TypingMaster's Ultimate Typing Coach for School/Business (Windows 10/11)
- Ultimate Version - Student User Manual - Ultimate Version - Teacher Guide
Version 11.0; Copyright TypingMaster, Finland Inc. Contents
1. IntroductionWelcome to TypingMaster's Ultimate Typing Coach. This powerful typing tutor enables easy instruction of the touch typing technique to a large amount of users in multiple groups. The purpose of this manual is to guide you in the installation of the program on your site. It also explains the basic features of Typing Coach User Manager program (hereinafter User Manager) which enables easy control and reporting of users in Typing Coach. Typing Coach can store personal study data for thousands of users recognizing any user on any workstation in the network. The Manager also helps you to easily manage user records as groups and follow progress and test scores using a variety of reports, no matter how big and varied your groups are. You can also arrange fully customized typing tests for individual users or entire groups using texts of your own choice. In the installation section of the manual (chapters 2 and 3), a short summary of the chapter is presented at the beginning of each chapter. The summary is followed by detailed instructions explaining the procedure. In the Typing Coach Manager section (chapter 4) all the main features of Typing Coach Manager are introduced along with some useful tips. Please read this manual carefully before installing the program. This will help you avoid unnecessary problems during the installation and use of the program. NOTE: Configuring the DataSync related technical features can be complicated. For the small size installations, it may be reasonable to install Typing Coach separately into each device without DataSync. In this case, the license key is entered into each Typing Coach manually from the About menu. 2. Installation and Data SyncThis part of the manual describes how to install Typing Coach's Ultimate Typing Coach and get it running smoothly on all the workstations. NOTE: Its important to understand, that the study data is only syncronized between student workstations and teacher machine when the SYNC NOW buttons are clicked on User Manager tool. By default the Dual Sync setting is disabled, this means that e.g. user accounts created in one student device do not appear on other student devices. If Dual Sync is enabled, student data files are also syncronized to other student workstations. 2.1 Overview of the Installation ProcessHere is a brief summary of the main stages of the installation: 1. Select the installation mode: Stand-alone or Centralized Management+Reporting with the Data Sync. To use Data Sync features, the local file server or a cloud drive is needed to host all the user study progress information. Usually the Data Sync location is a school file server (e.g. \\192.122.11.11\shared\typing) or any standard mounted cloud drive (c:\user\myself\clouddrive1), that both teacher and students can access. 2. Typing Coach User Manager is installed into Teacher's machine. One teacher machine can take care of reporting/configuring of multiple student machines. 3. The Licenses are entered to Typing Coach Manager and common settings for workstations are set. 4. The installation is completed on all the workstations (optionally connecting these to a same Data Sync location ). NOTE: It's important that only one User Manager tool is taking care of one shared Data Sync Folder. Multiple folders are needed for organizations where multiple teachers are taking care of groups. 2.2 Teacher Machine Installation2.2.1 PreparationsTo start the installation for Typing Coach, you must have the Ultimate version setup package for Typing Coach. This package is available as a download from our web site www.typingmaster.com. Before you start installing Typing Coach on the teacher machine, you have to make sure that:
2.2.2 Installing Typing Coach on Teacher PCIn this chapter we will go through the installation of Typing Coach. The installation is quite straightforward and adheres to the usual procedures common to all installations of Windows programs. NOTE: The real file server is required if using server UNC path. Windows Workstations have a major internal limit of 5 concurrent users. Step by step: To begin the installation on the Teacher computer:
You have now completed the installation of Typing Coach. It is recommended that you give the program a trial run to make sure everything is working properly. Just click on Start > Typing Coach to start the program. 2.2.4 Inserting LicensesBefore installing Typing Coach to the workstations the licenses that you have purchased need to be inserted. You also have to specify those settings that apply to all workstation installations. To insert licenses to your server:
NOTE: If you get an error message saying that your License ID or Product Key was inserted incorrectly, please check that the ID and Key were entered exactly as they were in the email. Also note that the different product versions have different licenses Please contact us at www.TypingMaster.com
if you have any problems with License ID and/or Product Key. Now the licenses are installed on your server. The Licenses menu will show information on your newly inserted license. 2.2.5 Configuring the Installation SettingsNOTE: Typing Coach is ready for use with the default settings. To configure the settings common to all workstation installations of Typing Coach
:
Now you have completed the preparations for workstation installations.
2.3 Workstation Installation2.3.1 OverviewThere are two ways of installing Typing Coach to a student devices. Using normal setup: You can install Typing Coach to workstations using the same setup program as above that installed Typing Coach to the teacher workstation. This method is recommended if there are just a few workstations. It also gives the administrator more control in defining the workstations that can have Typing Coach on them. Using a Silent Setup: If you have many workstations this type of install is recommended for schools and companies. You can select during the setup to install also silent setup tools. 2.3.2 Installation with setupperSummary: In this method of installation, please enter the same Data Sync entries to make the Centralized Management to work. Start software once to get the centralized settings and license from the Teacher Sync Folder. IMPORTANT: Uncheck the USER MANAGER component from installed modules. Typing Coach is now installed on the workstation and it is ready for use. To install Typing Coach to other computers, just repeat the steps above on each workstation. 2.3.3 Installation Using Silent SetupSummary: This chapter will demonstrate how to install Typing Coach on workstations . Also note that each time Typing Coach is started from a new workstation, one workstation license is used. This can lead to a shortage of workstation licenses when workstation licenses are being used. In that case, workstations have to be manually removed in the User Manager. The easier solution is to purchase concurrent licenses instead. Details: Copy the installer and TMNPATH.INI file to a shared folder that you can access, or optionally to the workstations.
Execute TYPINGMASTER11INSTALLER.EXE /VERYSILENT /COMPONENTS="TypingMasterTypingTutor"
The software is installed on background. Default settings are used, no data SYNC.
2.3.4 Customize DataSync settings with Silent Setup .INF fileExecute TYPINGMASTER11INSTALLER.EXE /VERYSILENT /loadinf="silent.ini" Edit the silent.ini with a notepad or similar. [Setup] Lang=ENG ;Dir=C:\temp\TypingMaster11Test ;Dir defines the installation target folder, comment out the line with semicolon to use a default path Group=TypingMaster NoIcons=0 SetupType=custom Components=typingmastertypingtutor ;STUDENT DATA LOCATION ON WORKSTATION ;0 = Roaming ;1 = Non-roamed ;2 = Custom folder StudentDataLocation=0 ;Enable Centralized Reporting and Management. Enter UNC Path or path to drive or use env variables ;0= sync disabled ;1= sync enabled DataSync=1 TeacherWriteArea=\\192.111.11.1\tmshare\teacher StudentWriteArea=\\192.111.11.1\tmshare\student TIP: These settings are stored into TMNPATH.INI inside the installation folder dir and will be used when software is used by students or teachers. 2.3.5 Silent Setup Command Line SwitchesYou can use the following commandline switches: /SILENT, /VERYSILENT Instructs Setup to be silent or very silent. When Setup is silent the wizard and the background window are not displayed but the installation progress window is. When a setup is very silent this installation progress window is not displayed. Everything else is normal so for example error messages during installation are displayed and the startup prompt is (if you haven't disabled it with DisableStartupPrompt or the '/SP-' command line option explained above). If a restart is necessary and the '/NORESTART' command isn't used (see below) and Setup is silent, it will display a Reboot now? message box. If it's very silent it will reboot without asking. /DIR="x:\dirname" Overrides the default directory name displayed on the Select Destination Location wizard page. A fully qualified pathname must be specified. May include an "expand:" prefix which instructs Setup to expand any constants in the name. For example: '/DIR=expand:{autopf}\My Program'. /COMPONENTS="TypingMasterTypingTutor,Manager,Editor" its comma separated list of component names and overrides the default component settings. /SUPPRESSMSGBOXES Instructs Setup to suppress message boxes. Only has an effect when combined with '/SILENT' or '/VERYSILENT'. The default response in situations where there's a choice is: Yes in a 'Keep newer file?' situation. No in a 'File exists, confirm overwrite.' situation. Abort in Abort/Retry situations. Cancel in Retry/Cancel situations. Yes (=continue) in a DiskSpaceWarning/DirExists/DirDoesntExist/NoUninstallWarning/ExitSetupMessage/ConfirmUninstall situation. Yes (=restart) in a FinishedRestartMessage/UninstalledAndNeedsRestart situation. /ALLUSERS Instructs Setup to install in administrative install mode. /CURRENTUSER Instructs Setup to install in non administrative install mode. /LANG=language Specifies the language to use. language specifies the internal name of the language as specified in a [Languages] section entry. When a valid /LANG parameter is used, the Select Language dialog will be suppressed. /GROUP="folder name" Overrides the default folder name displayed on the Select Start Menu Folder wizard page. /NOICONS Instructs Setup to initially check the Don't create a Start Menu folder check box on the Select Start Menu Folder wizard page. /LOG Causes Setup to create a log file in the user's TEMP directory detailing file installation and [Run] actions taken during the installation process. This can be a helpful debugging aid. For example, if you suspect a file isn't being replaced when you believe it should be (or vice versa), the log file will tell you if the file was really skipped, and why. The log file is created with a unique name based on the current date. (It will not overwrite or append to existing files.) The information contained in the log file is technical in nature and therefore not intended to be understandable by end users. Nor is it designed to be machine-parsable; the format of the file is subject to change without notice. /LOG="filename" Same as /LOG, except it allows you to specify a fixed path/filename to use for the log file. If a file with the specified name already exists it will be overwritten. If the file cannot be created, Setup will abort with an error message. /NOCANCEL Prevents the user from cancelling during the installation process, by disabling the Cancel button and ignoring clicks on the close button. Useful along with '/SILENT' or '/VERYSILENT'. /NORESTART Prevents Setup from restarting the system following a successful installation, or after a Preparing to Install failure that requests a restart. Typically used along with /SILENT or /VERYSILENT. /RESTARTEXITCODE=exit code Specifies a custom exit code that Setup is to return when the system needs to be restarted following a successful installation. (By default, 0 is returned in this case.) Typically used along with /NORESTART. See also: Setup Exit Codes /CLOSEAPPLICATIONS Instructs Setup to close applications using files that need to be updated by Setup if possible. /NOCLOSEAPPLICATIONS Prevents Setup from closing applications using files that need to be updated by Setup. If /CLOSEAPPLICATIONS was also used, this command line parameter is ignored. /FORCECLOSEAPPLICATIONS Instructs Setup to force close when closing applications. /NOFORCECLOSEAPPLICATIONS Prevents Setup from force closing when closing applications. If /FORCECLOSEAPPLICATIONS was also used, this command line parameter is ignored. /LOGCLOSEAPPLICATIONS Instructs Setup to create extra logging when closing applications for debugging purposes. /RESTARTAPPLICATIONS Instructs Setup to restart applications if possible. /NORESTARTAPPLICATIONS Prevents Setup from restarting applications. If /RESTARTAPPLICATIONS was also used, this command line parameter is ignored. /LOADINF="filename" Instructs Setup to load the settings from the specified file after having checked the command line. This file can be prepared using the '/SAVEINF=' command as explained below. Don't forget to use quotes if the filename contains spaces. /SAVEINF="filename" Instructs Setup to save installation settings to the specified file. Don't forget to use quotes if the filename contains spaces. .
3. UninstallationPlease use Add/Remove Programs from Windows Settings for uninstallation of TypingMaster from workstations . Uninstallation procedure varies depending on OS version. You have now completed the uninstallation of a workstation.
If uninstallation fails, make sure there are no users using the application. You can confirm this by un-sharing the installation folder. 4. Typing Coach User ManagerThis chapter will cover the features and use of Typing Coach User Manager. Typing Coach User Manager is a powerful tool for course administrators. It can store personal study data of up to thousands of users recognizing any user on any workstation within the network. With the advanced Manager you can manage users as groups and follow their progress and test scores with a variety of reports that can be created very easily in just a matter of seconds. You can also arrange fully customized typing tests for individuals or one or more groups using texts of your own choice. Typing Coach User Manager gives the course administrator control over the way in which the lessons progress. You can, for example, select the courses to be studied, disable skipping lessons and lock lessons so that they must be completed before the user can move on. 4.1 Main FeaturesThis chapter will introduce you to the main features of Typing Coach User Manager. You will be shown how to create and edit users, organize them into groups and print reports of their progress. The main features of setting typing tests and organizing your licenses are also explained. Typing Coach User Manager is divided into six main sections: Users,
Groups, Courses, Typing Tests, Licenses and Common Settings. Each of these
sections can be reached by selecting the appropriate tab. The controls
for each section are situated in the menu at the left side of the screen.
NOTE: After modifying user, group or common settings the users usually need to login again so that the new settings can take effect. Also some settings require that the user must select the option after the change has been made. For example changing the time allocated for a test, exercise or course will only take effect if the user selects the option after the new time has been set. 4.1.1 UsersWhen you select the 'Users' tab in Typing Coach User Manager, you will see the users of Typing Coach in an alphabetical list with general information on each user. By default, all users are shown in the list. To view users in a specific group, select the group name from the drop-down list in the user menu. You can also choose to sort user list differently by clicking the corresponding column name. The list of users shows the following information for each user:
User MenuThe user menu offers many powerful tools for creating new users and editing the settings of old users. All the options connected to a specific user are gathered under this menu. To modify the properties of a user, select the user from the list of users and then choose the action you wish to modify from the User Menu. Here is a description of all the options in the user menu with tips for their use. Choose GroupYou can choose the group of users to be listed with this drop-down menu. This helps manage users especially if the userbase is very large. View & Print ReportsThese options let the administrator view and print a variety of reports on the progress of users.
User TasksThese options let the administrator perform actions that affect the selected user. These are only available if DUAL MODE SYNC is enabled from Common Settings. Also SYNC TO STUDENTS button needs to be clicked after making any changes.
Edit User(s)These options let the administrator edit users in the user list. Options are only available if DUAL MODE SYNC is enabled.
4.1.2 GroupsWhen you select the 'Groups' tab in Typing Coach User Manager, you will see all the groups you have created, the amount of users in a group and the date the group was created. Group MenuThe 'Groups' menu offers many powerful tools for creating and editing groups. All the options connected to a group are gathered under this menu. To modify the settings of a group, select a group from the list of groups and then choose the setting you wish to modify from the Groups menu. Here is a description of all the options in the Groups menu with tips for their use. View & Print ReportsThese options will enable the administrator to print out a variety of reports for the selected group
Group TasksThese options let the administrator perform actions that affect all users in the selected group.
Edit GroupThese options let the administrator edit groups.
4.1.3 CoursesWhen you select the 'Courses' tab in Typing Coach User Manager, you will see all the courses that have been installed in Typing Coach. The list shows the Name and Description of a particular course. The column 'Lessons' shows the amount of lessons and the lesson duration chosen for a course. Course Tasks MenuFrom the Course Tasks menu the administrator can change the settings, show/hide and mark the selected course as default. Here is a description of all the options in the Course Tasks menu with tips for their use. NOTE: Course settings are the same for all users and groups. Course Tasks
Course Settings
Lesson Exam Settings(available only in "Teacher led training" lesson mode)
4.1.4 Typing TestsWhen you select the 'Typing Tests' tab in Typing Coach User Manager, you will see all the typing tests that have been installed in Typing Coach. The list shows the Name and Copyright of a particular text. The column 'Time (min.)' shows the default time selected for a particular text. The text (Lock) at the end of the time indicates that the default time has been locked. Typing Test MenuFrom the Typing Test menu the administrator can change the settings, edit and delete the selected text. Here is a description of all the options in the Typing Test menu with tips for their use. Test Tasks
Edit Test
Typing Test Settings
Requirements to Pass the Test
IMPORTANT: You should not use Minimum Net Speed and Minimum Gross Speed at the same time as these settings can conflict with each other. NOTE: If passing limits are set for both speed and accuracy then the user must meet them both to pass the test.
4.1.5 LicensesWhen you select the 'Licenses' tab in Typing Coach Manager, you will see all the workstation in network that have accessed Typing Coach. The list shows the following information for all licenses:
The information bar at the lower left corner of the window displays the number of licenses in use and the number of free licenses. Concurrent Licenses: By clicking the workstation, you can see if it currently reserves an concurrent license. Licenses MenuThe Licenses Menu shows the type of licenses inserted (workstation or concurrent), the total number of licenses, licenses used and the number of free licenses. In the licenses menu, the following options are available:
4.2 Common SettingsThe first time you use Typing Coach User Manager will probably be after your server installation if you want to change the installation directory. However, you can control many more settings and options in Common Settings, which shall be explained in this chapter in detail. Common Settings affect all workstation installations and users. To access the 'Common Settings' start Typing Coach User Manager and select the tab 'Common Settings'. NOTE: Pressing 'Cancel' instead of 'Save' undos the changes just made. NOTE: The settings selected and locked in the Common Settings override the group settings (see 4.1.2).
Below is a list of all the settings and some information pertaining to their use.
|
Language | The typing tutor user interface default language can be defined or locked. The choices are based on add-on languages that were installed with the Setup. If you need additional language later on, you can start Setup again to install additional language(s). |
KPM Speed Unit | With this option the administrator can select the default unit for speed measurement. When the option is unselected the default is WPM (Words per Minute) otherwise it is KPM (Keystrokes per Minute) also known as CPM (Characters per Minute). When this value is locked, the speed unit cannot be changed by the user. |
Sounds | Select this option to enable sounds in Typing Coach Pro. Sound is not essential for the operation of the program, but it gives additional feedback to the user. |
Play Theme | Select this option to enable the opening theme of Typing Coach Pro. |
Keyboard Detection | When this option is selected and locked, the program will automatically detect the correct keyboard layout for each workstation installation.
This option is recommended if your network has computers with different keyboard layouts in use and the automatic detection is functioning reliably. |
Keyboard Layout | With this option, the administrator can manually select a keyboard layout to be used for all workstation installations of Typing Coach.
This option is recommended if all computers in your network use the same keyboard layout. NOTE: Keyboard Detection has to be de-selected in order for the manual keyboard selection to function. |
Scroll down the screen to see Login Settings with which the administrator is able to define user login properties.
User Passwords | If this option is selected all users are required to create a password for themselves when logging in for the first time. The password is required each time the user logs in. NOTE: If users are created by an administrator and this option is selected, the administrator has to define a password for the user when creating the user. If a password is not defined, the user will not be able to log in. |
Prevent New Users | By selecting this option, you can disable the creation of new users in Typing Coach. With this option selected, the only way of creating new users is with the Manager. |
Prevent Self Grouping | By default each new user can pick a group where they belong to during the first logon. You can prevent this behavior with this option. |
Hide User List | You can select this option to hide the list of users in the login screen. This results in added security when each user has to know his/her user name to be able to log in. |
Hide Group List | With this option, the group menu in the login screen is also suppressed. |
Use Windows Login | When this option is selected Typing Coach will automatically log in with the user's Windows user name. This is recommended in environments where each user has a distinct Windows user name. With this option selected the same user name will also be used for Typing Coach. |
These settings let the administrator restrict user privileges in the typing test section of Typing Coach.
Prevent Test Deletion | When this option is selected, users will not be able to delete tests in the program. This will then be possible only through the Manager. |
Prevent New Test | With this option you can prevent users adding custom test texts to the program. With this option selected, adding test texts is possible only through the Manager. |
Disable Printing | You can prevent users from printing reports or test diplomas from their workstations. Printing will then be possible only through the Manager. |
Prevent Backspace | This option lets you disable the use of backspace in exercises and tests for all users.
Normally a user is able to make corrections on the word currently being typed. With this option selected the user cannot make any corrections. |
WPM Word Length | With this setting it is possible to change how the standard WPM is counted (this affects also the error hits counting). The default value for this setting is 5 (i.e. using 5-keystroke standard word). If you wish to use Business Language WPM setting, the value would be 6. For some European languages, value would be 10. |
Disable Internet Links | This setting prevents users from accessing the Internet links on the Info page. By default clicking on these links opens a browser displaying offline information about Typing Coach. |
Enable Rhythm Indicator | Activating this displays the Rhythm Indicator. The Rhythm Indicator shows the user how smoothly they type, with emphasis on trying to motivate them to type at an even pace rather than is spurts. The indicator is displayed in the right hand side of the screen during exercises only. |
Disable Games from Menu | Hides the games menu from users. Games can still be played if they are embedded as an exercise in a Lesson but the option is removed from the menu so they can no longer be selected independently. |
Disable PDF | Prevents users from exporting their progress reports to PDF data format. |
Disable Full Screen | Prevents users from enabling the Zoom Full Screen mode that requires DirectX. The Zoom mode changes the display resolution to fixed 800x600. |
Typing Coach User Manager offers these special features which give more power to the administrator.
Typing Coach supports real time monitoring of users. The administrator is able to monitor the users' progress while they are studying on their workstations. When the user is studying (or the Satellite is active), a lock will appear on top of the user icon in the user list.
When a user is locked, the administrator will not be able to change user properties or delete the user. The administrator can view a user's progress by selecting a report to be viewed. All exercises and tests that the user has completed will be displayed in the reports.
NOTE: The user list in the Users section of the Manager is updated only when Manager is started or Refresh button is clicked. Therefore, summary information displayed in the user list may not be up to date all the time when users are studying.
To view a user's current status, create a report on the user. This will display up-to-date information on the user.
You can create new users for Typing Coach User Manager from an existing list. Information such as name, group and password can be taken from any .csv file (i.e. comma separated user list file), usually an Excel or database file. It is possible also to export names and general status of users to Comma Separated File (CSV).
To import users, start Typing Coach user Manager and select File > Import Users. This will bring up a new window.
Import only accepts CSV files so you need have saved the source file in CSV format in advance. To convert an Excel file to a CSV file, save the file again choosing 'File > Save As' and selecting 'CSV (comma delimited)' from the 'Save as Type' drop-down menu. Note that you should delete all heading and title information such as First name, Last name, Class etc., from the source file before importing information to Typing Coach. Otherwise you will have users like "Last name, First name" in the Typing Coach User Manager and need to remove those afterwards.
Once the Import screen is open, the screen is divided in two. The top half, or section 1, is dedicated to choosing the source file from which you want to import user information. Click on 'Open Data Source', browse and select the file you want to import and click on 'Open'. Typing Coach Import tool now shows the contents of the file you chose on the top-right-hand side of the screen as well as in the preview window below it. If you have chosen a wrong file, you can easily change your selection by clicking on 'Open Data Source' and choosing a different file.
The bottom half of the screen, or Section 2, is dedicated to modifying column information and completing the process. First have a look at the Preview window on the right and check that column headings are correct.
The default column headings in the preview window are 'First name', 'Last name', 'Class/Group' and 'Password'. If your source file has listed data in a different order or has more columns, you can now change the column headings accordingly. To change column headings, use the drop-down menus on the left-hand side. They are numbered from 1 to 6 referring to the respective columns in the Preview window and show the heading options from which you can choose. Select the ones that match your table and use 'n/a' if you do not want to import the information from some column(s).
Below the drop-down menus there is a box 'Create the Group/Class if missing', which is checked by default. When checked, the User Manager creates new groups by using the group names you have in the .csv file and places imported users automatically under these groups. If some users do not have group information, the User Manager places them under the default group set in the User Manager (usually 'New Users'). If you uncheck the box, the software tries to assign users to existing groups, but does not create new groups. For example, if in the source file you have some group names and in the User Manager groups with the same name, the software take the users from those groups and place in the matching group in the User Manager. All others users from your .csv file will be entered into the default group in the User Manager. You can then group the imported users manually afterwards with the Manager. Admittedly, the tool is a bit confusing if you uncheck the 'Create the Group/Class if missing'. We'll work on it to make it clearer.
Once everything is set to your satisfaction, click on 'Import Now'. The tool will now enter user information from the .csv file to Typing Coach User List.
Supported CSV Data Formats
This utility supports two most common industrial CSV formats, semicolon
and comma separated ones.
1. Semicolon format (without quotes)
Example data:
user name;group;something;something
2. Comma separated list with quotes
Example data:
"user name","school group","anything","something"
The very first line of CSV file is used to detect if semicolon or comma
should be used as a separator mark.
For example all the following data formats could be used:
"john smith","class 1","mypassword","+1
322 1239"
"john","smith","class 1","+1 322 1239","mypassword","teacher
name"
"smith","john","+1 322 1239","mypassword","teacher
name","class 1"
john;smith
john smith;group one
Note: If the new users are not shown on client computers, go to the Common Settings page and click on "Rebuild User Index" link on the left to fix the problem.
It is possible to use the same Typing Coach User Manager on the administrator's computer to control multiple versions of Typing Coach. This is helpful if you have Typing Coach installed on more than one server.
To control the database of a different installation of Typing Coach you will have to perform the following procedure:
From the Common Settings tab, administrator can complete some maintenance
tasks.
Resetting scores in games
In school use, it is good to reset the top ten high scores from time to
time. You can do this very easily by clicking Erase Game scores button.
Rebuilding Corrupted User Index
If the user list of Typing Coach user login page does not display the all names
shown in the Manager for some reason, click the Rebuild User Index button.
No data is lost, but the group index files ( .IDX) are created again to solve the problem.
The Typing Coach Study Material Editor (herein referred to as the Editor) is designed to help administrators and instructors to modify the existing courses in Typing Coach or to create new custom courses. The Editor is available when installed from the Setup.
Note: In the trial version, changes made with the Editor cannot be saved.
Different Exercise Types
Before you start modifying exercises, we recommend that you get to know the different exercise types of Typing Coach. Below is the list of the main drill types used in the latest version of Typing Coach. In addition to these, you can set the drill to be a game or a review session and can also insert message type events (Introduction Page) to the courses.
Note: To support older versions of Typing Coach, there are some other exercise types in the Editor. To make sure the exercises you create work in the latest version, we recommend using the exercise types listed below, the Introduction Page and Game events.
Making and Saving Changes
Once open, on the left-hand side of the screen
you see all the available courses. Click the course to see the structure
and settings for a course. You see immediately how many lessons there
are and when different keys are introduced. The course and its exercises
can be edited in the window on the right-hand side of the screen.
You can now browse through all exercises as well as messages by clicking
them open with your mouse. Once an exercise is open in the edit window,
you can make the changes you want. Some exercises are created dynamically
and cannot be modified unless you click a button Make a Drill Editable.
The Editor automatically defines row length, font type and size for each
exercise type, and adjusts the edit window width accordingly.
You can preview how the course works and see your changes by clicking
the 'Preview' button on top.
When making changes or creating new material, the Editor only accepts
keys that have been studied so far. If you try to enter a letter that has not been
studied, it will not appear on screen and you hear a warning
sound. The new keys are shown on bottom of
the edit window on the right-hand side. You can also choose to see a Virtual Keyboard
that has both allowed and new keys marked by pressing Keys button on toolbar.
Save the exercise either by choosing 'File > Save changes' or by moving
to another exercise and the program automatically asks you to save changes.
Remember also to save changes if you made any changes to the course settings
or course structure.
Once you have made all changes that you wanted to, we recommend that you
use the 'Verify Study Material' tool of the Editor to quickly check that no exercises use keys that have not been introduced yet. Run the check especially if you have
created some exercises using a text editor and copy-pasted them into the
Editor. To run the check, choose 'Tools> Verify Study Material.
From Tools menu, choose Run Typing Master and complete once
the exercises you have modified to see that they work properly.
Advanced tools in the Editor
New Course: You can start building a new custom course by choosing File > New Course
Update Review Wizard Database: If you have removed words from a course or added a lot of new material to a course, you may want to rebuild the database that gives words to the dynamic reviews. To do that, select Tools > Update Review Wizard Database.
Export Lesson Plan: If you would like to print out a detailed list of lessons and exercises in a course, you can do that by selecting Tools > Export Lesson Plan