Frequently Asked Questions
Purchasing and Support Questions
1.01) What support do you offer?
1.02) What is the enterprise license?
1.03) Do I have to renew the planner each year?
1.04) If I only buy the planner, say with 25 staff on it, can I add more staff later on?
1.05) Can I pay through other methods?
1.06) When will i receive the planner?
1.07) Can I pay through an eCheque?
Passwording, Modification and General Features
2.01) Can I protect the planner with a password?
2.02) The planner is asking me for a password, what is it?
2.03) I need to add other columns to the planner, how can I do this?
2.04) How do I print out the planner?
Macros, Microsoft Excel 2007 and Compatability
3.01) Is the product compatable with Microsoft Excel 2007?
3.02) What file format should we use with Microsoft Excel 2007?
3.03) How do I enable Macros in Microsoft Excel 2007?
3.04) Why are Microsoft Excel 97, 2004 and 2008 on the Mac not supported?
Purchasing and Support Questions
1.01) What support do you offer?
We offer free email based support, of which we have a 3 day SLA (service level agreement) in which we will aim to respond to you. Please ensure that you read the manual first and also look at some of the frequently asked questions on this page before emailing support. This ensures that we can continue to provide a good level of support to customers without having to answer questions that already have published answers.
1.02) What is the enterprise license?
The enterprise license entitles an organisation to make as many copies of the planner as is agreed in the license. This type of license is suitable for businesses that wish to allow multiple teams to internally manage their leave or make use of the versatile features of the planner to use it for other planning purposes. Please note that if you are only planning on using one copy of the planner in your company, then you do not need to purchase an enterprise license.
For further information, please see the enterprise licensing page.
1.03) Do I have to renew the planner each year?
Yes, the planners that are bought have the capacity for 12 calendar months on them so you will need to purchase the planner on an annual basis should you wish to continue using our planners. Please note that during the year we work hard on improving the planners, so each time you renew the planner you will receive an improved product.
1.04) If I only buy the planner, say with 25 staff on it, can I add more staff later on?
Yes, if you need to add more staff please contact support and we can add these to your planner. Please note that you will need to pay for the additional staff members and an administration fee of £10.
1.05) Can I pay through other methods?
The quickest method is to pay through the site, which uses Paypal. Contrary to popular belief you do not need a Paypal account to pay for the product, you can enter your Credit Card details without logging into Paypal. Once you have paid using this method, a download link will instantly be sent to your email account.
However if you do not wish to pay through our site, we accept cheques but please note this will be slower and we will have to send you a time-limited version of the planner which will expire after a month. This will allow time for the cheque to process.
1.06) When will i receive the planner?
If you paid via paypal or a credit card, then you automatically be sent an email containing a download link to the planner. This is an automated process provided by our payments partner, e-junkie.com. If you have not received the email please contact support. The likely cause for this is that the spam filter's used by your company have incorrectly marked it as "junk" mail.
Please note if you pay via a bank transfer or "e-cheque" then it can take up to 10 working days, so we recommend paying by card.
1.07) Can I pay through an eCheque?
Yes, this option is supported by paypal but please be aware that it can take up to 10 working days for the funds to clear and the planner to be released to you.
Passwording, Modification and General Features
2.01) Can I protect the planner with a password?
Yes, you can protect the planner with a "password to modify". This means that only users with the password will be able to save it, otherwise they will only be able to open it in Read-Only mode.
Information on how to do this can be found on the "Instructions" page on the planner.
2.02) I need to know the password for the planner, what is it?
Unfortunately we cannot supply you with the password to the planner. This is because we need to keep the planner locked to prevent you from adding your own rows and columns as this would cause the calculations used in the planner to malfunction.
All of the functionality (e.g. adding staff, removing staff, adding holiday details, customising codes etc..) can be used without needing to unlock the planner. The Instructions provide details on how to do this.
2.03) I need to add other columns to the planner, how can I do this?
Please contact support if you need to customize the planner as you won't be able to do this youself. This is because the planner is locked with a password to prevent users from inserting rows, columns, workbooks etc that will cause the calculations made by the planner to break.
Please be aware that there may be a charge depending on the modifications (e.g calculations performed or statistics to be tracked) you wish to make. This will be discussed with you by our support staff.
2.04) How do I print out the planner?
The simplist way to print out the planner is by creating a "Monthly Report" which is available from the reports sheet and printing it out. This report will allow you to refine your options as you can choose which staff to add to the report.
If you wish to print out the 6 months shown on each of the main planning pages, you will need to use the following Excel features to mark up the print area that fits your printer layout:
- Print Area: Set the print area to cover all of the cells you wish to print.
- Page Setup: Use these features to define which columns and rows to repeat for each page. You can also setup the page if you have an A3 printer or wish to switch between portrait and landscape modes.
- Page Break Preview View: Use this view to define the margins for each page that you want to print.
Macros, Microsoft Excel 2007 and Compatability
3.01) Is the planner compatable with Microsoft Excel 2007?
Yes, the latest versions of the planner have been tested with Excel 2007. Excel 2007 users should ensure that they keep the workbook saved in Excel 97-2003 compatability mode as not all of the new file formats are suitable (please see next question).
3.02) What file format should we use with Microsoft Excel 2007?
The staff leave planner only supports the following file formats:
- "Excel 97-2003 Workbook (*.xls)"
- "Excel Macro-Enabled Workbook (*.xlsm)" - You can use this 2007 format ONLY if you have anti-virus software installed on your computer.
The reason for this is that the features of the other types of format will not allow the macros in the planner to run.
3.03) How do I enable Macros?
Instructions of how to enable the macros are contained at the bottom of the "Setup" and "Start" sheets on the planner itself.
3.04) Why are Microsoft Excel 97, 2004 and 2008 on the Mac not supported?
The Mac versions of Microsoft Office use Visual Basic 5 which are incompatible with the macros written in the planner. At the moment there are no plans to convert the planner into this format.
Purchasing and Support Questions
1.01) What support do you offer?
1.02) What is the enterprise license?
1.03) Do I have to renew the planner each year?
1.04) If I only buy the planner, say with 25 staff on it, can I add more staff later on?
1.05) Can I pay through other methods?
1.06) When will i receive the planner?
1.07) Can I pay through an eCheque?
Passwording, Modification and General Features
2.01) Can I protect the planner with a password?
2.02) The planner is asking me for a password, what is it?
2.03) I need to add other columns to the planner, how can I do this?
2.04) How do I print out the planner?
Macros, Microsoft Excel 2007 and Compatability
3.01) Is the product compatable with Microsoft Excel 2007?
3.02) What file format should we use with Microsoft Excel 2007?
3.03) How do I enable Macros in Microsoft Excel 2007?
3.04) Why are Microsoft Excel 97, 2004 and 2008 on the Mac not supported?
Purchasing and Support Questions
1.01) What support do you offer?
We offer free email based support, of which we have a 3 day SLA (service level agreement) in which we will aim to respond to you. Please ensure that you read the manual first and also look at some of the frequently asked questions on this page before emailing support. This ensures that we can continue to provide a good level of support to customers without having to answer questions that already have published answers.
1.02) What is the enterprise license?
The enterprise license entitles an organisation to make as many copies of the planner as is agreed in the license. This type of license is suitable for businesses that wish to allow multiple teams to internally manage their leave or make use of the versatile features of the planner to use it for other planning purposes. Please note that if you are only planning on using one copy of the planner in your company, then you do not need to purchase an enterprise license.
For further information, please see the enterprise licensing page.
1.03) Do I have to renew the planner each year?
Yes, the planners that are bought have the capacity for 12 calendar months on them so you will need to purchase the planner on an annual basis should you wish to continue using our planners. Please note that during the year we work hard on improving the planners, so each time you renew the planner you will receive an improved product.
1.04) If I only buy the planner, say with 25 staff on it, can I add more staff later on?
Yes, if you need to add more staff please contact support and we can add these to your planner. Please note that you will need to pay for the additional staff members and an administration fee of £10.
1.05) Can I pay through other methods?
The quickest method is to pay through the site, which uses Paypal. Contrary to popular belief you do not need a Paypal account to pay for the product, you can enter your Credit Card details without logging into Paypal. Once you have paid using this method, a download link will instantly be sent to your email account.
However if you do not wish to pay through our site, we accept cheques but please note this will be slower and we will have to send you a time-limited version of the planner which will expire after a month. This will allow time for the cheque to process.
1.06) When will i receive the planner?
If you paid via paypal or a credit card, then you automatically be sent an email containing a download link to the planner. This is an automated process provided by our payments partner, e-junkie.com. If you have not received the email please contact support. The likely cause for this is that the spam filter's used by your company have incorrectly marked it as "junk" mail.
Please note if you pay via a bank transfer or "e-cheque" then it can take up to 10 working days, so we recommend paying by card.
1.07) Can I pay through an eCheque?
Yes, this option is supported by paypal but please be aware that it can take up to 10 working days for the funds to clear and the planner to be released to you.
Passwording, Modification and General Features
2.01) Can I protect the planner with a password?
Yes, you can protect the planner with a "password to modify". This means that only users with the password will be able to save it, otherwise they will only be able to open it in Read-Only mode.
Information on how to do this can be found on the "Instructions" page on the planner.
2.02) I need to know the password for the planner, what is it?
Unfortunately we cannot supply you with the password to the planner. This is because we need to keep the planner locked to prevent you from adding your own rows and columns as this would cause the calculations used in the planner to malfunction.
All of the functionality (e.g. adding staff, removing staff, adding holiday details, customising codes etc..) can be used without needing to unlock the planner. The Instructions provide details on how to do this.
2.03) I need to add other columns to the planner, how can I do this?
Please contact support if you need to customize the planner as you won't be able to do this youself. This is because the planner is locked with a password to prevent users from inserting rows, columns, workbooks etc that will cause the calculations made by the planner to break.
Please be aware that there may be a charge depending on the modifications (e.g calculations performed or statistics to be tracked) you wish to make. This will be discussed with you by our support staff.
2.04) How do I print out the planner?
The simplist way to print out the planner is by creating a "Monthly Report" which is available from the reports sheet and printing it out. This report will allow you to refine your options as you can choose which staff to add to the report.
If you wish to print out the 6 months shown on each of the main planning pages, you will need to use the following Excel features to mark up the print area that fits your printer layout:
- Print Area: Set the print area to cover all of the cells you wish to print.
- Page Setup: Use these features to define which columns and rows to repeat for each page. You can also setup the page if you have an A3 printer or wish to switch between portrait and landscape modes.
- Page Break Preview View: Use this view to define the margins for each page that you want to print.
Macros, Microsoft Excel 2007 and Compatability
3.01) Is the planner compatable with Microsoft Excel 2007?
Yes, the latest versions of the planner have been tested with Excel 2007. Excel 2007 users should ensure that they keep the workbook saved in Excel 97-2003 compatability mode as not all of the new file formats are suitable (please see next question).
3.02) What file format should we use with Microsoft Excel 2007?
The staff leave planner only supports the following file formats:
- "Excel 97-2003 Workbook (*.xls)"
- "Excel Macro-Enabled Workbook (*.xlsm)" - You can use this 2007 format ONLY if you have anti-virus software installed on your computer.
The reason for this is that the features of the other types of format will not allow the macros in the planner to run.
3.03) How do I enable Macros?
Instructions of how to enable the macros are contained at the bottom of the "Setup" and "Start" sheets on the planner itself.
3.04) Why are Microsoft Excel 97, 2004 and 2008 on the Mac not supported?
The Mac versions of Microsoft Office use Visual Basic 5 which are incompatible with the macros written in the planner. At the moment there are no plans to convert the planner into this format.