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TROUBLESHOOTING

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The PledgeDriver Help Desk is open 24 hours a day,  7 days a week. We are absolutely committed to make sure that PledgeDriver serves you when you need it. 

 

Call 651-797-2161, or text 651.233.6178 for instant help. Our email is pledgedrive@msn.com. But we cannot guarantee quick response to email. 

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TIP- Although all webhosts promise and deliver nearly seamless online service, there are rare problems with the internet, and there can be issues with your station's connectivity. PledgeDriver recommends that stations save an entire day of scripts as a Word doc for backup  use in the unlikely event that your system connectivity goes offline.  Some stations keep the backup in electronic form. Others print and save one day's worth of scripts. 

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HERE ARE SOLUTIONS TO  SOME COMMON ISSUES-

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Login Trouble: Your password is case sensitive. The login is not. If you have forgotten either, call or email us.

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Basic Functions: If you are having trouble with basic functions, such as bin lists not functioning normally, refresh your browser or close it completely. Then reopen and re-login into PledgeDriver. We recommend using Chrome or Firefox as your browser for PledgeDriver. Do not use Internet Explorer.

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Remote Connection: Connecting to PledgeDriver through a remote desktop can cause performance problems. Please connect directly via pledgedriver.org/entry.asp.

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Screen Resolution: PledgeDriver will work best when your screen resolution is set to maximum.

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Running Slow: PledgeDriver should take only 6-8 seconds for saves and less time for screen changes. If it is running slower than that, try closing unnecessary applications. If that doesn't help, you may need more RAM memory. You might check the speed of your internet connection with one of the online speed test tools.

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Kicked Out: If you leave your PledgeDriver account open on your computer for more than two hours without activity or without saving, your session may "time out," causing you to lose grid or script work done before your session was closed. To avoid losing your work if you are interrupted, save every 5-10 minutes or before leaving your computer.

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Freezes: If PledgeDriver freezes and you may see a message like, "Program Not Responding," this is probabaly a browser problem rather than a PledgeDriver issue. Refresh or restart your browser. Change your browser. 

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Deactivate Pop-up Blockers: PledgeDriver uses pop-ups for several functions. Your computer may have additional pop-up blockers within phishing filters (check Instant Messenger, for example) that may need to be deactivated or changed.

 

Running Slow

• Restart your browser or restart your computer. This often resolves the issue.
• Are other websites also loading and performing more slowly than usual or is PledgeDriver the only slow one?
• Compare how your computer runs PledgeDriver against another computer on a different network. Your network may  have applications or unknown blockers or filters slowing things down.
• Check the speed and workload on your internet connection by using one of the online speed test tools.
• Close unnecessary applications on your desktop.
• You may need to add more RAM memory to your computer.
• Uninstall applications you don't need, such as Google programs.
• Make sure your computer is current for all Windows updates.
• Multiple open website tabs on your browser may slow things down.
• Check to see if you have dueling anti-virus programs installed and running, such as Norton and McAfee.

 

BINS, SCRIPTS, AND PLANNING GRID

Incomplete Loading of Case or Close Side of Grid Screen: If the script title box appears as a narrow slit, it may be incomplete loading caused by a bin name that is too long. Open Bin Manager under Tools and edit any long bin names. Keep bin names, bin IDs, and script titles as brief as possible.

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Toolbar is Partly Missing: If this happened after changing screens within PledgeDriver, it is an incomplete reload of the page. This can happen when the browser back arrow was used to return to the planning grid screen from the Print Options screen. Use the "Return to Planning Grid" link on the Print Options screen instead of back arrow for the browser.

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Script/Bin Highlighter Not Working: Save your grid work, then click the Case or Close bin Refresh icon.

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Script Counter Feature Not Working: Save your grid work, then click on the Case or Close Refresh icon.

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No Planning Grid: When you open a drive that has already been set up and instead of the planning grid, there is a gray space with the message, "[Click here] to create a new day, or select a day from the Day menu above," do not panic. You probably exited another drive from a day that doesn't exist in the drive you just entered. (ex: You exited a Drive A from Day 9 and then opened Drive B that doesn't have 9 days.)

 

If you want to copy/paste a day or hour from Drive A to Drive B you'll need to exit Drive A from a day that Drive B also has. (ex: Copy Drive A's Day 9, Hour 2, then return to Day 1 of Drive A before opening your menu of drives. Now open Drive B which will open to Day 1. Now go to the desired day in Drive B and paste.

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Bin Side of Screen Doesn't "Fit": Try:

    1. Re-proportion the grid side and the case/close bin side of the screen by placing your cursor on the vertical bar between them until you get a horizontal arrow. Slide left to make the grid side smaller, until you can see all of the bin side. Click on Options on the toolbar, then click Save Window Settings to make this your new default. 

    2. The width of the bin name pull-down menus is determined by the longest bin name. Shorter bin names may allow the bin of the planning grid screen to "fit" as it should.

    3. Increase your computer's screen resolution so you can see more on your monitor.

    4. Click Case Only or Close Only to allow more visibility.

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Pop-up Didn't Pop Up: If a pop-up does not appear, check behind the grid screen. If it is not there, check that your pop-up blocker has been deactivated. There may be additional pop-up blockers within pfishing filters or other applications that also need to be deactivated. You may need to reset your computer to allow cookies from pledgedriver.com and pledgedriver.org.

 

Crazy Looking Grid: If your grid suddenly appears strange - odd spaces, cells, etc. - find the last case or close script in the grid before the strange things start. Open that script in the Script Editor window and convert it to Raw text. Chances are some unwanted HML code is present. If so, delete the unwanted code by using the stripper button (with the <> on it) and save. Then hit the bullet button. Usually this will return the grid to normal.

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Unwanted Yellow Highlighting of Script IDs:  This quirk can show up when a grid is "squeezed" - especially if you have 5 or 6 breaks in your grid. It will not affect your output. If you hit the F11 key to maximize the grid window, the yellow highlighting may disappear.

Wrong Script ID or Text: Script bin ID's (the two or three letter identifiers used in the grid) should not contain numbers, and some ascii characters can cause trouble. Case and Close bins with the same ID can result in crossover texts. Change the ID on one of those bins and re-enter any scripts from the changed bin into your grid to ensure those scripts will be interactive.

 

Case Script Titles Appear in the Close Area: If you've opened a Case bin, and see its script titles in the Close bin window, it may have been caused by clicking around before the scripts have been completely loaded into the bins.

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Case/Close Scripts with Multiple Fonts: This may result from importing a script in more than one piece. If you didn't successfully drag/drop or copy/paste ALL of a script's text at once, start over - don't do it two stages or you will import unseen HTML formatting code. To fix such a script see the next tip about funky formatting.

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Funky Script Formatting: To repair a case or close script that has funky formatting select that script in the bin, click Edit to open the Script Editor window, then click on the button with the <> on it. . This strips all format coding. Now click the bullet icon, add bullets as usual, and re-save. If this script's ID has already been used in your planning grid, the repaired text will automatically appear after you refresh your browser. OR open the script in the Script Editor window, click Raw to expose format coding, delete unwanted coding (keep <UL> at the beginning and end and <LI> at the start of each line - this preserves your bullets), and Save. Do not convert back to Rich before saving.

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Removing "&nbsp;" from Scripts: This is an encryption code for a non-breaking space.  It may appear in scripts when you use the Word output option. PledgeDriver's public scripts have been edited to remove this "bug," but if you saved affected scripts as private scripts before the purge, you may see it in those scripts or in scripts imported from your own sources. To remove it, open the affected script in the Script Editor window, click HTML to expose the code, delete the &nbsp; and then click Save Script. Do not click Rich before saving.  Contact us if you'd like more help or tips for searching whole bins at a time.

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(MAJOR_GIVING_CLUB) Token Not Working: This is not an interactive token. You will need to edit any scripts containing this phrase to reflect your station's major giving program.

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Unwanted Phone Number or Website Line Breaks: If at the end of a line, your phone number or website breaks where there is a hyphen, go back to your Station Information screen under Plan on the toolbar. Substitute &#8209; for each hyphen in your pone number. This is html code for an em-dash. This may result in a very long, very odd looking phone or website in the Station Info screen, but the output result will look as you want it.

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OUTPUT PROBLEMS

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Sent to the Wrong Screen: Example - If you are at the Print Options screen and click to return to the Planning Grid, but are sent to the Login screen instead, updating Windows may solve the problem.

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Script Boxes Split to the Next Page: If case/close boxes are splitting onto the next page in your print output; consider shortening your script, using a smaller font, decreasing the space between lines, eliminating double spaces between sentences, and/or changing margin sizes. If you have selected to print 2 Case/Close pairs per page, and a script box still splits onto the next page, open the output in Print Preview - there is a window at the top where you can reduce the size of your text to something smaller like 95%.

 

If your output is in Word rather than HTML, you can manipulate individual scripts in Word by changing fonts, page breaks, etc. to make them fit.

 

Unwanted Pages with Only Break Notes:  If you have break notes in a grid break with empty case/close spaces in the 3rd and 4th lines, you will get a second page with just the break notes. Avoid printing unwanted pages by selecting the pages you DO want to print when you open your printer to print. OR simply delete these text lines from your grid.

 

Wrong Size Font: If your scripts are not presenting with the font size that you selected, and you are producing your scripts with the Word option rather than HTML, the version of Word on your computer may have an incompatibility with the output. Check to see if your Word app has any auto formatting that can be de-selected. Check if the same problem occurs on a different computer. Another option is to close and reopen Word each time you want to produce your next set of scripts - that seems to kick things back to "normal."

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Dashboard Not Displaying Scripts: 

1. Day or hours not published to the Dashboard will not show up. Make sure you published them. The blue bar will have turned to pink on your grid.

2. Check your settings under My Account to be sure the correct time zone has been selected.

3. If you recently changed the email address to which the Dashboard url is sent, you may need to start a new pledge drive and copy/paste each of the days of your drive into it. Fortunately, this does not take long. Call us for help on this. The helpdesk can make quick work of this. 

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Dashboard Not Publishing (error message): If you added a day to your drive, that day will have the default date of January 1. You will need to assign the correct date. Go to Schedule Template under Plan on the toolbar, but DO NOT CHANGE THE DATES HERE. Instead, click on "edit dates for individual pledge drive days" to open Schedule Setup. Give the new day the correct date and click Update Dates.

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STILL STUCK?  Call Roger or Liz at 651-797-2161 (office) or 651-260-6010 (mobile) or email pledgedrive@msn.com.