Inside This Issue:
August 2006
- The TOPS Internet Backup Service Just Got Better!
- Additional Dates for 2006 User Groups
- Hints From the Help Desk: Activating Report Export Options for Optional Modules
- Community's Web Site Highlighted in Major Newspaper
TOPS Comes to You:
08/15/06 TOPS User Group (Fort Myers, FL)
08/16/06 TOPS User Group (Clearwater, FL)
08/18/06 CAI Gold Coast Chapter (West Palm Bch, FL)
08/23/06 TOPS User Group (Orlando, FL)
08/24/06 TOPS User Group (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
10/13/06 CAI Houston Chapter (Houston, TX)
10/21/06 CAI New England Chapter (Burlington, MA)
11/02/06 CAI PA & Delaware Valley Chapter (Valley Forge, PA)
Announcements:
Best Fit Solutions, LLC provides TOPS v3.2.1™ training & accounting services. On-site or Internet-based training services available. Learn more at www.bestfitsolutions.net, or call 281-870-0404.
Use www.ReadyDOCS.com to sell documents online and turn Process into Profit. Contact us at (888) 497-8832 to find out how!
ReadyCollect integrates with TOPS Software to provide a complete collections process when accounts are turned over to your attorney. Visit www.ReadyCollect.com for more information on this money-saving program.
TOPS Corporate Trainer now provides
training on your site or via the Internet! Our corporate trainer, Dave
Black, has years of experience training in TOPS Software products. To
schedule a training session:
Toll-Free: 1-800-760-9966
Email: davidb@topssoft.com
The TOPS Internet Backup Service allows you to automatically back up your important TOPS Community Data from right inside TOPS Professional™ ! For More Info, see www.topsbackup.com.
The TOPS Web Admin Forum, located at admin.topswebsites.com provides resources for TOPS Community Web Site Administrators, from free web site content to direct chat with other admins. If you are not a member of this forum, be sure to request your login today.
If you have not yet checked out TOPS' Online Support Center, do it today! You can see your current usage minutes, review past tickets, and see what tickets are open for your organization. All you need to do is know your TOPS Client ID and fill in a one-time sign-up form.
TOPS Software will be conducting the 2006 series of User Group Conferences this summer.
*August 15: Ft. Myers, FL
*August 16: Clearwater, FL
*August 23: Orlando, FL
*August 24: Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Contact Sales at 1-800-760-9966 or sales@topssoft.com
for more information.
Restrictions:
The onTOPS Ezine is published by TOPS Software, LLC., 25400 US 19 N. Clearwater, FL 33763.
Copyright© 2001-2006, All rights reserved. Articles
may be reprinted with permission from the publisher.
Helpful Links:
TOPS
v3.2.1
TOPS On-Site
Internet Backup
TOPS Web Sites
TOPS Corporate
Subscription:
You are subscribed to the onTOPS Ezine as !*EMAIL*!. To change your subscription, please click here.
Articles from TOPS Software:
Welcome to onTOPS!
Welcome back to the onTOPS Ezine, a monthly email publication from TOPS Software. We have a summer schedule packed full of exciting events. Be sure to read about our first User Group Conference of 2006, and then sign up for one of the 5 others which will be held this summer. You might even win a special prize!
We hope you enjoy reading this month's issue. All of the articles in the ezines are stored in the articles section of our web site, www.topssoft.com, which also means that ezine articles are searchable via our web site search engine. You will find the search link at the bottom of each article, along with a convenient option to send an article of interest to a friend or colleague.
Please send feedback to: insider@topssoft.com
The TOPS Internet Backup Service just got better!
Sign Up for Internet Backup v5.0 today,
and receive one month of unlimited backup storage free!
This month, TOPS Software will be releasing version 5.0, entitled TOPS Internet Backup Service: Files and Folders.
For years we have offered an easy and inexpensive way to protect your important TOPS community data. The TOPS Internet Backup Service provides an offsite, redundant server on which the backups are stored. Customers subscribing to the TOPS Internet Backup Service have enjoyed peace of mind knowing their TOPS data was safer on the TOPS server than storing backup media at home or the office should disaster strike.
The TOPS Internet Backup Service has been completely redesigned. Not only does it have a new look and feel, the version 5 backup release incorporates a number of new features to make backing up ALL your important data even more flexible, easy, safe, and secure.
Here are some of the many enhancements and features that are now included in The TOPS Internet Backup Service:
[More]
To get started, go to www.topsbackup.com,
and click on Sign Up.
In Step 3, enter promotional code 806N to take advantage
of this exciting offer.
User Group Updates
This month we will be continuing our series of user group conferences with 4 events taking place in Florida. The User Group conferences serve as a forum for our customers to exchange ideas, and share their feedback with us.
Very often when transitioning to a new software package, or a new version of an existing package, your day-to day concerns do not allow you to fully explore the new features and enhancements to the program. Coming to a TOPS User Group gives you an opportunity to step away from the hustle and bustle for a day and take a guided tour of the many new features and services in the program.
Expect to see demonstrations of the new calendar function and the completely redesigned and enhanced Internet Backup Service. Another function that will be shown is the “batch CCR closing” option which was just added to TOPS Professional™ . This enhancement came about as the result of a user’s suggestion from our Arizona user group this past June.
[More]
From the Suggestion Box
TOPS Software regularly receives suggestions from customer to help us improve our products and services. We would like to share these suggestions, and our responses with you, both to give you an idea of what new features we are working on, and also to encourage you to share your own ideas with us.
Click Here to enter your own suggestions into our suggestion box!
Optional Module Report Export Formats
Dear TOPS:
We really like the new ability in TOPS 3.2.1 to print our accounting reports to PDF. We use it a lot to email board members with the current reports, but we would like to see this same ability for CC&R and Work Order reports. Right now, we have to scan those reports in order to get them into a printable format.
We Can Do That Too!
You may have heard that we are working on converting all of the reports in TOPS to a new report engine that exports natively to PDF among other things.
These new reports are still a few months away from release, but in the meantime, there is something that you can do to export your CC&R, Gate Security, Payroll, Pool Pass and Work Order reports...
[More]
Hints from the Helpdesk
Activating Report Export Options for Optional Modules
Did you know that TOPS’ optional modules (CC&R, Gate Security, Payroll, Pool Pass and Work Order) have a built-in way to export reports to many popular file formats (such as .DOC and .XLS), as well as email? Here’s how:
[More]
Community's Web Site Highlighted in Major Newspaper
Congratulations to Imagination Farms of Davie, Florida, whose TOPS Community Web Site was recently spotlighted in an article, titled “Community Web Sites-Neighbors schmooze, news online” by Melissa Sanchez. The article appeared in the Broward edition of the Miami Herald newspaper on Monday, July 24, 2006.
The article, which focused on the community’s usage of the message board feature to foster communication between neighbors, included an interview with Sharon Baron, the community web site administrator, and Anna Papernik, a resident of the community, and an active user of the web site.
[More]
Contact a TOPS Web Sales representative for information on how you can achieve these same results through a TOPS Community Web Site. websales@topssoft.com or 1-800-556-7852.
Web Site Training Camp
We would like to thank all the enthusiastic and talented web site administrators who participated in the web site Training Camp held by AtHomeNet last week! This session, billed as ‘Four Hours of Fun-Filled Web Site Wizardry’ had a great turnout with over 50 attendees, many of whom were TOPS Web Site Administrators. On hand to represent TOPS Software was Jennifer Briere, Web Support Technician.
[More]
New Web Site Style Selector
Setting up a new web site just got easier than ever before! www.colorselections.com has received a complete overhaul to become a one-stop shop to help you define the look and feel for your new TOPS Community Web Sites. The new updated site now walks you through 5 easy steps to setting up your web site:
[More]
Please be advised that any requests for redesigns on existing sites will receive a lower priority than new sites that have not been set up yet. Redesigns are handled on a first come first served basis, and may take up to two weeks to be completed.
Previous
News & Notes:
- Welcome to TOPS' new Support Receptionists, Ashley Ventre and Georgina Gotsis! Listen for their friendly voices on the phone when you call support.
- Happy Birthday to:
Nicole Beal - August 9th
Carl Beal - August 22nd
- Happy Belated Birthday
to:
Jeanne Plennert - July 4th
Andrea Drennen - July 15th
TOPS Program Updates:
TOPS Professional™ >
- The Phone Messenger User Guide has been added to the Support section of the TOPS website.
- CC&R Batch Close option has been added to the CC&R Batches tab. This new program allows you to close multiple records at once, very handy to use after an inspection or board meeting.
- Added ability to double click on a reminder in CC&R to drill down into the record.
- Added option in User Groups to restrict items in the Internet menu.
- Emails sent from TOPS now have a sent date so they sort properly in the Outlook Sent Items folder.
- Added option to hide balance forward on statement and Invoices.
- Removed Stop at Each Owner option in Apply Prepaids to avoid confusion and accidental multiple postings.
- Corrected issue causing Aged Open Items report not to print if there is no history for the selected vendors.
- Email addresses are now automatically pulled into the Community Fact Sheet when a President or Alternate Contact is selected from Board Members.
- Attachments have been corrected to show in Community Fact Sheet for all users who have access.
- Rebuild All communities has been updated to correctly generate all files on rebuild without the necessity of going into each individual community.
- Income Statement report will now print Landscape size in Classic Report mode.
- Officer reports and labels have now been defined with a default printing option so that users can print without first defining options.
- Owner Balances now displays the correct flag screen.
TOPS MaintCo>
- AP Balances now automatically sets up a payable item in the association in TOPS Professional™ , if the View/Set Bill To Info is set to Customer's TOPS Professional™ Record, or TOPS Professional™ Community. (appears as an open voucher)
- Corrected issue causing Work Order Charges not to display if user was switching between TOPS Professional™ and MaintCo™.
- Added MaintCo Category to the module pull down in the TOPS Internet Updater so that MaintCo™ programs can be updated automatically.
TOPS Internet Backup Service>
- TOPS Internet Backup Service version
5.0: Files and Folders is released! The new version allows users
to set up their important files to be backed up online.
Other new features such as multiple users, versioning, automatic emails
and administrative reports make this an ambitious and exciting addition
to the Internet Backup Service.
Read More
TOPS Interactive Web Sites>
- Updated Web Site Style Selector on www.colorselections.com to a more robust and complete web site set up experience.
- Added "date/time posted stamp" to bottom of classified ads
- Show Security screen under "Statistics" now shows a "Board" security level along with resident and administrator.
- "Lost Password" screen now sends an email to the spouse if it is the spouse's name or email that is entered. It will also find the spouse by name even if the spouse has no last name, by using the primary last name in lookup.
New Themes>
- We have two new themes for this month. Visit these fabulous locations on our virtual tour: Sunshine State, and Texas Tea. Check them out on the TOPS Theme Manager!
Contact TOPS Software:
Software Sales
- 800.760.9966
Web Site Sales - 800.556.7852
Tech Support - 800.899.5689
ext1
Web Support - 800.899.5689
ext2
Backup Service - 800.899.5689
ext2
Billing Questions - 301.869.8144