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Installation and Setup
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Support.Sync Setup Decisions
If your leaders purchased the optional feature for Synchronization of your personalized templates,
then your IT Department needs to complete this Sync Setup Decisions form
so that your installation files will be personalized by Systems2win with the default sync setup option specified by your IT Department,
so that user installation can usually be accomplished simply by accepting all defaults.
The choice that you are making here is your default choice for your typical user.
You can change the sync setup choice for any user at any time.
The following information is provided to help your IT Department choose the right portal setup option...
Setup Options
Foundational Concepts to Understand First
The Systems2win Portal is simply a folder full of files that provides one central place to store your master templates.
If or when your leaders personalize a master template, they send an email to all users advising them to select
Excel > Systems2win menu > Setup > Sync Now
which provides a powerful system for version control to distribute your personalized templates to each of your users.
There is no application on your file server.
Just a folder of files.
The Systems2win Excel add-in gets installed on each user's computer, and that add-in provides all kinds of functions to extend the power of Excel, including this feature to Sync personalized master templates.
Preferred Option
Option 1A) Sync from S2winPortal on a shared LAN or WAN
This is the preferred option for multiple users
The Systems2win Sync utility is enabled — to give you valuable Version Control
by copying your personalized master templates from your master Systems2win Portal folder on your LAN or WAN server to each of your users' computers
This is the preferred option for
multiple users in a single location that all have access to the S2winPortal folder on the company's shared Local Area Network (LAN)
multiple users in multiple locations sharing a Wide Area Network (WAN)
Installation
Your IT Dept installs your portal to your LAN or WAN server
Example: \\ourserver\S2winPortal\home.htm
and installs the Systems2win add-in on each user's PC.
At any time, you can easily change the sync setup choice for any user.
Option 1B) Local computer only (no server; no sync)
This is the default option for owners of a single seat license,
and for owners of a multiple seat license, that did not purchase the optional feature for Personalization Synchronization.
If your leaders purchased the optional Personalization features,
(which is probably the reason that they requested you to complete this form)
then do NOT choose this option
The Systems2win Sync utility is disabled.
If you have more than 1 user, and need to distribute a personalized master template, you need to use manual sync.
Installation
When you follow the instructions to install on each user's computer then your master templates portal folder will automatically be installed to:
C:\Users\Public\Documents\Systems2win\S2winPortal\home.htm
If you are changing to this sync choice for a remote user that doesn't have access to your shared server
See instructions for how to change the sync setup choice for a user.
Advanced Options
All of the advanced options below require Systems2win approval
If you are considering any of these options, please call us to discuss all factors of your decision.
Option 2) Sync from Multiple Servers
If you don't have a Wide Area Network, you can sync from one master portal to additional copies of the portal on additional servers.
Your installation file will be personalized to expect the DEFAULT path to your most commonly-used server.
The S2winPortal folder on that server will be considered your "master portal".
Whenever a template is personalized...
work with Systems2win to establish a (clearly-documented) system to copy your personalized template to the correct tFolder within all other server portals
When you install Systems2win for a new user...
If the user has access to your default server...
You can simply follow the usual user installation instructions, without doing anything special.
If the user needs to access one of your other servers instead... then you can either...
- As the last step after you install that user, change the portal path, or...
- Replace the Systems2win.ini file (learn more)
Option 3A) Sync and Intranet
If your company commonly deploys software using your intranet, then contact Systems2win to get set up correctly
so that your users retain the benefits of BOTH:
- Intranet
- AND the powerful version control features of Systems2win Sync
Option 3B) Intranet Only
This option is documented here for discussion purposes but Option 3A is almost always a better option.
Why is Intranet with WAN the better choice?
- Your users still have the option of accessing their templates through your familiar
intranet
using a simple browser bookmark to your portal home page in your intranet
- Your users can also find and open their templates when not connected to your intranet
If you only had Intranet without your WAN, then the second menu item on the Systems2win menu would be disabled, and your users would lose the ability to find and open templates when not connected to the Internet.
When your user selects Systems2win menu > Systems2win Portal, a page would appear with a link to your portal home page, using the URL for your intranet server.
Example: https://www.ourintranet.com/Systems2win/S2winPortal/home.htm
- Sync is enabled
so your users retain the powerful version control features to distribute your personalized templates to each user's laptop
Installation for Option 3A) Sync and Intranet
Install the S2winPortalInstall exe file as usual.
Your chosen folder path just happens to be a sub-folder within your intranet web server
(such as your IIS server)
(It would be a license violation to publish your Portal to an unsecured Internet server)
To expose that folder to your WAN, simply ensure that the network permissions (not intranet permissions) for that folder are "Read Only" for all users to be able to ALSO access that same folder using Windows Explorer or My Computer.
Install the Systems2win Excel add-in on each user's PC
And you can always change the sync setup choice for any user.
Option 4A) Sync AND SharePoint
If your company commonly deploys software using your intranet, then contact Systems2win to get set up correctly
so that your users retain the benefits of BOTH:
- Intranet
- AND the powerful version control features of Systems2win Sync
Option 4B) SharePoint Only
This option is documented here for discussion purposes,
but Option 4A is almost always a better option.
Why is SharePoint with WAN the better choice?
- Your users will never know the difference
All they know is that there is a menu item in SharePoint that opens your portal home page where they find and download their desired template. (It looks the same to the end user)
- Your users can also find and open their templates when not connected to your SharePoint server
Using any of the alternate ways to find and open your Systems2win templates
- Sync is enabled
So your users retain the powerful version control features to distribute your personalized templates to each user's laptop
- Setup is faster
You can simply use our regular installer — rather then SharePoint's slow document library upload
- Backup and restore is easier
A web server folder can be backed up and restored just like any other folder.
SharePoint stores files in a database.
Installation for Option 4A) Sync and SharePoint
Install the S2winPortalInstall exe file as usual.
To share that folder in SharePoint, simply:
- Create a Page Viewer web part in SharePoint
(that exposes the S2winPortal/home.htm page on your LAN, WAN, or intranet) - Add a link to your Page Viewer in your SharePoint navigation
menu
SharePoint > Site Settings > Modify navigation
Install the Systems2win Excel add-in on each user's PC
And you can always change the sync setup choice for any user.
To Install your S2winPortal in the SharePoint Server itself (not recommended)
Extract the S2winPortal exe file to any temporary folder on any PC.
(S2winPortal exe is
a glorified zip file. It just extracts the S2winPortal folder and its
sub-contents)
In SharePoint, create a document library called S2winPortal.
Upload the entire contents from your temporary S2winPortal folder to the SharePoint document library.
Tips for uploading to SharePoint document library:
- Change the SharePoint dropdown field called View: from its default All Documents to Explorer.
In View Explorer mode, you can simply drag and drop files from Windows Explorer. - You might need to upload one sub-folder at a time, and it might be slow.
- Upload the S2winPortal folder in its entirety. If you rearrange files or folders, then hyperlinks will be broken.
Then (like any other SharePoint sub-folders and files), you have the choice of exposing either:
a) just the home.htm page (which serves as a friendly user interface for users to access all of the templates)
b) the tSubfolders (and the template files within them)
If you expose the tSubfolders — be sure to set permissions as "read only" for everything in the entire S2winPortal folder (so users don't accidentally overwrite your master templates with their working documents)
Add a link to home.htm in your SharePoint Navigation menu
SharePoint > Site Settings >
Modify navigation
Rarely used feature (not recommended)
SharePoint's own sync features
You can also use SharePoint for working documents only (not templates)
Many companies use SharePoint ONLY to share working documents while distributing their master Systems2win templates using any of the other sync setup options
First: Understand the difference between templates and working documents
A master template is used as the starting point for a working document.
- Your users can use any of the alternative ways to find and open your templates
- You can also optionally set up SharePoint to serve as yet another way to find & open your templates (in addition to — not in place of — the others)
A working document created from a Systems2win master template is just like any other Excel or Word document, with one exception:
- It will work only on computers that have a valid Systems2win license installed.
In all other respects — your Systems2win working documents are just like any other Word and Excel working document — and therefore:
- Can be stored in any SharePoint library
- Can be checked in & check out
- Can use SharePoint document authoring features
- Can use every other feature of SharePoint for sharing & controlling documents
Important: If you're going to use SharePoint, then you need to TRAIN your users how to avoid the known SharePoint issue.
Bookmark = TS
Option 5) Terminal Service
To choose this option
You must purchase a site license for unlimited users, and your IT Department needs to have a conference with Systems2win to clarify the details of your setup choices.
Installation
Systems2win will deliver your installation file with a special DLL that allows our software to run on Citrix or other Terminal Service.
Your IT Dept installs your portal to your server, and installs the Systems2win add-in on a TS server that also has Microsoft Office installed.
The Systems2win add-in must be installed on the same physical server that has Office installed.
It won't work to install our add-in as a "bubble" that gets launched separately from Office.
If you don't want Systems2win to be installed on every server in your cluster,
then you might install it
on one server (or a few servers),
then teach your users to access Systems2win as a Published Application
(rather than a Published Desktop).
When your user selects the Systems2win Published Application, it launches Excel on a server that has Systems2win installed.
You don't need to set up a separate Published Application for Word.
Users can simply find and open Word templates from your portal.
A Word document created from a Systems2win template can be run on any computer — even without Systems2win installed — unlike an Excel document created from a Systems2win template — which can only be used on a computer with the Systems2win add-in installed.
In addition to the TS server, It is common to also install our application on local PC's for your power users, who can then always change their sync setup choice.
Your IT Department will have a web conference with Systems2win to choose one of these options:
Option 5) Terminal Service with Sync
Sync is enabled, and your users find and open your templates just like any typical Systems2win user
Option 6) Terminal Service without Sync
Sync is disabled. The only way to find and open templates is through your Systems2win Portal
using the path on your portal on your LAN or WAN. Example: file:///ourserver/S2winPortal/home.htm
or the URL to your intranet server. Example: https://www.ourintranet.com/S2winPortal/home.htm
Option 2T) Terminal Service Multi-Server Sync
Option 3T) Terminal Service and Intranet
Option 4T) Terminal Service and SharePoint
Mix 'n Match Sync Setup Options
A single company might override their default sync setup choice to deploy different sync strategies for different types of users.
Example:
Users with access to the company LAN or WAN might sync from the S2winPortal on the shared server.
Users in remote locations might install the S2winPortal only to their c: drive — and use manual sync if and when needed.
FAQ's for Sync Setup
Disk space
FAQ: What is the total file size of all of the files within the Systems2win portal?
As much as 100 MB.
And it is helpful to understand that only FILES are stored on the server.
(There is no programming logic on the server).
How to change the setup choice for any user
FAQ: How can we change the setup choice for any user?
Simply change the path to their portal.
Logged in with power user or administrative privileges...
Excel > Systems2win menu > Setup > Change Path to
Systems2win Portal >
then
browse to select the home.htm file
within the S2winPortal folder on your shared central server
Most commonly, your master portal is on your Local or Wide Area Network.
Your chosen S2winPortal folder might also be a copy of your primary shared master portal, duplicated on multiple servers at different locations
To choose any of the Option 2 choices that use a URL
(and therefore disable Sync)
Browse to select the folder where Systems was installed \SharePointSync\home.htm
And then train the user, because they can only open templates using the Systems2win Portal.
The second menu option is now disabled for that user.
Advanced tech note: (more for Systems2win than you)
If this option was not in your company's default setup...
then your IT Department will need to use Notepad to edit the home.htm file
to point to YOUR (newly changed) portal home page
and then mass replace that \zSystems2win\SharePointSync\home.htm file on every user's computer
along with the Systems2win.ini file
(or purchase an upgrade, and your new installation files will be configured for your new choice).
Final test: Logged in with the
user's usual permissions — do a manual sync...
Systems2win menu > Setup > Sync Now
If you get an error saying you don't have sufficient permissions...
learn more about the Systems2win.ini file
How to mass change the setup choice
for multiple users
FAQ: Is there a faster way to change the setup choice for multiple users?
Once you have changed the portal path for 1 user, you can simply copy the Systems2win.ini file from that computer to overwrite the Systems2win.ini file in other computers.
Learn where to find your Systems2win.ini file
Manual sync
FAQ: How can we distribute personalized templates from a master source to remote users that can't access the server where the master S2winPortal is installed, and can't use Systems2win Sync?
Copy the personalized template file:
from: the tTemplates in the master S2winPortal
to: the tTemplates within the S2winPortal folder installed on the local PC
v14 and higher: C:\Users\Public\Documents\Systems2win\S2winPortal\
v13 and lower: C:\S2winPortal\
being careful to overwrite the old file that has the exact same filename — so that hyperlinks will still work.
Version 13 and lower:
If the remote user's PC is set up to sync with the portal on their own c: drive
(in other words, if the portal path is c:\\S2winPortal, and Auto Sync is turned on)
then after copying the new personalized template to the portal on the c: drive,
the user should also immediately run a manual sync
Systems2win menu > Setup > Sync Now
What if the local computer doesn't have a copy of the portal installed?
Then fix it.
How to find the path to our central portal
FAQ: How can we find the folder path to our central portal?
Option 1) If using version 14 or higher...
then a copy of the S2winPortal folder is (almost) always synced to your c: drive,
and
if you have a central master portal on your server, Excel > Systems2win menu > Setup > About Systems2win Templates will show you the folder path to it.
Option 2) Look in your Systems2winInstallReadMe.docx file, which should have been personalized by your IT Department to provide your portal folder path.
Option 3) You can use the Systems2win.ini file from another another already-successfully-setup computer.
Option 4) Use Start > Search to find your S2winPortal folder (on either your own computer, or on a shared drive)
Option 5) If using version 13 or lower...
If you know someone else in your company that already has a successful installation — you can find the path to your company's portal by having that person open Excel and select Systems2win menu > Systems2win Portal. The portal home page will open in a browser window, and the portal path can be copied from the browser address bar.
How to personalize your templates
FAQ: What can be personalized? And how?
How to personalize your templates
Distribute fewer templates
FAQ: Do we have to give our users every template we own?
How to distribute fewer templates (less than every template you own)
Distribute more templates
FAQ: Can we sync our own (non-Systems2win) templates?
Yes, using the S2winSync folder
Contents
Our IT Department didn't know
it was possible to have
version control
for Excel templates
Systems2win has systems
for that, too?
Tell a Colleague