Using the diary

The following topics are covered in this section:

• Registering
• Logging on
• Logging off
• Automatic logging off
• Running reports
• Entering information
• Windsurfing diary concepts

Registering

To use the windsurfing diary you must be registered with it. The diary is set up so that you only see your windsurfing equipment and your windsurfing trips. To enable this to happen you must log on to the diary so that the correct information can be displayed. This process is maintained through your registration. When you register with the diary you provide your name, your email address and a password. Your email address will not be used for any purpose other than the maintenance of this diary, for example if you forget your password, you can request to get a reminder of it sent to your email address.

Your user name for the diary is made by combining your first name and your surname. The username must be unique within the diary, so you may be prompted to provide a different name if there is already some one registered with your name.

The diary uses cookies to identify users and to ensure the correct diary records get updated. Therefore to use this diary you must have cookies enabled on your browser (they will be enabled by default on most web browsers.) If cookies are not enabled then the diary application will not work and will prompt you to enable them.

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Logging on

When you log on to the diary your user name will be recorded to ensure the correct information is displayed to you on each of the pages you view. After a period of fifteen minutes when there has been no activity from you, you will be automatically logged off the diary. If you close the browser and connect to the diary again, you will be prompted to log in again.

If you type the password wrong when you log in, you will be told that the password is incorrect and have the option to get a reminder of your password emailed to you. Every time an incorrect password is entered for your account is recorded. The next time your account is successfully logged into, a message is displayed telling you how many failed logins there have been to your account since you last logged in.

If you type your user name incorrectly, you will be told that your user name is not recognised. There is no way that the diary can guess what your user name is and help to provide a reminder of your username.

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Logging off

To enable another user to use the diary on the same machine, you must log off from the diary. Logging off will remove the cookie which identifies you during your session with the diary. Closing the browser will automatically log you off from the diary. If there is no activitiy from you in fifteen minutes, you will be automatically logged off from the diary.

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Automatic log off

Users are automatically logged off the diary if there has been on activity from them for a period of fifteen minutes. If you wish to continue using the diary, log back in and the normal functionality will be returned.

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Running reports

The main benefit of maintaining information about your windsurfing trips in a database driven application like this is the ability to run reports against the data and understand more about the windsurfing you have done. Click on the run reports button on the bottom of each page to view the list of reports available to you.

New reports can be added to the diary by the administrator at any time. If a particular type of report that you would like to see in the diary is not available, please send a suggestion to the diary adminstrator.

Further information about running the reports can be found in the running reports section.

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Entering information

The windsurfing diary can only show information that has been entered into it. The are a number of screens for entering information into the dairy and keeping it up to date. Use these reports to keep the information up to date, particularly when you sell or dispose of a piece equipment.

To ensure all the reports work for you, you are advised to fill in all the information on each of the forms, particularly items relating to costs and the equipment you used on a particular day. If you need to go back and ammend any of the information you have entered, this can be done via the update reports.

Further information about entering information, including details of each of the forms, can be found in the entering information section.

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Windsurfing diary concepts

The windsurfing diary breaks all windsurfing down into a series of trips. A trip describes a visit to a particular location. On any one trip there can be one or more sessions. Enter a session for each set of windsurfing equipment that was used during the trip. For example if you started off on a 6.0m sail, then the wind picked up and you changed down to a 5.0m sail. This would be one trip with two sessions. For each session record the details of the wind stength, direction, time on the water etc as well as the equipment that was used.

See the pages relating to the data input records for a more comprehensive guide to the type of information that should be entered on the report.

A glossary of terms for the diary is included in this help secion.

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