Contents

Overview

Getting Started

Statistics Buttons Bar

Options Window

This topic summarizes many of Stats Clicker's functions, and points you to more detailed information on each.

Create Report

Registration


Options Window

When you press the Options button on the Statistics Buttons Bar, it opens the Options window, which gives you access to all of Stats Clickers functions.  The options likely to be used most frequently are represented by buttons for quick access.  Options to configure Stats Clicker for your needs and preferences are reached through the Customize drop down menu at the top of the Options window.

Brief descriptions of each button and Customize menu item are below.  For more details on a topic, click on the underlined phrase in the description.

Buttons:

Save

Saves the current statistics to Stats Clicker's data file.  See the Saving Statistics topic for details.

Buttons Only / Restore Title

Toggles the appearance of the Statistics Buttons Bar between two states:  showing only the buttons; or also showing a standard Windows title bar and a display of the current statistics.

Undo Stats

Switches the Statistics Buttons Bar to Subtract Mode, so each time you press a statistics category button, it subtracts 1 from that statistic.

Type Stats

Opens the Type Statistics window, in which you can type numbers to add or subtract in each statistics category.

Create Report

Opens the Create Report window, in which you can create a report to be saved on disk, placed in the Clipboard, and/or displayed in Notepad.

Menu Items (Customize)

Appearance

Opens the Appearance window with options for customizing the Statistics Buttons Bar.

Autosave Frequency

Allows you to specify how often Stats Clicker automatically saves new statistics.  See the Saving Statistics topic for details.

Button Captions

Clicking on this menu item displays two menu choices:

Create or Modify Series opens a window in which you choose the number of buttons on the Statistics Buttons Bar, and type in the caption for each button.

Select Statistics Series opens a window in which you select a previously created Statistics Series to be displayed on the Statistics Buttons Bar.

NOTE:

In network configurations of Stats Clicker, some of the features listed here may be absent.


Type Statistics

When you want to add a large number to a statistic category, you may find it quicker to type the number instead of repeatedly clicking on the statistic button.  You can open the Type Statistics window by pressing the Type Stats button in the Options window.

To type in a statistic for any category, place the cursor in the text input field under the replica of that category's button, either by clicking the mouse in the text field or on the category button.  Then type the number you want to add or subtract.

To add, just type the number, with no spaces or any other characters besides the digits.  To subtract, start the number with a minus sign (-), i.e., a hyphen, and then the number.  Don't put any spaces between the minus sign and the number.

After you have typed in statistics for all the desired categories, click on the OK button, and they will be added/subtracted to the appropriate categories.  Nothing happens until you click the OK button; if you click the Cancel button, your statistics will be unchanged.

NOTE:

Clicking on a statistics category button in the Type Statistics window doesn't add to that statistic.  The only effect is to place the typing cursor in the text field under the button.


Saving Statistics

Statistics can be saved to Stats Clicker's data file either automatically or at your initiative.

Autosave

You can set the frequency at which Stats Clicker saves statistics through the Customize menu in the Options window.  Click "Customize" on the menu bar, and in the menu that drops down, click on "Autosave Frequency".  Another menu will fold out, giving you four options:  having statistics automatically saved every time you click a statistics category button on the Statistics Buttons Bar; or after every 5 or 20 button clicks; or if you click on "Off", statistics will not be automatically saved.  A check mark is next to the frequency that is currently selected.

Save Button

Any time you want to save the current statistics, you can press the Options button on the Statistics Buttons Bar.  When the Options window appears, click the Save button.  The current statistics will be saved, and you will be returned to the Statistics Buttons Bar.

NOTES:

If the Autosave Frequency is set to "After every button click", there is no practical effect in clicking the Save button, since the current statistics are already saved.

The updated statistics are saved whenever you enter statistics through the Type Statistics window, unless Autosave Frequency is set at "Off".


Statistics Buttons Bar

The Statistics Buttons Bar is the part of Stats Clicker you will see most of the time.  It contains a row of buttons which you click on whenever you want to add to the statistics count of any button's category; and the Options button on the far left, which you click to open the Options window for other functions.

Each time you click on one of the statistics category buttons, 1 is added to the count of that button's statistic.

If you accidentally press the wrong statistics button, you can go into Subtract Mode to undo the mistake.

Buttons Only  vs.  Title Bar and Statistics Display

When you start up Stats Clicker, the Statistics Buttons Bar has a standard Windows title bar on top, and a display of the current statistics on the bottom.  If you want to save space on your Windows desktop, you can change the display so that the Statistics Buttons Bar shows only the row of buttons.  The trade-off of Buttons Only is that the current statistics aren't displayed, and you can't use the title bar to move the window with your mouse.

To remove the title bar and statistics display, press the Options button on the left of the Statistics Buttons Bar.  When the Options window appears, click on the Buttons Only button.

If you later wish to restore the title bar and statistics display, again press the Options button.  Now click on the same button as before, where the "Buttons Only" caption has been replaced by a "Restore Title" caption.

See Also:

Tips for Buttons Only


Tips for Buttons Only

You are probably used to using the Title Bar with Windows applications to move a window with your mouse, or tell from the color if it is the active window.  When the Statistics Buttons Bar has buttons only, you must substitute for these normal routines.

Moving the Statistics Buttons Bar

When you have buttons only, there is no title bar which you would normally use to drag the Buttons Bar with your mouse.  One option is to temporarily restore the title bar, move the Buttons Bar to where you want it (e.g., at the top or bottom of the screen, out of the way of other applications), and then go back to Buttons Only.

Alternatively, when Stats Clicker is the active window, you can hold down the [Alt]-key as you press the spacebar to display the System Menu.  Select "Move" on the menu, and use the arrow keys to move the Statistics Buttons Bar.  After you press an arrow key once, your mouse arrow moves into the outline of the Buttons Bar, and you can use the mouse to finish the move.  When the outline is where you want the Buttons Bar to be, do one of the following: 1) Press the Enter key, or 2) click the Left Mouse Button ONCE to place the Buttons Bar where the outline is.  This will NOT have the effect of clicking on a statistics category button; just be careful not to Double Click, which might press one of the statistics buttons.

Minimizing the Statistics Buttons Bar to an Icon

When you would normally click the Minimize button on the title bar if there was one, you have two alternative ways to do it:

    1) You can press the Options button, and then press the Minimize button in the upper right corner of the Options window.  This will minimize the Statistics Buttons Bar.

    2) You can press [Alt]-[Spacebar] to activate the System Menu.  Select "Minimize" on the menu, and the Statistics Buttons Bar will be reduced to an icon.

To reactivate Stats Clicker later, double click on the icon as usual.

Making the Buttons Bar the Active Window

Without a title bar, it may not be obvious if Stats Clicker is the active window.  Usually this won't matter.  When you want to press a statistics button, you can just go ahead, and if Stats Clicker wasn't active, the same mouse click that presses the statistics category button also activates it; i.e., you do NOT need a separate mouse click to activate Stats Clicker.

Sometimes, another window may be covering part of the Statistics Buttons Bar, including the statistics button you want to click on, so you have to activate Stats Clicker before clicking on the button.  You can do it in any one of the following ways:

1) Click on the edge of the Buttons Bar, i.e., not on any of the buttons.

2) Use the RIGHT Mouse Button to click anywhere on the Buttons Bar.  This will not press any of the statistics buttons.

3) Hold down the [Alt]-key as you press the [Tab]-key.  Keep pressing [Tab] until Stats Clicker is displayed, and then release the keys.

How to be sure you actually pressed the Statistics Button

With pushbuttons in Windows applications, including Stats Clicker, you must press the Left Mouse Button AND release the Left Mouse Button while the arrow is on the pushbutton.  If you move the arrow off a pushbutton before releasing the Left Mouse Button, it does not count as clicking on the button.

When statistics are displayed with the Statistics Buttons Bar, you would probably notice your mistake because the displayed statistic didn't change.  With Buttons Only, you can tell by the appearance of the statistics pushbutton.  If you move the arrow off of it too soon, the caption will have a dotted outline around it, and the button itself will have a dark outline around it.  If you click on the button successfully, it will look the same as the other buttons on the Statistics Buttons Bar.


Subtract Mode

If you accidentally press the wrong statistics button on the Statistics Buttons Bar, you can go into Subtract Mode to undo the mistake.  In Subtract Mode, each time you press a statistics category button, 1 is subtracted from that category's statistic.

To go into Subtract Mode, press the Options button on the far left of the Statistics Buttons Bar, and when the Options window appears, click on the Undo button.

When you are finished with Subtract Mode, press the Done button at the bottom of the Subtract Mode window to return to the normal Add Mode.

NOTE:

You can also subtract statistics in the Type Statistics window.


Overview

Stats Clicker is used to keep count of events or activities as they occur.  It also uses the saved data to generate reports in formats which you can print as is, insert in a word processor, or use in a spreadsheet or database.  The program can substitute for paper forms where you make check marks to keep count of events, and it saves you the trouble of counting up those check marks.

The part of Stats Clicker you will deal with most of the time is the Statistics Buttons Bar, where you click on a statistic button each time you want to add 1 to that statistics category.  In order to assign button captions corresponding to the statistics categories relevant to your business, you must create a Statistics Series by typing your button captions in the Create or Modify Series window.

When it's time to add up the statistics, you open the Create Report window.  There you specify the time period covered, formatting options, and whether to include daily statistics and/or totals.  You can choose to save the report on disk, put it in the Clipboard, and/or display it in Notepad.

Stats Clicker has other capabilities, such as changing the statistics buttons to subtract mode to undo a mistaken button click, entering statistics from the keyboard, customizing the appearance of the Statistics Buttons Bar, and automatically saving your statistics.  See the Options window topic for more information.


Getting Started

Before you set up Stats Clicker for the statistics categories you'll be counting, it might be useful to take a few minutes experimenting with it.  Many of the features are adequately explained by the captions in the windows.  The online help covers a lot of topics because it varies from person to person which features need more explanation; but chances are you won't have to look at most of them.  By fiddling with Stats Clicker you can find out what you need to read about.  The Options window topic has summary information about most of the features.  If you want to experiment with the Create Report window, you can use the Sample Statistics Series.

Before you can start using Stats Clicker to record your statistics, you must create a Statistics Series with the categories you want counted.  From the Statistics Buttons Bar, you press the Options button to open the Options window.  There you click on the "Customize" caption on the menu bar.  On the dropdown menu that appears you click on "Button Captions"; and on the menu that folds out from that you choose Create or Modify Series.  (In short:  Customize | Button Captions | Create)

In the Create or Modify Series window, select "Create an entirely new series", choose the number of statistics category buttons you want, and type in the caption you want on each button.  After you have done that, click the OK button.

You will be asked to name the Series.  Type in a title if you want to, and choose OK.  Finally you will be asked if you want to select the new Series for the button captions.  Choose Yes, and you will be returned to the Statistics Buttons Bar.

The Statistics Buttons Bar will now have the captions for your categories, and you can begin recording statistics.  Click on any category button whenever you want to add 1 to its statistic count.

There's nothing else you need to know right away.  You can learn about the other features as you go along.  If you click on the wrong statistics button, you will need Subtract Mode to undo the mistake.  Eventually you will need to open the Create Report window to use the statistics you've recorded.

NOTES:

You don't have to be very careful about choosing the category abbreviation for each button, or choosing a name for the Statistics Series -- it's no trouble to change that later.

What you should be careful about is deciding what categories to include and what order they're in.  To change these, you would need to create another Statistics Series.  The statistics recorded in the old series would still be available for a separate report, but Stats Clicker can't add statistics from different series to be combined in a single report.


Registration

You may register by mail, or you can use your credit card to register by phone.

REGISTRATION BY MAIL

To register by mail, send a check or money order for $25.00 (U.S. currency only) for each registration to the author at:

                     Matthew Ahmed

                     P.O. Box 60068

                     Palo Alto, CA  94306

                     U.S.A.

Registrations in blocks of 10 cost $200.  Registrations to be mailed outside the United States add $5 (covers any number of registrations).

A registration form can be copied and printed from README.TXT, but it isn't required.  If you don't use the form, please send a note with your check stating that you are registering Stats Clicker, and include your name, company (if any), and address.  If you really want to minimize your effort you can just send the check alone IF the name and address printed on your check are as you wish to register; BUT BE SURE TO WRITE "Stats Clicker Registration" on the check so I know what its for.

TELEPHONE REGISTRATION WITH A CREDIT CARD

You can use a Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover card to register through the Public Software Library by calling 800-242-4775 (from overseas: 713-524-6394), or by FAX to 713-524-6398, or by CompuServe to 71355,470.  These numbers are for ordering only.  The author, Matthew Ahmed, can NOT be reached at these numbers.  To contact the author about dealer pricing, volume discounts, site licensing, network installation, the status of shipment, the latest version number, technical information, or to discuss returns, contact the author directly at the mail registration address above, or the email addresses below.

Each registration licenses the use of Stats Clicker on one computer.  A separate registration is required for each computer that it is installed on.  Special conditions apply to the installation of Stats Clicker on a network.  See the "Use on a Network" section of README.TXT.

The most obvious benefit of registering is not having to look at the friendly reminder screen when you start Stats Clicker.  It's also the right thing to do, and makes you eligible for reduced fees on future versions (bug fixes or minor upgrades free).  Stats Clicker offers an unusually long evaluation period (60 days) on the theory that after you've used it for a couple of months' reports, you won't be able to bear going back to manual tabulation.

But if you're not convinced after 60 days, you should delete Stats Clicker from your computer and owe nothing.  Any data and reports you have generated are, of course, your property.  Before you delete Stats Clicker, you should use the Create Report function to convert saved data into a format that you can use without Stats Clicker.

If you have questions, comments, suggestions or complaints, you can write the author at the registration address.  In particular, if you find one bug in Stats Clicker, I would greatly appreciate hearing about it.  You can also send email to:

CompuServe:  72712,272          America Online:  LakeSoft


Printing

Stats Clicker does not directly print statistics.  The quickest way to print your statistics is to choose the "Display in Notepad" option in the Create Report window, and then use Notepad's print command with your standard printing configuration.  You may also place the report in a saved file or the Clipboard in order to use a word processor's print options.

As with any document you print, your choices in the Create Report window are restricted by what will fit on the paper.  If you have many statistics categories, and your printer doesn't support landscape printing, you would have to select "Each Statistic Category is a Row" in the Report Layout section of the Create Report window.  If you wanted to include daily statistics for a period much longer than a week, you would have to select "Each Category is a Column" in Report Layout.


Appearance

In the Appearance window, you select the size of the Statistics Buttons and set the display of current statistics on the Statistics Buttons Bar.  These settings do not affect the way Stats Clicker functions.  To open the Appearance window, click "Customize" on the menu bar of the Stats Clicker Options window.  In the menu that drops down, select "Appearance".

At the top left of the window, you can select the size of the Statistics Buttons.  If the Statistics Buttons Bar has more than 8 statistics buttons, there won't be room for large buttons, so they will be small even if you have selected large buttons.  This is the only Appearance feature that will be seen in Buttons Only mode.

The other two sections affect the current statistics display.  At the top right of the window, you can choose how many rows of statistics Stats Clicker will display when it starts up.  At the bottom of the window, you choose the order of display of current session, current day, and current month statistics.

NOTE

You can also show or hide rows of statistics without using the Appearance window by resizing the Statistics Buttons Bar window with your mouse.


Buttons Only:  The Statistics Buttons Bar has only the Statistics Buttons and the Options button.  It has no title bar or current statistics display.


Sample Statistics Series

If you installed Stats Clicker with its INSTALL program, you have a Sample Statistics Series (Series 900) with data from the three months before the installation date.  This was included so you could experiment with the Create Report windows without waiting until you had accumulated a month or two of your own statistics.  It also enables you to try out the Select Statistics Series window before you have created your own Statistics Series.

To open the Create Report window, you have two options:

1) Double click on the Clicker Report icon in Program Manager.

2) With Stats Clicker running, first click on the Options button of the Statistics Buttons Bar.  When the Stats Clicker Options window opens, click on its Create Report button.

When the Create Report window opens, select "Series 900: Sample Statistics Series" in the Statistics Series in Report section.  To see how the various kinds of reports look, its best to choose "Display in Notepad" in the Report Output section.  Then select different combinations of options in the other sections of the Create Report window to find out what kinds of reports best suit your needs.

When you have no further use for the Sample Series, you can delete it in the Select Statistics Series window.


Command Line Parameters

You have the option of including parameters after the command line in the Windows program items for Stats Clicker and Create Report.  Most of the options are intended for network installations of Stats Clicker, and are fully described in README.TXT.

One option that some individual users will find helpful is having the program item (i.e., the icon to double click on) specify the Statistics Series that Stats Clicker will start up with.  If you use more than one Statistics Series, you can set up a separate Stats Clicker program item for each one, instead of switching to the desired Series after starting Stats Clicker.

To specify the Series to start Stats Clicker with, add a space followed by a forward slash (/) and the Series number after the command line in the Program Item Properties dialog box.  (For details on program items, see the Windows Program Manager's online Help and search under "program items, creating".)

EXAMPLE

If John and Mary use the same PC and each has a separate Statistics Series, they can set up program items for each Series.  Say John's Series is Series 001 and Mary's is Series 002, and the Stats Clicker directory is C:\CLICKER.  Then using the Windows Program Manager's "File | New" menu option they would create the following program items:

  Description:	John's Stats

  Command Line:	c:\clicker\click.exe  /1

  Working Directory:	c:\clicker

  Description:	Mary's Stats

  Command Line:	c:\clicker\click.exe  /2

  Working Directory:	c:\clicker


Limitations

Maximum Statistics Size

Although Stats Clicker's internal logic can deal with numbers larger than two billion, seven digits (9,999,999) is the largest number that will display properly on the Statistics Buttons Bar's display and in the captioned report format.  This limit applies to totals for whatever period is covered in a report.

Maximum Number of Statistics Series

You can have up to 999 Statistics Series at one time.  If you try to create more, Stats Clicker will tell you that you must first delete an existing Series.

Dates

Don't plan on bequeathing Stats Clicker to your great grandchildren.  In the year 2090, Stats Clicker will interpret the year as 1990.  Until then, the dates will be okay.  Stats Clicker's report function will recognize the year "00" as coming after the year "99", etc.


Create Report

To create a report, you are asked to specify what to include in the report, its format and appearance, and what to do with it.  The individual sections of the Create Report window are summarized below.  Click on the underlined titles for more details

You can start the Create Report window either by clicking the Create Report button in the Options window, or by double-clicking the Create Report icon in the Windows Program Manager.

Period of Report

Choose what kind of dates interval will be covered by the report

Statistics Series in Report

Select the Statistics Series to make a report on.

Include in Report

Choose whether to include daily statistics and/or totals

Dates Covered

Specify the beginning and ending dates of your report

Report Order

Choose whether totals are displayed first or last in the report

Report Layout

Choose whether each statistics category is a row or a column

Report Output

Choose one or more forms of output:  save to disk, Clipboard, Notepad

Report Format

Choose a document format with captions, or spreadsheet/database formats


Period of Report

In this section of the Create Report window, you check one of the buttons to choose what kind of dates interval will be covered by the report.  The choices are One Month;  Multiple Months (any number of consecutive months);  or Other, which covers any interval of consecutive days that you specify.

After you have made your selection in the Period of Report section, you will need to specify the actual dates in the report.  Depending on what kind of Period of Report you have chosen, you will select a single month; select first and last months; or type in first and last days.  See the Dates Covered topic for details


Dates Covered (in Report)

In this section of the Create Report window, you choose the dates whose statistics will be included in the report.  Before you fill in this section, you should first complete the Period of Report and Statistics Series in Report sections.  The way you choose the dates covered will depend on what kind of Period of Report you have selected.

If you selected One Month, the Dates Covered section will have a single drop down list-box.  Click on the box to display the list of months for which you have saved data.  Then click on the month for which you want to create a report

If you selected Multiple Months, the Dates Covered section will have two drop down list-boxes: one for the First Month of the report and one for the Last Month.  On each box, click to display the list of months for which you have saved data.  Then click on the month for which you want to begin or end the report.  The report will include the months you selected and all months in between.

If you selected Other, the Dates Covered section will have two fields for you to type dates in.  In the first field, enter the First Day of the period to be covered by the report, and enter the Last Day in the second field.  Enter the dates in standard mm/dd/yy format, e.g., 6/30/93  The report will include the days you entered and all the days in between.


Statistics Series in Report

In this section of the Create Report window, you select the Statistics Series to make a report on.

The drop down list-box initially displays the Statistics Series that was most recently used on the Main Buttons Bar for recording statistics.  Normally this would be the Series for which you create a report.  In that case, you don't need to do anything in this section.

If you want to make a report on another series, click on the listbox to display a list of all the Statistics Series.  Then click on the Series that you want in your report.


Include in Report

In this section of the Create Report window, you choose whether to include daily statistics and/or the statistics totals for the period covered by the report.  If you selected "Multiple Months" in the Period of Report section, you also can choose to include totals for each individual month.  Place a check mark by each type of statistic you want to include in the report


Report Order

In this section of the Create Report window, you choose whether the statistics totals will appear before or after the daily statistics.

If you selected "Daily Statistics", "Each Monthly Total" and "Total for Period" in the Include in Report section, the Monthly Totals will appear between the dailies and period totals.  If you chose to include only one type of statistics in the report, this section makes no difference.


Report Output

In this section of the Create Report window, you choose what to do with the report.  You can select multiple options at the same time.

Save as Text File:  After you click the OK button, a window will appear in which you choose the drive, directory and filename to save the file in.  This option is best suited for cases where the report will be the main part of a document, or will be loaded into a spreadsheet or data base program.

Display in Notepad:  This option provides a quick way to just look at your statistics.  It is also the easiest way to make a printout, using Notepad's print command.  You may also prefer to save files through Notepad if you want to do some minor editing before saving the file.

Place in Clipboard:  If you have a document in a word processor and want to insert the statistics report, this is usually the easiest way.  In some situations, you may also be able to enter a "tab separated values" report into a data processing program through the clipboard.


Report Format

In this section of the Create Report window, you select a format suitable for a document or a data processing program.

Statistics with Date and Category Captions:  This format should be chosen if the report will be part of a document.  The statistics are right justified in columns separated by tabs.  The button captions and dates are listed in the top row and left column.  Above the report, there is a title giving the dates covered by the report, and the Statistics Series.

Statistics Only, Comma Separated Values:  This is the format most commonly used by spreadsheets and data bases for loading files.  Each row of statistics has a comma after every statistic except the last, which is followed by a carriage return and line feed.  The statistics are not right justified.

Statistics Only, Tab Separated Values:  This format is also compatible with many spreadsheets and data bases.  It is the same as Comma Separated Values, except tabs are substituted for commas.  Depending on the layout of your spreadsheet, you may be able to paste a row of statistics into it from the clipboard, instead of loading a saved file.


Report Layout

In this section of the Create Report window, you choose whether each statistics category will be aligned in a row or a column.

If you are including captions and choose "Each Statistic Category is a Column", the top row will list the button captions with the statistics for each category in a column under its caption; and the dates will be in the far left column.  If you choose "Each Statistic Category is a Row", the button captions will be in the left column and the dates in the top row.


Select Statistics Series

The Select Statistics Series window is used to choose the Series whose button captions will be displayed on the Statistics Buttons Bar.  You may never need to use this if you have only one Statistics Series.    You can also use this window to delete a Statistics Series.  The Series you select is typically one you created in the Create or Modify Series window.

To open the Select Statistics Series window, click "Customize" on the menu bar of the Stats Clicker Options window.  In the menu that drops down, select "Button Captions" and then "Select Statistics Series".

On the left side of the window is a listbox with the Series number and title of each Statistics Series.  To select a Statistics Series, click on the title of the one you want in the listbox.  After picking a Series in the listbox, you may verify that it's the correct one by checking its button captions displayed in the lower right side of the window.

After selecting the Series, click the OK button, and the selected Series' captions will be placed on the Statistics Buttons Bar.

In the upper right of the window, you choose what to do with the selected Series.  The default is to use its button captions on the Statistics Buttons Bar.  However, if you have a Series that you no longer use, and want to delete it and all its Stats Clicker data files, you can change the setting to DELETE in this section of the window.


Create or Modify Statistics Series

The Create or Modify Series window is used to assign button captions for a Statistics Series you will use on the Statistics Buttons Bar.  It is also used to change the button captions in an existing Series.

To open the Create or Modify Series window, click "Customize" on the menu bar of the Stats Clicker Options window.  In the menu that drops down, select "Button Captions" and then "Create or Modify Series".

In the first section of the Create or Modify Series window, you can choose to create a new Series, by either using parts of an existing one or starting with a clean slate.  You can also choose to change the button captions in an existing Series; see the Modify an Existing Statistics Series topic for additional information.

The second section has a drop down listbox from which you can select an existing Series to either modify or use as the basis for a new Series.  It has no effect if you chose "Create an entirely new Statistics Series" in the first section.

In the third section, you select the number of buttons that will be in the new Series.  You can't change the number of buttons if you are modifying an existing Series.

In the last section of the window, you type in the captions that will appear on the buttons.  The number of text fields for you to type in is determined by the number of buttons you selected in the previous section of the window.

After you have assigned captions to all your buttons, click the OK button.  A window will then appear asking you to enter a title for the new Series.  The Series title will appear on reports with captions, and in the Series lists in various windows.  You can click the OK button without entering any title.

Finally, you will be asked if you want to use the new Series on the Statistics Buttons Bar.  If you choose "Yes", the new Series' captions will immediately appear on the buttons.  If you choose "No", you will need to later open the Select Statistics Series window to use the new button captions.

SEE ALSO:  Tips on Assigning Button Captions


Modify an Existing Statistics Series

You can change the button captions or Series title in an existing Series.  It is important to note that the actual categories can't be changed, only the captions.  All the statistics previously counted under say the second button will still be included in the statistics for that button no matter what caption it has.  If you want to change the order of statistics categories, or add or remove a category, you must create a new Series.

To modify an existing Series, you use the Create or Modify Series window.  In the first section, you select "No, modify old series."  In the second section's listbox, you select the Series you want to modify.  The third section is irrelevant, since you can't change the number of buttons.  In the last section, the existing button captions are in the text editing fields, where you can modify them.

After you click OK, you will have an opportunity to change the Series title if you wish to.

SEE ALSO:  Tips on Assigning Button Captions


Tips on Assigning Button Captions

You are allowed to enter up to 15 characters in a button caption in the Create or Modify Series window, but it is usually wise to assign a shorter caption.  With small buttons, about 8 letters will fit on a button, and about 12 will fit on large buttons.  The actual number will vary depending on what the letters are; e.g., "i" takes less space than "w", and capital letters take more space than lower case letters.

Even if a caption will fit on a button, you might want a shorter one depending on the format you use when you create a report of your statistics.  If your report includes captions and has each statistics category in a column, the caption should fit in the width of a tabbed column.  In standard text formats like Notepad, a tab is 8 characters.  When you create a report, if any of your captions are longer than 7 characters, Stats Clicker will offer you the option of truncating them to 7 characters.  If you place your report a word processor, you may set the tab width at a larger size, instead of truncating the captions to 7 characaters.  If your report has each category in a row, there is room for captions 15 characters long.

To limit caption sizes, you should use abbreviations that you will recognize; e.g., you might use "PhOrder" for "Phone Orders" or "TechSup" for "Technical Support".

If the first or last letter of a caption appears to be clipped on the statistics button, you may get a better appearance by including a space at the beginning or end of the caption.  When you create a report, Stats Clicker automatically removes leading and trailing spaces from the captions.