If you are starting a trial of ProblemTracker, you can skip this section. A license key does not need to be entered at this time.

Entering License Information

When you purchase a license for ProblemTracker, you will receive a license key (or multiple keys depending on the type of licenses and options you have purchased) that enables the product beyond the trial period. To enter this key, run the ProblemTracker License Manager program that was installed with ProblemTracker. You should be able to run this program from the Start button following this menu:

The General tab of the License Manager contains the product (ProblemTracker or ProblemTracker Enterprise Edition), your trial status (how many days remain in your trial period), and a summary of the license keys you have entered and features that are enabled. Please review the information below for each of the user and feature licenses that you have purchased.

The About tab of the License Manager contains the major version information, copyright, and a link to the License Agreement.

Each key type has its own tab in the License Manager. When entering each license key, be sure to fill out all fields in the section, then click on the Enter Key button after entering the information.

Each software key is matched to a particular email address (also provided when the product is ordered) so it is important that both the email address and key be entered exactly as given in the email containing your license information (case does matter). And, the email address associated with a license key can only be changed when you purchase additional licenses of the same type.

To remove a license key, click on the Remove Key, then select "Yes" to confirm the operation.

To replace a license key, click on the Remove Key, then select "Yes" to confirm the operation. Enter the new license key information, then click on the Enter Key button.

Three special system accounts are built into each ProblemTracker workgroup: Admin, TBD, and Inet. These three "users" do not count against the user license limits listed below and are automatically included in each workgroup that you create. The Admin user account is included to allow you to configure and maintain a ProblemTracker workgroup. You can log in as this user to customize a workgroup to meet your requirements. The TBD user account is used in the Assignee (owner) field to represent "no one." For instance, it may be used for open issues that have yet to be assigned to someone or closed issues that no longer require any work. The Inet ("Internet") user is used in the Reporter field to represent all users who have reported issues via the Inet Page (people without a user account to identify them). Neither the Inet nor the TBD User ID can be used to log in to ProblemTracker.

The remaining user accounts in ProblemTracker must have one of the following license types: Static, Floating, or Restricted. For all three license types only one user (person) may be logged in to ProblemTracker per license. In other words, the maximum number of people that may be logged in to ProblemTracker at any one time is equal to the total number of Static, Floating, and Restricted licenses you have. The difference between the license types is how many user accounts may be created per license and what ProblemTracker features may be used.

• Static (Named) User Licenses
  One user account (User ID) may be created for each Static license. Since there is only one user account per license, users with Static accounts can always log in to ProblemTracker. Static licenses are typically used for people who regularly use ProblemTracker and therefore must be guaranteed access at any time.

  Static users are also referred to as "Unrestricted" or "Non-restricted" users in various areas of the Help Guides. See the License Administration section of the Workgroup Management System for further information on configuration of Static user accounts.

• Floating (Concurrent) User Licenses
  Up to ten (10) user accounts (User IDs) may be created for each Floating license. However, only one person per Floating license may be logged in to ProblemTracker at one time. Others who try will be denied access until another Floating license user logs off (clicks the Logoff icon). For instance, if you have 5 Floating licenses, you can have up to 50 Floating user accounts, but no more than 5 of those 50 users may be logged in to ProblemTracker at the same time. Floating licenses are typically used for infrequent users if it is acceptable that they may not be able to login to the system some of the time (as all Floating licenses may be in use). Although you can create up to ten user accounts per Floating license, we generally recommend one Floating license for every two to three users to minimize the number of times users can not log in because all Floating licenses are in use.

  If you have purchased only Floating licenses, then after entering your license information (in the "Floating" tab of the License Manager), you should log in to the Workgroup Management System and use the Edit User operation to convert your existing trial accounts, if any, to Floating user accounts (as all trial user accounts are configured as Static user accounts). Until all user accounts are set up as Floating user accounts, your users will not be able to login to ProblemTracker.

  Floating users are also referred to as "Unrestricted" or "Non-restricted" users in various areas of the Help Guides. See the License Administration section of the Workgroup Management System for further information on configuration of Floating user accounts.

• Restricted User Licenses
  One user account (User ID) may be created for each Restricted license. Since there is only one user account per license, users with Restricted accounts can always log in to ProblemTracker. However, unlike the Static and Floating license types, users with Restricted user accounts can only perform a very limited number of ProblemTracker operations. They are only allowed to Add new records (report issues), View records that they previously added (check status on issues they have reported), and run text reports (Saved Queries) on the Home page to view summaries of records they have added. A Restricted user can not perform any other operations (such as Edit, Task, Delete, Query, Metrics, History, Discuss, etc.); can not be the Assignee for a record; can not display Metrics (Saved Charts) on the Home page; can not view information about alerts, discussions, or source code files; and can not view any records which she did not Add. Restricted licenses are typically used for external users who only need to submit issues to ProblemTracker and track the progress of these issues. For example, if you have a large number of customers who only submit reports to your Support organization very infrequently, you could give those users Restricted licenses.

  See the License Administration section of the Workgroup Management System for further information on configuration of restricted user accounts.

The following license types are available to support ProblemTracker features:

• Inet Page
  The Inet Page is a form used to anonymously submit records to ProblemTracker. For example, it can be used as a web based suggestion box. A user who submits a record through the Inet page is not required to login to ProblemTracker. However, since the user does not have a user account, they will not be identified in the record (Reporter field will be set to Inet), will not receive email notifications from ProblemTracker, can not log in to ProblemTracker to view the status of the issue they reported, and can not have issues assigned back to them for verification (e.g. to sign off on the resolution of the issue). To receive email notifications (e.g. automatic updates when an issue is resolved) and/or login to ProblemTracker to check on status of the issue, the user must at least have a Restricted user account. To be able to have an item assigned back to the person who reports it, the user must have a Floating or Static user account.

  After entering the license key, refer to the Inet Page section for information about enabling this feature.

• Alerts - Enterprise Edition only
  The Alerts feature is only available in ProblemTracker Enterprise Edition. It allows an email notification message about a particular record to be sent at a future date and time to any user(s) and/or user group(s). The date & time for the Alert can be set directly (absolute) or relative to another date & time (e.g. 2 days before a due date). Alerts can be used as reminders about records or deadlines within a record. Alerts can also be used as a means of escalation, as Alerts can be triggered by a lack of change in Status in a record (e.g. if no one is assigned to process an issue within a given amount of time an Alert will be sent).

  After entering the license key, please review the Customizing Alerts section for the steps needed to enable this feature.

• Discussion - Enterprise Edition only
  The Discussion feature is available only in ProblemTracker Enterprise Edition. It allows users to collaborate on topics related to a particular record in parallel to a record's progress through the workflow. Discussion is similar to a newsgroup or message board, where users can be invited to post their comments and are informed of updates to the discussion via email.

  After entering the license key, please review the Customizing Discussion section for the steps needed to enable this feature.

• Add via Email
  The Add Record via Email feature allows users to submit issues to ProblemTracker by sending an email message. You may wish to use this if ProblemTracker is installed on an internal web server which cannot be browsed to by external users (a web server behind your corporate firewall). Users who are out of the office (outside the firewall) can still submit new issues by sending email to a standard POP3 or IMAP email account on your corporate mail server. ProblemTracker can then read the email by connecting to your corporate mail server and Add a new record with the email content (including, optionally, any email attachments).

  After entering the license key, please review the Add Records Via Email section for the steps to enable this feature.

• Knowledge Base
  Knowledge Base is a feature that is used to publish articles about known issues, frequently asked questions, tech notes, or other information that can be searched by your end users. It includes the full ProblemTracker workflow engine so that your process of creating, reviewing, and updating Knowledge Base articles can be automated and enforced by ProblemTracker.

  Note: Your Knowledge Base license key will include a maximum number of Knowledge Base articles. This number is the total number of Knowledge Base articles that you are licensed to publish in all ProblemTracker workgroups combined (it is not per workgroup).

  After entering the license key, please review the Knowledge Base section for the steps to configure this feature.

• API
  The Application Programming Interface (API) allows you to add records to ProblemTracker from an external application. For example, you can use this feature to create a gateway between a legacy system and your ProblemTracker installation.

  To use this feature, the NetResults ProblemTracker Software Development Kit (SDK) must be installed on the machine that runs the external application. The external application can be running on the same machine as ProblemTracker or on a remote machine that meets the ProblemTracker SDK installation requirements. Please review the SDK Help documentation available in the Start Menu after installing the NetResults ProblemTracker SDK. This can be reached by going to:

  Start > Programs > NetResults ProblemTracker SDK > ProblemTracker SDK Help

  Note: You must purchase one ProblemTracker API/SDK client license for each (client) application which uses the API to connect (add records) to your ProblemTracker installation.

The ProblemTracker (or ProblemTracker Enterprise Edition) License Agreement can be found in the License Manager by clicking on the License Agreement... button at the bottom of the General tab or the About tab. Please review this for the specific terms and conditions of your license(s).