwriter database. Once created, you must link your Tourwriter database to your TourwriterData folder.
It is important that in the initial setup stage you ensure that the file path of the TourwriterData folder is accessible by all users from all PCs within your organisation.

Step 1: Setting up the TourwriterData folder

1. On your shared / network drive, create a new folder called TourwriterData.
   Tip: If you have an Online Drive, you will create your TourwriterData folder within that folder on your computer.
2. Within the TourwriterData folder, create the following Subfolders:

Images Subfolder
The Images folder will be used to file any Supplier images used on Quotations, Itineraries and any other documentation produced from the system that include images. IMPORTANT – Before you can start attaching images to the Tourwriter database, ensure you’ve established a good folder structure within your Images folder.

Reports Subfolder
The Reports folder will be used to file custom Report files such as Voucher, Client Pricing and Quotation. Save a copy of any existing Tourwriter custom reports here (.rdlc files)

Templates Subfolder
The Templates folders will be used to file custom Email or Accounting export templates. Instructions on how to save files to these locations will be provided to you during your Tourwriter training and / or as your report development takes place.

Step 2: Linking your TourwriterData folder to your Tourwriter database

IMPORTANT – You only have to update the Folder settings in Tourwriter on one person’s Tourwriter. Once saved these settings will be updated for all users.

Once your TourwriterData folder and subfolders have been created above, please follow the below instructions to link your TourwriterData folder to your Tourwriter database:

1. Log into Tourwriter
2. Go to Tools > Setup > Folder settings.
3. Click
4. Navigate to the TourwriterData folder you have created (select the TourwriterData folder name).
5. Click OK. Your Default file location will now say e.g. X:\TourwriterData (where X = your chosen drive letter for your company)
6. Save this change in Tourwriter (Ctrl + S, or the Save button on the toolbar)
7. The TourwriterData folder setup is complete.

The post Tourwriter Folder Settings appeared first on Tourwriter Knowledge Base.

Parallels Desktop for Mac is a Virtual Machine that gives Apple users the ability to run Windows or any other operating system and their critical applications at the same time as Mac OS X on any Intel-powered Mac.

Since Tourwriter is a Windows based application which requires Windows OS, Parallels allows Windows to be installed on Mac. With Parallels installed, it is possible to run Mac and Windows applications side by side.

Parallels offers a 14 day trial. To download the trial version, click here

Parallels Coherence View mode

Coherence is a view mode that allows you to run Windows applications on your Mac, as though they were native Mac applications. In Coherence mode, you can use both your Windows and Mac applications at the same time without managing two separate desktops or rebooting. You can even load Windows applications directly from your Mac Dock or Mac desktop. In this mode, all Parallels Desktop controls, icons, and menus are hidden, except for the Parallels icon in the Mac menu bar and the Windows Applications folder in the Dock. To know more about this feature, please refer this article.

Parallels Suspending Windows

By default, when you quit Parallels Desktop, Windows is suspended, and the next time you open Parallels Desktop Windows resumes exactly from where you left off.

If more than one person uses Windows on your Mac, then a user can access the account in Windows suspended by the previous user. To avoid this, you can disable automatically suspending Parallels Desktop.

To disable automatically suspending Parallels Desktop:

1. Do one of the following:
   • Option-click (Alt-click) the Parallels icon  in the menu bar and choose Preferences, and then click General.
   • If the Parallels Desktop menu bar is visible at the top of the screen, choose Parallels Desktop > Preferences, and then click General.
2. Select OS X Resume: Disable for Parallels Desktop.

Once automatically suspending Windows is disabled, each time you quit Parallels Desktop you can specify how you want Windows to shut down. And if you close the Parallels Desktop window, Windows shuts down according to how it’s set in shutdown settings. To ensure that another user can’t access your Windows account, set Windows to shut down or stop (rather than suspend).

Windows 10 Trial

Microsoft offers a Windows 10 trial for 90 days. You can take this opportunity to try Tourwriter on your Mac through both the Parallels and Windows trial versions. You need to register at Microsoft to download Windows 10.

The post Parallels and Windows trial for Mac users appeared first on Tourwriter Knowledge Base.

At Tourwriter, we believe all good implementations start with a plan. Our Implementation Guide explains how we build that plan and will help you understand how we introduce new customers to Tourwriter.

To get the maximum benefit from Touwriter as soon as possible, it is important we get the implementation right. The key to realising the value starts on day one of implementation as you work toward building a robust, organised database that will be used to build itineraries fast.

With years of experience, we have structured our implementation around 3 modules, named Configuration, Onboarding and Training, We book-end these modules with 2 shorter phases for Set Up and Sign Off which define the discrete implementation period.

The post Implementation Guide appeared first on Tourwriter Knowledge Base.