Technical Users Guide for the Performance Measurement Accountability System. National Information Center For State and Private Forestry.

Transcription

1 PMAS Technical Users Guide for the Performance Measurement Accountability System National Information Center For State and Private Forestry Prepared By Peter Bedker Release 2 October 1, 2002

2 PMAS User s Guide Page 2 Illustrations were produce using Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 (IE 5.5). This program was designed and thoroughly tested using IE 5.5. It may appear and behave differently in other browsers. It is recommended that you use IE 5.0 or equivalent browser when using this application. Information appearing in the illustrations of data entry forms and reports throughout this manual was entered for the purposes of instruction and is completely fictitious. Warning: You begin a session when you log on to the PMAS system. Sessions will time-out (end) after 30 minutes of inactivity. You will need to log back on to the PMAS system after a time-out and you may need to re-enter any information that was in the process of being entered and not yet submitted to the system.

3 PMAS User s Guide Page 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page What s New 4 Getting Started 4 Request User Account 4 User Roles 5 Logging On 6 Logging Off 7 Navigation 8 Data Entry 8 Program Accomplishments 9 Narratives 10 Information Review 12 Program Accomplishments 12 Narratives 14 Updating Submitted Information 15 Program Accomplishments 15 Narratives 15 Reports 15 Prepared Reports 16 Ad hoc Reports 17 Changing Your Password 21 Administration 21 Add Users 21 Delete Users 23 Help 23 On-line Help 23 Forget Your Password? 26 Printing 27 Appendix Data Entry Forms 30

4 PMAS User s Guide Page 4 WHAT S NEW Fewer questions - Reporting questions in PMAS have been reduced by over 60% from last year. New user accounts - User accounts are now granted to an individuals rather than to organizations as done previously. New reports - Three prepared reports have been added and are available to all users. Success stories - Revised format and reduced requirements for success stories. On-line help User s Guide has been revised and is provided on-line. New web address - PMAS has been moved to GETTING STARTED PMAS is a web-based information system. You must have a web browser (Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 or equivalent), Internet connection and user account to use this system. We assume you are familiar with using your web browser to explore the Internet. Figure 1. PMAS information system login page. Request User Account A significant change from previous years is that PMAS accounts are now granted to an individual rather that to an organization. Follow the instructions below to request your account: Step 1: Open your web browser.

5 PMAS User s Guide Page 5 Step 2: Highlight the default address (it will look something like in the address box near the top of your browser window by single clicking on it. Step 3: Hit the backspace key to clear the current address. Step 4: Type in the following URL (universal resource locator) address in the address text box of your web browser for the PMAS application. spfnic.fs.fed.us/pmas More Information: Hypertext Link A fundamental tool of the Internet. Links allow you to navigate or move from page to page by clicking on them. In this application, links first appear as blue, underlined text. Links will turn red when you move your cursor over them. After you have visited a link (i.e. clicked on it) it will no longer be underlined. This will take you to the PMAS login screen (Figure 1). Step 5: Click on the Request user account link. Step 6: Fill out and submit the account request form (Figure 2). Be sure to specify your desired role. Roles are outlined below. Click on the OK button to submit your request. User Roles Role Guest State Regional National Administrative Description Guest users can view submitted program and narrative information. They have no write/edit access. State users are the only users with write access to program information. They have add/edit privileges for narrative information for their state and can view submitted program and narrative information for all states, islands and territories. Regional users have the responsibility to review and approve submitted program information and have add/edit privileges for narratives from states, islands and territories within their region, area or institute. A recent change allows regional users to view program information before it has been submitted by the state. National users have the responsibility to review and approve program information submitted by the regions. In addition, they have add/edit privileges for all narrative information. They too can view program information before it has been submitted by a state or region. Administrative users have the responsibility to administer user accounts. They also have add/edit privileges for program information. Finally, they also have the rights and privileges of all other users.

6 PMAS User s Guide Page 6 Note: Granting of account requests requires administrator action. Account requests will be granted as soon as practical, generally within two working days. You will receive an confirmation of your account information when it is granted. Figure 2. PMAS account request form. Logging On You must have a user account to log on to PMAS information system. If you have a user account follow the instructions below to log on: Step 1: Open your web browser. Step 2: Highlight the default address (it will look something like in the address box near the top of your browser window by single clicking on it. Step 3: Type the following URL (universal resource locator) into the address box: spfnic.fs.fed.us/pmas and type your enter key. Step 4: Enter your user name and password into the spaces provided on the log on page (Figure 1). Step 5: Click on the OK button. Upon logging on the PMAS home page (Figure 3) will be displayed. Select a program to display the application menu and begin work. The application menu is used to navigate throughout this application. Users may return to this page at anytime by clicking on the Home link on the application menu.

7 PMAS User s Guide Page 7 Warning: You begin a session when you log on to the PMAS system. Sessions will time-out (end) after 30 minutes of inactivity. You will need to log back on to the PMAS system after a time-out and you may need to re-enter any information that was in the process of being entered and not yet submitted to the system. Figure 3. PMAS application home page. Logging Off It is important to log off when you done working in the PMAS application. To log off, simply click on the Log Off link on the application menu (Figure 3). This will return you to the login page.

8 PMAS User s Guide Page 8 Navigation As mentioned briefly above, the application menu consists of a set of links that makes traveling through the PMAS Program fast and easy. Navigation is as follows: Figure 4. Application menu. The program title at the top of the application menu in beige. It identifies your current program and is always visible. Clicking on Home returns you to the PMAS home page (Figure 3) and offers you the opportunity to switch to another PMAS program. Data Entry, a link visible only to state users, takes you to the data entry forms for the project whose name is displayed at the top of the application menu. View Submissions displays the current job status for all states, islands and territories. Approve Submissions, a link only visible to Regional and National users, displays a list of States, Islands and Territories that is used to approve submitted program information. View Reports displays the report menu. Administration a link only visible to Administrative users, displays the Administration menu. Log Off logs you off the system and returns you to the login page (Figure 1). Change Password a link that allows you to periodically change your password. Help a link that opens the on-line help system in a new window. CAUTION: Any data entered that has not been updated will be lost when navigating between screens. DATA ENTRY The information collected by the PMAS application includes numerical program accomplishments for Forest Stewardship, Forest Resource Management/Seedlings, Nursery, Tree Improvement Program; Forest Legacy Program and the Urban & Community Forestry Program as well as a limited number of success stories (i.e. narratives) by program area.

9 PMAS User s Guide Page 9 Program Accomplishments State users are the only users responsible for entry of program accomplishments. The link used for data entry and the forms described below are not available to Regional and National users. To begin data entry click on the Data Entry link on the application menu. This will display page one of the data entry form (Figure 5). Figure 5. Typical PMAS data entry page. Data entry forms consist of the following functional items: two Navigation Bars, a data entry table, an Update button and a Submit link. Navigation Bars occur on the top and bottom of each page. They allow you to switch from page to page, displaying different questions, or to display all the questions on one page. The main body of the form consists of a table for data entry. This table is composed of a header that identifies specific program areas and three columns. Specific performance measures (e.g. number of stewardship plans written) are listed in the first column. A text box for data entry and the unit of measure (e.g. Plans) is given in the second column. Additional instructions or clarifications are given in the third column. The Update button allows you to periodically save your information while you work within the system. Moving to another data entry page will also save your information. If you exit Warning: Closing your web browser or clicking on a link within the Application Menu without saving your information first, by clicking on the Update button, will result in lost data.

10 PMAS User s Guide Page 10 a page by closing your web browser or by clicking on a link on the Application menu, all the information entered on the current page will be lost. The Submit link is used to submit your information for regional and then national review. Please make sure your information is complete and accurate before submitting it for review. This is important because you will not be able to change your information once it has been submitted for review. It is important to submit your information for review because it will not be available for reporting until it has been submitted. In the event that you need to change your information after it has been submitted, simply contact your Forest Service regional representative and ask that they reject your submission. This will enable you to edit it. But be sure to submit it for review when you are done, because only submitted information will be reported. Narratives The Success Stories of the past have been replaced by a new format that allows us to gather less information up front, but can be used to identify and then solicit targeted Success Stories as needed. States are asked to provide a total of three narratives, one for each of the major program areas. To add a new Narrative complete the following instructions: Step 1: Click on the Narratives link on the Application Menu (Figure 4). This will display the Narrative Summary page (Figure 6). This page presents the number of submitted narratives for the current program (e.g. PMAS 2002) by program area and state, island or territory. Figure 6. Narrative summary page.

11 PMAS User s Guide Page 11 Step 2: Click on the Add narrative link at the far right of table row for your state, island or territory name. Step 3: Identify the program area for your new narrative (Figure 7) and then click submit. Figure 7. Select program area for new narrative. Step 4: Enter the needed information into the narrative entry form and click the Submit button to save and submit the information. Needed information includes: Project name and location Contact information for local contact that can supply additional information if necessary. Brief project narrative or description. This description is limited to 500 characters. Area of Activity or keywords that apply.

12 PMAS User s Guide Page 12 Figure 8. Narrative information data entry form. INFORMATION REVIEW Program Accomplishments Review of program accomplishments is critical to quality assurance and important to program oversight. The rights of review for program accomplishments are dependant on your role and submission status, and are outlined in the table below. Role Guest State Regional National Administrator Right-of-Review Only view information that under regional or national review, or is fully approved. View information for states, islands or territories upon submission for regional review. View information for states, islands or territories independent of status, including work in progress. View information for states, islands or territories independent of status, including work in progress. View information for states, islands or territories independent of status, including work in progress. To view program accomplishments complete the following: Step 1: Click on the View Submissions link on the Application Menu (Figure 4). This will display the View Submissions summary page that gives the current program status by state, island or territory (Figure 9).

13 PMAS User s Guide Page 13 Figure 9. View submissions summary page. Step 2: Click on the name of your state to display a report of your program accomplishments (Figure 10). Figure 10. Sample of the View Submissions report. Refer to the section on Printing from PMAS for information on printing this report. To view a detailed submission history report (Figure 11), click on the status link to the right of the name of your state, island or territory. If the status is Work in progress a message that says Initial data entry is taking place will be displayed.

14 PMAS User s Guide Page 14 Figure 11. A sample submission history report for program accomplishments. Narratives Narrative information is gathered to identify and solicit targeted success stories. This information does not warrant the same level of oversight and quality assurance needed for program accomplishments. Therefore, all users may view narratives upon submission. Complete the following instructions to view narrative information: Step 1: Click on the Narratives link on the Application Menu (Figure 4). This will display the Narrative Summary page (Figure 6). Step 2: Click on the View link to the right of your state, island or territory name. This will display a detailed narrative report by state for the current program (Figure 12). The view link will not be active until at least one narrative has been submitted.

15 PMAS User s Guide Page 15 Figure 12. View narrative information. UPDATING SUBMITTED INFORMATION Program Accomplishments In the event that you need to change your information after it has been submitted, simply contact your Forest Service regional representative and ask that they reject your submission. This will enable you to edit it. But be sure to submit it for review when you are done, because only submitted information will be reported. Narratives Complete the following steps to edit or update your narratives: Step 1: Click on the Narratives link on the Application Menu (Figure 4). This will display the Narrative Summary page (Figure 6). Step 2: Click on the View link to the right of your state, island or territory name. This will display a detailed narrative report by state for the current program (Figure 12). The view link will not be active until at least one narrative has been submitted. Step 3: Click on the Edit link to the right of the narrative you wish to update. Step 4: Update the information displayed for your narrative in the displayed data entry form (Figure 8). Step 5: Click the Submit button to save your updates.

16 PMAS User s Guide Page 16 REPORTS There are two types of reports available to you within PMAS. The first are prepared or standing reports and are new this release. Prepared reports are generated from a single menu selection and contain identified information. PMAS also allows you to create ad hoc reports. In contrast to prepared reports, you must go through a series of menu choices to identify the information that you would like to appear in your report. Prepared Reports Complete the following instructions to view prepared reports: Step 1: Click on the View Reports link on the Application Menu (Figure 4). Step 2: Click on the Project Reports link on the Reports Menu (Figure 13). Figure 13. PMAS report menu. Step 3: Click on the name of the prepared report at the top of the Report Tool menu (Figure 14) that you want to view. A sample of the Forest Stewardship Plans and Acres by State report is presented in Figure 15. Standing reports may be exported to Microsoft Excel or Word by clicking on the icons in the upper left-hand corner of the report. Two of the prepared summary reports allow you to select the report year. If you would like to view the report for any year other than the current report year, select the year in the drop-down menu before clicking on the report name.

17 PMAS User s Guide Page 17 Figure 14. PMAS report tool menu. Figure 15. Sample of the summary of forest stewardship plans and acres by state standing report. Ad hoc Reports Complete the following instructions to prepare an ad hoc report: Step 1: Click on the View Reports link on the Application Menu (Figure 4). Step 2: Click on the Project Reports link on the Reports Menu (Figure 13). Step 3: Select the program to prepare a report for from the list of programs at the bottom of the Report Tool menu (Figure 14).

18 PMAS User s Guide Page 18 Step 4: Select the states, islands or territories that you would like to include in your report as follows: To select all states, islands and territories, simply click on the Check All link on the bottom row of the Regions table and then click the Select All States In The Checked Region(s) button (Figure 16). To select all the states, islands and territories for a region or regions, simply click on the check box to the right of the region name and click the Select All States button at the bottom of the table. Figure 16. PMAS select regions menu for ad hoc reports. To select one or more states, islands or territories within a region, click on the region name link. Then select the desired states, islands or territories by clicking on the check box to the right of their names and then click the Select Checked State(s) button (Figure 17). This will return you to the select regions menu. You may repeat this process to select additional states, islands or territories for your report as desired.

19 PMAS User s Guide Page 19 Figure 17. PMAS select states menu for ad hoc reports. Step 5: Select to produce a summary or detailed report by clicking on the appropriate link at the top of the select regions menu (Figure 18). Figure 18. Select report type after selecting states, islands or territories to include. Step 6: Select the questions that you would like to include on your report (Figure 19).

20 PMAS User s Guide Page 20 Figure 19. Select questions and generate detailed ad hoc report. Step 7: Click the Generate Report button. A sample report is presented in Figure 20. Figure 20. Sample ad hoc detailed report. Ad hoc reports may be exported to Microsoft Excel or Word by clicking on the icons in the upper right-hand corner of the report. In addition, report formats may be saved and re-run again as information is updated. Click on the disk icon at the top of the report to save the report. Reports are saved in the database and may be accessed by clicking on Load a Saved Report link at the top of the PMAS report tool menu (Figure 14).

21 PMAS User s Guide Page 21 Because these reports are saved in the PMAS application, save only those reports that you know you will access several times. CHANGING YOUR PASSWORD Complete the following instructions to change your password: Step 1: Click on the Change Password link on the application menu (Figure 4). Step 2: Enter your old password in the text box provided. Step 3: Enter and confirm your new password in the text boxes provided. Step 4: Click OK to submit your new password. ADMINISTRATION Administration of the PMAS information system is done from the Administration Menu (Figure 21). This menu is accessed by a limited number of administrative users from the Application Menu. This menu allows administrative users to add or update a variety of program information. Only user administration will be explained in detail below. Figure 21. PMAS administration menu. Add Users Administrative users are sent notification when account requests are made. Complete the following instructions to grant user accounts:

22 PMAS User s Guide Page 22 Step 1: Click on the Administration link on the Application Menu (Figure 4). Step 2: Click on the Users link on the Administration Menu (Figure 21). New requests are highlighted in orange (Figure 22). Figure 22. PMAS users list. Step 3: Click on Update button to the right of the account request that you wish to grant. This will display the account details page (Figure 23). Figure 23. PMAS account request administration. Step 4: Check the Approved and Send notification checkboxes. Step 5: Click the OK button.

23 PMAS User s Guide Page 23 Delete Users Complete the following instructions to delete existing user accounts: Step 1: Click on the Administration link on the Application Menu (Figure 4). Step 2: Click on the Users link on the Administration Menu (Figure 21). Step 3: Click on the Delete button to the right of the account that you want to delete (Figure 22). Step 4: Answer OK to the pop-up message that asks you if you are sure you want to delete this record. Step 5: Answer OK to the pop-up message that acknowledges the record has been deleted. HELP On-line Help The Help menu item, found on the Application Menu (Figure 3), opens the PMAS Help System in a new browser window (Figure 24). This allows you to have the PMAS Information System and the help system open at the same time. Figure 24. PMAS on-line help system.

24 PMAS User s Guide Page 24 The PMAS Help System consists of a toolbar, navigation window and topic window. When you first open the help system, the Table of Contents is displayed in the Navigation Window and the title page for the user s guide is displayed in the Topic Window. The toolbar is used to change the information displayed in the Navigation Window and the Navigation Window is used to change the information displayed in the Topic Window. Table of Contents To display a new topic from the Table of Contents follow the steps below: Step 1: Click on the Contents button on the left end of the Help Toolbar to display the Table of Contents in the Navigation Window. Step 2: Click on a book to open it and display a list of topics within (Figure 25). Figure 25. Navigating the PMAS Help System using the Table of Contents. Step 3: Click on a topic of interest within a book to display the topic in the Topic Window. Index Follow the instructions below to display a topic that contains a word or phrase in the index: Step 1: Click on the Index button on the Help Toolbar to display the Index in the Navigation Window (Figure 26).

25 PMAS User s Guide Page 25 Step 2: Begin typing a word or phase you wish to locate within the text box at the top of the Navigation. The first word beginning with the letters typed will be displayed in the index below. Figure 26. Navigating the PMAS help system using the index. Step 3: Click on a keyword or keyword phrase within the index to display a topic in the Topic Window that contains it. You can use the browser search function (Ctrl+F) to find the keyword or keyword phase within the topic. Search Follow the instructions below to display a topic that contains a word or phrase: Step 1: Click on the Search button on the Help Toolbar to display the Search utility in the Navigation Window (Figure 27). Figure 27. Navigating the PMAS help system using search.

26 PMAS User s Guide Page 26 Step 2: Type the word or phase you wish to locate within the text box at the top of the Navigation Window. Step 3: Click the Go button to display the search results in the bottom part of the Navigation Window. Step 4: Click on a topic to display it in the Topic Window. Forget your password To have your account information ed to your address of record complete the following instruction: Step 1: Click on the Forgot your password link on the PMAS login page (Figure 28). Figure 28. PMAS login page. Step 2: Enter your user name or address into the account information request form (Figure 29). Step 3: Click the Submit Request button. Upon submission you will receive an acknowledgement that your account information was sent. Your information will be mailed to your address of record, which is the one you gave when you requested your account. For security purposes this form does not acknowledge failed requests. A failed request occurs when the supplied information does not match information on file.

27 PMAS User s Guide Page 27 Figure 29. Account information request form. Printing PMAS is an Internet application and is optimized for screen display. While it is possible to print web pages, much of the Internet is not specifically designed with printing. Common problems include text extending beyond the margin of pages and page breaks occurring at odd places. The following are some tips to minimize problems printing. NOTE: Printing tips provided are for Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5. They may not apply to different versions or browsers. Complete the following instructions to print the data entry forms: Step 1: Place your cursor anywhere over the data form, except directly over a text box for data entry, and click the right mouse button. Step 2: Select Print from the pop-up menu (Figure 30). Step 3: Select Options on the Windows pop-up print dialog menu and select Print only the selected frame option (Figure 31). Step 4: Click the Print button.

28 PMAS User s Guide Page 28 Figure 30. Right click on the data entry form and select print from the pop-up Windows menu. Figure 31. Windows pop-up print dialog menu. The View Submissions report (Figure 11) can be printed following the same instructions above, but page breaks may occur at undesirable places. One option for controlling page breaks is to only print a portion of the text that appears on the screen. To print only part of the screen, complete the following: Step 1: With your mouse, select the text that you wish to print. Step 2: Right-click on the selected text with your cursor and select Print from the pop-up menu (Figure 32).

29 PMAS User s Guide Page 29 Figure 32. Print selected area to avoid undesirable page breaks. Step 3: Choose to print Selection from the page range options on the pop-up Windows printing dialog. Step 4: Click the Print button. A final option that works particularly well for the printing the View Submissions report is to copy the information from the PMAS application and to paste it into a document in your word processing program. This can be accomplished as follows: Step 1: Place your cursor anywhere over the View Submissions report (Figure 10) and click your right mouse button. Step 2: Select Select all from the pop-up menu (Figure 32). Step 3: Copy the information into your clipboard by either right-clicking on the selected text and choosing Copy from the pop-up menu or by typing Ctrl+C. Step 4: Open a new document in your word processing program and paste in the copied information. Once you have pasted the information into your word processing program you have completed control over page formatting, but that outside the scope of this manual.

30 PMAS User s Guide Page 30 APPENDIX A DATA ENTRY FORMS Figure 33. Data entry form page 1. Figure 34. Data entry form page 2.

31 PMAS User s Guide Page 31 Figure 35. Data entry form page 3. Figure 36. Data entry form page 4.

32 PMAS User s Guide Page 32 Figure 37. Data entry form page 5. Figure 38. Data entry form page 6.

33 PMAS User s Guide Page 33 Figure 39. Data entry form page 7. Figure 40. Data entry form page 8.

34 PMAS User s Guide Page 34 Figure 41. Data entry form page 9.

35 PMAS User s Guide Page 35 Figure 42. Data entry form page 10. Figure 43. Data entry form page 11.