Using Options with a Team

Options in a Team:

If you have two or more people who wish to work on your student options (electives) at the same time, you may find the following useful:

-- 1)  You can install Options on a network but the program is not multi-user, as it doesn't make sense from an options-viewpoint to have two people trying to create the pattern simultaneously.  We'd recommend only one user performs this task (or you could have a team of users, who could access the software from different machines if they wish, but only one machine at a time).
Note: if you do install Options on a network, it expects to find all its data in the sub-folder labelled 'Data' which is within the folder where the software is installed (by default this is at C:\OPTwin). And this 'Data' folder must have both read & write permissions. So if you put Options on your Server, the program would need to be there too, as well as the Data.

-- 2)  You can export draft versions of the pattern, etc, as HTML (web-pages) for viewing or consultation by colleagues ... so the receiver doesn't need Options to view them, just their usual browser.  You can also export to Excel, etc.

-- 3)  If you have a situation where one person wants to use Options to work on Year 9 (say) and a different person wishes to work on Year 11 (say) at the same time, then it is probably easiest just to install Options twice, in different folders (or in different PCs / laptops).  Then one copy can be used for Year 9 and the other for Year 11.
(You can also set-up different "populations" within each copy of Options, but you are only working on one population at a time).

-- 4)  Or if one person wishes to collect one set of student choices in an Excel file, and another person collects a different set of student choices in another Excel file ... then they could come together to import first one Excel file, and then the other, into Options.

-- 5)  Or if two people wish to work on separate years/populations in separate copies of Options ... but later transfer a population from one copy of Options to the other copy of Options, so all the work is stored in the same copy of Options, this can be done (click 'Transfer' on the Populations screen).

-- 6)  If you use the (free) optional add-on to Options, called "TOOLS" ... which allows students (or parents or staff) to enter their choices online from any mobile device or computer ... then this allows simultaenous access by any number of users.    So two or more staff members can simultaneously sit with students and guide them them and enter their choices into TOOLS.   More details on our website.

If you have any questions about this, let us know.