WCA/SFREP demo questions

[Fargo1]

I'm giving the demo of WCA a try but its pretty limited. In fact I can't even create a report to see how it creates reports. They don't have a UAD sample either so I have no idea how the UAD layout is. So if anyone can send me a blank UAD page so I can see how UAD works that would be great. Send me a PM. But on to my questions. I don't know if this is limitations to the demo version or if its the nature of WCA so let me know the following:

1) Can you drag and drop photos into the photo pages. The demo doesn't drag and drop or copy/paste.

2) Can you edit and label maps? The demo shows a map with labels on it but I can't find a way to add new labels or remove labels or edit the map in any way.

3)Is there an easy way to jump from one page to another. I found I can scroll from one to another and I also found a contents tab at the top of the page. But instead of jumping to the page the contents tab opens the page in a new window.

4) Is there a way to easily move info into and out of the addendum? I haven't quite figure out the addendum yet.

Sorry for all the questions. I'm sure I will have more as I play with it. But so far I'm not overly impressed. I don't not like it, but I haven't found that its a big improvement over my current software.

The one thing I do really like about though is that it seems to run on my Linux computer with Codeweavers Cross over.

EDIT: I am using Windows XP to test WCA. So I am not having errors due to a strange OS. I just installed it into Codeweavers to see if it worked.

 

[Jalexi]

WCA/SFREP user since 2005.

1) No Drag and Drop. You have 2 choices. 1) Bye the photo program or 2) Click on the Blank photo area and either Acquire, Browse or Paste from Clipboard.

2) You can move and delete locations on the Location map.

3) No. That's the only way to move around.

4) Are you talking about extended comments?

 

[Fargo1]

WCA/SFREP user since 2005.

1) No Drag and Drop. You have 2 choices. 1) Bye the photo program or 2) Click on the Blank photo area and either Acquire, Browse or Paste from Clipboard.

2) You can move and delete locations on the Location map.

3) No. That's the only way to move around.

4) Are you talking about extended comments?

Yes, I meant extended comments. Other software call them addendums.

I'll have to see if there is something else to download for maps. I dont see any way to map the comps or edit the maps. I get the same image editor I get in the photo section.

 

[residentialguy]

There is an extended comments button that brings you to the appropriate comment section that you are working on in the form. The icon looks like a sm piece of paper with a pen on it it.

If you want to jump to a comp, hit alt and the comp number you want (1-9).

If you don't close out a page, you can hop around all the open pages by hitting alt-tab.

Some shortcut keys, open the tools and it shows you the short cut keys or you can just click on the tool you want in the tool tab.

I don't use photo manager...waste of money. You can just dble click the photo area and pull it from your file.

You can copy and paste a photo as well. This includes maps or aerial views. Dble click the frame you want to paste it in and click paste.

 

[Fargo1]

There is an extended comments button that brings you to the appropriate comment section that you are working on in the form. The icon looks like a sm piece of paper with a pen on it it.

If you want to jump to a comp, hit alt and the comp number you want (1-9).

If you don't close out a page, you can hop around all the open pages by hitting alt-tab.

Some shortcut keys, open the tools and it shows you the short cut keys or you can just click on the tool you want in the tool tab.

I don't use photo manager...waste of money. You can just dble click the photo area and pull it from your file.

You can copy and paste a photo as well. This includes maps or aerial views. Dble click the frame you want to paste it in and click paste.

Thanks for the tips. I got the photo copy paste figured out now. Its not as nice as drag and drop but its better than having to acquire through all the file trees.

I found the comment icon as well. Not as handy as ACI's comments that auto transport your data from the addendum to the field (and vise versa) but not terrible.

From my brief trail of WCA I'd say its much less featured and less user friendly than ACI but not bad. Much better than WinTotal from what I've seen there. I watched videos and spent nearly 2 hours working with Aurora and I still never found a template package to create a new report with. Apparently they don't make any templates at all for you. Very aggravating when your just wanting to give a quick tryout.

 

[residentialguy]

I found the comment icon as well. Not as handy as ACI's comments that auto transport your data from the addendum to the field (and vise versa) but not terrible.

If you type on the main page and it goes over the alloted space, it automatically transports what you've typed into the additional comments page. You can set it to have it all transport over and it just leaves " *** See Additional Comments ***" on the form page, or you can have what you've written stay there and continue the rest on the additional comments. I prefer that all of it move to the additional comments...nothing is worse then breaking up the sentence and trying to find the rest of the sentence somewhere else in the report. Once you find it, you forgot what you read on the first page. :laugh:

 

[residentialguy]

WCA looks like SFREP, but I don't know if it has all the same features.

 

[Offshore]

I use SFREP and FWIW I don't use photo manager for pics, I use Photograph-It Plus. I know people who use photo manager and like it, to each his own. After the UAD switch it was annoying for a while, but my comp data base now works well. I'm probably going to give "Grab It" a try soon, from what I understand it will eliminate 90% of the typing for comps depending on one's MLS.

 

[Pat Butler]

A number of SFREP's products are add-ons from other software developers. I see now that there will probably by a mobile app that interfaces with AI made by Phoenix Technologies.

The more they get away from developing the core apps themselves, the more problems with interoperability they'll have, and the more difficult it will be to provide support for those products.

Not a good way to grow a software business, in my opinion.