Shopmetrics Gripe

I really wish I could type up my report in Shopmetrics while files were uploading. It takes quite a while to upload 3.2 Gigs of video files through that platform.... I tried (once) to upload my files after writing the report - so that I could go to bed instead of sitting at my computer waiting, but I lost the data as, after the upload was completed, my computer sate idle and I was logged out of Shopmetrics and the upload was lost.....

I did three video shops today. When starting my reports, I first started my Shopmetrics uploads. I then started my other video uploads - which finished 30 minutes ago. I then wrote my other two reports. At that point the Shopmetrics uploads were about 1/3 done. I then got (mostly) caught up on this forum and checked some NFL news.... The uploads were less than 1/2 done, so I started this...... 55% compete....

Hard work builds character and homework is good for your soul.

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I just tried something with one comment and a picture upload.

I opened the form in two windows. I uploaded the file and saved. I then saved the other one. Both entries survived.

Obviously, this would need more testing with larger files and whatnot, but it makes sense that it would work. Sometimes when I work too long without saving, I open a new window to log in and then I can submit in the original window.

When I am typing long narratives I always save them to notepad before I leave the computer. So 1cent's method would work if you saved your typing to notepad in case it didn't survive, your computer went idle and logged you out, etc. I am copying this thread to my "video and apartments tips and tricks" doc LOL.

Also yesterday I was uploading large video files in shopmetrics and I wanted to leave the computer as it was going to be a little while. I changed my settings so that my pc wouldn't go to sleep since it was idle. I set them to "never" and after I was finished I set them back to the normal settings for me. It only took 3 seconds and when I came back my files were done and my pc was still awake.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/11/2019 01:28PM by CoffeeQueen.

"I am copying this thread to my "video and apartments tips and tricks" doc LOL. "

Um....how do you do that?

She must have created a document and saved it to her files on her computer.

Copy and paste plain text into a notepad file. There are fancier ways but that will do the trick.

@ceasesmith wrote:

"I am copying this thread to my "video and apartments tips and tricks" doc LOL. "

Um....how do you do that?

MFJ,
When I have several video files to upload using Shopmetrics sites, I let the scheduler(s) know that deadlines may need to be extended due to slow uploads.

Then, while video is uploading, I write narratives and save then in word.

Also, I always turn off the auto "sleep" and similar functions when uploading video.

If you are having this issue with Servimer videos, , they will be very accommodating. Even the president of that MSC has similar issues because he has very slow Internet speeds at home. As for other MSCs that use video and Shopmetrics, YMMV

And, a random tip for all video road warriors:
When at a hotel and uploading video, be sure to check that the electrical outlet that you use for your computer is not controlled by a wall switch. I knew that mine was, and left for the day to do more shops. The housekeeper, of course, turned off that light switch. 14 hours of queued up video failed. (But, it was such a charming, old, ocean-side hotel!)

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

ROTFL...I'm assuming this is "plain text"....but don't have a clue what a "notepad file" is.

Y'all are just over my head (gazing up at contrail......)

@CoffeeQueen wrote:

Copy and paste plain text into a notepad file. There are fancier ways but that will do the trick.

@ceasesmith wrote:

"I am copying this thread to my "video and apartments tips and tricks" doc LOL. "

Um....how do you do that?

Cease, do you have Word? Notepad is similar to Word. If you have Word, you just copy the text and paste it into a Word document. Not over your head at all, you are way overthinking it.

I thought about trying to open the shop in two different windows - I wash concerned that I would lose data.... I will look into that in the future... there were not a lot of narratives for this one, so there wasn’t much pint in typing things into a Word doc.... I did not want an extension as I have today reserved for hiking with my wife.... I like the idea of turning off the sleep setting in the computer, but my real concern was that after the files finished uploading, Shopmetrics would log me out due to inactivity and I’d lose the uploads - which has happened to me before.....

I just wish the platform would allow me to fill out the survey while it uploaded files in the background. I also just wanted to gripe.

Hard work builds character and homework is good for your soul.

No, don't have Word, wouldn't know how to use it if I did have it.

Wish I did have it, and wish I COULD use it.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

Cease, do you have Word? Notepad is similar to Word. If you have Word, you just copy the text and paste it into a Word document. Not over your head at all, you are way overthinking it.

You might even have notepad preloaded on your computer. Since you have to pay for Microsoft Office you would certainly know if you had Word or Excel, two of the programs that come with it. However, a lot of computers that have the Windows operating system have notepad already on it. And if you don't have it, you can download it for free.

Right. And it's the simplest and barest of all the word processing tools out there. Anyone can use it without any training. I have never had a computer that didn't come with it already installed.

@JASFLALMT wrote:

You might even have notepad preloaded on your computer. Since you have to pay for Microsoft Office you would certainly know if you had Word or Excel, two of the programs that come with it. However, a lot of computers that have the Windows operating system have notepad already on it. And if you don't have it, you can download it for free.

@MFJohnston wrote:

...but my real concern was that after the files finished uploading, Shopmetrics would log me out due to inactivity and I’d lose the uploads - which has happened to me before.....

Give the second tab workaround a shot. I mean, I know you don't want to test this on purpose and risk losing a big file. But it might save so many headaches.

Coffee -- "anyone can use it without training". Oh, my gosh! Gimme a break! I do have notepad; and I DO NOT know how to use it. And, no, I cannot use it without "training", if that means learning how to use it.

I have a bunch of shops scheduled that require "screenshots". I spent the entire weekend trying to master "screenshots". I can TAKE the screenshot, but then it disappears.

Called a computer guru over, and she spent several hours with me today trying to teach me how to do it Totally unsuccessful.

We took dozens of screenshots. We can't find even one of them on my computer anywhere.

Did get so far as to learn that, on Firefox at least, screenshots "automatically" go into a folder under pictures\screenshots.

However, there is no such folder. We searched and searched and searched.....

I joke about having a finite number of "gray cells", and if I have to empty some to learn something new, what I empty might be something really important -- like my name, address, or phone number.

Color me "idiot".

Hey cease, you click on notepad. It opens. You type in it like you would write an enail or anything else. You click "save".

Have you tried? I just open the program. A text file appears and I type in it. To save it I click "file" and then "save as" and then I title it and click save. I am not saying you don't have a hard time with technology but I am saying that notepad is as easy as it gets. If you can figure out the various formats of shop reports you can certainly use notepad.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/12/2019 03:54AM by CoffeeQueen.

Exactly. If you can email, use the forum, and do MS reports, you can use notepad.

Thanks for the encouraging words. Maybe tomorrow, after I recover from today's frazzled nerves.

I do actually know people my age who have either thrown away or donated their cell phones, computers, tablets, etc., because they just could not learn to use them and finally decided to just give up. HOWEVER, none of them had to make a living with it -- so I am highly motivated.

It's just HARD.

Notepad is NOT. But I hear you. And, you are not them.

Thanks for the kind words.

(I am highly motivated; and I CAN learn anything, if motivated to do so!)

(But maybe not rocket science, LOL)

I did once play chess with Frank Zappa. I did not win.

Hey Cease....

I found a wikihow article on how to use notepad. The link is below. It caught my attention because it has pictures. I find I can learn better with visuals.

[m.wikihow.com]

Kim

Just wanted to add that the article explains different shortcuts and other stuff you wouldn't necessarily use. I just liked it for the pictures. You can do this!

Kim

Thanks, Kimmie. I will check that out forthwith!

I think that you need a new computer guru. I use Firefox all the time. One of the first things I do when I install it on a new PC is to change the default so that it always prompts me as to where to save the file. The Chrome and Edge (used to be Microsoft Internet Explorer) and every other browser that I have encountered also have an option in settings that enables requiring the user to specify where the file being downloaded or a screenshot will be saved. I would bet $100 that I could train you in less than 15 minutes. In less than 5 minutes, I could change the Firefox settings to require that you specify the location, or change it to a default location of your choosing. Find a 12-year old.

I don't know everything. On Wednesday, I will get my 24-year-old son to put the weather back on the main screen of my Galaxy S-9. After about 15 minutes of trying, I call for the cavalry, aka, my son.

@ceasesmith wrote:

We took dozens of screenshots. We can't find even one of them on my computer anywhere.

Did get so far as to learn that, on Firefox at least, screenshots "automatically" go into a folder under pictures\screenshots.

However, there is no such folder. We searched and searched and searched.....

Shopping Southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware above the canal, and South Jersey since 2008

Yeah, my computer prompts me to save to specific folders. You have to click "save as" and then name it and specify where you want to put it. If you click "save" it does go to pictures, but it's not as easy to locate (but shouldn't be that hard unless you have hundreds of items there). It's weird that a computer "guru" wouldn't know that.

When I am doing screenshots I change the save path to the desktop. Then I drag and drop them into a folder I create myself. Then I know where they are.

Nah. After hours on it, I gave up. When I tried to tell the computer what folder/file/whatever to put the screenshot, it would just say: "file name not valid".

My "guru" is a younger friend who is comfortable with tech, and who doesn't charge me anything to help me learn.

She's also my "weather guru", because she has an app that tells her if it's gonna rain....LOL!!!

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