For the most complete documentation on WebTrackIII, the BookOnCD, and the many other technology features available for use with BookOn products, check out the updated Technology Guide!

1. System requirements

WebTrackIII should run on the following operating systems

a. Windows XP (Home and Pro), and Windows Vista

b. Mac OSX on both PowerPC and Intel Processors

c. Linux support has not yet been finalized

The program and data must be placed on a writable device such as a hard disk drive or Flash drive.

The user must have Write rights to:

a. The drive/folder containing WebTrackIII and the data files.

b. If running from a Flash drive, the user must have Write access rights to the currently defined TemporaryFolder. On Windows, this is typically something like C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Temp\, but the folder path may be different on various systems. On "normally" configured systems, users will have Write rights to that temporary folder.

2. Starting the program

a. Unzip the webtrackiii.zip file to an empty folder.

b. On Windows, double-click the file WebTrackIII.exe.

c. On a Mac, the first time you use the program on a Mac, double-click the file MacWebTrackIII.app.tar to unpack it. After the first session, to run the program on a Mac, double-click the file MacWebTrackIII.

3. Creating an instructor account and/or logging in

a.  Start WebTrackIII.exe by clicking the executable WebTrackIII.exe.

b. The Log In window will appear.

c  Enter a user ID to be used as the WebTrack Instructor account. The instructor's e-mail address is recommended because it is a unique ID that students already have to remember.

d. Enter a password.

e. Click Log In.

f. What happens next depends on whether or not that account exists on the local system and the WebTrack servers. If the userID/password does exist on the local system (meaning it was previously verified with the WebTrack servers), you will be given access to the system. If the userID/password do not exist on the local system, you will be prompted to enter the password again to verify. After typing in the password, click Continue.

g. The program will then verify that user ID/password with the WebTrack servers. If the user ID does not exist, it will be created on the servers and the local computer. If the user ID does exist, but if the password matches, appropriate files will be created on the local computer and you'll have access to the account. If the user ID does exist, but the password does not match, an error will indicate that the password does not match and you will not gain access to the account.

4. Using the main WebTrackIII program window

The current database is displayed near the top of the window. The name of the database file is the instructor WebTrack ID with the extension .rsd.. If student results have been previously consolidated, they will be displayed in the listbox in the bottom half of the screen.

To temporarily sort the results by any column, click the header at the top of that column. To reverse the sort, click that same header again. To display all data in the default order, click the Show All button.

To display only the best results for the data in the current view, click the Show Best Scores Only button. To reset the data view so all scores are displayed, click the Show All button or use the filters to modify the current view.

Use the filter textboxes to filter the displayed data by Section, StudentID, Lastname, DateIn (date the result was consolidated by the instructor), Title, or Order By (which allows for several prepared sorts by multiple columns). Multiple filters can be used at the same time. If no results meet the current filters, no results will be displayed. The combination of filters, queries, and sorting seems simple, but is quite powerful and flexible.

To re-set all filters to the default of “All”, click the Show All button.

If you are familiar with SQLite, you can directly enter or modify the SQL query in the textbox, then click the Query button or press Enter to run the query. For more info on SQLite see http://www.sqlite.org/ or http://www.sqlite.org/lang.html.

If you try to run a query containing potentially damaging keywords (“alter table”, “rename to”, “delete”, “replace”, or “update”), the system will display a prompt asking if you are sure you want to run it.

If you edit or enter a query that you think you might want to re-use, click the Save Current Query button to save the current query as a custom query. For more information on editing and deleting custom queries, see the section on Custom Queries.

5. Editing student data

WebTrack III allows direct editing of student data. This is a very powerful advanced feature that is turned off by default. To enable data editing, click the Allow Data Editing checkbox. With Data Editing enabled, to edit any record, click any field in any record and edit the data. The data will be updated in the database when you press Enter or when that cell loses the focus.

To delete a single record, click the record, then click the Delete Selected Row(s) button.

To delete multiple records, click a record, then hold down the Shift key and click any other record to select multiple records. Click the Delete Selected Row(s) button to delete all selected records.

To delete all data for a particular student, click Show All to make sure all data for the student is displayed. Select all records for that student, then click the Delete Selected Row(s) button.

To delete all data for a section, click Show All to make sure all data for the section is displayed. Select all records for that section then click the Delete Selected Row(s) button.

6. Downloading/consolidating student data from the Web.

Click the WebTrack button to download and consolidate data from the WebTrack queues. Any student data waiting in the queues for you instructor account will be downloaded and added to your database with duplicate data filtered out during the consolidation process. Results will be considered duplicates if they are for the same activity, from the same student, were saved within the same one minute time period, AND have the same score.

Duplicate responses to issue questions are filtered out so only one result for each Issue question will be consolidated for each student ID.

7. Consolidating data from local disk

Click the Local Drive button, then select the folder (any folder on any readable drive) from which to read the Tracking Files. After selecting the folder, click the OK button. The Tracking files in the selected folder will be added to the database if they do not already exist in the database.

NOTE: Under Windows, the Disk consolidation routine supports older .TRK, .TK2, and newer .TK3 files. On the Mac, older .TRK and .TK2 files will not be consolidated from the hard disk drive. (They can be downloaded/consolidated via the Web.)

8. Importing data from other programs

WebTrackIII supports import of comma-delimited data from WebTrackII or from other programs.

Each record must be on a separate line and the data must contain at least 9 fields per line: Section, Firstname, Lastname, StudentID, Title, Date, Time, TotalPoints, MyPoints, Score

The fields can be in any order and do not have to be named, but the records must contain data for each of those fields. If any field contains a comma, the field must start and end with quotation marks as in "Illustrated Computer Concepts, 6th Edition".

To import data, click Tools/Import Data/Comma-Delimited Data, then click Yes to continue. Locate and select the file containing the comma-delimited data to display the Import Data dialog box. If the first field of the file contains headers, click Ignore First Row as Header. The required fields will be displayed with a field number and sample data reflecting the data in that field number. Enter a number from 0 to 9 in each Field# box. Verify that the correct sample data is displayed for that field.

When you have selected the correct fields, click the Import button. A dialog box will display sample data with the field headings. To cancel the import, click the No button.  To import the data, click the Yes button.

9. Exporting data to other programs.

To export data, click the Comma-delimited button. The current data view (using current filters and query) will be saved as webtrack.csv in the current folder.

To view the generated CSV file in your default CSV application (typically Excel), click Yes. To proceed without viewing the CSV file, click No. The CSV file can be imported into a wide range of other programs, including most gradebook programs and many LMS systems.

10. Exporting data as HTML

To export data as HTML, click the HTML button. The current data view (using current filters and query) will be saved as webtrack.htm in the current folder. To view the generated HTML file in your default browser, click Yes. The HTML file can be posted, printed, or e-mailed.

To generate an HTML for a particular student (perhaps to e-mail to that student), select the student ID in the filter list before exporting to HTML.

12. Creating/editing syllabus and annotation links

Click the Syllabus and Annotation Links tab. The current annotations for your WebTrack instructor ID (if any) will be downloaded from the WebTrack servers and displayed for review and editing.

View, edit, or preview the Syllabus link in the top line of the window. The Syllabus link will be displayed for all students who submit data to this WebTrack Instructor ID. If you prefer to use a separate syllabus link for each section, create a unique WebTrack Instructor ID for each section.

The Titles list displays all titles for which you can create annotation links. The currently selected title is displayed in the non-editable title box and all current annotation links are displayed in the listbox near the bottom of the screen, sorted by title and by page number.

To create an annotation for the current title, enter a page number and a URL, then click the Add button.

To preview an annotation, select it in the list, then click the Preview button. To delete an annotation, select it in the list, then click the Delete button. Click the Sort button to display the annotations in the default order (sorted by title and page with the first occurrence of each title shown in bold).

Annotations are downloaded to students when they submit data to your instructor account. Annotations show up as an Annotation button in the toolbar when the student is viewing a page for which you have created an annotation.

If you make any changes to your syllabus or annotation links, the changes will be uploaded to the WebTrack servers when you exit the program. You can click the Upload button to manually upload your edited links to the WebTrack servers.

13 Viewing Issue responses.

Click the Issue tab to display a list of all Issue questions which have responses in your database will be displayed, sorted by title, chapter, page, and question number. The summarized responses to each question are displayed in the right side of the table. A pie chart of the current issue question and responses is displayed in the bottom of the window. Use the arrow keys or the mouse to display any issue question.

14. Exporting issue data as text:

Click the top HTML button to export the text issue data in HTML format. Click the top Comma-delimited button to export the text issue data in comma-delimited format.

15. Exporting the current issue chart:

Click the bottom HTML button to export the current issue chart as HTML. Click the bottom PNG graphic button to save the current chart as a PNG file. Click the Clipboard button to paste the current chart to clipboard.

16. Creating and using custom queries

To view your custom queries, click the Custom Queries tab. The location of the current query file will be displayed near the top of the tab. This is a standard text file named queries.txt saved in the same program with the WebTrackIII program. Queries.txt can be copied or edited in other programs such as Notepad if desired.

Useful queries can be shared between instructors. You can just copy/paste the text of the query to/from the query list, the query box on the Tracking Data tab, or directly into queries.txt.

To add a new custom query, click the Add Query button. The default starter query will be displayed. Modify the query as desired, then click any other tab or button to save the query and add it to the list of available queries on the Tracking Data tab. You can also add a new or edited query by clicking the Save Current Query button on the Tracking Data tab.

You can also create/edit queries from the Tracking Data tab. If you create or edit a query that you would like save, click the Save Current Query button to save that query to your custom query list. To delete a custom query, click any query to select it, then click Delete Query. To edit a custom query, click the query in the list, then edit in the list.

17 Activating a new database

This feature is typically used at the start of a new semester. It cleans out student data from the previous semester to start with an empty database.

Click Tools, Activate new database. The current database will be archived to a file with the current date as part of the filename and the .sav file extension and a new/blank database will be prepared for use.

18. Changing the instructor WebTrack password

Click Tools, Change Password. Click Yes to change the password, enter the new password two times to verify, then click the Continue button. A dialog box will indicate that the password was changed and the new password will be required for the next log in to the system.

19. Deleting your instructor account

Click Tools, click Delete Instructor Account. Click Yes to delete the current instructor account. This deletes the instructor account from the WebTrack servers. It also deletes the local files pointing to the instructor account. This does NOT delete the local WebTrack database containing previously consolidated data.

20. Compacting the database

Over a period of time, the database will grow in size as records are added, edited, and deleted. To reduce the size of the database to the minimum, click Tools, Compact Database.

21. Exiting without saving changes.

To exit the program without saving changes to the database, click Tools/Exit without saving changes. All changes made in the current session will be discarded, including data edits, deletes, imports, and downloads. Restart the program to continue working with the previous version of the database.

22. Deleting old  database backups

You can use this option to delete accumulated, dated .bak files that are created at the end of each session. When you click that option the Delete old dated database .bak files without review? dialog box will appear. Click Yes to review the .bak files before optionally deleting each file. Click No to automatically delete all dated .bak files without reviewing them. Click Cancel to exit without deleting any files.

23. More information on database backup files

Each time you start the program, your current database is copied as UserID.bak.

The UserID.bak file can be used to restore your database to the state it was in before you started the current session, using the Tools/Exit Without Saving Changes menu option.

The UserID.bak file is over-written each time you start the program. The UserID.bak file will not be deleted by the Delete Old Database Backups menu option.

Each time you exit the program, your current database is copied to a file with the name UserID+date.bak. A new version of the file is saved each time you exit the program. Over time, those files will accumulate, taking space on your Flash drive or hard disk drive. The old, dated. .bak files should not be needed under normal circumstances. They are saved to provide additional ways to recover your old data should your database become corrupted. You may want to periodically delete old .bak files using the Tools/Delete Old Database Backups menu option.

24. Help

For local help, click Help/Using WebTrackIII.

For online Help, click Help/Online Help, which displays the same help file linked to the Log In screen.

For more information on SQLite queries, click Help/SQLite.org.

For information about WebTrack, including the version number, click Help/About.

25. The updates tab

The updates tab displays current information from the WebTrack site. You should periodically check the Updates tab for information about new releases of WebTrack.