configuration guide · configuring your computer or device to use petpoint ... your computer or...

CONFIGURATION GUIDE

Configuration Guide of 19

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Configuring your Computer or Device to use PetPoint ..............................................................................................3

System Requirements .............................................................................................................................................3

Required Computer or Device Settings ..................................................................................................................3

Verify Automatic Updates ..................................................................................................................................4

PetPoint Friendly Web Browsers ............................................................................................................................5

Special notice regarding Windows 8 ......................................................................................................................6

Required Browser Settings for Internet Explorer ...................................................................................................7

Internet Options .................................................................................................................................................7

Pop-up Blockers | Third-Party Security/Anti-Virus Applications | firewall/router settings...................................9

Internet Explorer’s Pop-up Blocker ................................................................................................................. 10

Chrome, Firefox & Safari Pop-up Blockers ...................................................................................................... 12

PDF Reader .......................................................................................................................................................... 16

Adobe Acrobat Reader .................................................................................................................................... 16

Reader for Windows ........................................................................................................................................ 16

Printing PetPoint’s Reports & Contracts from Internet Explorer ........................................................................ 17

Printing PetPoint’s Reports & Contracts from other browsers ........................................................................... 18

Custom Documents & Kennel Cards – Enterprise Users Only ............................................................................. 18

Known Issues ........................................................................................................................................................... 18

Additional Support .................................................................................................................................................. 19


CONFIGURING YOUR COMPUTER OR DEVICE TO USE PETPOINT

As a web-based application, PetPoint requires specific settings that are local to each computer or device used to access PetPoint, whether you are trying out a demo version of PetPoint or are using it for your organization’s day-to-day operations.

This guide provides an overview of those required settings, as well as general information on pop-up blockers & anti-virus/firewall settings that may prevent your successful use of PetPoint.

Please use the checklist below to ensure that the topics covered in this document have been set up and verified on your PC prior to contacting tech support regarding any potential bugs or strange behavior.

System Requirements

Required Computer or Device Settings

PetPoint Friendly Web Browser

Required Browser Settings for Internet Explorer

Pop-Up Blockers

Adobe Acrobat Reader

Printer Settings

Additional Support

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

This Configuration Guide assumes you have met the internet connection, operating system, and web browser requirements described in our PetPoint System Requirements Guide. If you have not already done so, you should review each computer and device used to access PetPoint to insure they meet the System Requirements and before configuring each of them to meet the settings described in this document.

REQUIRED COMPUTER OR DEVICE SETTINGS

All computer or devices used to access PetPoint should be current on all operating system and browser updates at a minimum. However, we recommend installing all available Windows Updates, including Optional Software and Optional Hardware updates.

PetPoint additionally requires specific Custom Windows Updates that may not be installed by the “Automatic Updates” feature you may have enabled on your PC. In particular, for PetPoint to work correctly, your PC must have Microsoft .NET Framework versions up to including 4.0 installed, along with all updates for each Framework.


http://www.petpoint.com/downloads/petpoint_system_requirements.pdf

VERIFY AUTOMATIC UPDATES

STEP 1: LOCATE YOUR CONTROL PANEL AND SELECT WINDOWS UPDATE

STEP 2: VERIFY YOUR UPDATES ARE SET TO OCCUR AUTOMATICALLY – IF THEY ARE NOT, CLICK CHANGE SETTINGS


STEP 3: SELECT INSTALL UPDATES AUTOMATICALLY UNDER IMPORTANT UPDATES, CLICK OK

NOTE for Windows 7 & 8 Users: By default, Windows 7 comes pre-installed with the required .NET frameworks, even though they do not appear in Add/Remove Programs. When you perform a Custom Windows Update, if you are prompted to install any .NET updates, you should do so.

PETPOINT FRIENDLY WEB BROWSERS

As noted in our PetPoint System Requirements Guide, PetPoint is designed to be run on current versions of most web browsers. It is optimized to be used on desktop or laptop computers, but PetPoint will also operate on mobile devices like tablets and phones.

Please see the list of PetPoint Friendly Web Browsers in the System Requirements Guide, and also update the browser with the recommended settings in this guide, such as inactivating pop-up blockers.


http://www.petpoint.com/downloads/petpoint_system_requirements.pdf

SPECIAL NOTICE REGARDING WINDOWS 8

The optional Start screen in Windows 8 and 8.1 have a different interface than previous versions of Windows.

PetPoint users will want to pay attention to two items on the Start screen: Internet Explorer and Desktop. The version of Internet Explorer that opens from here is a stripped down version that will not allow you to configure your system per the instructions in this document. If you have opened Internet Explorer from here, look for the Tools icon (the “wrench”) and select “View on the desktop”:

This will move Internet Explorer to Desktop Mode (which can also be accessed directly by the Desktop item mentioned above). Desktop Mode provides full access to Internet Explorer in the user interface familiar to users of Windows XP, Vista, 7 & 8. You should use this mode to complete the configuration of PetPoint on your Windows 8 system. It is highly recommended that you continue using the Desktop Mode for accessing PetPoint, as this gives you full access to all features of Internet Explorer that may be needed for your operations.


REQUIRED BROWSER SETTINGS FOR INTERNET EXPLORER

INTERNET OPTIONS

There are several one-time settings you will need to change within Internet Explorer for PetPoint to work correctly.

STEP 1: CHANGE THE DEFAULT SETTINGS SO THAT INTERNET EXPLORER CHECKS FOR NEWER VESIONS OF STORED WEB PAGES EVERY TIME YOU VISIT A PAGE

On your internet explorer window, go to Tools > Internet Options and on the General tab select the ‘Settings’ button under ‘Browser History’.

Select to ‘Check for newer versions of stored pages’: ‘Every time I visit the webpage’.


STEP 2: SET YOUR PC TO USE MAXIUMUM AMOUNT OF DISK SPACE FOR TEMPORARY INTERNET FILES

Increase the amount of ‘Disk space to use’ to 1024. Click OK.

Note: When you first installed Internet Explorer, your settings may have automatically been set to this maximum amount, but it is a good idea to verify you are using the maximum amount, which is usually 1024MB.

STEP 3: DELETE YOUR TEMPORARY INTERNET FILES & COOKIES (ALSO KNOWN AS “CLEARING YOUR CACHE”), INCLUDING ANY OFFLINE CONTENT.

On your internet explorer window, go to Tools > Internet Options and on the General tab select the ‘Delete’ button under ‘Browser History’.


IMPORTANT: We recommend that all users delete their temporary internet files every 1-2 weeks as a preventive maintenance. This helps insure that issues caused by a full temporary internet files cache (such as empty drop-down menus in PetPoint) do not occur. Alternatively, you can check “Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when browser is closed” on the Advanced Tab under Settings in the Security section to set up your Internet Explorer to automatically do this for you.

POP-UP BLOCKERS | THIRD-PARTY SECURITY/ANTI-VIRUS APPLICATIONS | FIREWALL/ROUTER SETTINGS

We use pop-up windows throughout PetPoint to provide quick & easy access to other areas of PetPoint. Some examples include:

The links on the Animal and Person View Reports.


The buttons on the Summary tab.

In addition, PetPoint’s Reporting Website operates on a separate URL from PetPoint itself, so your browser needs to be able to access both URLs to fully use PetPoint.

As a web-based application, these useful and sometimes critical features cannot be accessed when you have pop-up blockers, browser toolbars, or other third-party security, anti-virus, anti-spyware applications running on your computer or device. In addition, both software & hardware firewall and router settings can interfere with successful operation of PetPoint.

Some examples of applications that are known to block access to PetPoint’s pop-up windows and reporting website are: Yahoo, AOL, Google and other browser toolbars which have pop-up blockers built-in and enabled by default; Norton Internet Security; and even your browser’s built-in pop-up blocker.

It’s important that you either configure all such applications to allow access to PetPoint’s entire set of URL’s, disable the applications pop-up blocking feature completely, or remove such applications if they are not needed. Any firewalls/routers you are running may need to be configured to allow unrestricted access to PetPoint or bypassed completely.

Due to the endless number of third-party applications and firewalls/routers available, this guide cannot describe how to configure each application/firewall/router you may have installed or even how to determine which one may be interfering with PetPoint. You may need to contact your third-party vendor to obtain specific configuration instructions.

Instead, this section provides the information on how to configure the most common browser’s built in pop-up blockers and provides you with the URL’s that must be “allowed” by other applications or your firewalls.

INTERNET EXPLORER’S POP-UP BLOCKER

To access settings for the pop-up blocker in Internet Explorer, open Internet Explorer. Then from the Menu items click Tools. Then move the mouse over pop-up blocker. A window to the right will expand. From this window, select pop-up blocker settings.


NOTE: To completely disable Internet Explorer’s pop-up blocker, you can select the “Turn Off Pop-up Blocker” option.

In the Pop-up Blocker Settings window, you can manually add websites from which pop-ups are allowed.

You will need to manually add the following URL to the allowed list: *.petpoint.com

If you choose not to manually add this URL, the first time you attempt to access an area that has been blocked by Internet Explorer’s pop-up blocker, you should be prompted with a notification that a pop-up was blocked as shown below when attempting to access the Reports – Report Website within PetPoint.

NOTE: if you receive a message bar as shown here, you should select “Always Allow” to automatically add PetPoint to your exceptions list.


Please be aware as you are checking your computer or device for other pop-up blockers, as many toolbars contain pop-up blockers, and each one has different methods for allowing PetPoint’s family of URLs. You may need to unblock pop-ups more than once – after unblocking one, if you still are not seeing a pop-up window, check for additional blockers. Some of them may not be readily visible, depending on how your browser is setup – you may need to right-click on your browser’s main toolbar to see what other applications may be installed and “show” them before you can configure the pop-up blocker:

NOTE: In this example, there is an Adobe PDF toolbar installed, but it is hidden because it is not checked.

If you are having difficulty configuring your specific application or firewall, we recommend you contact that vendor’s support line for assistance.

Persistence is the key if you have multiple pop-up blockers or other third-party applications installed – if you don’t gain access to the expected pop-up window after the first try, keep looking as there are likely other applications lurking that need to be configured yet. If the browser’s toolbar isn’t showing anything obvious, you may need to check your installed programs and applications as well for other programs that might be installed which are blocking access to PetPoint.

Finally, if you are running a firewall or router which as a setting for “removing unknown headers” (which is typically enabled by default), this feature will have to be disabled in order for proper data exchange to occur between PetPoint and your computer or device.

CHROME, FIREFOX & SAFARI POP-UP BLOCKERS

Other browsers have pop-up blockers, but they generally do not need configuring prior to using PetPoint. Pop-ups are not automatically blocked, but may appear in another tab rather than a pop-up window. If pop-up blocker settings have been updated, and you are unable to see information as you should in PetPoint, you can check the settings by following the directions shown below.

CHROME

Click the Customize and control Google Chrome button in the top right corner, then choose Settings from the drop down menu. Then scroll down and click to Show advanced settings.


Scroll further down the Settings page and click the Content Settings button. In the Content Settings window, under the Pop-ups section, click Manage Exceptions.

Finally, enter [*.]petpoint.com into the hostname pattern box and click Done. After this has been completed pop-ups will be allowed from PetPoint.


FIREFOX

Click the Open menu button in the top right corner, then choose Options from the drop down menu.

In the Options window, under the Content section, click Exceptions.


Finally, enter *.petpoint.com into the Address of website box and click Allow, then Close. After this has been completed pop-ups will be allowed from PetPoint.

SAFARI

Safari does not have a pop-up blocker exception list, like Chrome and Firefox do. However, pop-ups from the site you are currently visiting should generally be allowed to open.

If you are still unable to see the pop-ups as you should when using Safari, the pop-up blocker can be completely deactivated by clicking the tools menu button, then unselect the “Block Pop-Up Windows” option by clicking it to remove the check.


PDF READER

A program or application that allows for the opening and printing of .pdf documents is required for the 24PetWatch Gift of Insurance documents to be provided to the adopters.

ADOBE ACROBAT READER

In order to view and print the Adopter Downloads from PetPoint, you will need to have the most current version of Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer or device. Most PCs come with Adobe Acrobat Reader preinstalled. Mac and Linux operating systems need this to be installed. You can download this program from www.adobe.com.

NOTE: Acrobat Reader is typically bundled with an optional free install of Google’s Toolbar. Be aware that if you choose to install the Google Toolbar that by default, there is a pop-up blocker built into this toolbar that you will need to configure to allow access to PetPoint or disable (see section 5 above).

READER FOR WINDOWS

For Windows 8 and above, the application Reader is available and is preinstalled. You can find it on the start screen under Apps.


http://www.adobe.com/

PRINTING PETPOINT’S REPORTS & CONTRACTS FROM INTERNET EXPLORER

PetPoint’s Reports are powered by Microsoft’s SQL Server Reporting Services platform. In order to print reports successfully, you will need to install a Microsoft ActiveX control – RSPrintClient.

Installing this ActiveX control typically requires Administrator-level permissions on the computer or device as well as the settings below found within Internet Options – Security Settings – ActiveX controls and plug-ins:

The following setting must be enabled by an Administrator-level user to install the ActiveX controls: • Automatic prompting for ActiveX controls = Enable • Download signed ActiveX controls = Prompt or Enable • Script ActiveX controls marked safe for scripting = Enable In addition, the following setting must enabled for each user in order to print reports on a regular basis: • Run ActiveX controls and plug-ins = Enable

Further documentation on the required configuration for printing from Microsoft Reporting Services can be found at https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms155874.aspx Finally, in order to be prompted to download/save reports you wish to export (like PetPoint’s Extended


https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms155874.aspx

Reports), you will need to set “Automatic prompting for file downloads” in the Downloads section to “Enable” (Internet Explorer 8) or “File Download” in the Downloads section to “Enable” (Internet Explorer 9).

PRINTING PETPOINT’S REPORTS & CONTRACTS FROM OTHER BROWSERS

Other browsers, such as Google Chrome & Mozilla Firefox, have no direct ability to print using the RSPrintClient. Therefore, the way to best print reports & contracts if you choose to use these browsers is by saving the document as a .PDF and printing it directly from Adobe Acrobat.

CUSTOM DOCUMENTS & KENNEL CARDS – ENTERPRISE USERS ONLY

To ensure that custom documents and kennel cards can open properly, you must ensure that the Internet Explorer Security Settings (Tools > Internet Options > Security tab > Custom Level…) have File Downloads enabled. In IE 8, this is under “Downloads > Automatic prompting for file downloads” and in IE 9 this is under “Downloads > File download” (see below).

KNOWN ISSUES


After completing the configuration found in this guide, if your computer or device has any issue operating PetPoint while using one of the PetPoint friendly listed browsers and operating systems, please check to see if the issue is listed on the PetPoint Friendly Browsers and Devices document. If you do not see your specific problem listed, please reach out to [email protected] by email, or by clicking Contact Us from within PetPoint, with a description of your problem.

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT

If you require assistance with the topics in this Guide, please contact the PetPoint Customer Support Team at (866) 630-7387 or [email protected]. While we do not provide third-party application or firewalls/router support, we will do our best to assist with configuration questions related to those areas.


http://www.petpoint.com/downloads/petpoint_friendly_browsers_and_devices.pdf

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]