How to Setup and Troubleshoot Volunteer Reporter

Overview

Volunteer Reporter is a database program used predominantly by the Office of Business and Community Relations (OBCR). It's used to keep track of volunteers employed by OBCR for audit purposes.

There are two components to Volunteer Reporter, the application and database:

• The application is Windows-based and is locally installed on each client machine (that will be used for interacting with the database).
• The database itself is derived from the dBASE format and is stored remotely on the O: Drive (\\osw-fs1\OswegoShares\Volunteer Reporter\Production Data).

Domain users must be in the Volunteer Reporter AD Access Group in order to access the O: drive containing the database.

Overall, the instructions are divided into sections for:

• Installing Volunteer Reporter
• Configuring Volunteer Reporter for first-time use
• Updating Volunteer Reporter
• Additional Information

Instructions

Installing Volunteer Reporter

1. Login to Windows under the domain account w/ access to the Volunteer Reporter group.
2. Make sure the O: drive is mapped (if not, manually map the O: drive to \\osw-fs1\OswegoShares\).
3. Copy the latest installer from O:\Volunteer Reporter\Installers to the desktop.
4. Run the installer (requires admin privileges) and accept all default values.
5. Delete the installer file upon completion.

Configuring Volunteer Reporter for first-time use

1. Open Volunteer Reporter (shortcut should show up on the desktop).
2. Upon first run, you will receive a window asking "Where to Keep Your Data". Click Ok.
3. In the window asking "What Kind of Data Set?", select Use an Existing Data Set and click Ok.
4. Set the Data Set Name to "Latest". Then set the Data Folder to "O:\Volunteer Reporter\Production Data". Click Save, then Add the following databases:
   1. Data Set Name: "Archive"; Data Folder: "O:\Volunteer Reporter\Old Data"
   2. Data Set Name: "Osteo Data"; Data Folder: "O:\Volunteer Reporter\Osteo Data"
5. Highlight the "Latest" Data Set, then click Select this Data Set.
6. You'll get a message stating that the "Reporter is now updated...". Click Ok. The program will restart and will be good to go for the end-user.
7. *Disable syncing offline files in Sync Center*
   Sync Center is a feature in Windows.
   1. Go to the control panel.
   2. Click on Sync Center
   3. Click ‘Manage offline files’
   4. Click ‘Disable offline files’

Updating Volunteer Reporter

Every year, Volunteer Reporter will send a new version of the application to the app admin of OBCR (as of 10/21/22, Tracie Wallace is the admin for Volunteer Reporter). Whenever a new version is released, all workstations must be updated to this version, as well as the database, to ensure proper functionality. To update the database:

1. Open Volunteer Reporter on one of the computers that will be upgraded.
2. Make a backup of the "Latest" database by going to File -> Backup. Save this backup to "O:\Volunteer Reporter\Backups".
3. Close Volunteer Reporter. Download the latest version of the Volunteer Reporter installer. Make a copy of it and place it under "O:\Volunteer Reporter\Installers".
4. Run the installer and accept the default options.
5. Open Volunteer Reporter and select the "Latest" Database. You will be prompted to update the database to match the program version. Do so at this time. Then re-open the database to ensure proper functionality.
6. On other workstations using Volunteer Reporter, open "O:\Volunteer Reporter\Installers" and copy the newer installer onto the desktop. Run the installer to update the program.

Additional information

• Since there are multiple databases (Latest, Archive, Osteo, etc), they can be swapped by going to File -> Select Data Set.
• Ensure all users that databases are opened by one user at a time. This will prevent data corruption from occurring.
• When creating new databases, create a new folder under "O:\Volunteer Reporter" with a descriptive name. Then open up Volunteer Reporter and go to File -> Select Data Set. Click Add -> Create a Real Data Set... and set the Data Folder to the new directory created under "O:\Volunteer Reporter".
• For further inquiries on program setup, contact Tracie Wallace.

Need Help?

Need additional information or assistance? Contact CTS.