If you have a problem or concern with TracksLife contact me, Scott at admin@trackslife.com
1. What is a Track?
A Track is a type of database that helps you keep track of your progress with whatever you can think of. You can create up to 9 columns of different values -- words, paragraphs, numbers, money and yes/no -- and combine them to create all kinds of possibilities. Track your diet, your budget, your car maintenance, your grades -- whatever! The Free Account lets you create two Tracks and update them forever for free. To create more Tracks you'll need to pay a small monthly fee.
2. What are entries?
Entries are the rows that you create inside your Tracks. So, if you were tracking your diet, an entry inside your "Diet Track" could be one day's worth of what you ate. If you were tracking your spending habits an entry could be one day's worth of what you spent.
3. What are columns?
Columns are the actual things in a Track that you're tracking. They have a title and one of five types of data they store: numbers, money, paragraphs, words and yes/no's. An example of a column would be a value in a Track that was a number titled "Miles Run?" That could be one column in someone's "Jogging" Track.
3. What's the difference between words and paragraph in the column values?
Words are meant to be just around a sentence or so while paragraphs can be from one to several paragraphs.
5. How do I create a Track?
After you create an account you'll see a link that says "New Track". After following that link you'll be taken to a page where you can enter your Track's name, up to 9 values that you want to track -- for instance, 'Money Spent' or 'Miles Ran' -- and whether or not you'd like reminders sent to you and, if so, how often.
6. How do I change the name of my Track, add/edit/delete new columns, etc.?
Each Track has a "Track Settings" link in the top right hand of its page. The Track Settings page will let you edit a Track, make it public or not public, change the time and frequency of reminders and allow you to add, rename or delete columns.
7. What happens when I make my Track public?
Making a Track public means other people will be able to see it but not edit it. It also means that when the ability to gather all public Tracks into one place is integrated into TracksLife, your public Tracks will be included.
8. How do I edit entries I've already created in my Track?
After you create an entry you simply double click inside its row and it will switch over to "edit mode" and you'll see buttons for saving your changes, deleting the entry and cancelling your edits.
9. Why can't I change what I want a column to track after I create it?
Because each column tracks specific types of data -- from paragraphs to numbers to money -- changing what a Track column is keeping up with after it's been created would screw up the column's data. You can, however, just delete the column and create another of the same name that tracks different data.
10. Can I export my data?
Of course! You can export all of your Tracks to XML by choosing the export link in your "Account Settings". You can also export each individual's Track's data to CSV or XML by choosing the export links in each one's "Track Settings".
11. What are reminders?
It's hard to remember to keep track of things -- that's why TracksLife was built. And reminders are there to help you out when you forget. They come as email, RSS or both and you can set them to come daily, weekly or monthly at a specific time during the day. Each reminder has a link to the Track it's reminding you about letting you quickly click through and update your Track in just a few seconds.
12. What is RSS?
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication and it's just a way to get news updates from a site, blog, web application -- whatever -- without having to physically visit that site in your browser. The updates automatically come to you.
As far as TracksLife is concerned, RSS feeds are used to either let you know that you need to update a Track or to let other people who have subscribed to your Track know that you've updated it.
13. How do I subscribe to my TracksLife RSS feeds?
There are two types of RSS feeds in TracksLife -- the "global" updates and reminders feeds and the "individual" updates and reminder feeds. The global feeds can be found on your TracksLife homepage beneath your list of Tracks. They contain all the updates and reminders for every Track in your account. The individual feeds can be found on the inside pages underneath your Track's table. Simply copy & paste the URL of each feed into your preferred feedreader and you're all set.
14. Why am I asked to enter my username and password when subscribing to some Track's RSS feeds?
You only need your username and password to subscribe to feeds of Tracks that are private. If you're Track is private no one else is allowed to see it without your username and password. Public Tracks do not require a username and password for their feeds.
15. When will I be charged?
You can choose two billing methods -- Credit Card or PayPal. Both are completely secure.
If you start your account off paying you'll have a 30-day free trial to decide whether or not you like TracksLife. If you don't like it you can cancel within the 30-day trial period and you will be charged nothing. If instead you try out TracksLife with the Free Account first then when you upgrade to a paying account there won't be a 30-day free trial and your billing cycle will begin immediately.
16. What if I cancel my Paypal subscription or change my Credit Card?
If you cancel your subscription or credit card without first updating your TracksLife account information or downgrading to a different account you're account will be suspended. In order to reactivate your account you'll need to start a new subscription or downgrade to a Free Account.
17. What will my credit card statement say?
Your subscription will show a charge from TracksLife.