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The ChurchReg Attendance program can be used to track Student Attendance,
Assignments, and other activities. A rating for each activity can be observed from the results displayed in the program. There are detailed Printouts for the Classes and Students. Contact information, Names and Addresses imported from the ChurchReg program are used to produce Letters and Note Files, and for Email and Phone Dialing in the program. The term 'Group' is used throughout the Attendance program which can also mean a 'Class'. For example the main areas are entitled Group Name, Group Leader, and Group Participant. These can also be understood as Class Name, Class Teacher, and Student. OPENING THE ATTENDANCE PROGRAM To open the Attendance program click on ATTENDANCE in the main ChurchReg and a window appears as shown in Fig.1 below.  Fig. 1 - Attendance Program Main Window STARTING NEW RECORDS When the ChurchReg Attendance program first begins it checks to see if a file named after the current year can be found. If not - it assumes that you are starting a new file and all information boxes will be empty. Start by adding a new CLASS Name. Until you enter your first Class Name, all other information boxes will be disabled. You can have up to 50 Classes in total. When you reach the limit a message will pop up to remind you. To start a new Class/Group click the Group Name Add/Modify button.  Fig. 2 - Group Name Add/Modify button The Group Name Dialog opens as shown below. If there are any existing Classes, the current Class will be selected in the list. Below the list is an entry box where you can type in the name of a new Class or you can modify an existing Class name. Near the bottom there are 3 checkboxes used to Add, Modify, or Remove the Class name.  Fig. 3 - Class Add/Modify Dialog The other main areas of the Attendance program work in the same manner as adding a new Class. Just click on the Add/Modify button in the appropriate area to enter a new Student, new Teacher, or a new Category or to modify and existing one. You will not be able to save your records until you have at least one entry in the 4 main areas as shown in Fig.4 below.  Fig. 4 - Four Areas - Mandatory Entries MOVING STUDENTS BETWEEN CLASSES To MOVE one or more Students to a different Class click the Group Participants MOVE button. When you do, the Move Participants Dialog opens as shown below. If there are any existing Students in the current Class, their names will appear in the top listbox.  Fig. 5 - Participant MOVE Dialog Select the students you want to move (or remove) in the top listbox. Select the Class you want to move Students to in the bottom 'Move To' listbox. Click the Move or Remove button and then click the Accept button to complete the action. ENTERING A CLASS PERIOD You can have one Period for each Class/Group and Periods can have a maximum of 53 weeks. The number of weeks is automatically obtained from the Period you choose and is used to calculate the Percentage Ratings for each Student and Category in the current Class. Begin by selecting the Class from the Group Name box. Once the Class has been selected, click the Period button at the bottom right corner of the Attendance window. The Set Period Dialog then appears as shown below.  Fig. 6 - Set Period Dialog To select a period Start date click anywhere in the TOP DATE BOX of the Set Period Dialog. This will pop up the period Start Calendar. The Calendar opens with the current period Start date selected. The Day of the Week and the Number of Weeks is shown at the top in the caption area above the red heading.  Fig. 7 - Period Month Calendar In a similar manner - to select a period End date click anywhere in the BOTTOM DATE BOX of the Set Period Dialog. This will pop up the period End Calendar which is similar to the Calendar shown above. The Calendar opens with the current period End date selected. The Day of the Week and the Number of Weeks is also shown at the top in the caption area above the red heading. When a Calendar is opened, if you click on the name of the month in the heading, for example September in Fig.8 below, then a menu opens with the names of all months. You can then select the correct Month from the list.  Fig. 8 - Calendar Month Selection List ADDING CATEGORIES The ChurchReg Attendance program will allow up to 12 Categories in total. When you reach the limit a message will pop up to remind you. A Category can be any subject you wish to track for a Student such as their attendance, assignments, knew memory verses, etc. The Category you create will be available to ALL Classes/Groups. Each Class can select the Categories it wants to use from the Category list. To add a new Category click the Categories Add/Modify button.  Fig. 9 - Categories Add/Modify Button When you do, the Category Dialog opens as shown below. If there are any existing Categories, the current Category will be selected in the list. Below the list is an entry box where you can type in the name of a new Category or you can modify an existing Category name. Near the bottom there are 3 checkboxes used to Add, Modify, or Remove the Category name.  Fig. 10 - Category Add/Modify Dialog USING THE CHECKBOXES The ChurchReg Attendance program allows you to track Student activities for up to 53 weeks a year for each Category. The 53 Checkboxes found below the Category area represent the weeks in the Period for the current Class, Student, and Category. The current Period is displayed at the bottom right side of the main screen to the right of the Set Period button (see Fig.1 at the beginning). The meeting Day of the Week and Number of Classes in the year is also shown. If a Period is shorter than 53 weeks - then the unused checkboxes will be DISABLED and GRAYED as shown for Week Numbers 27 through 53 in Fig.11. The FIRST active checkbox represents the Beginning Week for the period and the LAST active checkbox represents the Ending Week for the period.  Fig. 11 - Period Checkboxes If you hold the mouse pointer over a checkbox for 1-2 seconds, then the Date for that checkbox will pop up (as shown above). CHECKBOX MARKER The Checkbox Marker saves you time in checking Student checkboxes. Instead of having to check Students one at a time you can check or un-check any number of Students AT ONCE for a given Category or check or un-check one Student for any number of Categories AT ONCE. - All Students - One Category To use the Checkbox Marker click the Categories Select All button shown below.  Fig. 12 - Category Select All button When you do, the Checkbox Marker appears as shown in Fig.13 with a list displaying ALL Categories. Each Category will be highlighted or not highlighted according to the Student's current records.  Fig. 13 - Checkbox Marker Listing All Categories The Checkbox Marker always starts in the current WEEK or the week closest to today's date. The WEEK NUMBER can found just above the list. Before using the Checkbox Marker it is very important to observe that the WEEK NUMBER is correct! If the week number is not correct - then a large number of records will also be marked incorrectly! If the Week Number is incorrect - click the UP or DOWN arrow to the right until the correct DATE appears.  Fig. 14 - Week Number - Scroll Arrows There are buttons near the bottom of the Checkbox Marker which are used to toggle the List to display either Categories or Students/Participants. If you click the Category button - all Categories are displayed in the list and the TOP of the dialog displays the name of the current STUDENT in large letters with a pink background. See Fig.13 above. If you click the Participant button - all Students in the current Class are displayed in the list and the TOP of the dialog displays the name of the current CATEGORY in large letters with a pink background. See Fig.15 below.  Fig. 15 - Checkbox Marker Listing All Students The displayed state (highlighted or un-highlighted) of each item in the list is initially set by the program after it examines the checkbox record (checked or un-checked) for each Student in the Class. To change an item in the list click the mouse over the item to highlight and click again to un-highlight. Click the Accept button to save your changes. In the main Attendance screen, percentage ratings for each Student and Category in the current Class are shown in BLUE below the checkboxes (see Fig.1 at the start). The percentage is based upon the number of checked and unchecked weeks and the total number of weeks in the current period. PRINTING REPORTS You can print 2 styles of reports. They are: - a Categorical Report A Class Info Report displays the Class Name, Teacher Name, and Class Period for all Classes. It also prints a list of all Students and indicates which class they belong to. An example of a Class Info Report is shown below.  Fig. 16 - Example: Class Info List Printout
A Categorical Report lists all Class Categories (activities) and then displays each Student's rating for each Category in the Class. You can choose to display the rating in either Percentages or in Number Of Weeks. For example 23/52 Weeks or 44.23%.The rating is calculated from checkbox data and the Class Period. An example of a Categorical Report Printout is shown below.  Fig. 17 - Example: Categorical Report Printout
There are other printouts you can make using the auxiliary programs that are called on. Names and addresses are imported from the main ChurchReg program and inserted automatically into your Letters and Notefiles. You can also include pictures and Logos in your Letters and Notefiles before printing. LETTERS AND NOTES You can create a variety of letters to mail to your Students for initial contact, absence, an invitation to a special event, or anything else. Student information is pasted into your letters automatically. The program comes with a few sample Letters files (First Visit, Missed, Sympathy, etc) you can use as templates to create your own Letter. The sample letter files are found in the Letters folder. Letter files are in standard RTF Rich Text Format and will open in your system's default program used to access RTF files. A Heading is inserted automatically into the Letter and Student information is also added to the Name and Address lines in the Letter. Click on Letters in the Menu and then click on Open Letter File.  Fig. 18 - Example of a Student Letter CREATE YOUR OWN TEMPLATE LETTER FILE You can create your own Template Letter file which can be used just like the samples that are included with the program. The seven bracketed commands shown below must be added to the Template Letter. The commands must be spelled exactly as shown and enclosed in square brackets. Template Letter files must be stored in the 'Letters' Folder. The seven commands are: [Church Address] [Date] [Name] [Address 1] [Address 2] [First Name] The commands tell the program to insert Student information into the location you place the commands in your Template Letter.  Fig. 19 - Template Letter File The commands will be automatically replaced with the Church Name and Address, Date, Student Name and Address and First Name. Your Template Letter can include items such as your organization's Logo, a bitmap signature at the end, pictures, and text in a variety of Fonts. When you add the seven commands - be sure to select the correct font and font size (for the bracketed text) which will be replaced with the correct headings. The next time you want to use your Letter, just select the file from the Letters Folder. When you click on the file name, instead of opening that file, the program makes a copy of the file and will open the working copy. Any new text you type in is being typed in the working copy and not the original template. KEEPING NOTES AND IMPORTANT STUDENT INFORMATION You can keep an individual NOTE FILE for each Student. Note files can contain important information such as allergies a Student may have or medical conditions, additional contact information in case of emergencies and more. Note Files can be created in Plain Text format with a .txt extension or can be in RTF Rich Text format with a .rtf extension. Plain text (.txt) files do not allow the insertion of pictures, color, or varying font styles but are easier to maintain and are smaller in size. RTF Rich Text Format files can include pictures, color, and varying fonts. Usually a Plain Text file is sufficient for Note keeping. To begin, make your choice of either a Plain Text or Rich Text Note File from the Notes Menu. All future Note Files will be created using the choice you make. If you previously created a Note File using the other choice then the file will open in it's original style. CONTACTING STUDENTS The ChurchReg Attendance program allows you to Phone or send Email using your system's existing resources. The program runs the Windows PHONE DIALER to dial a telephone number recorded for a Student. Your system must have a Modem in order for the Phone Dialer to work. When you enter the Email address of a student, the program will run your system's default Email program and insert the email address into the FROM line of your email program. The Attendance program depends on your own system's resources for Phone Dialing and Emailing and you cannot use these functions if your system does not include those resources. |
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