On a related note, there is a glitch in HG software whereby merging a report into a template causes an additional blank customer to be added and also removes the agent completely.
For what it’s worth, I use HG Scheduler for my HG reports. Maybe the glitch is there. You can see how having to mess with templates is especially difficult in my case.
The glitch you are referring to may just be the way you are doing it. If you merge a report with a customer name in one into another report with a blank name, then the software is going to give you both the customer and the blank name. No glitch just the way it works. You could have the buyers name in both and it shouldn’t do that. If the name is spelled differently it will leave both names as well. If you want to discuss this more please explain what devices you use and how you do it.
Wil …
I’m not even close to being a whiz on a computer. I have a desktop at home & at the shop. I have a laptop at the shop and at home. My asst has a laptop.
We have templates for condos, residential, commercial and FHA 203k.
Switching platforms is easy. If doing a commercial I start it on the Commercial Template. If I use the laptop in the field BUT wanta finish it at home, I just save it to off my laptop onto a thumbdrive … Then drop it on the desktop at home.
IF my asst starts it on his laptop … he uploads it to the web / I download it onto whichever computer I want it on and finish it.
NOTHING hard or tedious about either one, SO not sure whats holding you up.
That is a necessary feature when you have multiple inspectors working on the report. Each inspector places their name and report number(for the day) so we have reports: John1, Jeff1, Sara1 and the client(downloaded appointment). This way we know what is merged together, on the final check it is easy to delete them. I can tell you from experience it is not good when you merge the same report more than once.
There are definitely glitches (at least in my HG experience). I don’t mind removing a blank customer every time. But…
My setup:
Standard field laptop running windows 8.1 and a desktop running windows 7. I love your Smart Comment feature Russell. The wide range of ways to use HG are great. But if you take one glitch, like #4 above, and that feature is now nearly useless.
And thank you Russell, for taking the time to at least respond to your customers. I know you have a lot of us to deal with!
You must use the exact same template on two merged reports or you may have issues. Merge you “client” last without a template and it will eliminate some issues.
The “second” report overwrites the first(deletes it)
Does it to me on occasion, I have tried many times to track it but can not find a pattern. It does change as I change templates. We glance at the Overview section and delete any duplicates as needed.
I don’t use it.
Just checked mine does not
Never seen it
Several windows 10 computers and companion an many devices. Several older windows computers also.
We have used number 4 “connected auto-comments” added and removed them even without the bold feature it would still work fine, although if would be best if you remembered it.
Happens to me at least twice on every report.
It happens because the “auto save” feature of HG (you can set or change the interval) kicks in when you have a photo in edit mode; it won’t insert that photo and displays the error.
Dom.
10 years with HG and I’ve never seen the issues you’re describing OTHER than one of my PAST helpers would NOT follow my instructions. I would tell him time AFTER time to NOT change / save comments on our laptop AND that all permanently saved changes take place on the MASTER template … MY desktop.
Whenever he put in a NEW comment and SAVE it… AND then try to MERGE we had problems. I don’t LIKE problems.
These items are not “merge” related:
3. Invoice bug will be fixed in next release. This bug can be avoided if you go back to the invoice section just before you print/upload
The stays bold is meant to be a visual aid so when you glance at your Styles and Materials the bold alerts you that selecting this S&M will add a comment. No bug here.
I will ask Sean about this…Dom from Florida has figured it out and not sure what we can do about it but perhaps Sean will know.
John Shishilla knows the merge function in HG better than anyone and we plan to improve the nuances of it.
OH YES THERE IS! It works fine if you just attach a comment to an S&M item and leave it. But if you ever modify, move, or remove the comment that S&M stays bold. So if I have an S&M auto comment for “Knob and Tube” and then down the road move or modify the S&M comment in the Global List, it will no longer enter that comment in when you click “Knob and Tube” in S&M. The bug (or oversight) is that the S&M comment stays bold. So you think you are covering your arse by clicking that bold S&M item but **it is NOT adding the comment. **
I doubt this feature is a popular one but it’s a huge problem for me because I only fill in the S&M in the field and finish the report at home on the desktop.
I tested your description and it does remove the bold if you remove the comment. I think where you may be confused is thinking that the feature keeps up with the global comment. It doesn’t. When you set this up under the edit style and material choice…you select “Modify Comment” and you will see the separate auto comment library for that choice…you then browse to global and select your comment. That comment is copied into the separate style and material auto comment library. It is not keeping up with the comment in the global.
It definitely could be an enhancement to track that comment but currently it copies that comment which is now a separate comment from the global. Any edits will need to be edited directly.
Thank you for looking into that. To clarify: I made a duplicate template. Moved my Knob-and-tube comment to another area in the global list and the **S&M item remains bold but does NOT add a comment. **
Whether it is designed that way or not it still is a glitch/oversight. If I click a bold S&M (thinking I’m covered) and no comment gets entered into the Inspection Items box, that’s a big liability. That means we (HG users) have to double check every single S&M selection that we have a comment attached to. I bet most HG users don’t use this feature but I think it’s fantastic. Unfortunately I spend more time cussing at it because it has this oversight.
Thanks again,
Wil
Couldn’t you just go through your S&M once and check them all?
No! Checking the S&M just tells you that you either selected an item or selected a bold item (if a comment is attached). It looks like a comment was added if the item is bold, but that’s not always the case. Could you go through and check all your items in the comment section all over again? Sure you could. I just don’t much care to double check my entire report simply because I can’t trust my software.
It’s a pity that more people don’t use HG features like these because they are a potentially fantastic tool. If more people used it I’m sure we could get more pressure to have it made fully functional and user friendly.
Your description didn’t cause any glitch when I did it? I edited a Style and Material and assigned it a comment. Then Saved template. Then I duplicated my template and moved the global comment into another category. Saved template and then opened the template and the Bold S&M still worked as expected?
As soon as I get a chance I’ll upload a YouTube vid of it so you can see.
This is not one of the sporadic issues. It happens every time I change or remove a comment without fail.
In the mean time here’s exactly what I just did as a test:
-In “Inspection Items” make a comment saying “this is a test” and save it to “Access and Egress” (for lack of a better category)
-In S&M add an item called “test” and attach the above mentioned comment to it
-Now the S&M turns bold and clicking it causes a test comment to be added (perfect so far).
-Now go to global list and move the test comment from “Access and Egress” to “Appliances”
-You will now find that S&M “Test” option remains bold but does not add any comment.
Instead of “Test” imagine that comment was “Asbestos Texture,” “Knob-and-tube,” or “EIFS Siding” and you can see why I make a fuss about this issue.
I’m actually having the same issue. I have an S&M (I can’t keep from giggling) in bold but the comment does not insert.
Using your steps above I want to make sure that you Saved Template:
-Now go to global list and move the test comment from “Access and Egress” to “Appliances”
SAVE T
-You will now find that S&M “Test” option remains bold but does not add any comment.
If you saved T then it worked for me.
One thing that could be happening is that your S&M does not have a “parent item” assigned to it? You can click edit on the style and in that edit window at the bottom it says “Inspection item parent” see if it has been assigned an inspection item. Otherwise your instructions still work correctly for me if you select SAVE T
Russell, with all due respect, that is exactly the problem discussed over the last few pages. The option is bold, indicating an attached comment and yet no comment is being attached. I think we can all agree that its misleading AND a liability considering our business. If I have a chance, I’ll be sure to upload a video. For the record, saving the template has no effect. I just tried it for the heck of it with the exact same result.
It’s not the parent. That also remains unchanged after moving the comment.
I can see this thread has reached it’s limits. It doesn’t look like there’s a solution yet. Hopefully when HG 6 rolls through these issues will get ironed out. Thanks again for chiming in.
I had just had an issue with my CSST bold style comment. Something happened with the parent item being removed when I was editing my template. I now selected the parent item and it places the comment in the section.
We shall see if it gets deleted again when I make template changes.