Tell me what you think. We still need to fill in a lot of blanks. USING THE WREQ TRACKING SYSTEM (Power User) Table of Contents --------------------- 1. What the WREQ System is 2. Types of Requests 3. How to Access the WREQ System 4. Performing Routine Tasks in WREQ A. How To View Work Requests B. Commands on the List Screen That Aid in Viewing C. How To Sort Work Request Lists D. How To Bring Up a New Work Request Submission Form E. How to Fillout a New Work Request Submission Form F. How To Update an ACTIVE Work Request 5. Additional Commands on the Work Request List Screen 6. Notes on Producing TECHNOTES 1. What the WREQ System is ------------------------------------- WREQ stands for 'Work Request'. The system was designed by Yunliang Yu at Duke University . It is a distributed request/problem tracking system with a built-in knowledge database that is designed to help support personnel manage problems and share knowledge and expertise. 2. Types of Requests ------------------------- A request in WREQ does not have to be in response to a problem that occurs. You can have information requests, technotes, etc. The types of requests the power user can view/update are: Problem Requests - Requests generated in response to a problem situation or need for information. This type of request is either ACTIVE, RESOLVED, or DELETED. ACTIVE requests are those that are being worked on, or waiting for some answer. RESOLVED requests are completed requests. DELETED requests are those that were submitted in error. FAQs - These are frequently asked questions that are routine in nature. They may or may not be connected with a problem. TechNotes - These are common procedures concerning the operation of the system, network, a software package, or some routine that anyone in the system support group would benefit from knowing. Syslog - A place to log major system/network changes. S.O.S. - A general plea for help from everyone. 3. How to Access the MIS WREQ System --------------------------------------------- <{CUT} TO SITE SPECIFIC> 4. Performing Routine Tasks in WREQ A. How To View Work Requests ------------------------------------ The first list that you see when you click on "keep track and follow up" is the ACTIVE requests list screen. This is a list of all the requests that are still ACTIVE and awaiting closure of some kind. The requests have a number that is automatically assigned to them when they are initiated. To see a particular request, click on the NUMBER of the request. To view a list of 'particular' requests, such as all requests assigned to an owner, click on the owner's name/email addresses (not the OWNER title in the title line). This will bring up a list of all the Work Requests assigned to that owner. This also works for the other title items (except the REQ number itself). For example- Clicking on any '100' under the PRIORITY title will bring up a list of all the Work Requests with a priority of 100. You can also bring up a list of the RESOLVED requests, DELETED requests, TECHNOTES, Syslog entries, and SOS requests. Click on the arrow on the pull-down menu where 'ACTIVE' is displayed, and a list of the types of requests that can be listed will drop down. Then click on the type of list you want to see to display that type of list. B. Commands on the List Screen that aid in Viewing --------------------------------------------------------- At the top of the Work Request List screen, next to the two pull-down menu boxes, is a line of clickable commands (in blue). This line of commands is used to change the way the displayed list is viewed. SEARCH.. This command brings up a screen showing the many fields that you may search on. You may search on a particular subject, name, sender, location, category, owner, request number, or time frame. You may view all the matches, or some of them. LIST ALL.. This command lists all of the matches of the particular request type. LIST 25.. This lists 25 matches of the request type. SHOW.. This command brings up a screen which allows you to type in the number of ONE request that you would like to see. RELOAD.. Reloads the current page. FAQWIN.. This command loads a separate screen with the FAQ requests listed in a frame format. NOFRAME/FRAME.. Determines the look of the browser window. The MIS system initially comes up in Frame format, so the command displayed in the command line is NOFRAME... Clicking on NOFRAME.. causes the list to be displayed without frames and the command line changes to FRAME... C. How to Sort Work Request Lists ----------------------------------------- The Work Request Lists can be sorted in a variety of ways. Click on any one of the titles in the title line (such as REQ, OWNER, PRIORITY)and the entire list will be sorted according to that title. D. How to Bring Up a New Work Request Submission Form --------------------------------------------------------- You can bring up a New Work Request Submission form by clicking on the ADD or TOP commands at the bottom of any Work Request list. Clicking on ADD will bring up a Work Request form that matches the type of list that is being displayed (ie.If you are displaying a TECHNOTE list, the Work Request form that comes up will be a TECHNOTE oriented form). Clicking on TOP will bring up a full screen Work Request Submission form (of the ACTIVE variety). E. How to Fill out a New Work Request Submission Form --------------------------------------------------------- When you bring up a new Work Request form, the user information is automatically filled in for you- User Name, Initials, and Phone Number. You can change this information if you need to. Drop-down lists are provided for the following information: Category - The equipment/section this problem relates to (Web, PC, etc.) Department - The department affected Req List - Who should handle this request Priority Category - An estimate of how quickly this request needs to be resolved (Most Urgent=100, Info=0) Todo for - Used by PUs to produce a Work Request as a todo memo for some action/project whose progress/completion needs to be documented The SUBJECT field is filled out by the submitter and is displayed in the lists. The Problem/Request Description is the place where the problem is described. After the fields are completed, the form is submitted to the system, and a number generated, by clicking on the grey SEND button on the bottom of the form. Click on the RESET button if you want to clear the form. F. How to Update an ACTIVE Work Request ------------------------------------------- ACTIVE Work Requests can be updated, and their status changed, after they are generated. From the Work Request List, click on the number of the request to be updated to display it. Clicking on the number will bring up a screen with the request surrounded by many fields that can be used to update it. Near the top of the request is a line of clickable commands (in blue): RESOLVE - DELETE - MOVE - MERGE - TAKE - CANTDO - GIVE - This command brings up a screen with a drop-down menu of the names that you can select to give a Work Request to another power user. DOWNLOAD - MORE.. - Brings up a screen of statistics pertaining to the Work Request being displayed. File name, origination data, and a list of all the Work Request activity-who,when,why- is displayed. On the right side of the form are two blue clickable commands and a grey button: 2FAQ - 2TECH - UPDATE (button) - Towards the bottom of the form is a line that says 'ACTION' followed by some radio buttons which can be clicked: Update - Comments - info - stall - resolve - open - The action will be taken when the updated form is sent. After the 'ACTION' line is a box where new comments and problem descriptions can be described in detail. After the box are a set of fields which are only used when this request is to be mailed to someone or a group. These fields are sent when the grey MAIL button is clicked. The MAIL button, UPDATE, and RESET buttons are the last buttons on the bottom of the form. When UPDATE is clicked the form is sent to the system and the new info is added in, along with a new date/time/user stamp. When MAIL is clicked the form is sent as email to the various users,as determined by the fields that have been filled in above the button (MAIL button only fields). When RESET is clicked, the fields where new info was entered are cleared. 5. Additional Commands on the Work Request List Screen ------------------------------------------------------------ The following clickable commands appear at the bottom of the ACTIVE, RESOLVED, and DELETED Work Request Lists: LOGIN - Brings up a Login screen that lets you login to the system with only your initials. LOGOUT - Logs out the current user. CREDITS - Displays a screen with the names of the writers and contributors of WREQ, and the name and web address of the university where it was written. CONFIG - Displays the current WREQ configuration settings used in the Work Request Submission form in the drop-down selection boxes (such as the values of the different priority settings, the department names, etc.). STATISTICS - DELUSERS - ADD - Displays a screen with a new Work Request form tailored to the type of list being displayed (ie. if a TECHNOTE list is being displayed, the form will be a TECHNOTE submission form). TOP - Displays a screen with a new Work Request submission form (like the ACTIVE ones). The LOGIN, LOGOUT, CREDITS, ADD, TOP commands also appear at the bottom of the FAQs, TECHNOTES, SYSLOG and SOS lists. The following command appears with them: CONDENSE - 6. Notes on Producing TECHNOTES ---------------------------------------- The power user can produce TECHNOTES (like this one) which can be viewed by another power user, but not an **ordinary user. To generate a new TECHNOTE, bring up the TECHNOTE Work Request List by clicking on TECHNOTES in the roll-down menu of the Work Request List screen (See the How to View Work Requests section). At the TECHNOTES list, click on the ADD command at the bottom of the screen, and a new TECHNOTE Submission form will be displayed. ** customized feature