Manager Manual
for TypingMaster Online and TypingMaster Intra

 

 

Version 2.2; Copyright TypingMaster, Inc.

Contents

Introduction   5. Groups Page
    5.1 Personal and Shared Groups
1. Basic Navigation   5.2 Creating and Deleting Groups
1.1 Manager Pages   5.3 Editing Group Settings
1.2 Popup Help Windows   5.4 Other Group Tasks
     
2. Main Page   6. Settings Page
    6.1 Personal Settings
3. Users Page   6.2 General Settings
3.1 User Types   6.2.1 User Login Settings
3.2 Viewing User Progress   6.2.2 Study Settings
3.2.1 Basic and Advanced Views   6.2.3 License Password
3.2.2 User Information   6.2.4 Language Selections
3.2.3 Filtering and Sorting   6.2.5 Administrative Settings
3.2.4 Creating Reports    
3.3 Managing Users   7. Test Texts Page
3.3.1 Adding Users    
3.3.2 Editing User Settings   8. Licenses Page
3.3.3 Assigning Users to Groups   8.1 Purchasing Information
3.3.4 Archiving Users   8.2 Entering Licenses
3.3.5 Deleting Users   8.3 License Information
3.3.6 Searching Users    
  9. Tools Page
4. Courses Page    
4.1 Available Courses   Appendixes
4.2 Editing Course Settings   Appendix 1: Speed Measurement
4.2.1 General Course Settings   Appendix 2: License Types
4.2.2 Lesson Pass Requirements   Appendix 3: Trial Mode
4.2.3 Final Test Settings    
4.3 Copying Course Settings    

Introduction

This Manager Manual will explain the centralized user and course management features available in TypingMaster Online and TypingMaster Intra. Please read this manual before deploying TypingMaster Online/Intra on a larger scale. This will ensure a trouble free startup and you will also know how to take advantage of all the features TypingMaster Online and TypingMaster Intra has to offer.

Note: TypingMaster Online and TypingMaster Intra are basically identical in functionality. The handful of differences between the two are clearly marked in this manual.

With Manager you can complete the following tasks:

  • Manage users as groups and follow their progress and test scores with a variety of reports
  • Customize courses for users and groups
  • Arrange fully customized typing tests using any text
  • Control the way in which the lessons progress
  • Set passing limits to lessons and entire course
  • Configure common settings for all users

1. Basic Navigation

TypingMaster Online/Intra comprises the following two main sections:

  • Study Area: Studying section for all users. This is the student view of the program. Please see the User Manual for more information about how to study with TypingMaster.
  • Manager: Management tools for administrator only. This section is used by administrator and/or teachers to manage users and courses and to view progress reports.

Administrators and teachers have access to the Manager and the Study Area. Use the tabs on top of the page to switch between the two sides.

Ordinary users do not have access to the Manager side and are taken directly to the Study Area when they login.

1.1 Manager Pages

The main menu of the Manager is located on the left hand side of the screen. TypingMaster Manager is divided into five main sections: Main page, Users page, Courses page, Groups page, and Settings page. Each of these sections can be reached by clicking on the appropriate tab on the left.

  • Main page: Here a general overview of TypingMaster Online/Intra is placed in one easily accessible area. The page is divided into three sections: General Information, License Usage and Quick Actions. See Chapter 2 for more detailed description.
  • Users page: This is where you manage users, monitor their progress and generate printable reports. Chapter 3 introduces the different functions available on this page.
  • Courses page: This is where you customize course settings. See Chapter 4 for more information about the Courses page.
  • Groups page: On this page, you create, view and edit groups. See Chapter 5 for more.
  • Settings page: Here you can control general settings related to user login, study settings, and the general operation of the TypingMaster. These settings affect all users and can only be configured by an administrator. More on the Settings page in Chapter 6.

In addition, there are four links to advanced functions.

  • Test Texts page: On this page, you can select which typing test texts are visible to the users and also add and edit your own custom test texts. Full description in Chapter 7.
  • Licenses page: This is where you monitor license usage and order more licenses when needed.
  • Manuals page: Behind this link you'll find the User Manual and Administrator Manual) in different languages.
  • Tools page: (Only in TypingMaster Intra) Advanced management tools for TypingMaster Intra.

Tip: The different sections of the Manager are interlinked and shortcuts to many user, group and course management actions can be found on the different pages. For example, viewing users in a group can be done from the Main page, Users page or Groups page. We recommend that you experiment with the Manager to find the way that works best for you.

1.2 Popup Help Windows

Throughout the Manager pages, you’ll find buttons with a question mark Help button. These are easy context based help windows. Clicking the question mark will open a small popup window that gives you a more in-depth description of what that particular field or setting does.

2. Main Page

The Main page is the summary page of the Manager and gives an easily accessible quick overview of TypingMaster as it is used in your school or company. The page is divided into three parts: General Information, License Usage and Quick Actions, which all contain shortcuts to other pages in the Manager.

General Information

General Information section shows the name of your school or company as it has been entered in the system. This name is visible to all users when they use TypingMaster Online/Intra.

Login Link is the link that to your TypingMaster account. You will need to give it to all students. In case users forget the link and ask you for it, simply check the correct link from the Main page.

You can also see an overview of the number of users in the system.

License Usage

License Usage section gives a general view of license usage. The information shown is different depending on the license type purchased. See Chapter 8 Licenses for more details.

Quick Actions

Quick Actions section lists the most commonly used administrative actions.

  • With View users you can quickly create a list of all users or users in a chosen group. Do do that, select a group from the drop-down menu and click on the arrow button to view users in that group. Note that this action takes you to the the 'Users' page where more options to select users is available.
  • You can use Search for users to find individual users by entering the user's name or User ID and clicking on the arrow button. If you do not remember the whole name or user ID, you can type in any part of the name and the program will list all users that match the search. This again takes you to the Users page.
  • Customize courses for.. is a shortcut to customizing courses for all users or groups of users. Again, select a group from the drop-down menu and click on the arrow button to go forward. This shortcut takes you to the Courses page.
  • View Study Area for.. provides a shortcut to launch the typing tutor in the Study Area and see how it works with the settings of the selected group. This can also be done from the Courses page.

Other actions that you can take from the Main view include:

  • Create a new user account (this action is only visible to Admin users). This shortcut takes you to the Users page.
  • View and manage groups. This shortcut takes you to the Groups page.
  • Edit general settings that affect all users and courses. This shortcut takes you to the Settings page.

3. Users Page

On the Users page, you can complete all tasks that are related to monitoring user progress or managing users, such as:

  • View user and progress information on screen
  • Filter and sort user and progress information on screen
  • Create printable reports
  • Add, edit and delete users
  • Group users

3.1 User Types

There are three user types in TypingMaster Online/Intra: Administrator, Teacher and User.

Administrator Level User ("Admin")

Highest level user account. Has full access to all areas of the product. Set any user who need full access to the product to this level.

  • Full access to Manager
  • Allowed to see and manage the groups of all teachers and administrators
  • Full control over the general settings affecting TypingMaster Online/Intra

Teacher Level User ("Teacher")

Second highest level user account. Has limited access to the Manager side. Assign any user to this level who need only access to their groups and users.

  • Allowed to see and manage only their personal groups and shared groups
  • No access to other teachers' personal groups
  • Cannot edit other Admin or Teacher user settings
  • No access to general settings or management tools

To have a higher level of security, use the teacher account to prevent people from having full access to the Manager.

Basic User ("User")

These are the basic users who can only access the Study Area of the program and can view their personal information only. The majority of your users should be at this level.

Access to Manager Sections

The table below summarizes the differences between the different levels of users:

Section User Teacher Admin
Study area Access Access Access
Personal settings Access Access Access
Personal groups - Access Access
Shared groups    - Access Access
Any teacher's group - - Access
Any teacher's settings - - Access
Any teacher's typing tests - - Access
General settings - - Access
License information - - Access

3.2 Viewing User Progress

With TypingMaster Online/Intra, you can view user progress in the following ways:

  • View all user data in without using any filters
  • Filter the user view by group, course, percentage completed or last login
  • Sort user data to ascending or descending order by user name, group, course status etc.
  • Use the different reports

3.2.1 Basic and Advanced Views

The Users page has two display options: Basic view and Advanced view.

Basic and Advanced views have the same structure but Advanced view has some additional filtering tools and displays more user information than the Basic view. To change between the two views, click on the tabs at the top right corner.

Note: The Advanced View is quite wide and you may need to use the horizontal scroll bar to view all information or to be able to click back to the Basic View.

3.2.2 User Information

The table below summarizes the user information displayed on the Users page.

Column name   Description

Users

 

List of users in format "Last name, First name". The number in brackets shows the total number of users in the selected Group or All Groups.

To view a Detailed report for a user, simply click on the user name.

User settings

  Click on the button to view and/or edit user settings (first name, last name, login ID, password and email address).

Email to

 

Click on the button to send email to this user. Emailing is done with your default email program.

Note that you can only send email to one user at a time.

Group

 

Shows the group this user belongs to.

Note: Creating and renaming groups is done on the Groups page.

Total time
(Advanced view)

 

Shows how much time user has spent studying (all courses). Time spent doing the free typing tests, playing the games from the menu (Windows version only) and so on is not included in this time value. Looking at the total time gives the exact time that user spent doing the course material, this better allows to assess their progress in learning touch typing, rather than just the user's time spent with the program open.

Login ID
(Advanced view)

 

This is the use's login ID.

Last login
(Advanced view)

 

Shows when the user has used the program last (date and time).

License (Lic.)
(Advanced view)

 

Green sign with check mark means that this user has taken a license.

Gray sign means that the user has not taken a license.

In concurrent user licensing, this view shows who is using the program at the time TypingMaster Online/Intra Manager is open.

TIP: If you have purchased transferable user licenses, you can free up a license by archiving the user.

Course

 

Shows the courses this user has taken or started.

Status

 

Shows the user's progress in the courses started. If a course is completed, the status shows Completed. If a course is in progress, the status shows the number of lessons completed out of total lessons in the course.

Course time
(Advanced view)

 

Shows how much time in total the user has spent doing the exercises in this particular course.

The time spend doing the free typing tests, playing the games from the menu (Windows version only) and so is not included in this time value. The total time gives the exact time that user spent doing the course material, this better allows to assess their progress in learning touch typing, rather than just the user's time spent with the program open.

Net speed

 

Net speed is the total typing speed with the errors calculated into the result (more information about typing results in Appendix 1).

Without brackets, this is the final test result. If shown in brackets, the course has not been completed and this is the result from the last lesson completed (shown in Status).

Accuracy
(Advanced view)

 

Accuracy percentage is the percentage of text typed correctly (more information about typing results in Appendix 1).

Without brackets, this is the final test result. If shown in brackets, the course has not been completed and this is the result from the last lesson completed (shown in Status).

Gross speed
(Advanced view)

 

Gross speed is the total speed of keying in letters without calculating errors in the result (more information about typing results in Appendix 1).

Without brackets, this is the final test result. If shown in brackets, the course has not been completed and this is the result from the last lesson completed (shown in Status)

3.2.3 Filtering and Sorting

Filtering the User List

The filtering options are found in the blue bar at the top of Users page. Filtering is very useful if you have a large amount of users and you do not want to view every users' details.

Filtering the user view will display user information for selected group or course or according to percentage of course completed or last login time. The different filters will help in reviewing student progress quickly and we recommend that you start using them from the beginning.

  • View users in..: Select the user group you wish to view.
  • View results for..: Select the course that you want to view results for.
  • Course status..: Shows users filtered by the progress status of their studies (Advanced view only).
  • Last login..: Shows users filtered by the date/time they've last used the program (Advanced view only).

NOTE: You can use several filters at the same time. If you find that some user's or group's information is not shown on the page, check that the page view is not filtered. To view all users, set "View users in.." to "All groups" and "View results for.." to "All courses".

Sorting the User List

This is a very useful feature for quickly arranging user data. If the column heading is underlined, user information can be sorted in ascending or descending order by clicking on the heading. The sorting criteria used in the current view is marked with a small triangle.

3.2.4 Creating Reports

To create a report

  1. Filter: Select the users or groups that you want to create a report for
  2. Sort: Sort the data in the order that you want the information to be given in the report. This step is optional.
  3. Choose report type: Select the type of report you wish to create from the "Report type" drop-down menu on the task bar at the bottom of the page.
  4. Create: Click on the arrow-button to open the report in the new window
  5. Print: If you want to print out the report choose File > Print
  6. Close: Choose File > Close to close the report

Below is a summary of the different report types that can be created with TypingMaster:

User List Report

The simple list of users with the following data:

  • user name
  • group
  • last login
  • total time spent doing course material (all courses)
  • login ID
  • email address

Course Results Report

Summary report with the following user data:

  • user name
  • courses started
  • status for each course
  • total time spent in this course
  • net speed
  • accuracy
  • gross speed

Detailed Report

Shows detailed user information with course status, time spent and typing results (net speed, gross speed, accuracy). This report displays all available information about the user.

3.3 Managing Users

On the Users page you can manage users by adding, archiving and deleting them, assigning them to groups and modifying their settings.

3.3.1 Adding Users

There are two ways to add users to TypingMaster Online/Intra. Users can register themselves or teacher or administrator can add users in the Manager.

To Add Users in Manager

  1. Go to Users page.
  2. Click on "Add users" at the bottom or the top right corner of the blue tool bar.
  3. Create a user by giving the details requested (for setting descriptions see Chapter 3.3.2).
  4. Click on either "Create" which returns you to the Basic User view; or "Create and Add New" if you want to create another user.

Adding Teachers and Administrators

When you start adding teacher/administrator accounts considering the following two questions might help you to administer TypingMaster Online/Intra in the most efficient way.

  • Teachers or Administrators?
    Usually the best option is to have one administrator and a number of teachers with limited access. However, you can give administrator rights to several people, if you want them to have full access to all user information and settings (see table in Chapter 3.1).
  • Personal or Shared Groups?
    Groups led by one person should usually be personal groups owned by that person. Groups with several responsible persons should be created as shared.
  • Enable Teacher/administrator Switching?
    Consider if administrators are allowed to switch between being a Teacher and an Admin user type. Teachers, for example, may wish to occasionally access the more advanced settings on the Settings page for example. Having switching set to Enabled would allow them to switch to the Admin type giving them full access to such settings. Setting this to disabled means Admins and Teachers are locked into their roles. This allows for a greater level of security and confidentiality as Teachers are unable to change global settings or see and interact with other people's groups and users.

3.3.2 Editing User Settings

To edit user settings

  1. Click on the "User Settings" button next the user's name.
  2. Modify user settings
  3. Click "Save" to save the changes

Note: When changing an Admin or Teacher user's settings, all changes need to be confirmed by giving your current password.

Setting Descriptions

Setting name   Description
User ID
  This is the User ID for the created user (4 - 25 characters). This is needed along with a password for the user to be able to logon to the created account.
Password   This is the password that will be requested from the user when logging on. This password along with the User ID is necessary for the user to log on.

Note: The password is case sensitive (TypingMaster is different from typingmaster).
Re-enter password   This is used to verify the password was typed in correctly.
User Type  

Choose the user type:

  • User: Basic user who can only access the Study Area
  • Teacher: Access to the Study Area and limited access to the Manager
  • Admin: Full access to the Study Area and to the Manager

For more information on different user types see Chapter 3.1.

Note: Administrators and Teachers can change their roles only if "Teacher/Admin Switching" is enabled on the Settings page.

First name   Enter the first name of the user.
Last name   Enter here the last name of the user. This will make following results easier as user data is sorted alphabetically by their last name.
Email   Enter here the email address of the user you are creating. This will make it possible for the administrator to contact the user easily and the user will receive alerts from the program.
Send Email   This setting appears only when new users are created. When checked, the program sends the users an email with their login information to the address given above.

Your contact information, such as name and email address, are included in the message. Instructions on logging in are also provided. To view the message template, click on "Click to view message" link.

Note: Editing the above message and mass mailing to users from inside the Manager are not features of TypingMaster Online. This is for security reasons as such functionality could easily be used for spamming.
Group   Here you can choose what group you wish to place the user in. If "Group selection" is enabled in the settings tab under "User Login Settings", a user can change what group they are in from their own settings page.

3.3.3 Assigning Users to Groups

To move users to another group

  1. Mark the check boxes next to users that you want to move to a new group.
  2. Select the group from "Move user to [group]" drop-down menu.
  3. Click on the arrow-button to complete the action. If you want to move users to a group that does not yet exist, you can select option "Create new.." to add a group while transferring users to it.

You can also change a user's group in the user settings page.

3.3.4 Archiving Users

You can use archive feature to hide inactive/old users from the current view without removing them permanently from the system.

To archive selected users

  1. Mark check boxes next to one or more users you want to hide.
  2. Click on the "Hide & Archive" button to remove users from the active view.

Hidden users are moved to group named "Archived users". You can view hidden users by choosing "View group > Archived users". Archived users' study data is kept on the server and they can be restored to active groups if necessary.

If you have purchased transferable user licenses, licenses are freed when you archive users and can be reassigned to new users.

Note: Archived users cannot login the typing tutor while being archived. They will receive an error message informing them of this if they attempt to login.

To recover archived users

  1. Select to view users in "Archived Users" group
  2. Click on "Recover user" link next to the user you want to recover
  3. Users are recovered to the Default group

3.3.5 Deleting Users

To delete users permanently

  1. Mark the check box(es) next to user(s).
  2. Click on the "Delete permanently" button to remove them from the server.
  3. Then a confirmation dialog will ask you to verify deleting the users. Click on "Delete" again to confirm.

When users are removed permanently, their user data is deleted from the server and cannot be restored.

Note: If you are using user licenses, you cannot delete a licensed user. Instead we suggest you us the Archive User option.

3.3.6 Searching Users

To search for individual users

  1. Enter user name or part of it to the "Search users" field.
  2. Click on the arrow button to search.

TIP: If you've searched for a user and want to return to the list of all users, click on the browser's Back button or empty search field and click on Search.

4 Courses Page

The Courses page lists all courses that area available in TypingMaster. Courses are always customized to a group and the page shows courses for the group that is selected from the drop-down menu at the top. If you are offering courses in multiple languages, select also the course language to view courses in that language.

Filtering the courses page view:

  • View courses for [select group]: select group to view the courses for that group.
  • Language [select language]: select language and the courses available in that language will be shown.

Once you have set the filters, this is what you can do:

  • Quickly see how many users in a group have started, completed and failed a course ("User Progress")
  • Set any course active or inactive for that group ("Status")
  • Quickly view the Lesson Pass limits that have been configured to the course and group ("Pass Limits")
  • View and edit the settings for the courses (see Chapter 4.2)
  • See the Study Area for a particular course as it is configured for that group
  • Copy course settings from one to another (see Chapter 4.3)
  • Create a Course Results report for selected group and course
See Chapters 4.2.1, 4.2.2 and 4.2.3 for details on each of these actions and settings.

4.1 Available Courses

The table below lists the English courses you can choose from and a brief description of each course. For more information about the study material (lessons, exercise types etc.), see Chapter 5 in the User Manual.

The available course languages are set on the Settings tab under "Language Selections". See Chapter 6.2.4 for more information.

Course name   Description

Touch Typing Basic Course

 

This course will teach the basic touch-typing technique. In each lesson the user will learn two or more keys from the keyboard and then practice the use of these keys with word drills, paragraph drills and typing games.

Numeric Keypad Course

 

This course will help become a fluent user of the numeric keypad (10-key). All the lessons in this course are available in the trial version as well!

Special Marks Course

 

This course teaches to efficiently use all the special marks on the keyboard.

Typing Test

 

Test typing skills with this customizable typing test. The typing test is recommended if you want to arrange a pretest for the users.

NOTE: Typing Test always saves the result of the latest test taken if that is better than any previous attempts.


NOTE: Results are saved from the Lesson Exam and Final Exam only, not from each exercise in a lesson. The Lesson Exam is the last exercise of a lesson. Final exam will be taken after completing the last lesson of a course. You can configure lesson exam and final test requirements in Course Settings.

4.2 Editing Course Settings

To edit course settings

  1. From the toolbar choose the group whose course you want to edit
  2. Choose the the right course language
  3. Click "Edit Settings" button for the course you want to edit.
  4. Edit settings
  5. Click "Save" to save changes

Settings are divided into three categories:

4.2.1 General Course Settings


Setting name   Description

Lesson duration

 

Select the lesson duration for the course (25 - 45 min.). The default duration for most of the courses is 45 minutes.

If the option "No Time Limit" is selected, users can complete all lesson material in full without time limits. If this option is selected, it is not advisable to use the exercise lock.

Allow backspace

 

Select whether to allow or prevent the use of backspace to correct typing errors during exercises.

Preventing the use of backspace forces users to pay more attention on typing accuracy.

If allowed, note that errors in a word need to be corrected before the user hits Space. Once Space is used, the program considers the word final and no corrections can be made to it afterwards.

Exercise lock

 

When enabled, an exercise is marked completed only if the user has worked on it for the whole duration or has completed all exercise material.

Note that in case exercises are not locked, they are marked completed even if the user has opened the exercise and maybe only spent a few seconds in it.

When this setting is enabled together with the Lesson Lock, users will need to complete each exercise in full before moving on to the next lesson.

Lesson lock

 

When enabled, user cannot move on to the next lesson unless all exercises of the current lesson have been completed.

When this setting is enabled together with the Exercise lock, users will need to complete each exercise of the lesson before moving on to the next lesson.

Keyboard Layout

 

Choose keyboard layout for users.

TypingMaster courses are designed for the keyboards in common use in the countries the language is spoken in.

The Spanish course, for example, works best with the Spanish or the Latin-American keyboards and is difficult to complete with a US standard keyboard as it is not possible to type the accented letters such as ñ or é with the standard US keyboard. US International should work with foreign languages.


4.2.2. Lesson Pass Requirements

These pass requirements affect the last exercise of each lesson called the Lesson Exam. If the user does not reach the set typing speed or accuracy, they will not be able to go forward to the next lesson.

Setting name   Description

Required Net Speed

 

Required net speed for passing the lesson exams (net speed is the adjusted typing speed with errors calculated in the result).

To continue to the next lesson, users will need to type at a speed greater or equal to this value in the Lesson Exam at the end of the lesson.

Note: If you prefer using CPM/KPM (Characters / Keystrokes per Minute) speed unit, please use the formula provided in Appendix 1.

Required Accuracy

 

Required accuracy (0-100%) for passing the lesson exams.

To continue to the next lesson, users will need to have an accuracy percentage greater or equal to this value in the Lesson Exam at the end of the lesson.


4.2.3 Final Test Settings

Setting name   Description

Test text

 

Select the text for the final test. You can also let users choose the text themselves by selecting the option "User choice".

Duration

 

Duration of the final test. If option "User choice" is selected, the users are free to select test duration from the range of 1-30 minutes.

Allow backspace

 

Select whether to allow or prevent the use of backspace to correct typing errors in the final test. Preventing the use of backspace forces users to pay more attention on typing accuracy.

Note that errors in a word need to be corrected before the user hits Space. Once Space is used, the program considers the word final and no corrections can be made to it afterwards.

Pass limit for net speed

 

The final test is passed only if a test taker reaches the typing speed set here.

Note: If you prefer using CPM/KPM (Characters / Keystrokes per Minute) speed unit, please use the formula provided in Appendix 1.

Pass limit for accuracy

 

The final test is passed only if the test taker has an accuracy percentage greater or equal to the limit set here.

50% accuracy means that half of the words were typed correctly. Accuracy percentage required from professional typists is usually 98% or higher.


4.3 Copying Course Settings

If you prefer to use similar course settings for several groups you can use the efficient copy tool.

To copy course settings between groups

  1. On the bottom of the screen select the course whose settings you want to copy. You can also choose "All courses" if you want to copy the settings of each course.
  2. Select the group whose course settings you would like to copy
  3. Select the group to which you would like to copy the settings
  4. Click on the "Copy" button to copy the settings.

Course settings are always group specific, i.e. when you set any settings they apply only for the selected group. The only way to share the settings among more than one group is to use this Copy Settings feature.

Note: Copying settings will also copy whether the course is Active or Hidden to the group.

5 Groups Page

On the Groups page you can view and edit your groups.

5.1 Personal and Shared Groups

There are two types of groups in TypingMaster:

  • Shared groups are visible to all teachers
  • Personal groups (or teacher specific groups) are visible only to the teacher who owns the group as well as to administrator(s).

5.2 Creating and Deleting Groups

To create a new group

  1. Click on "Add new group" to open the Group creation window.
  2. Enter group’s name.
  3. Select group type (shared or personal).
  4. Click on "Save" to create the group.

To delete a group

  1. Click on the "Delete" button on the row with the group that you want to remove.
  2. In the window that opens, select what action to take with the users in that group. You can either
    1. move all users to the "Default Group" and reassign users to new groups afterwards, or
    2. move all users to the "Archived Users" group (see Chapter 3.3.4).

5.3 Editing Group Settings

In the Group Settings window, you can change group name and group type. Administrator can also reassign the whole group to another teacher.

To edit group settings

  1. Click on "Settings" for any group to open the Group Settings page.
  2. Change group name.
  3. Choose if group is personal or shared
  4. Click on "Save" to save changes.

5.4 Other Group Tasks

  • Group report: Clicking on the group name opens a Course Report for the whole group. The report opens in a new window and to return to Groups page you can just close the window. Group reports can also be created on Users page (Chapter 3.2.5).
  • View users in the group: Next to the group name, you'll see how many users are in that group. Clicking on the number of users shows the list of users in this group. This is a shortcut that takes you to the Users page. To return to the Groups page, select it again from the left hand menu.
  • Customize courses for the group: To set available courses and customize courses for a specific group, click on "View courses". This is a shortcut that takes you to the Courses page where you can continue (see Chapter 4).

6 Settings Page

Admin users can set and modify all general settings. Teacher users can only change their personal settings and no other settings are shown to them on this page.

6.1 Personal Settings

This is where you change your administrator information such as user name and password. All changes need to be confirmed by entering current password. For more information on user settings see Chapter 3.3.2.

6.2 General Settings

General settings will affect all users, including other teachers and administrators. It is a good idea to have one administrator responsible for the general settings to avoid confusion.

We recommend configuring the General Settings before deploying the typing tutor in larger scale.

6.2.1 User Login Settings

Setting name   Description

Prevent new users

 

Prevent new users accounts being created. Select "Enabled" if you want to prevent any new users from logging in or creating accounts. This way only Administrator or Teacher can create new user accounts.

Using this function is useful if you want to have strict control over the use of licenses.

Require email

 

Require an email address from new users.

Set to "Enabled" if you want all new users to give a valid email address when signing in to the course.

Group selection  

Let users choose their group.

Set to "Enabled" if users can choose their study group themselves when signing in to the course. When set to "Disabled", all new students who create their own account will be put to the default group and you can move them to their correct groups on the users page.

You can also place users who create their own account in any group you wish using a special link. Contact us for more details about this feature.

Lock user name

 

Prevent users from changing their first name, last name and login ID.

When set to "Enabled" users cannot change their user name. This is practical if you wish to keep track of individual users, and prevent users from entering an undesired name.

6.2.2 Study Settings

Setting name   Description

Free typing tests

 

Let users freely access typing tests.

When enabled, users are allowed to freely practice typing tests at any time.

When disabled, users can only take the final test of the course and cannot complete other typing tests.

You may want to disable tests if you do not want users to see and practice with the typing test texts before taking the final test.

Note: The results for free typing tests are not kept.

Hide Games

 

Hides the games section (in ActiveX®).

Speed unit

 

WPM = words per minute
CPM = characters/keystrokes per minute

Select speed measurement unit shown to the user, either Words per Minute (e.g. USA) or Characters/Keystrokes per Minute (e.g. Europe).

Word length

 

Average word length in keystrokes. Specify world length depending on the language of study:

  • 5 is the standard word length (English)
  • 6 is for business language (English)
  • 7 is the German standard
  • 6 is the French standard
  • 10 is the Finnish standard

With this setting it is possible to change the effect errors have on the total typing speed. The default value for this setting is 5. If you wish to have errors affect the net typing speed more, increase this value. If you wish for the errors to have less of an affect, decrease this value.

Tutor Type

 

Choose which type of typing tutor to use:

  • Both Java® and ActiveX®
  • Java® only
  • ActiveX® only

With this option you can either choose to use Java or ActiveX typing tutor interfaces. ActiveX works only on computers with Microsoft Windows and Internet Explorer 4 or greater. The Java interface is used by other operating systems (such as Linux and Mac OS X) and when using other browsers than Internet Explorer on Windows.

The default option (ActiveX and Java) will automatically use the appropriate interface. If you are experiencing problems with the ActiveX version we recommend choosing the "Java only" option.


6.2.3 License Password

The License password is used to control the use of your licenses and protecting your typing tutor from unauthorized use.

When "Require Password" is set to Enabled, the users need to enter a License Password (defined below in License password) to be able to take a license.

The License password is a useful tool in controlling the use of your licenses and protecting your typing tutor from unauthorized use.

6.2.4 Language Selections

Setting name   Description

Date & time format

 

Style for all dates and times. Select what format you want the date and time to be shown in.

  • United States will use format mm/dd/yyyy and 12h time.
  • International will use format yyyy/mm/dd and 24h time.
  • European will use format dd/mm/yyyy and 24h time.
  • Default value is United States format.

Default language

 

Select the default language for TypingMaster Online/Intra.

If only using one language version, select it from this menu and uncheck all other language options.

Setting the default language also sets the default language course for users when they start. If you have more than one active language they will be able to change it, otherwise they will be locked into the default language of your choice.

If you really do not need multiple languages, we recommend setting one default language and unchecking the other active course languages. This will make course management much easier.

NOTE: Setting the default language to Spanish or French changes only the course language, Manager and Study Area interface will be in English.

Active course languages

 

Choose the languages in which the courses will be available for users.

6.2.5 Administrative Settings

Setting name   Description

Organization name

 

Enter any name that you want to be displayed to users, for example "Our Junior High School"

Login message   This message is shown under your company's name in the Login page. All people logging in will see this message. You can for example write here instructions for new users of the program. Write <br> to add a line break if needed.

Teacher/Admin Switching

 

Having this enabled allows Teachers and Admins to switch between the roles (done in their Personal Settings page).

Teachers, for example, may wish to occasionally access the more advanced settings on the Settings page for example. Having switching set to "Enabled" would allow them to switch to the Admin type giving them full access to such settings.

Setting this to "Disabled" means Admins and Teachers are locked into their roles. This allows for a greater level of security and confidentiality as Teachers are unable to change global settings or see and interact with other people's groups and users.

SMTP mail server
(TypingMaster Intra Only)
 

Entering your organization's mail server here will enable advanced email features, e.g. emailing of forgotten passwords and important license notifications.

If uncertain, ask your system administrator for information on your SMTP server address.

Support email address

 

This email may be shown to users for support purposes (see Show Email setting below). This email address is required in TypingMaster Online.

With TypingMaster Intra this email address must have permission to send emails using the entered SMTP mail server (see above).

Show Support email

 

If enabled, the administrator's email address will be visible to users. This is useful in case users need to ask questions or require help from the administrator.

7 Test Texts Page

On the Test Texts page you can:

  • View the typing test texts in full
  • Hide selected typing test texts from users to prevent them from practicing them in advance
  • Add and edit your own typing test texts

Note that typing tests are arranged in other Manager sections, not on the test texts page, which is used merely to manage the texts.

  • Final tests are set in the Course settings (Chapter 4.2.3).
  • Pretests and tests outside typing courses can be arranged with the specific Typing Test course (Chapter 4).
  • Free access typing tests can be enabled or disabled from the Settings page (Chapter 6.2.2). You can also hide only select texts from free access if needed.

Viewing a Text

To view the typing test text in full, click on the test name or the "View text" button.

Hiding Texts from Users

If there are some test texts that you do not want users to be able to practice freely, you should hide them. This way users can access a part of the texts to better understand how the typing test works but not practice with the texts you want to use as assessment tests.

To hide a text

  1. Choose "Hidden from all users" from the drop down menu next to the text name
  2. To show the text again choose "Visible" from the drop down menu

Adding a New Text

  1. Click on the "Add custom text" button to open the text edit window
  2. Enter test information
  3. Copy your chosen text to the Text field
  4. Click on "Save" to save the test text and return to Test texts view

Note: In TypingMaster Online the number of test texts you can add is 10, in TypingMaster Intra you can add an unlimited amount.

Test Text Settings

Setting name   Description
Title   Name of the test
Author   Author of the test text
Description   Short description of the test text (max. length 115 characters)
Copyright   Copyright information if needed

Language

 

Text language.

The text is shown only if the language is chosen.

Owner

 

By setting the text owner you control which users the text is visible to:

  • "Shared": All users can use the text
  • "My Texts": Users in your personal groups can use the text
  • Other teacher or admin: Only users in groups of that teacher or admin can see the text

This is independent of hiding the text, by setting the owner you control who can see the text when it is not hidden.

Tip: If wish to have a shared text visible but another teacher does not, simply change the owner to My Texts. If it is one of the pre-loaded texts where it cannot be changed; add it again as a custom text by copying and pasting the information, then set its owner as My Texts and set the original to Hidden.

Note: Teachers see only their own texts and shared texts, whereas administrator can see the texts of all teachers and administrators.

Text

 

You can easily add text by copying it from any word processor and pasting it in this field.

  1. Open the text you want to add to any word processor.
  2. Select the text and choose "Edit > Copy" from the menu.
  3. Open this Text Settings page.
  4. Click the text field and then choose "Edit > Paste" from the menu.

Tip: If you want to modify an existing text or use only a part of it, you can copy and paste the text here and rename it.

Deleting Texts

Note: You can only delete custom test texts.

To delete a test text

  1. Open the test settings window
  2. Click on "Delete text" on the bottom of the page.

Editing and Renaming Texts

To edit or rename a text

  1. Click on the "Edit settings"
  2. Change name and other settings
  3. Click "Save" to save changes

It is not possible to edit the texts that come with the program. However, there is a workaround that you can use. Simply copy the whole text or part of the text and make a custom text out of it. Copy the text or passage of the needed text, select "Add custom text" and paste it to the custom text window. Remember to fill in other text information as well.

TIP: The test texts included in TypingMaster are fairly long to accommodate typing tests up to 30 minutes in duration. Many times, however, the preferred typing test duration is 10 minutes or less. To add more variety to tests, you can copy parts of the existing texts and add them as Custom Text to the selection.

8 Licenses Page

The licenses page has detailed information about your license.  There are 5 types of licenses for TypingMaster Online and TypingMaster Intra.  Please see Appendix 2 for more information.

Note that based on the license type you have there are some small differences to the information shown and behavior.  Site licenses for example do not show how many licenses are in use.

8.1 Purchasing Information

When you have not purchased any licenses TypingMaster Online/Intra will operate in a trial mode, see Appendix 3: Trial Mode for more details.  In trial mode the licenses page does not display any license information but only has purchase information, or with TypingMaster Intra the link needed to activate a license.

Note: In TypingMaster Online upon purchasing all license activation is done automatically, with TypingMaster Intra you need to enter a license code manually, see below.

To get information on purchasing TypingMaster Online/Intra go the Licenses page and look for the Order Now! links.

Once a license has been purchased information on your license will be shown. You can still access the Order Now! links from this page once it is licensed.

For TypingMaster Online you will need also to renew your license to prevent it from expiring or to revalidate an expired account.  If you wish to continue your account go the Licenses page and look for the Get Time Extension section and follow the instructions.

If you do not renew your account and it expires all administrators, teachers and users will not be able to login and access any of the study material or Manager features. To renew an expired account go to your login page and follow the on screen instructions.

8.2 Entering Licenses (TypingMaster Intra only)

To enter a license

  1. If you don't have the demo version of TypingMaster Intra already installed, please download and install it from http://www.TypingMaster.com/business/intra/demo.asp
  2. Log in to TypingMaster Intra with your Administrator's Login ID
  3. Choose 'Licenses' from the menu
  4. Click 'Activate licenses' to open the license window.
    Note: If you are inserting additional licenses or you are upgrading from a Trial license click on 'Activate additional licenses'
  5. Enter your License ID exactly as shown
  6. Enter the Product Key exactly as shown
  7. Click Enter. TypingMaster Intra confirms that your license has been accepted.

8.3 License Information

Once you have purchased a license the licenses page displays more detailed information on your license. There are two main sets of information, Current Licenses and License Usage.

  • Current Licenses shows the number of licenses you have and the name of the license owner. In TypingMaster Online and in a trial license with TypingMaster Intra an the expiry date for that license will also be shown.
  • License Usage shows the licenses in use.  Note that for workstation and site licenses no information will be shown here. All other license types display the number of licenses in use and how many are still available.  For user licenses types the number of users with and without a license is also shown.

9 Tools Page (TypingMaster Intra only)

TypingMaster Intra also provides you with a Tools page that includes some useful features to help with your installation.

Prepare for Shutdown

This feature can be used when you wish to stop TypingMaster Intra or the server on which it running on but you do not wish to interrupt any users currently studying with the program.

To shut down click on the Prepare for Shutdown link.  This will prevent other Admins, Teachers and users from logging in.  It will also logout any user or teacher if they are browsing using the Manager or Study Area.  It also stops the typing tutor from being launched. For those users that already have the typing tutor open it does not stop them from studying, it just waits until they close the typing tutor and then logs that user off.

Once Prepare for Shutdown is clicked on the number or users currently studying will be shown.  This page will automatically update every couple of minutes.  Once all users are no longer studying and have been logged out a message appears saying it is ready to be shutdown.

To stop the server use the Stop TypingMaster Server option in the Start Menu > Programs > TypingMaster Intra for Windows users. For Mac OS X and Linux/UNIX go to the 'bin' folder (OS X: /Applications/tmintra/bin) and look for the shutdown.command or shutdown.sh.

You do not need to stop TypingMaster Intra if you wish to restart your server, just make sure all users have logged off so their user information is saved.

You can stop the shutdown process at any time by clicking the Cancel link.  This will revert TypingMaster Intra back to its normal state.

Import Users to TypingMaster Intra

This allows to to quickly import users into TypingMaster Intra. You can set a user's name, User id, password, email and setting their group.  Please see the detailed instructions on that page for how to import users.

Once imported users are fully functional and can log in and start using the program.

Check Version

This feature simply allows you to see if you have the latest version of TypingMaster Intra.  It also displays you current version number, please quote this if you ever contact us for support.

Tip: You can see the version number on TypingMaster Intra and TypingMaster Online by placing your mouse over the TypingMaster logo in the bottom right hand corner of all Manager pages.

Appendix 1: Speed Measurement

Typing speed can be measured in Words per Minute (WPM) or Characters/Keystrokes per Minute (CPM). 

In TypingMaster, WPM is used by default as it is the more common style. Speed unit can be changed on the Settings tab ( "Settings > Study settings > Speed unit").

TypingMaster follows international industrial standards to calculate typing speed in WPM. For written English, the commonly accepted standard is a 5-stroke standard word, including spaces and punctuation marks. This is the default setting in TypingMaster. In result calculation this means that five keystrokes make one word and - similarly - five keystrokes are deducted for each mistyped word. If needed, the word length can be changed on the Settings tab ("Settings  > Study settings > Word length").

Converting Between WPM and CPM

In the settings you always have to enter speed value in WPM format. To convert a CPM/KPM value to WPM please use the following formula:

One WPM equals 5 CPM/KPM, unless you have set a different value on the Settings page. For example, if you wish to set the speed limit to 300 CPM, enter 60 WPM (300 divided by 5).

Gross typing speed

Gross typing speed is calculated as follows:

  1. Total keystrokes (=gross hits) is divided by duration, which gives gross speed in characters/keystrokes per minute
  2. Gross speed in CPM is divided by the standard word length to get typing speed in WPM.

Accuracy percentage

Accuracy percentage is calculated using the standard word length. Gross hits are the total number of keystrokes typed. Error hits is the number of words typed incorrectly times the word length. Net hits equal gross hits minus error hits. The rate of net hits to gross hits typed gives accuracy percentage.

Net typing speed

Net typing speed is the typing speed with errors counted in the result and is calculated like this:

  1. Total keystrokes minus the number of incorrect words times word length, to get the total net hits for the whole test duration. 
  2. Total net hits is divided by the test duration to get net typing speed in characters/keystrokes per minute. This is divided by the standard word length to get net typing speed in words per minute.

Calculation Example

A user completes a typing test with 1750 keystrokes in 5 minutes and 5 incorrectly typed words. The results are:

  • 1750 gross hits, 25 error hits (5 mistakes * word length 5), 1725 net hits
  • Gross typing speed is  70 WPM (350 CPM)
  • Net typing speed is 69 WPM (345 CPM)
  • Accuracy is  99% (1725/1750*100%)

Appendix 2License Types

User licenses

Only available in TypingMaster Online, these license work so that one license per user and are nontransferable to another user.  Once a license has been taken the license is matched to that person and can not be changed.  These licenses are fairly low cost and are good when you know the number for people you wish to train.

Transferable User Licenses

Available in both TypingMaster Online and TypingMaster Intra, these license again work so that one license per user but once a person has completed their training or no longer needs access you can move that license onto a new person.  It requires some maintenance to move the licenses from one person to the other but does not lock you in to a certain set of people as with regular User Licenses.

Concurrent Licenses

Available in both TypingMaster Online and TypingMaster Intra, these licenses allow a certain number of users to access the course at one time. Concurrent Licenses offer greater flexibility than Transferable User Licenses as the licenses will automatically shift as different users log in and out.

Workstation Licenses

Available only for K12 schools with TypingMaster Intra. This license limits the number of computers that you run the typing tutor from.

Site licenses

Only available in TypingMaster Intra. License a whole site such as an entire school, allowing anyone within your site to access the program.

Appendix 3: Trial Mode

Trial Mode provides an easy way to evaluate this product before purchasing it.

In trial mode all the features are fully available for your evaluation. However, users can complete only the first two lessons in each course - the rest of the study material can only be previewed.

Note that this limitation depends of the course, some of the smaller courses are totally accessible while others, particularly ones that only contain one lesson are not available until after purchasing. Once you purchase all course material becomes available.

If you would like to try out the other lessons as well, please request an evaluation license from us.

Also in Trial Mode detailed information about licenses on the Licenses page and Main page is not shown.