Using & Getting Help

To access the online Help:

The online Help can be used to solve basic problems encountered during your everyday use of Biotics. It is comprehensive, covering field definitions, data entry, basic digitizing, and advanced editing topics, as well as Biotics Administration and Data Management, such as reparenting EOs and merging EOs.

• The online Help Documentation is accessible via the link in every Biotics page footer.
  
• Within a record management window:
• Place your cursor over the page title (hover, don't click). A popup for that page will be displayed with a link to the context sensitive help for that page. Click the icon to view the context sensitive help for that page.
  
• Place your cursor over a field title (hover, don't click). A popup for that field will be displayed with a link to the context sensitive help for that field. Click the icon to view the context sensitive help for that field.
  
• Within the Map, the various tool dialogs have links to the context sensitive help in the top right corner. Click the icon to view the context sensitive help for that tool.
  

To access the Help Desk:

ANY question, comment, bug, functionality request, etc. regarding Biotics should be submitted to the Biotics Help Desk:

• If there is a question as to whether your Biotics instance is working, check your Server Status by clicking the Server Status tab within the Biotics Help Desk.
• Submit tickets directly via the Biotics Help Desk or simply by emailing biotics@natureserve.org. When submitting a ticket:
• Craft a meaningful title (for example, How can I include additional data fields in the data that is exported via the Map?)
• Include the name of the help topic (or URL) and step number if you have a question about a help topic.
• Include a screenshot (preferably saved as a .png file) of the problem or error.
• Provide details such as the record ID or element in question
• Provide step-by-step instructions for reproducing the problem/error - if we can't reproduce it, we can't resolve it!
• Remember, the more information you provide, the more efficiently we can help you!
• See the following Solutions to:
• View tickets of Status other than Open (i.e. Resolved, Closed)
• Sort tickets according to..
• Close a ticket
• See tickets submitted by others in my organization/HP/CDC

of