FAQ and General Info

Page for FAQ and General Info.

Agency Tools Menu

The Agency Tools Menu will list specific tasks for you to undertake, based on the page you are on. The following is a listing of all Agency - Tools Menu items, and the pages they are available on.

All Pages

Find - The Find menu item will open the Find Tool to allow you to create a filter of items that meet your desired criteria. This filter can be saved as a View for future use. For more information, see How To Filter.

Reports - The Reports menu item will open up the Reports Window. From here, reports can be selected, customized, run and printed.

Bills Page

Update - The Update menu item allows you to to modify a property (or properties) for one or more highlighted Bills.

Find Un-Allocated Revenue - This tool allows you to quickly get a list of which Bill Definitions, from the ones highlighted, have revenue that has not yet been allocated. The Un-Allocated Bill Definitions window will display these Bills. From here, you can highlight each one, click on the Allocate Revenue button in the toolbar and complete the Allocation.

View Revenue Allocation Status - This tool allows you to determine the allocation status for the highlighted Bill Definitions. Ad Manager will inform you if all Revenue has been allocated or if there is still an outstanding amount remaining. If there is still an outstanding amount, double click the Bill Definition to open it, click the Allocate Revenue button in the toolbar and complete the Allocation.

Allocate Revenue - This tool allows you to allocate the revenue from the highlighted Bill Definition(s) to the appropriate Faces.

Duplicate - The Duplicate menu item allows you to create a new Bill Definition with the same Line item configuration as the current Bill Definition.

Invoices Page

Update - The Update menu item allows you to to modify a property (or properties) for one or more highlighted Invoices.

Finalize - Finalizing an Invoice will prevent you from making additional changes to it. This can be done manually prior to an Invoice Export, by using this tool, or it will automatically occur during the Export. If you wish to finalize invoices using this tool, highlight them first, then right-click to get this menu option. Once finalized, the Invoice is marked so and will display a unique Transaction ID as well as an Invoice Number.

Un-Finalize - If an Invoice has incorrectly been marked as Finalized, this tool allows you to un-finalize it. Ad Manager will remove the Finalized status of the Invoice, but will still show a unique Transaction ID, indicating this Invoice was Finalized at one time.

Reset Exported Status - If an Invoice has been Exported incorrectly, this tool allows you to mark it as un-exported, so that you may Export it again at a later date.

Calculate Delivery % - This tool will tell you the percent of completed Posting Tasks vs. Scheduled Postings for the period of the selected Invoice(s). This will allow you to determine if enough postings have been completed so that the Invoice can be Finalized and Exported.

What is an Area?

Areas are typically small geographic regions of a municipality with similar characteristics (e.g. Downtown). You can combine any number of areas to form a market or sub market. By breaking your territory into smaller areas, you can combine them in different ways to produce several markets which suit your charting distribution needs. For example, the sample market of Hamlyn below has been divided into 5 areas; Downtown (DT), Northwest (NW), Northeast (NE), Southwest (SW), and Southeast (SE). Two additional towns of Jonesville and Smithville are also shown on the example.

If we assume the market boundary for Hamlyn above is actually a freeway encircling the market we could define the freeway as having 4 sections as follows:

The setup of areas becomes very important when creating market definitions and market distribution patterns (see MARKETS). Areas are used in creating market area definitions, sorting lists and most importantly providing a method to evenly distribute a charted showing to all areas of the market. They are also used in selecting ranges when printing reports and lists as well as in sorting order of the data in various locations throughout the program.

Bills Definition Tools Menu

The Bill Definition Tools Menu will list specific tasks for you to undertake, based on the page you are on. The following is a listing of all Bill Definition - Tools Menu items, and the pages they are available on.

All Pages

Find - The Find menu item will open the Find Tool to allow you to create a filter of items that meet your desired criteria. This filter can be saved as a View for future use. For more information, see How To Filter.

Reports - The Reports menu item will open up the Reports Window. From here, reports can be selected, customized, run and printed.

View Revenue Allocation Status - This tool allows you to determine the allocation status for the highlighted Bill Definitions. Ad Manager will inform you if all Revenue has been allocated or if there is still an outstanding amount remaining. If there is still an outstanding amount, double click the Bill Definition to open it, click the Allocate Revenue button in the toolbar and complete the Allocation.

Allocate Revenue - This tool allows you to allocate the revenue from the highlighted Bill Definition(s) to the appropriate Faces.

Duplicate - The Duplicate menu item allows you to create a new Bill Definition with the same Line item configuration as the current Bill Definition.

Applies To Page

Chart - Allows you to schedule Faces for the currently highlighted Subcontract.

Update - The Update menu item allows you to to modify a property (or properties) for one or more highlighted Subcontracts.

Subcontract Conflicts - The Conflicts menu item allows you to view all conflicts that exist on the highlighted Subcontract(s). You can specify what conditions are considered to be a Conflict prior to clicking OK. The subsequent list consists of all scheduling that has generated a conflict.

Wipe Subcontract(s) - Allows you to delete the highlighted Subcontract(s) and all scheduling at one time. This will NOT delete the Contract, or Subcontract(s) that are not highlighted.

Invoices Page

Update - The Update menu item allows you to to modify a property (or properties) for one or more highlighted Invoices.

Finalize - Finalizing an Invoice will prevent you from making additional changes to it. This can be done manually prior to an Invoice Export, by using this tool, or it will automatically occur during the Export. If you wish to finalize invoices using this tool, highlight them first, then right-click to get this menu option. Once finalized, the Invoice is marked so and will display a unique Transaction ID as well as an Invoice Number.

Un-Finalize - If an Invoice has incorrectly been marked as Finalized, this tool allows you to un-finalize it. Ad Manager will remove the Finalized status of the Invoice, but will still show a unique Transaction ID, indicating this Invoice was Finalized at one time.

Reset Exported Status - If an Invoice has been Exported incorrectly, this tool allows you to mark it as un-exported, so that you may Export it again at a later date.

Calculate Delivery % - This tool will tell you the percent of completed Posting Tasks vs. Scheduled Postings for the period of the selected Invoice(s). This will allow you to determine if enough postings have been completed so that the Invoice can be Finalized and Exported.

Billposter Tools Menu

The Billposter Tools Menu will list specific tasks for you to undertake, based on the page you are on. The following is a listing of all Billposter - Tools Menu items, and the pages they are available on.

All Pages

Find - The Find menu item will open the Find Tool to allow you to create a filter of items that meet your desired criteria. This filter can be saved as a View for future use. For more information, see How To Filter.

Reports - The Reports menu item will open up the Reports Window. From here, reports can be selected, customized, run and printed.

Contract Tools Menu

The Contract Tools Menu will list specific tasks for you to undertake, based on the page you are on. The following is a listing of all Contract - Tools Menu items, and the pages they are available on.

All Pages

Find - The Find menu item will open the Find Tool to allow you to create a filter of items that meet your desired criteria. This filter can be saved as a View for future use. For more information, see How To Filter.

Reports - The Reports menu item will open up the Reports Window. From here, reports can be selected, customized, run and printed.

Define Subcontracts - This allows you to create Subcontracts for a contract automatically. Ad Manager can create Subcontracts of the same duration with the same details (Media Type, Market, etc).

Re-assign Subcontract Numbers - Subcontracts can be renumbered by using this tool. A window will appear, allowing you to choose the method to use to renumber Subcontracts.

Contract Conflicts - The Contract Conflicts menu item allows you to view all conflicts that exist on any Subcontract for this Contract. You can specify what conditions are considered to be a Conflict prior to clicking OK. The subsequent list consists of all scheduling that has generated a conflict.

Wipe Contract(s) - Allows you to delete the Contract, All Subcontracts and all scheduling for the affected Subcontracts with one command. This will delete ALL Subcontracts for the Contract, as well as the Contract itself.

Subcontracts Page

Brand - Allows you to select a brand for the currently highlighted Subcontract.

Chart - Allows you to schedule Faces for the currently highlighted Subcontract.

Update - The Update menu item allows you to modify a property (or properties) for one or more highlighted item.

Subcontract Conflicts - The Conflicts menu item allows you to view all conflicts that exist on the highlighted Subcontract(s). You can specify what conditions are considered to be a Conflict prior to clicking OK. The subsequent list consists of all scheduling that has generated a conflict.

Wipe Subcontract(s) - Allows you to delete the highlighted Subcontract(s) and all scheduling at one time. This will NOT delete the Contract, or Subcontract(s) that are not highlighted.

Posting Schedules Page

Update - This allows you to change scheduling related information (including duration, posting schedule rates, and posting types) at once for the highlighted Faces.

Copy To Flight - This will allow you to copy (transcribe) the highlighted schedule(s) from this Subcontract flight to any other flight for any Subcontract. Ad Manager will check to ensure the Face is available and suitable on the new Subcontract flight.

Copy to Multiple Flights - This will allow you to copy (transcribe) the highlighted schedule(s) from this Subcontract flight to other flights for other Subcontracts (instead of copying them one at a time). Ad Manager will check to ensure the Face(s) is/are available and suitable on the new Subcontract flights.

New Task - This will allow you to create a new posting of the same copy on a different date for this Subcontract or create a take-down record for the highlighted Face(s).

Create Take-Down Task - This feature allows you to inform Ad Manager to create a task that will generate a Posting Card/Instruction that will remove the existing copy and not replace it with new copy. You can specify the date that this Take-Down will occur.

Posting Tasks Page

Update - This allows you to enter posting related information (including Completion information) for the posting task.

Assign Billposter - Allows you to identify the Billposter who will be responsible for posting the copy. When producing posting cards/instructions, you can filter to find only those items that have been scheduled for the Billposter.

Design Tools Menu

The Design Tools Menu will list specific tasks for you to undertake, based on the page you are on. The following is a listing of all Design - Tools Menu items, and the pages they are available on.

All Pages

Find - The Find menu item will open the Find Tool to allow you to create a filter of items that meet your desired criteria. This filter can be saved as a View for future use. For more information, see How To Filter.

Reports - The Reports menu item will open up the Reports Window. From here, reports can be selected, customized, run and printed.

Attachments Page

Save As - Save the item to your computer or network drives. Highlight the item, and click on the Save As button.

Scheduling History Page

Update - This allows you to change scheduling related information (including duration, posting schedule rates, and posting types) at once for the highlighted Faces.

Copy To Flight - This will allow you to copy (transcribe) the highlighted schedule(s) from this Subcontract flight to any other flight for any Subcontract. Ad Manager will check to ensure the Face(s) is/are available and suitable on the new Subcontract flight.

Copy to Multiple Flights - This will allow you to copy (transcribe) the highlighted schedule(s) from this Subcontract flight to other flights for other Subcontracts (instead of copying them one at a time). Ad Manager will check to ensure the Face(s) is/are available and suitable on the new Subcontract flights.

New Task - This will allow you to create a new posting of the same copy on a different date for this Subcontract or create a Take-Down record for the highlighted Face(s).

Create Take-Down Task - This feature allows you to inform Ad Manager to create a task that will generate a Posting Card/Instruction that will remove the existing copy and not replace it with new copy. You can specify the date that this Take-Down will occur.

Posting Tasks Page

Update - This allows you to enter posting related information (including Completion information) for the posting task.

Assign Billposter - Allows you to identify the Billposter who will be responsible for posting the copy. When producing posting cards/instructions, you can filter to find only those items that have been scheduled for the Billposter.

Face Tools Menu

The Face Tools Menu will list specific tasks for you to undertake, based on the Page you are on. The following is a listing of all Face - Tools Menu items, and the pages they are available on.

All Pages

Find - The Find menu item will open the Find Tool to allow you to create a filter of items that meet your desired criteria. This filter can be saved as a View for future use. For more information, see How To Filter.

Reports - The Reports menu item will open up the Reports Window. From here, reports can be selected, customized, run and printed.

Assign To Subcontract - The Assign To Subcontract menu item allows you to highlight a Face and assign it directly to a Subcontract. A filter will appear to assist you in selecting the appropriate Subcontract.

Face Conflicts - The Face Conflicts menu item allows you to view all conflicts that exist on any Face for this Site. You can specify what conditions are considered to be a Conflict prior to clicking OK. The subsequent list is all scheduling that has generated a conflict.

Line of Sight Page

Update - The Update menu item allows you to modify a property (or properties) for one or more highlighted Faces.

Move To Site - The Move To Site menu item allows you to move highlighted Faces from this Site to another Site in the inventory. A filter will appear to assist you in selecting the appropriate Site.

Assign To Subcontract - The Assign To Subcontract menu item allows you to highlight a Face and assign it directly to a Subcontract. A filter will appear to assist you in selecting the appropriate Subcontract.

Face Conflicts - The Face Conflicts menu item allows you to view all conflicts that exist for the highlighted Face . You can specify what conditions are considered to be a Conflict prior to clicking OK. The subsequent list is all scheduling that has generated a conflict.

Posting Schedules Page

Update - This allows you to change scheduling related information (including duration, posting schedule rates, and posting types) at once for the highlighted Faces.

Copy To Flight - This will allow you to copy (transcribe) the highlighted Face(s) from this Subcontract flight to any other flight for any Subcontract. Ad Manager will check to ensure the Face is available and suitable on the new Subcontract flight.

Copy to Multiple Flights - This will allow you to copy (transcribe) the highlighted Face(s) from this Subcontract flight to other flights for other Subcontracts (instead of copying them one at a time). Ad Manager will check to ensure the Face(s) is/are available and suitable on the new Subcontract flights.

New Task - This will allow you to create a new posting of the same copy on a different date for this Subcontract or create a take down record for the highlighted Face(s).

Create Take-Down Task - This feature allows you to inform Ad Manager to create a task that will generate a Posting Card/Instruction that will remove the existing copy and not replace it with new copy. You can specify the date that this Take-Down will occur.

Posting Tasks Page

Update - This allows you to enter posting task related information (including Completion information) for the Face.

Assign Billposter - Allows you to identify the Billposter who will be responsible for posting the copy. When producing posting cards/instructions, you can filter to find only those items that have been scheduled for a particular Billposter.

Glossary

Advertiser

The name of the company or organization the advertising copy is promoting. Agency

A company engaged in providing service for the planning, preparation, display design or placement of advertisement copy on behalf of an advertiser

Area

The smallest building block you would sell by. Combinations of areas are used to create Markets. If an area is not included in a market definition, faces in that area are not considered as available for contracts with that market definition.

Basket

Ad Manager allows you to create customized collections of anything you want (faces, contracts, designs, sales people, etc). These can be saved and used at any time.

Bill Poster

The people responsible for physically placing the designs on the faces. These can be individuals, crews, or contractors.

Brand

This is the specific item being sold by the Advertiser. For example, Ford Motor Co. would be the Advertiser, and the brand would be the Mustang.

Candidate Face

During the scheduling (charting) process any face that meets the required specifications is a potential face for the current subcontract flight.

Categories

A grouping for related advertisers as defined by each company. For example Ford Automotive could belong to a New Car Sales category, New Car Domestic Sales category or Automotive category depending upon the user's specific needs.

Charting

The process of selecting individual unit locations to maximize outdoor advertising objectives while ensuring efficient use and allocation of resources. Assigning faces to sub-contracts, including design information. Also known as market scheduling, planning, etc. This often involves meeting specific requests from the buyer to achieve a specified reach and/or frequency.

Cities

The name of the municipality an advertising display is located in.

Circulation

The number of vehicles (in thousands) that have the opportunity to view the specific face in an average day. Up to 3 different street circulations (automobile) and 1 pedestrian circulation can be entered for locations near intersections, highways, etc.

Conditions

Each face in your inventory may be ideal for advertising a particular product or advertiser group, or may have specific location characteristics that can be used to attract certain advertisers. This information is entered into the system as Conditions.

Contract

A contract is the summary of the entire campaign. This contains information on the advertiser, agency, sales person, etc. Every contract consists of at least one sub-contract which details the campaign specifics (media type, flights, number of faces, etc).

Contract Status

Each contract can be set to one of 5 different status or conditions. It can be Contracted (Sold), Proposal (being considered by the advertiser), Dead Proposal (rejected by the advertiser), Hold (faces reserved for a client for an indefinite amount of time) or a Limited Hold (faces reserved for a client for a short period of time.

Counties

The name of the county an advertising display is located in. This is sometimes known as a region or district.

Countries

The name of the country an advertising display is located in.

Custom Classification

Each software user has the opportunity to define their own rating or classification system to use in the distribution of faces on a contract.

Cut Out

The addition of copy outside the physical edges of a face. Usually known as an extension.

DEC

Daily Effective Circulation. The average daily number of people that have the opportunity to view the face in a 24 hour period. See Circulation.

Design

The creative for a campaign that is to be posted on the faces.

DMA

Designated Marketing Area (DMA), an arbitrary geographic definition for each market. Extension

The addition of copy outside the physical edges of a face. Sometimes known as a cutout.

Face

The physical space on which creative is placed. You can have multiple faces on a structure.

Facing

The direction that an out-of-home unit faces. As an example, a north facing unit would be viewed by vehicles traveling south.

Facing Zip

This is the zipcode or postal code that a face can be seen from. Normally this is the same zipcode or postal code the site is located in however there are cases where a structure is built on the edge of one zipcode/postal code and is viewed by traffic in a different zipcode/postal code. Used when advertisers request faces in specific zipcode/postal code areas.

Fixed Faces

Advertising faces assigned to a contract that cannot be moved to another face.

Flights

Flights are components of a sub-contract. this is where you specify the specific start and end dates for different groups of faces during the life of the sub-contract.

Gap

A gap is a period of time when an advertising faces is not scheduled to be used by any contract. Typically this is non revenue generating showing time that can be kept to a minimum using Gap Charting option.

GL

General Ledge accounting name and code number used as a link to a company's financial software.

Group

A collection of Advertisers with similar characteristics. For example, Fast Food Restaurants, Automotive, etc.

GRP

Refers to the total number of impressions delivered by a media schedule expressed as a percentage of a market population. Also known as TRP - Total Rating Points.

Illumination

A face equipped with lighting that provides nighttime illumination of an advertising message.

Instructions

There are 3 types of Instructions, Posting Instructions, Contract Instructions, and Sub-Contract Instructions. Posting Instructions are lists that can be printed in lieu of posting cards, and show what campaign (advertiser, design) is to be placed on each face during the time frame specified. Contract Instructions are notes related to the contract, and can be used for reference or to print on reports to clients. Sub-Contract Instructions are notes related to a particular sub-contract, and can be used for reference or to print on reports to clients.

Jobs

Each company can define job categories to be used by the software. Examples could be Sales Rep, Operations Manager, Billposter or Market Scheduler.

Lease

The contract between the owner of an advertising structure and the owner of the land the structure is located on. It typically provides details of the financial arrangement for the use of the property.

Line of Sight

This term refers to 2 or more faces in close proximity to one another (e.g. beside each other) that should not have competing copy placed on them.

Market

A market is a collection of Areas that is used for selling and charting (scheduling) purposes. If an area is not included in a market definition, any faces in that area are not considered available for contracts with that market definition.

Media Buyer

A company that assists in the placement of media on behalf of an advertiser. Sometimes known as a media specialist.

Media Type

The name for each unique type of product sold by the outdoor plant operator. For example,Transit Shelter, 30 Sheet Poster, Bench, Wall, 3 x 6 m Poster, etc.

Mobile Media

A media type that is installed on any moving vehicle. Examples would be external bus sides, sides of trucks or taxi tops etc.

Movable Faces

Advertising faces assigned to a contract that can be moved to another equivalent face.

Networks

Networks are predefined groups of faces that are sold together. When charting, you can specify the network you wish to sell, and Ad Manager will chart these faces to the showing. Also known as groups or pools.

Non-saleable

An advertising face that is not typically sold to an advertiser. For example mall poster directory faces or a face given to a specific advertiser as part of a lease agreement etc.

Overlay

An item placed over copy to announce something particular for that face. For example, directions to the nearest store, or a countdown to an opening.

People

The names of staff working for the company.

Places

The names and location specific details of a building or specific location where advertising faces are installed. Some examples would be shopping malls, airports and office buildings. It would not include mobile advertising or street side advertising seen by passing street traffic.

Plant

All the out-of-home advertising faces in a market that are operated by a single company or operating unit. Sometimes the term refers to the out-of-home company itself.

Pre-emtable Faces

Advertising faces assigned to a contract usually at a lower rate subject to cancellation by another advertiser paying a higher rate.

Promised Faces

Advertising faces promised (guaranteed) to an advertiser that will be part of a specific contract (flight). Usually is part of the contract with the client.

Posting Card

Item produced identifying what campaign (advertiser, design) is to be placed at each face during the specified time frame. One is printed per location. Alternately, an instruction list can be produced.

Restrictions

Each face in your inventory may be considered inappropriate for advertising a particular product or advertiser group. These can be marked accordingly, and the system will warn you if you attempt to chart an advertiser to a face that is restricted for that type of advertiser.

Retirement Date

The date a face is permanently removed from active inventory. Usually the face is removed from the site.

Route

Each face in your inventory can belong to a collection of faces that are posted or maintained by the same person or crew. These collections are called routes, and can be used to sort, print and filter.

Sales Office

Each company using the software can define for reporting and operational purposes, contracts that originate from different locations (offices) of their company. It may be possible the inventory of one company is being sold by many separate sale organizations which need to be tracked as part of the contract.

Scheduling Type

When a face is assigned to a specific subcontract flight it is given one of four status: Promised (promised to the advertiser as part of the contract), Fixed (cannot be removed or relocated), Pre-emptable (can be removed), or Movable (can be relocated, but must be replaced with a comparable face).

Scraping

The process of removing old paper copy from the board by scraping it off.

Site

The actual location for a structure, a face, or multiple faces on the same structure.

Site Permit

In order to build a new advertising structure it is often necessary to obtain multiple permits such as a city building permit, electrical permit etc.

Skewing

The process of finding faces that meet certain conditions or restrictions.

Snipe

An adhesive strip that is an add-on used to change a portion of copy displayed on an out-of-home unit. Commonly used to provide site specific directions to the advertiser's place of business. Sometimes referred to as an add over or an add-on.

States

The name of the state an advertising display is located in. This is sometimes known as a province.

Structure

The physical entity for a face or multiple faces at a site.

Sub-Contract

Details about a specific flight of the campaign. This identifies the time frame of the campaign, the market, the faces assigned, and the designs to be posted. Subcontract Type

There are 4 types of Subcontracts; Sold, Bonus, Trade, or Public Service.

Supplier

The name of the printer that has printed the paper, vinyl etc. used to print the advertising copy on for installation on the advertising face

Survey Number

Used by companies that have the Outdoor DemoTrack studies performed by Market Information Services to identify which Survey Number this structure belongs to. These studies provide outdoor plant operators with the ability to identify the profile of the traffic stream past a face using our ARF approved methodology.

Transcribe

Copying past charting from another contract or sub-contract to the current contract or sub-contract. This procedure will allow you to see whether faces are available for the current contract or sub-contract and chart them.

Unillumiated

A face that has not been equipped with lighting for nighttime illumination of an advertising message. The DEC for an unilluminated units is typically calculated using a 12 hour viewing period. Sometimes referred to as a regular unit.

Unit Type

Each face can be given an additional description item to provide more information about this face. For example, Roof Location, Trivision Face, Mall Directory Face.

Vinyl

A single-sheet substrate on which an advertising messages is rendered by either computer production or hand painting. Sometimes known as a skin.

Virtual Face

Occasionally an advertising face can be split into multiple faces with the multiple faces being available for sale even though they really do not exist as separate physical faces. Conversely multiple faces can be combined to temporarily form a single larger face (the one large face being a virtual face that can be sold).

Zipcode

A geographical definition used by the United States post office for mail delivery. Also known as a postal code in other countries.

How do I Move a Column?

In Ad Manager, you can add and remove columns in lists to see information displayed in the order you wish to see it.

To move a column in a listing of items, click the Customize Current View () button. Using the New () button, you can add new columns to the view. To remove a column, click the Delete () button. If you wish to change the order, highlight the column you wish to move and use the Move Up () or Move Down () buttons to move it.

Once you have finished, click OK.

How do I Resize a Column?

When working with lists in Ad Manager, you have the ability to change the size of the columns to see more or less information.

To do this, place your mouse on the edge of the header of the column you wish to resize. This will cause the mouse cursor to change to a double arrow. Hold down the mouse button and move the mouse left or right to resize the column.

For an example of this, click here.

How do I Sort on a Column?

Information in Ad Manager can be sorted to provide you with the ability to navigate from item to item in the order you specify. To set the Sort order, click on the Sort () button. The following screen will appear:

To select your sort order, you can either Add or Delete items to sort by. To add a sort item, select the New () button. A list of available columns will appear; from this list, click on the desired item to add it. To remove a column from your sort order, highlight it on the list and select the Delete () button. You can add it back to the view at a future time if you wish. The order that your data will be sorted in will be in the order shown in "Column". To move items up or down the list, use the Move Up () or Move Down () button as appropriate. If you wish to sort "Descending" (i.e. Z->A or 9->0) double click the item. The word "Yes" in Descending will indicate that the sort order will be descending for that item. To change a descending sort order item back to a normal (ascending) sort order, double click the item until "Yes" no longer appears in the Descending column.

How do I use Custom Classifications?

Two common examples of Custom Classifications are:

Visibility Factor

Rating Factor

Visibility Factor

Each face can be described or defined in an unlimited number of ways. One commonly used "factor" is a subjective rating assigned to a face by an operator quite often known as a visibility rating. The following describes how to set up a custom visibility factor to be used in assisting in the scheduling distribution process.

An operator develops a "visibility" classification or rating system that meets their needs. This concept is used to assist an operator in distributing larger subcontracts across all visibility classifications. In every inventory there are faces that everyone wants and faces that are more difficult to sell based on a number of criteria. Using factors can assist the user in ensuring that charted contracts use a "reasonable" number of faces from each category.

Rating Factor

Another commonly used "factor" is a subjective rating assigned quite often known as simply a Rating or Quality Rating. The following describes how to set up a custom quality rating factor to be used in assisting in the scheduling distribution process.

An operator develops a "rating" system that meets their needs. This concept is used to assist an operator in distributing larger subcontracts across all face classifications. In every inventory there are faces that everyone wants and faces that are more difficult to sell. Using factors such as a quality factor can assist the user in ensuring that charted contracts use a "reasonable" number of faces from each category.

How the Program is Structured

The Ad Manager Suite of products is actually a number of different modules all working together to provide the complete, enterprise wide solution for an out-of-home media company. Each of the modules, Inventory Management, Advanced Mapping, Multimedia, Maintenance, Financial, Digital Media and e-Ad Manager all work off of the same set of databases. There are 5 key data sets (groups) where information for all modules are kept. If a software user is not currently using all modules a number of the databases in the Other data set or fields within a specific database may not be needed and hence do not contain any data. The five data sets are: Sites Faces Contracts Subcontracts Other The Contracts, Subcontracts, Sites and Faces are key databases. The Other data set is actually a group of databases that contain all of the fields of information accessed from the 4 key databases. For example, in the Sites database there is a lease number field. This "links" to the Lease database in Other and contains, for that specific lease number, all required details of the lease including renewal dates, payments and contact information etc. When a user first starts the program they will see the following screen of information:

Every user will have the 5 main data sets under a Public Folder as shown above. Sites and Faces

The relationship between Sites and Faces at that site is illustrated below:

For each site you can have any number of faces associated with it. This includes different media types. The Site information relates to details of the physical site that can be attributed to all faces built at that site. For example, the City name, Address, Postal code are common to all faces at that site. Other information linked to the site include the Lease and the Site Permits. The Face information contains details of the physical face that may be different from other faces at the same site. For example the direction facing may be different, as could illumination, size and installation date etc. In the Site database screen there is a Tab that lists all faces at a Site. Contracts, Subcontracts and Flights

The relationship between Contracts, Subcontracts and Flights is illustrated below:

The Contract information relates to details of the overall contract that does not change regardless of how many different posting periods and changes of copy that may take place during the life of the contract. For example, the Contract Number, Advertiser and sales office would not change. The Subcontract information contains contract information that can change over time such as the Brand, Market or Media Type. Similarly the Flight information contains details of "events" that occur during the life of a subcontract. For example should there be a copy change or snipe added the subcontract details remain constant but the actual activity at a face related to the contract is changing. In the Contact database screen there is a Tab that lists all subcontracts on a Contract where as the subcontract contains a listing of all of the Flights associated with the subcontract. Other

The Other data set contains all of the background data required. These allow the user to select the desired information off of dropdown combo lists. This allows users to modify information in one location and have the corrected data appear throughout the software.

How to...

Filter

Ad Manager allows you to create a filter and save it for future use. To filter, click the Find Button () and choose the type of data you wish to find from the LOOK FOR list. Fill in the appropriate items on the screen and click the Find Button () to begin the search. Ad Manager allows you to use wildcards (an asterisk (*) to indicate anything) to aid in searching for a specific text in the field. For example, entering Main* in the site description will provide you with any sites starting with "Main", including Main Street and Maine Drive. Ad Manager will display a listing of all items that meet your criteria in the window immediately below the Find Window. To see more detail about any item, simply double click it. If you wish to clear your filter and begin again, select the Clear Button (). Ad Manager will clear the filter and allow you to create a new one. For information on how to save the filter for future use, see Creating a View.

Use Help

This on-line help system has been designed with you, the user, in mind. Each topic has been designed to provide answers quickly and easily. To find information on a topic, double click on the most appropriate topic. Several topics are layered from general to specific to minimize the amount of information you need to scan. Each help item has been color coded based on the program functionality required to complete the task explained. This color coding is described below: Color Coding Required Module Blue Any Module Orange Inventory Management Red Advanced Mapping Purple Multimedia Gold Maintenance Green Financial Anytime you see an item that is underlined (this is known as a hyperlink), click on it to see more information about that item. Use the index to look up a keyword; appropriate help articles will be listed for you to read. Any article can be printed by selecting the print button, or by right clicking and selecting Print. As updates or new releases of the software are shipped, new features or functionality will be added. When this occurs, changes will be made to the on-line Help. To see what changes have been made, simply look for any books or folders that have the Updated Symbol ( or ), and look for any pages that have the Updated Pages symbol ( or ).

Use this Section

Type topic text here.

I Can't Find...

A Contract

If you are using the Find tool and cannot locate a Contract in the list, it is possible that you have set too many criteria to be able to find the Contract. Try to remove some of the search items and run your search again.

If you are looking for a Contract in an existing filter or basket of Contracts, it is possible that the Contract no longer meets the criteria identified in the original Filter. Filters automatically update each time you select to list that folder's contents. If it is missing from a basket, then it may have been removed from that basket.

Make sure that the Contract still exists in the system (it may have been deleted, or renamed). Go to the All Contracts filter under the Public folder in the Folder List and search for your Contract there. Sort the list in a logical fashion to find the Contract.

A Face

If you are using the Find tool and cannot locate a Face in the list, it is possible that you have set too many criteria to be able to find the Face. Try to remove some of the search items and run your search again.

If you are looking for a Face in an existing filter or basket of Faces, it is possible that the Face no longer meets the criteria identified in the original Filter. Filters automatically update each time you select to list that folder's contents. If it is missing from a basket, then it may have been removed from that basket.

Make sure that the Face still exists in the system (it may have been deleted, or renamed). Go to the All Faces filter under the Public folder in the Folder List and search for your Face there. Sort the list in a logical fashion to find the Face.

A Site

If you are using the Find tool and cannot locate a Site in the list, it is possible that you have set too many criteria to be able to find the Site. Try to remove some of the search items and run your search again.

If you are looking for a Site in an existing filter or basket of Sites, it is possible that the Site no longer meets the criteria identified in the original Filter. Filters automatically update each time you select to list that folder's contents. If it is missing from a basket, then it may have been removed from that basket.

Make sure that the Site still exists in the system (it may have been deleted, or renamed). Go to the All Sites filter under the Public folder in the Folder List and search for your Site there. Sort the list in a logical fashion to find the Site.

A Subcontract

If you are using the Find tool and cannot locate a Subcontract in the list, it is possible that you have set too many criteria to be able to find the Subcontract. Try to remove some of the search items and run your search again.

If you are looking for a Subcontract in an existing filter or basket of Subcontracts, it is possible that the Subcontract no longer meets the criteria identified in the original Filter. Filters automatically update each time you select to list that folder's contents. If it is missing from a basket, then it may have been removed from the basket.

Make sure that the Subcontract still exists in the system (it may have been deleted, or renamed). Go to the All Subcontracts filter under the Public folder in the Folder List and search for your Subcontract there. Sort the list in a logical fashion to find the Subcontract.

Tools Menus

Incident

If you are using the Find tool and cannot locate a Subcontract in the list, it is possible that you have set too many criteria to be able to find the Subcontract. Try to remove some of the search items and run your search again.

If you are looking for a Subcontract in an existing filter or basket of Subcontracts, it is possible that the Subcontract no longer meets the criteria identified in the original Filter. Filters automatically update each time you select to list that folder's contents. If it is missing from a basket, then it may have been removed from the basket.

Make sure that the Subcontract still exists in the system (it may have been deleted, or renamed). Go to the All Subcontracts filter under the Public folder in the Folder List and search for your Subcontract there. Sort the list in a logical fashion to find the Subcontract.

Invoice

The Invoice Tools Menu will list specific tasks for you to undertake, based on the page you are on. The following is a listing of all Invoice - Tools Menu items, and the pages they are available on.

All Pages

Find - The Find menu item will open the Find Tool to allow you to create a filter of items that meet your desired criteria. This filter can be saved as a View for future use. For more information, see How To Filter.

Reports - The Reports menu item will open up the Reports Window. From here, reports can be selected, customized, run and printed.

Calculate Delivery % - This tool will tell you the percent of completed Posting Tasks vs. Scheduled Postings for the period of the selected Invoice(s). This will allow you to determine if enough postings have been completed so that the Invoice can be Finalized and Exported.

Finalize - Finalizing an Invoice will prevent you from making additional changes to it. This can be done manually prior to an Invoice Export, by using this tool, or it will automatically occur during the Export. If you wish to finalize invoices using this tool, highlight them first, then right-click to get this menu option. Once finalized, the Invoice is marked so and will display a unique Transaction ID as well as an Invoice Number.

Un-Finalize - If an Invoice has incorrectly been marked as Finalized, this tool allows you to un-finalize it. Ad Manager will remove the Finalized status of the Invoice, but will still show a unique Transaction ID, indicating this Invoice was Finalized at one time.

Reset Exported Status - If an Invoice has been Exported incorrectly, this tool allows you to mark it as un-exported, so that you may Export it again at a later date.

Lease Payment Schedule

The Lease Payment Schedule Tools Menu will list specific tasks for you to undertake, based on the page you are on. The following is a listing of all Lease Payment Schedule - Tools Menu items, and the pages they are available on.

All Pages

Find - The Find menu item will open the Find Tool to allow you to create a filter of items that meet your desired criteria. This filter can be saved as a View for future use. For more information, see How To Filter

Reports - The Reports menu item will open up the Reports Window. From here, reports can be selected, customized, run and printed.

Duplicate - The Duplicate menu item allows you to create a new Payment Schedule with the same configuration as the current Payment Schedule.

Payments Page

Update - The Update menu item allows you to to modify a property (or properties) for one or more highlighted Payments.

Finalize - Finalizing a Payment will prevent you from making additional changes to it. This can be done manually prior to a Payment Export, by using this tool, or it will automatically occur during the Export. If you wish to finalize payments using this tool, highlight them first, then right-click to get this menu option. Once finalized, the Payment is marked as Finalized and will display a unique Transaction ID as well as an Check Number.

Un-Finalize - If a Payment has incorrectly been marked as Finalized, this tool allows you to un-finalize it. Ad Manager will remove the Finalized status of the Payment, but will still show a unique Transaction ID, indicating this Payment was Finalized at one time.

Reset Exported Status - If a Payment has been Exported incorrectly, this tool allows you to mark it as un-exported, so that you may Export it again at a later date.

Lease Payment

The Lease Payment Tools Menu will list specific tasks for you to undertake, based on the page you are on. The following is a listing of all Lease Payment - Tools Menu items, and the pages they are available on.

All Pages

Find - The Find menu item will open the Find Tool to allow you to create a filter of items that meet your desired criteria. This filter can be saved as a View for future use. For more information, see How To Filter

Reports - The Reports menu item will open up the Reports Window. From here, reports can be selected, customized, run and printed.

Finalize - Finalizing a Payment will prevent you from making additional changes to it. This can be done manually prior to a Payment Export, by using this tool, or it will automatically occur during the Export. If you wish to finalize payments using this tool, highlight them first, then right-click to get this menu option. Once finalized, the Payment is marked as Finalized and will display a unique Transaction ID as well as an Check Number.

Un-Finalize - If a Payment has incorrectly been marked as Finalized, this tool allows you to un-finalize it. Ad Manager will remove the Finalized status of the Payment, but will still show a unique Transaction ID, indicating this Payment was Finalized at one time.

Reset Exported Status - If a Payment has been Exported incorrectly, this tool allows you to mark it as un-exported, so that you may Export it again at a later date.

Lease

The Lease Tools Menu will list specific tasks for you to undertake, based on the page you are on. The following is a listing of all Lease - Tools Menu items, and the pages they are available on.

All Pages

Find - The Find menu item will open the Find Tool to allow you to create a filter of items that meet your desired criteria. This filter can be saved as a View for future use. For more information, see How To Filter

Reports - The Reports menu item will open up the Reports Window. From here, reports can be selected, customized, run and printed.

Sites Page

Update - The Update menu item allows you to modify a property (or properties) for one or more highlighted Sites.

Duplicate - The Duplicate menu item allows you to create a new Site with the same Face configuration as the current Site.

Generate Line-Of-Sight - the Generate Line-Of-Sight menu item allows you to create line of sight conflicts between Faces on a Site, based on their direction facing or virtual Face configuration.

Site Conflicts - The Site Conflicts menu item allows you to view all conflicts that exist on any Face for this Site. You can specify what conditions are considered to be a Conflict prior to clicking OK. The subsequent list is all scheduling that has generated a conflict.

Faces Page

Update - The Update menu item allows you to modify a property (or properties) for one or more highlighted Faces.

Move To Site - The Move To Site menu item allows you to move highlighted Faces from this Site to another Site in the inventory. A filter will appear to assist you in selecting the appropriate Site.

Assign To Subcontract - The Assign To Subcontract menu item allows you to highlight a Face and assign it directly to a Subcontract. A filter will appear to assist you in selecting the appropriate Subcontract.

Face Conflicts - The Face Conflicts menu item allows you to view all conflicts that exist for the highlighted Face . You can specify what conditions are considered to be a Conflict prior to clicking OK. The subsequent list is all scheduling that has generated a conflict.

Posting Schedules Page

Update - This allows you to change scheduling related information (including duration, posting schedule rates, and posting types) at once for the highlighted Faces.

Copy To Flight - This will allow you to copy (transcribe) the highlighted Face(s) from this Subcontract flight to any other flight for any Subcontract. Ad Manager will check to ensure the Face is available and suitable on the new Subcontract flight.

Copy to Multiple Flights - This will allow you to copy (transcribe) the highlighted Face(s) from this Subcontract flight to other flights for other Subcontracts (instead of copying them one at a time). Ad Manager will check to ensure the Face(s) is/are available and suitable on the new Subcontract flights.

New Task - This will allow you to create a new posting of the same copy on a different date for this Subcontract or create a take down record for the highlighted Face(s).

Create Take-Down Task - This feature allows you to inform Ad Manager to create a task that will generate a Posting Card/Instruction that will remove the existing copy and not replace it with new copy. You can specify the date that this Take-Down will occur.

Lessor

The Lessor Tools Menu will list specific tasks for you to undertake, based on the page you are on. The following is a listing of all Lessor - Tools Menu items, and the pages they are available on.

All Pages

Find - The Find menu item will open the Find Tool to allow you to create a filter of items that meet your desired criteria. This filter can be saved as a View for future use. For more information, see How To Filter

Reports - The Reports menu item will open up the Reports Window. From here, reports can be selected, customized, run and printed.

Leases Page

Update - The Update menu item allows you to modify a property (or properties) for one or more highlighted Leases.

Payment Schedules Page

Update - The Update menu item allows you to to modify a property (or properties) for one or more highlighted Payment Schedules.

Duplicate - The Duplicate menu item allows you to create a new Payment Schedule with the same Line item configuration as the current Payment Schedule.

Payments Page

Update - The Update menu item allows you to to modify a property (or properties) for one or more highlighted Payments.

Finalize - Finalizing a Payment will prevent you from making additional changes to it. This can be done manually prior to a Payment Export, by using this tool, or it will automatically occur during the Export. If you wish to finalize payments using this tool, highlight them first, then right-click to get this menu option. Once finalized, the Payment is marked as Finalized and will display a unique Transaction ID as well as an Check Number.

Un-Finalize - If a Payment has incorrectly been marked as Finalized, this tool allows you to un-finalize it. Ad Manager will remove the Finalized status of the Payment, but will still show a unique Transaction ID, indicating this Payment was Finalized at one time.

Reset Exported Status - If a Payment has been Exported incorrectly, this tool allows you to mark it as un-exported, so that you may Export it again at a later date.

Maintenance Job

The Maintenance Job Tools Menu will list specific tasks for you to undertake, based on the page you are on. The following is a listing of all Maintenance Job - Tools Menu items, and the pages they are available on.

All Pages

Find - The Find menu item will open the Find Tool to allow you to create a filter of items that meet your desired criteria. This filter can be saved as a View for future use. For more information, see How To Filter.

Reports - The Reports menu item will open up the Reports Window. From here, reports can be selected, customized, run and printed.

Permit Tools Menu

The Permit Tools Menu will list specific tasks for you to undertake, based on the page you are on. The following is a listing of all Permit - Tools Menu items, and the pages they are available on.

All Pages

Find - The Find menu item will open the Find Tool to allow you to create a filter of items that meet your desired criteria. This filter can be saved as a View for future use. For more information, see How To Filter

Reports - The Reports menu item will open up the Reports Window. From here, reports can be selected, customized, run and printed.

Sites Page

Update - The Update menu item allows you to modify a property (or properties) for one or more highlighted Sites.

Duplicate - The Duplicate menu item allows you to create a new Site with the same Face configuration as the current Site.

Generate Line-Of-Sight - the Generate Line-Of-Sight menu item allows you to create line of sight conflicts between Faces on a Site, based on their direction facing or virtual Face configuration.

Site Conflicts - The Site Conflicts menu item allows you to view all conflicts that exist on any Face for this Site. You can specify what conditions are considered to be a Conflict prior to clicking OK. The subsequent list is all scheduling that has generated a conflict.

Site

The Site Tools Menu will list specific tasks for you to undertake, based on the page you are on. The following is a listing of all Site - Tools Menu items, and the pages they are available on.

All Pages

Find - The Find menu item will open the Find Tool to allow you to create a filter of items that meet your desired criteria. This filter can be saved as a View for future use. For more information, see How To Filter

Reports - The Reports menu item will open up the Reports Window. From here, reports can be selected, customized, run and printed.

Duplicate - The Duplicate menu item allows you to create a new Site with the same Face configuration as the current Site.

Generate Line-Of-Sight - the Generate Line-Of-Sight menu item allows you to create line of sight conflicts between Faces on a Site, based on their direction facing or virtual Face configuration.

Site Conflicts - The Site Conflicts menu item allows you to view all conflicts that exist on any Face for this Site. You can specify what conditions are considered to be a Conflict prior to clicking OK. The subsequent list is all scheduling that has generated a conflict.

Faces Page

Update - The Update menu item allows you to modify a property (or properties) for one or more highlighted Faces.

Move To Site - The Move To Site menu item allows you to move highlighted Faces from this Site to another Site in the inventory. A filter will appear to assist you in selecting the appropriate Site.

Assign To Subcontract - The Assign To Subcontract menu item allows you to highlight a Face and assign it directly to a Subcontract. A filter will appear to assist you in selecting the appropriate Subcontract.

Face Conflicts - The Face Conflicts menu item allows you to view all conflicts that exist for the highlighted Face . You can specify what conditions are considered to be a Conflict prior to clicking OK. The subsequent list is all scheduling that has generated a conflict.

Permits Page

Add Permit - Allows you to create a brand new Permit for the site by choosing New from the menu or to attach an existing permit to this Site by choosing Select from the menu.

Map Page

Current Map Tool - The Current Map Tool menu item allows you to select which mapping tool to use. This is an alternate method of selecting your tool instead of using the available icons.

Center the Map on this Site - This allows you to redraw the map with a specified Site visible in the middle.

Zoom To - This allows you to select the distance across the width of the map.

Layers - The Layers menu item allows you to view a listing of all layers displayed on this map. You can highlight any layer on the list and move it up or down. When layers are moved up and down the list, the appearance of the map will change; items near the bottom of the list are drawn first, items at the top are drawn last.

Clear Labels - The Clear Labels menu item will allow you to remove all labels that have been added to the map.

Save Map - Ad Manager allows users to save the current map view as a Geoset or an Image.

Permit

The Permit Tools Menu will list specific tasks for you to undertake, based on the page you are on. The following is a listing of all Permit - Tools Menu items, and the pages they are available on.

All Pages

Find - The Find menu item will open the Find Tool to allow you to create a filter of items that meet your desired criteria. This filter can be saved as a View for future use. For more information, see How To Filter

Reports - The Reports menu item will open up the Reports Window. From here, reports can be selected, customized, run and printed.

Sites Page

Update - The Update menu item allows you to modify a property (or properties) for one or more highlighted Sites.

Duplicate - The Duplicate menu item allows you to create a new Site with the same Face configuration as the current Site.

Generate Line-Of-Sight - the Generate Line-Of-Sight menu item allows you to create line of sight conflicts between Faces on a Site, based on their direction facing or virtual Face configuration.

Site Conflicts - The Site Conflicts menu item allows you to view all conflicts that exist on any Face for this Site. You can specify what conditions are considered to be a Conflict prior to clicking OK. The subsequent list is all scheduling that has generated a conflict.

Site

The Site Tools Menu will list specific tasks for you to undertake, based on the page you are on. The following is a listing of all Site - Tools Menu items, and the pages they are available on.

All Pages

Find - The Find menu item will open the Find Tool to allow you to create a filter of items that meet your desired criteria. This filter can be saved as a View for future use. For more information, see How To Filter

Reports - The Reports menu item will open up the Reports Window. From here, reports can be selected, customized, run and printed.

Duplicate - The Duplicate menu item allows you to create a new Site with the same Face configuration as the current Site.

Generate Line-Of-Sight - the Generate Line-Of-Sight menu item allows you to create line of sight conflicts between Faces on a Site, based on their direction facing or virtual Face configuration.

Site Conflicts - The Site Conflicts menu item allows you to view all conflicts that exist on any Face for this Site. You can specify what conditions are considered to be a Conflict prior to clicking OK. The subsequent list is all scheduling that has generated a conflict.

Faces Page

Update - The Update menu item allows you to modify a property (or properties) for one or more highlighted Faces.

Move To Site - The Move To Site menu item allows you to move highlighted Faces from this Site to another Site in the inventory. A filter will appear to assist you in selecting the appropriate Site.

Assign To Subcontract - The Assign To Subcontract menu item allows you to highlight a Face and assign it directly to a Subcontract. A filter will appear to assist you in selecting the appropriate Subcontract.

Face Conflicts - The Face Conflicts menu item allows you to view all conflicts that exist for the highlighted Face . You can specify what conditions are considered to be a Conflict prior to clicking OK. The subsequent list is all scheduling that has generated a conflict.

Permits Page

Add Permit - Allows you to create a brand new Permit for the site by choosing New from the menu or to attach an existing permit to this Site by choosing Select from the menu.

Map Page

Current Map Tool - The Current Map Tool menu item allows you to select which mapping tool to use. This is an alternate method of selecting your tool instead of using the available icons.

Center the Map on this Site - This allows you to redraw the map with a specified Site visible in the middle.

Zoom To - This allows you to select the distance across the width of the map.

Layers - The Layers menu item allows you to view a listing of all layers displayed on this map. You can highlight any layer on the list and move it up or down. When layers are moved up and down the list, the appearance of the map will change; items near the bottom of the list are drawn first, items at the top are drawn last.

Clear Labels - The Clear Labels menu item will allow you to remove all labels that have been added to the map.

Save Map - Ad Manager allows users to save the current map view as a Geoset or an Image.

Structure

The Structure Tools Menu will list specific tasks for you to undertake, based on the page you are on. The following is a listing of all Structure - Tools Menu items, and the pages they are available on.

All Pages

Find - The Find menu item will open the Find Tool to allow you to create a filter of items that meet your desired criteria. This filter can be saved as a View for future use. For more information, see How To Filter.

Reports - The Reports menu item will open up the Reports Window. From here, reports can be selected, customized, run and printed.

Create Task Schedule - The Create Task Schedule menu item will allow you to identify routine maintenance that reoccurs at defined times, such as emptying garbage cans, cutting grass and changing time clocks.

Tasks Page

Complete - If a Task has not been assigned to a Work Order, or the Work Order has not been issued, you can manually record that the Task has been completed in those cases when the work has already been done using this tool option and entering the date of completion.

Uncomplete - This allows you to re-open a Task, that has been previously marked as Complete.

Update - This allows you to change task related information (including job, technician, priority, starts on and effort) at once for the highlighted Tasks.

Postings Page

Update - This allows you to change scheduling related information (including duration, posting schedule rates, and posting types) at once for the highlighted Faces.

Copy To Flight - This will allow you to copy (transcribe) the highlighted schedule(s) from this Subcontract flight to any other flight for any Subcontract. Ad Manager will check to ensure the Face is available and suitable on the new Subcontract flight.

Copy to Multiple Flights - This will allow you to copy (transcribe) the highlighted schedule(s) from this Subcontract flight to other flights for other Subcontracts (instead of copying them one at a time). Ad Manager will check to ensure the Face(s) is/are available and suitable on the new Subcontract flights.

New Task - This will allow you to create a new posting of the same copy on a different date for this Subcontract or create a take-down record for the highlighted Face(s).

Create Take-Down Task - This feature allows you to inform Ad Manager to create a task that will generate a Posting Card/Instruction that will remove the existing copy and not replace it with new copy. You can specify the date that this Take-Down will occur.

Subcontract

The Subcontract Tools Menu will list specific tasks for you to undertake, based on the page you are on. The following is a listing of all Subcontract - Tools Menu items, and the pages they are available on.

All Pages

Find - The Find menu item will open the Find Tool to allow you to create a filter of items that meet your desired criteria. This filter can be saved as a View for future use. For more information, see How To Filter.

Reports - The Reports menu item will open up the Reports Window. From here, reports can be selected, customized, run and printed.

Chart - Allows you to automatically schedule Faces to the current Subcontract.

Define Flights - This allows you to create flights for a Subcontract automatically. These flights can be used to schedule Faces to different time frames during the time spanned by the Subcontract.

Assign Designs - Designs can be assigned to the Faces already scheduled using this command. Ad Manager allows you to select the designs to assign, and the maximum quantity of each.

Subcontract Conflicts - The Subcontract Conflicts menu item allows you to view all conflicts that exist on the Subcontract . You can specify what conditions are considered to be a Conflict prior to clicking OK. The subsequent list consists of all scheduling that has generated a conflict.

Wipe Subcontract(s) - Allows you to delete the Subcontract(s) and all scheduling for the affected Subcontract(s) with one command. This will delete the current Subcontract(s), not the Contract itself.

Distribution Page

Clear - The Clear menu item will remove any Face distributions for the current factor, resetting all values to 0 (except for Unassigned, which will be the total number of Faces to distribute for this factor).

Reset to Default - This will reset the factor values to their default number of Faces for each distribution item.

Adjust - The Adjust menu item will distribute any Unassigned Faces evenly to the different distribution items for the factor.

Design Page

Rename Using Inventory Design Name - This allows you to rename a Subcontract design to the same name as the Inventory Design that it is linked to. This allows you to take a generic "Design 1" that has been linked to an actual design in inventory, and rename it.

Assigned Page

Update - This allows you to change scheduling related information (including duration, posting schedule rates, and posting types) at once for the highlighted Faces.

Copy To Flight - This will allow you to copy (transcribe) the highlighted charting schedule(s) from this Subcontract flight to any other flight for any Subcontract. Ad Manager will check to ensure the Face is available and suitable on the new Subcontract flight.

Copy to Multiple Flights - This will allow you to copy (transcribe) the highlighted charting schedule(s) from this Subcontract flight to other flights for other Subcontracts (instead of copying them one at a time). Ad Manager will check to ensure the Face(s) is/are available and suitable on the new Subcontract flights.

New Task - This will allow you to create a repost task, a new posting of the same copy on a different date for this Subcontract or create a Take-Down record for the highlighted Face(s).

Create Take-Down Task - This feature allows you to inform Ad Manager to create a task that will generate a Posting Card/Instruction that will remove the existing copy and not replace it with new copy. You can specify the date that this Take-Down will occur.

Design Change - Ad Manager allows you to create a Design change for a scheduled Face by highlighting the Face schedule(s) and selecting this command. Ad Manager will prompt for information on when design changes for this Face will occur. Ad Manager will check for any conflicts and prompt the user if found.

Design - Ad Manager will allow you to highlight multiple schedules and assign them with the same design by using this command.

Alternating Designs - Multiple designs can be assigned to multiple Faces in a rotating order. Ad Manager will assign the selected designs alternately through the list of highlighted schedules.

Posting Tasks Page

Update - This allows you to enter posting related information (including Completion information) for the posting task.

Assign Billposter - Allows you to identify the Billposter who will be responsible for posting the copy. When producing posting cards/instructions, you can filter to find only those items that have been scheduled for the Billposter.

Task Schedule

The Task Schedule Tools Menu will list specific tasks for you to undertake, based on the page you are on. The following is a listing of all Task Schedule - Tools Menu items, and the pages they are available on.

All Pages

Find - The Find menu item will open the Find Tool to allow you to create a filter of items that meet your desired criteria. This filter can be saved as a View for future use. For more information, see How To Filter.

Reports - The Reports menu item will open up the Reports Window. From here, reports can be selected, customized, run and printed.

Duplicate - The Duplicate menu item allows you to create a new Task Schedule with the same configuration as the current Task Schedule.

Tasks Page

Complete - If a Task has not been assigned to a Work Order, or the Work Order has not been issued, you can manually record that the Task has been completed in those cases when the work has already been done using this tool option and entering the date of completion.

Uncomplete - This allows you to re-open a Task, that has been previously marked as Complete.

Update - This allows you to change task related information (including job, technician, priority, starts on and effort) at once for the highlighted Tasks.

Task

The Task Tools Menu will list specific tasks for you to undertake, based on the page you are on. The following is a listing of all Task - Tools Menu items, and the pages they are available on.

All Pages

Find - The Find menu item will open the Find Tool to allow you to create a filter of items that meet your desired criteria. This filter can be saved as a View for future use. For more information, see How To Filter.

Reports - The Reports menu item will open up the Reports Window. From here, reports can be selected, customized, run and printed.

Complete - If a Task has not been assigned to a Work Order, or the Work Order has not been issued, you can manually record that the Task has been completed in those cases when the work has already been done using this tool option and entering the date of completion.

Uncomplete - This allows you to re-open a Task, that has been previously marked as Complete.

Activity Page

Resolve - This tool allows you to resolve the Tasks on a Work Order. Once all the Tasks on a Work Order have been Resolved, the status of the Work Order will be listed automatically as resolved. A Work Order Task can be resolved as Completed, Not Completed or Nothing To Do.

Completed - This resolution of a Task means that the necessary work was done. A dialog box will open when this option is selected where the Date the Task was completed, the Technician who completed the work and the corresponding effort taken to complete the Task can be entered.

Not Completed - If the Task has not been completed, this option of resolution should be chosen. A reason for not completing the Task must be entered in the Notes field before the Task can be saved as Not Completed.

Nothing To Do - If the Technician goes out to complete a Task and notices that there really is nothing to do, it was called in incorrectly for example, you can resolve it as Nothing to Do to remove it from the Work Order.

Unresolve - If you discover at some point that a certain Task has not been resolved but you have already set its status as resolved, it can be corrected by choosing "Unresolve". Ad Manager will ask you to confirm that you want to revert the status. The Completed date will then be removed from the Task and the Work Order will no longer have a Resolved status.

Utility Account

The Utility Account Tools Menu will list specific tasks for you to undertake, based on the page you are on. The following is a listing of all Utility Account - Tools Menu items, and the pages they are available on.

All Pages

Find - The Find menu item will open the Find Tool to allow you to create a filter of items that meet your desired criteria. This filter can be saved as a View for future use. For more information, see How To Filter

Reports - The Reports menu item will open up the Reports Window. From here, reports can be selected, customized, run and printed.

Sites Page

Update - The Update menu item allows you to modify a property (or properties) for one or more highlighted Sites.

Duplicate - The Duplicate menu item allows you to create a new Site with the same Face configuration as the current Site.

Generate Line-Of-Sight - the Generate Line-Of-Sight menu item allows you to create line of sight conflicts between Faces on a Site, based on their direction facing or virtual Face configuration.

Site Conflicts - The Site Conflicts menu item allows you to view all conflicts that exist on any Face for this Site. You can specify what conditions are considered to be a Conflict prior to clicking OK. The subsequent list is all scheduling that has generated a conflict.

Payments Page

Reset Exported Status - If a Payment has been Exported incorrectly, this tool allows you to mark it as un-exported, so that you may Export it again at a later date.

Utility Company

The Utility Company Tools Menu will list specific tasks for you to undertake, based on the page you are on. The following is a listing of all Utility Company - Tools Menu items, and the pages they are available on.

All Pages

Find - The Find menu item will open the Find Tool to allow you to create a filter of items that meet your desired criteria. This filter can be saved as a View for future use. For more information, see How To Filter

Reports - The Reports menu item will open up the Reports Window. From here, reports can be selected, customized, run and printed.

Work Order

The Work Order Tools Menu will list specific tasks for you to undertake, based on the page you are on. The following is a listing of all Work Order - Tools Menu items, and the pages they are available on.

All Pages

Find - The Find menu item will open the Find Tool to allow you to create a filter of items that meet your desired criteria. This filter can be saved as a View for future use. For more information, see How To Filter.

Reports - The Reports menu item will open up the Reports Window. From here, reports can be selected, customized, run and printed.

Issue - This tool allows you to issue the Work Order which assigns it a Number, the date Issued and the Status of the Work Order is now Open. Once the Work Order is issued, the record has effectively been "locked" and no further revisions may be made to it. The Work Order can now be printed and will not be resolved until all Tasks on it are resolved.

Tasks Page

Resolve - This tool allows you to resolve the Tasks on a Work Order. Once all the Tasks on a Work Order have been Resolved, the status of the Work Order will be listed automatically as resolved. A Work Order Task can be resolved as Completed, Not Completed or Nothing To Do.

Completed - This resolution of a Task means that the necessary work was done. A dialog box will open when this option is selected where the Date the Task was completed, the Technician who completed the work and the corresponding effort taken to complete the Task can be entered.

Not Completed - If the Task has not been completed, this option of resolution should be chosen. A reason for not completing the Task must be entered in the Notes field before the Task can be saved as Not Completed.

Nothing To Do - If the Technician goes out to complete a Task and notices that there really is nothing to do, it was called in incorrectly for example, you can resolve it as Nothing to Do to remove it from the Work Order.

Unresolve - If you discover at some point that a certain Task has not been resolved but you have already set its status as resolved, it can be corrected by choosing "Unresolve". Ad Manager will ask you to confirm that you want to revert the status. The Completed date will then be removed from the Task and the Work Order will no longer have a Resolved status.

MapTool Window

The MapTool Window is comprised of four distinct sections. In addition to the map panel itself, there is a panel in which layers displayed will be listed (example shows Bus Shelter Faces) and beneath it, another panel (seen in gray until a layer is selected) in which details of a selected layer will be displayed.

For information on the buttons that appear at the top of the window, click here.

For information on the menu items that appear under the File menu, click here.

For information on the menu items that appear under the Edit menu, click here.

For information on the menu items that appear under the View menu, click here.

For information on the menu items that appear under the Tools menu, click here.

Moving Around the Software

Ad Manager has been designed to emulate a common interface popular among programs. This allows users to move around more intuitively in Ad Manager than ever before. The system provides you with a number of different ways to move throughout the different areas and different screens of the program. This allows you to find the information needed, quickly and easily. The software is primarily mouse driven which allows you, the user, to click on the appropriate item and have an action occur. Ad Manager allows you to single click (click the mouse button once), double click (click the mouse button twice in quick succession) or right click (use the right mouse button and click once to allow a menu of choices to appear) on an item and have an action take place. If you are on a screen where data entry can occur, you also have the ability to hit the TAB key on your keyboard to move from field to field when entering or changing data. Functions can also be selected using the Menus in Ad Manager, or the corresponding icon. Ad Manager also has hot keys (to activate a hot key, hold down the CTRL key on your keyboard and hit the letter specified next to the function on the menu command. For example, CTRL +C means hold down the CTRL key and hit the "C" key on your keyboard) that allows you to undertake common tasks quickly and easily. The Ad Manager Explorer Window is divided into 3 sections, the Shortcuts Bar, the Folder List and the List Window.

You can create shortcuts and place them on the left side of your screen (the My Shortcuts bar). When you want to see a particular item, simply click it from the My Shortcuts bar, and the information will appear in the List window.

You can select different data sets, views or baskets from the Folder List. In selecting from this, the information will appear in the List window.

Items that appear in the List Window are the results of the data set you have requested (from your filter, basket or list of items). To see more information about a particular item, double click it.

Ad Manager for Windows has also been designed for you to open several different windows at the same time. This allows you to be reviewing faces or sites, while still having the contracts window open. Simply go to the taskbar at the bottom of your screen and select the appropriate window.

To find information in a window (for example, the Site Window), select the appropriate page to see information.

If you wish to find out more information about a particular item, you can select the Properties icon () and the appropriate information will appear. You can also move among items by using the Previous () and Next () buttons and First ()and Last ()buttons.

Planning Your Virtual Faces

Ad Manager allows you to enter Virtual Faces, providing you the opportunity to sell your inventory more dynamically. Virtual faces can be a very powerful way to expand your ability to sell faces, especially for media types that are less constrained by size (eg. bus interiors, bus exteriors, walls). In order to do this, you must first determine all combinations of faces that may be sold.

Step 1

Determine all the possible ways you wish to sell the Site. In Figure 1, there are 3 faces that can be sold (1 physical and 2 virtual), and in Figure 2, there are 6 different faces that can be sold (1 physical and 5 virtual). Once you have figured out how many different faces can be sold, you must determine how they are interrelated.

Step 2

When scheduling virtual faces, it is important to realize you cannot schedule certain combinations of faces at the same time. In Figure 1, for example, you cannot schedule Face A if you already have Face B scheduled for that time frame. However, you can schedule Face C, as the two faces (B and C) do not affect each other.

Create a table to show how the faces interrelate. This table should be set up with each face identified in the first column, the faces it completely encloses in the second column, and the faces it partially overlaps in the third column.

The table for Figure 1 would look like this:

Face

Completely Encloses

Partially Overlaps

A

B, C

-

B

-

-

C

-

-

When dealing with more faces, the table becomes more complex. Figure 2 shows a face which can be subdivided into 3 parts, providing 6 possible combinations of faces to be sold.

The Table for Figure 2 would look like this:

Face

Completely Encloses

Partially Overlaps

A

B, C, D, E ,F

-

B

-

-

C

-

-

D

-

-

E

B, C

F

F

C, D

E

Step 3

Once this table has been created, you can proceed to enter this information into Ad Manager through the Virtual Faces Tab on the Site Details screen. For information on how to proceed, see Adding a Virtual Face.

Steps to Follow for...

Charting

The following is a overview of the steps typically followed when charting a Contract. It assumes that you are starting from the proposal stage right through the final adjustments for the Contract.

Step 1

Enter the proposed Contract details. Status should be set to Proposal (or hold depending upon your rules of operation). If the proposal has already been accepted enter as Contracted.

Step 2

Enter any additional items such as Notes and User Fields as necessary.

Step 3

Enter the Proposed Subcontract.

Step 4

Enter the Subcontract details, counts (number of Faces proposed) and any other desired information. If the scheduling needs to take into account any special targeting (skewing) characteristics enter these as well.

Step 5

Enter the Proposed Flight information. When creating a proposal enter the entire time frame as one flight unless you intend to have multiple Design/Face changes during the life of the Subcontract.

Step 6

Chart (assign) the desired Faces to the proposal using Find Now (Manual) Charting, Automatic Charting, Visual Charting or Mapping charting, checking for Skewing criteria, Distribution factors and other criteria you may have set. Undertake scheduling for all flights as required.

If changes are required to the Contract, Subcontract, Flight or scheduling, make these changes. Once a client has approved the list of Faces for the showing;

Step 7

Change Contract Type from Proposal (Hold etc.) to Contracted if accepted. Note if not accepted change status to Dead Proposal.

Step 8

Add Design information and assign it to the Faces as appropriate.

New Users

These general steps are a suggested order of input/setup of your database information. It is highly recommended that you complete the database setup in the following order to save time by not having to go back to modify data more than once. Specific details of input for each step can be found in the appropriate section of this manual.

Step 1

Set up the following lookup databases. The order is not important. These are the "simple" easy to set up databases and will give you practice in using the standard Ad Manager commands: Sales Offices Posting Routes Persons Sales Persons Agencies Place Design Suppliers City County State Country Job Maintenance Routes Media Buyer Mobile Route

Step 2

Set up your CATEGORIES and ADVERTISERS lookup databases. When doing this you should initially ignore the conflicts between groups and advertisers until all groups and advertisers have been input. A suggestion to make this easier would be to take all your contracts for the last 6 to 12 months and input any of the advertisers and advertising groups that you expect you will also have in the future.

Step 3

Go back to the beginning of your GROUPS lookup database and go through each group/advertiser and input potential competitive conflicts between advertising groups for each group/advertiser. The temptation is to try to do this at the same time as input in step 2: however, since not all groups and advertisers are input at that point chances are you will be going back through the list many times and most likely will miss some important conflicts.

Step 4

Divide each of your market(s) into smaller sub-areas in the AREAS lookup database. A lot of thought defining your separate areas within the larger market area will save a significant amount of time in the long run. We recommend that this be done on a map of your market(s) and be kept in a safe place for future reference (you will need it when describing your actual locations).

Step 5

Once your smaller sub areas have been defined (on a map) you should now be in a position to amalgamate these smaller areas into markets in the MARKETS lookup database. For each market you need to define the default allocation of faces you would like in each sub area. This can be as simple as calculating how many faces you have in each area (by product) and determining what this is as a percentage of the product total for the market being defined.

Step 6

Enter all of your location (structure and face) data in the LOCATIONS and FACE databases. Like the advertiser lookup database we recommend that you input all locations for all products prior to attempting to identify line of sight restrictions for each face. It is alright to input the specific advertiser skewing conditions or specific restrictions for each face at this time. During this input you will, as a matter of course, be inputting the MEDIA lookup databases as needed. It is not necessary to attempt to pre-enter these data prior to location input.

Step 7

Now that all location descriptions have been entered go back in the LOCATIONS database and for each structure and face identify all line of sight conflict information.

Step 8

Now that all of your location data have been entered you are now ready to start entering contract data in the CONTRACT database. We recommend against trying to input past contract history: choose a date and all new contracts from that date forward should be entered. Once these steps have been completed, you are ready to begin using the software.

Using the...

Folders List

Ad Manager allows you to create folders in the Folder List, which you can use to store data in individual views.

Ad Manager comes with a set of folders already loaded containing all of the Ad Manager databases. These are stored in the Public folder, and are marked with a special folder icon (). Views stored in these folders are also marked with a special icon (). Ad Manager also comes with a Personal folder, where the user can store and save folders and views that are visible only to the user.

Creating a New Folder

To create a new folder, click on one of the folders currently visible in the Folder Window. Then, click on the New Folder icon ()in the top left corner of the screen. At this point, the New Folder window will appear.

If you want this folder and its contents to be visible to all users, highlight the Public Folder and type the desired folder name in the Name field and select OK. If you want to make this folder visible only to you, highlight the Personal folder and type the desired folder name in the Name field and select OK. If you wish to create a sub folder (a folder located inside another folder), then highlight the desired folder and type the desired folder name in the Name field and select OK. To create a new View, see Creating a View.

Removing a Folder or View

If you wish to remove a Folder or a View, highlight the desired item in the Folder Window, and select the DELETE key on your keyboard. Ad Manager will confirm you intend to delete this item before proceeding. Only folders you have created may be deleted. The standard set of folders that your data came with, cannot be deleted.

Shortcuts Bar

The Shortcuts Bar provides the user with the ability to maintain a list of folders, views and baskets that can be quickly accessed for viewing. The Shortcuts Bar is specific to each user ID by computer. In other words, if you log onto a different computer than the one you normally use, your Shortcuts Bar will be different.

Placing Items on the Shortcuts Bar

To place an item on the Shortcuts Bar, simply select it from the Folder Window and drag it (click and hold down your mouse button, holding it down while moving your mouse) to the Shortcuts Bar. When you release your mouse button, the shortcut will appear.

Adding Groups to the Shortcuts Bar

Groups can be added to the Shortcuts Bar to help organize your shortcuts more effectively.

To add a group, right click on the Shortcuts Bar where there are no shortcuts, and select "Add New Group". Type the new Group name into the window and hit enter. To use your new group, click on the Group's Title bar, and all shortcuts you have added in that group will appear. If you wish to rename a group, right click on the Group Name and select "Rename Group".

Removing Items or Groups from the Shortcuts Bar

To remove an item from the Shortcuts Bar, right click on the item and select "Remove from Shortcuts Bar". To remove a group from the Shortcuts Bar, right click on the Group and select "Remove Group".

Changing the View of the Shortcuts Bar

If you want to see larger (or smaller) icons for each item, right click on the Shortcuts Bar where there are no shortcuts, and select either "Large Icons" or "Small Icons" accordingly.

Why Does a Face Appear on the Assigned Tab More than Once?

A face may appear more than one time when you are looking at the Assigned Tab for the Subcontract. This will occur any time you have created a different face assignment on the Subcontract. Different face assignments are created any time there is a different set of dates (e.g. scheduling a face on different flights) or if there is a copy change for the face during the Subcontract.