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.

The Tourwriter shared online file server / network drive is used for hosting The Tourwriter Database and the TourwriterData Folder

The Tourwriter Database is the database Tourwriter users access. It holds Supplier, Contact and Itinerary information.

The TourwriterData Folder is a collection of folders where Tourwriter images, report templates and emails are stored. This is held in a separate location to the Tourwriter Database.

Email folder – used to store a copy of booking request e-mails sent by users to Suppliers, provided you have the applicable tick-box selected at the time you send your booking request from Tourwriter to the Supplier.

Images folder – used to store Supplier images used for Quotations, Itineraries and any other documentation, with image content, produced from Tourwriter.
IMPORTANT – Before Tourwriter users can start attaching images to the Tourwriter Database, ensure that a good folder structure within the Images folder has been established. We recommend making it the same as your Suppliers folder structure in Tourwriter.

Reports folder – used to file custom Report files as report development takes place

Templates folder – used to file custom Email or Accounting export templates.
Instructions on how to save files to these locations will be provided to you during the Tourwriter Implementation process and/or as report development occurs.

Advantages of Hosting the Tourwriter Database and TourwriterData folder Online

• Tourwriter Support ( e.g. troubleshooting / reports testing / technical assistance) can be more thorough and effective.
• Your Tourwriter database is backed up every 24 hours. However, if you if you wish to sync your online data with the data in the backup every 10 minutes, please reach out to the Support team. The servers are managed by our professional staff located in different time zones to ensure uninterrupted service.
• Availability of Tourwriter online features such as Supplier Auto Confirmation and Supplier Invoice Upload (ask your Customer Success Executive for details).
• Client can download their TW database backup from our Server if they need them for their own purpose. However, this will be chargeable.

IMPORTANT: We can only support online hosting with My Secure Backup .

Offline Hosting

Tourwriter users can choose to host their Tourwriter Database and the TourwriterData folder offline.

Single Tourwriter User
If only one staff member will be using Tourwriter, the Tourwriter Database is set up on that user’s computer. The TourwriterData folder can also be set-up on their computer (e.g. on the C Drive).

Alternatively, if there might be the possibility of more staff using Tourwriter, the user may want to consider setting up Tourwriter on a server.

Multiple Tourwriter Users
If more than one staff member will be using Tourwriter, both the Tourwriter Database and TourwriterData folder must be held in a shared location that all staff can access e.g. on a server.

1. If installing the Tourwriter Database offline, we recommend that the Tourwriter user engage the assistance of an IT Administrator if they require help and support setting up and maintaining their Tourwriter backups, their computer or their network.
2. If Tourwriter assistance and training is required, contact support@tourwriter.com. Please note that if the Tourwriter Database is hosted offline, Tourwriter does not provide technical help for server or network issues, for example, but does provide support for the Tourwriter Application itself.

Backups

Backups must be performed daily if hosting the database offline on your server. If hosting the Tourwriter Database and TourwriterData folder online with Travelmesh all backups are performed automatically.

Backups – If Hosting Tourwriter Offline
If the Tourwriter Database is hosted offline, it is the responsibility of the Tourwriter user to backup the database once each day. We recommend that this takes place at the beginning or end of the day, and not while Tourwriter is in use by any other staff members.
One person should be responsible for performing a TW backup each night. The backup can be made either on Tourwriter on the server machine – or from the Tourwriter user’s own PC. Either way, Tourwriter saves a copy of each backup file to the nominated file as below.
If the TourwriterData folder is hosted by the Tourwriter user, it is the responsibility of the client to backup the folders once each day. If in any doubt, we recommend that a dedicated IT Administrator is used to assist with this.

Backup Instructions

1. Open Tourwriter
2. Go to Tools > Setup > Database
3. Select a file path where the Database will be backed up to
4. Tick to add a date/time to file names if required
5. To perform a backup, click the backup button

• The last backup file and last backup date are displayed in this window.
• The backup file path will be pointing to a location on your server. For multi-user offline clients where Tourwriter is installed on the office Server, in order to access the backup (.bak) file you will need to locate this file on your Server computer.
• If you are a one-user and have installed Tourwriter on one PC, that computer is also your Server. You will be able to locate your .bak file on your PC’s C: Drive.
• We recommend that a copy of the backup file is copied across to an external hard drive or USB stick for safe keeping.

If you are required to send a copy of your .bak file to a Tourwriter staff member, please zip/compress the file before emailing it, to reduce the overall file size. You can do this by right clicking the filename and selecting Send to > Compressed (zipped) folder.

The post Hosting Tourwriter – Online vs Offline 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.

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.

Installation of the Tourwriter Application

The Tourwriter application must be installed on each users’ computer and is used to connect to your online database, which stores your supplier data and itinerary information. This will be what you log into daily. You’ll probably refer to this as “Tourwriter” amongst your team… this is truly where the magic happens!

Resources: Installing Tourwriter, Tourwriter Offline Database Installation

Installation of the TourwriterData Folder

This folder will be accessible from each users’ computer and sits separately to the Tourwriter application and database. If we stored all images, email templates and itinerary templates in the database itself, we might slow things down a bit. To keep things moving quickly, we’ve designed Tourwriter so that it ‘talks to’ your TourwriterData folder when you create itinerary reports or generate a supplier email booking request. While the contents of your TourwriterData folder will need to be maintained by you and your staff on occasion, it really just sits there, “behind the scenes”.

Resources: TourwriterData Folder Setup

Zoom Meeting & Skype

Our implementation team use Zoom Meeting for all remote training sessions. This application allows us to share screens and record sessions for you, or other team members, to watch at a later date. It’s always useful to have a backup plan, so we encourage our users to add us to their Skype contacts too. Please note you will need a computer headset to utilise these applications.

Google Docs

We use Google Docs a lot here at Tourwriter. We recommend familiarising yourself with Google Docs as soon as possible, as they are a great way for us to collaborate on projects.

A Shared Email Account

Tourwriter can be used to send emails to your suppliers, which is a great time-saver, but first things first – if you have more than one person using Tourwriter, we need you to identify a shared email account to use for emailing suppliers. What will yours be?

Resources: Tourwriter Email Settings

An Internet Connection

This might seem a little silly to mention, but yes, you will require a fast (preferably) and stable internet connection to use Tourwriter’s online database, and conduct your training sessions successfully in Zoom Meeting

The post Implementation Getting Started – Technical Guide appeared first on Tourwriter Knowledge Base.