This page describes new features and fixes that have been added to the
KidsONE program in the last few upgrades. We try to release an upgrade to
KidsONE each year. When you purchase the program you naturally receive the
latest version.
Version 14
Child Pictures - You can now link any number of pictures or other
images to child records. You can specify a date and description for each picture
in the image database.
Group Transactions - An option is available to select families to post to
by balance (charge, credit or zero). This allows you to post a per class (or
category) late fee or other transaction only for families with a charge balance.
The group transaction window will stay open after you post a group of
transactions. This allows you to post transactions to several groups in a row
without re-entering the basic transaction information.
Child Window - The tabs on the child window have been adjusted so that
all are visible. This eliminates the need for scrolling in order to access some
of the tabs.
Email - The email component of KidsONE has been thoroughly reworked. Most
of the changes are behind the scenes but should result in more reliable emailing
from KidsONE. An error that resulted from specifying selection options on the
group email window has been fixed.
Backup and Restore - The backup and restore functions can now be accessed
directly from within KidsONE. Previously they were accessed through the start
menu.
Quick Charge Window - Quantities on the quick charge window can now be
entered with decimal points. This allows the charging of a partial amount from a
charge table. For example, one half (.5) of a curriculum fee.
Exporting Data - Using the report writer, you can export data from
KidsONE as a comma-delimited text file. This data is easily imported into
spreadsheet, word processing or database programs.
Transaction Window - A button has been added to the transaction window
that will take you to the family window for the family currently displayed on
the transaction window. This will be useful if you need to quickly access some
family information while you are entering transactions.
An option has also been added to the transaction window allowing you to
retrieve a single family’s transactions from the transaction history file.
An option has been added to disable the default date button on the
transaction window. This button toggles the default transaction date between
today’s date and the date of the last transaction entered. The new option allows
you to select the option you prefer and then disable the button so the default
can not be changed.
A problem of no child list being displayed when “Child Name” was selected has
been repaired.
The Class List report now includes a listing of children currently
enrolled.
Contact and Applicant Labels - Problems positioning child and family
contact/applicant labels have been fixed.
Daily Attendance Window - An error that occurred when the first child was
displayed and the Save button selected has been fixed.
Spreadsheet Windows - An error in the multi-user version of the program
that occurred when a new family/child/employee was selected has been fixed.
Version 12
Billing Statements - A new, more pleasing billing statement format is
available. The statement has horizontal and vertical lines separating columns,
headings and totals. The new statement format will also allow you to include a
logo image.
Quick Transaction Entry Window - This new window allows for more
streamlined and efficient entry of batches of transactions. Rather that
selecting the family or account name from a list you simply start typing the
name. KidsONE will automatically display the family name closest to what you
have typed. Once the family is selected, the rest of the transaction information
can be quickly entered and saved.
Spreadsheet Windows - The spreadsheet windows for transactions,
attendance and employee time will now be “maximized” when the window is
maximized allowing you to see much more of the spreadsheet. File and record
locking on the spreadsheet windows has been made more efficient to speed things
up and reduce network congestion in a multi-user or network environment. Also
problems on the transaction spreadsheet with the running balance column have
been fixed.
E-mail - The e-mail engine in KidsONE has been redone to work more
reliably, especially with e-mail servers that require authentication, i.e. user
id and password.
Date Search on Selection Lists - When viewing transaction, attendance or
employee time selection lists, you can now type a date to jump to that point in
the selection list. For example, if you were viewing child’s list of attendance
records that covers several years and wanted to view the attendance from
December of 2004, you would type “041201” to jump to December 1, 2004. This
works in a similar manner to typing names on the child and family lists.
Receipt Message - You can enter a custom message that will be printed on
payment receipts.
Late Charge Calculations - A description field has been added so you can
enter your own description for the late charge transactions. If you do not enter
a description, the default late charge description will be used.
Transaction Reports - You can now select transactions for your reports
based on a word or number contained in either the reference or description
fields. For example, you may want to find a payment transaction that contains
check number “1234” in either the reference or the description field.
Check In/Out Time Transfer - When transferring check in and out records
to the permanent attendance or employee time files, you can now select a single
child or employee to transfer.
Billing Calculations - The billing calculations window now allows you to
select a single family or child for the calculation process.
Barcode Labels - An option has been added to print the child or
employee’s pin number on the check in/out barcode as well as the name.
Billing Plans will now allow you to charge a fixed amount for days
scheduled but not attending.
Employee List - The total fields for employee hours have been enlarged to
allow a larger number to print for total hours. In addition, a field has been
added for average hours per day.
Version 11
Child and Family Windows - After you enter and save a new family
record KidsONE can optionally display a new child window with the family
pre-entered. Also an “Add New Child” button has been added to the family window
that displays the new child window with the family name entered. Buttons have
been added to the child window to blank the attendance and meal schedules. You
can specify city, state and zip code defaults that are automatically displayed
on new family, employee and family contact records.
Spreadsheet Windows - Top and Bottom buttons have been added to take you
immediately to the first or last record in the spreadsheet. If you are using the
employee time spreadsheet and want to display the latest entries you could click
on the Bottom button (Alt-B). Additional information (names, phone numbers,
etc.) has been added to the spreadsheet windows. The daily total hours are now
shown on the check in/out time spreadsheet window.
Employee Pay Calculations have been added to calculate employee pay based
on employee time records. Calculates regular, overtime and holiday pay with
flexible overtime periods and starting days.
Check In/Out Window - You can now enter your own message to appear on the
title bar of the check in/out window. For example, “Welcome to My Child Care
Center. Please sign-in. Thank you.” An option to delete check in/out records for
a range of dates has been added to the check in/out menu.
Data Entry Windows - You can specify whether data entry windows open
ready to enter a new record or with the first record displayed. You can also
choose to have the selection list displayed whenever the data entry window is
opened. You have the option to automatically save changes on data entry windows
without selecting the save button.
Immunization records have been added for pneumococcal immunizations.
You can optionally have your business name displayed on the program title bar
instead of “KidsONE”.
Billing Plans - An option was added to the weekly billing options to bill
a fixed fee based on the number of hours attending during the week. Also, you
can specify whether the maximum charge on the discount window applies to each
day or the whole billing cycle. Late pickup fee: an option to specify an amount
per minute late has been added. Daily and billing cycle maximums have been added
to daily/hourly and weekly billing calculations.
Billing Calculations - A warning is displayed if the “from” and “through”
dates do not appear to make sense. For instance, they cover more than a month.
Quick Charge Window now shows family balances and has a button to jump
directly to the transaction window for quick payment entry.
Billing Statements - An option has been added to print child names on the
billing statements. They are printed to the right of the parents names and
address. You can also left-justify the business name and address to fit a
2-window envelope.
Child and Family Reports - You have the option to select beginning and
ending names for child and family reports. This is useful if you want to print a
report that includes part of the alphabet: the A’s through L’s for example.
Child and family labels can be printed from one to six across the page
and any number down the page. You can also select items from the “Include” list
to be included on your labels. This could be used for printing rolodex cards or
other large labels with additional information on them.
The KidsONE backup and restore programs were rewritten to make them more
reliable with Windows XP. They will work more reliably when backing up and
restoring to and from locations other than your diskette drive. The new backup
and restore programs are downloadable from our web site.
“Working” windows have been added to processes and calculations that may take
some time.
Printer orientation has been added as a default on the printing options window.
The following problems have been fixed:
The weekly billing calculations now correctly handle attendance days in excess
of the weekly range. Previously, these days would be ignored.
The weekly attendance window now displays the first week of attendance
correctly. Previously, in certain situations, some of a child’s first week
of attendance would not show on the weekly attendance window.
Detail and Summary Expense Ledgers - Total fields were widened to accommodate
larger numbers and alignment problems were fixed.
An error would sometimes result when data in time fields was changed, deleted or
saved (on the billing plan window for example).
KidsONE would sometimes lock-up when the left or right arrow keys were hit while
a selection list was displayed.
When using the network version of KidsONE, paging up and down through the
spreadsheet records could be quite slow. Navigating through the spreadsheet
windows has been made much more efficient.
The transaction selection list would lock-up if the up arrow key was selected
when the list was first displayed.
An error message would be displayed when deleting children with attendance.
Despite the error message, the child would be deleted.
Child Window - Selecting an alternate family to post charges to was not working
correctly. Also third-party billing information on the child window was not
working correctly.
Child Reports - Selecting only children currently checked in was showing earlier
days checked in.
Child Window Charges - On certain Windows XP machines, the child window charges
would not display correctly.
Version 10
Check In/Out Enhancements - A variety of improvements have been made
in the Check In/Out area of KidsONE. These include the following:
Family and Category PINs - You can assign PINs to families or child categories.
These PINs will allow checking in or out all the children in a family or all the
children in a category. When the PIN is entered a window is displayed listing
all the children in the family or category along with their current check in/out
status. The parent or employee can un-check any of the children on the list
before clicking the button to check them in or out.
Multiple PINs - Up to four different PINs can be assigned to each child or
family. You can also assign a name to each PIN to track who checks the child in
or out.
Balance Due - You can optionally display the family’s account balance at
check in/out time.
In/Out Override - Parents or employees can override KidsONE when checking in
or out. For example, if KidsONE thinks the child is being checked in but the
child is actually being checked out, the parent can hit “O” on the keyboard to
change the “In” to an “Out”.
Same Minute Check In/Out - Previously KidsONE would be confused by the order
of check in’s and out’s in the same minute. The new version fixes this problem.
The “Refresh Check In/Out File” option now correctly handles changed PINs and
deleted children and employees.
Deleting Family Records - The process of deleting family records from the
database has been improved. If the family has charges and payments in their
account, you will be given the option to delete or transfer the transactions to
the history file. If there are children in the family, you will be given the
option to delete the children, move the children and family to the contact file
and then delete or not delete the children at all. These new options will
greatly simplify the process of removing old family and child records from your
KidsONE database.
Mileage Tracking - a field for miles has been added to the expense
transaction window. KidsONE will remember the mileage you enter for each
destination and automatically fill in the miles field for subsequent trips. You
can enter miles with or without check information. Both detail and summary
mileage reports are available for any time period you specify.
Child Information - New data items added to the child record include
guardian information, lives with, race, minority, school, grade, teacher,
illnesses/allergies and vendor/voucher certificate. You can enter your own
choices for race and school and also use them as child report selection
criteria. Minority and vendor/voucher certificate are check box items that are
either checked or not checked.
New reports added in version 10 include the following:
Membership Roster, a 1-page-per-child report that includes a variety of basic
child information.
Yearly Master Roster, a roster of children currently enrolled in the Federal
food program.
Enrollment and Attendance report shows total enrolled and total attending for
any period broken down by gender and age range. Also breaks out the same
information for minority children.
Monthly Attendance Record shows daily attendance totals for the month broken
down by age and gender as well as totals.
USDA Claim for Reimbursement shows meals and snacks served for each day of the
month and totals. The report is in a different format than some reports already
in KidsONE that present the same information.
Payments - A checkbox is now available on the transaction window to
indicate non-child care payments. These payments will not be included on the
year-end tax statement for parents.
Historical Transactions - a new report has been added that allows the
viewing or printing of any family’s activity from the historical transaction
file (charges and payments that have been transferred to history).
Sign-In Sheet Any Period - This sign-in sheet will no longer print each
child on a separate page unless you indicate by checking the box.
Reports Format - Most reports print with a new style header and a footer that
shows the date and time the report was printed.
Spreadsheet Windows - The transaction, attendance and check in/out
spreadsheet windows have been improved to make it easier to navigate to
different children or families.
Report View Window - a problem with the report view window that displayed
a “Can’t open view file” message, has been fixed. Another problem, which showed
an incorrect last page number on the view window, has also been fixed.
Child Reports - an option has been added the the child reports window
that permits the selection of only unenrolled children.
Attendance Entry - A new data entry window that provides quick entry of
meal and basic attendance information has been added. You can use child names,
or assign ID numbers to be used when entering attendance information. The ID
numbers are different than the PIN numbers used for clocking in and out. If you
choose to assign ID numbers, they can be printed, along with the child name, on
any child report (for example, meal count sheets and attendance rolls).
A field for tracking cell phone numbers has been added to the family record.
Billing Plans have been fixed to work when you specifiy a zero dollar
charge for the initial hours and then start charging after a certain number of
hours.
A number of smaller changes and improvements have been made to report layouts
and data entry windows. Also, a variety of minor problems not mentioned above,
have been fixed.
Version 9
Spreadsheet Windows: Spreadsheet style data entry windows have been added for
the
following records:
Transactions (charges and payments)
Child Attendance
Employee Time
Check In/Out Time
These new data entry windows resemble computer spreadsheets with rows of records
and
columns for data fields. Using these windows it is much easier to view all of
your data,
then just point and click at the information that needs to be changed, make your
changes
and you’re done. Existing records can be quickly located, modified, or deleted
and new
records added.
Signature Capture at Check In/Out: With the purchase of an optional signature
pad
you can now capture and store signatures in your KidsONE database. This feature
works
with the check in/out capabilities of KidsONE. After the parent or employee
enters their
PIN or scans their barcode, they are prompted to sign on the signature pad.
After signing,
they either hit Enter or just walk away and the signature is saved along with
the check in
or out date and time. The stored signatures can be viewed or printed at any
time. Using
this feature it is easy to print a report showing all the check in/out times and
signatures
for a particular child or employee in any given date range. The cost of a
signature pad is
$250. Due to the amount of storage space required to store a large number of
signatures,
we recommend that you network your computers together and use the multi-user or
networking version of KidsONE. This eliminates the requirement of transfering
data from your
check in/out computer with a diskette.
Integrated Email: Email capabilities have been integrated directly into KidsONE.
You
can send an email to any individual child, family or employee. You can send mass
emails to all or selected children, families or employees. As an example, you
may want
to email the parents of children in a particular class with information about an
upcoming
activity, or email birthday best wishes to all the children with a birthday this
week, or
email a payment reminder to everyone with an outstanding balance due, or send an
email
reminder to everyone about a change in your hours or fees. You can also email
billing
statements to parents who have email addresses and save on mailing costs.
Child Window Charges: A new option on the child window permits posting the
charges
entered on the child window to an account other than the family’s account. This
would
permit the automatic posting of the co-pay or parent-pay amount to the family’s
account
and the remaining amount to a third-party payer’s account. This option was
previously
available only by using billing plans.
Report View Window: You can now print a range of pages from the report view
window. For example, you may want to print pages 40 to 50 of a 50 page report.
The
boxes and strange characters that were printing on some printers have also been
eliminated.
Build Meal Production Plans: When building meal production plans, you can now
select whether the plans should be built based on scheduled meals/snacks (as has
been the
case in the past) or actual meals/snacks. This is useful if you want to
build/rebuild your
production plans after you have recorded the actual meals/snacks served.
Federal Food Program: A new data entry window has been added to facilitate more
rapid entry of attendance and meal and snack information. Also a number of new
reports, useful for participants in the Federal food program, have been added.
Child Schedule Window: When entering the child’s schedule, you can now duplicate
the scheduled in/out times and meals from one day to the next by simply
double-clicking
on the first “In” time. This saves time if the child has the same schedule for
every day of
the week.
Sign In Sheet - Any Period: This sign-in sheet now provides an option to begin
each
child at the top of a new page or print each child immediately after the
preceeding child.
Check In/Out: You can now specify the time to wait before a check in or out is
automatically recorded after the PIN is entered or scanned. Previously KidsONE
would
wait 20 seconds.
Problem Fixes: The following problems have been fixed in Version 9.
Printing Problems: On some printers, printing from the Report View Window
resulted
in odd characters or boxes printing on the report.
Transaction Order: Transactions entered later in the day appeared on reports and
lists
before transactions entered earlier in the day. This problem would manifest
itself when
you post charges first thing and then post payments later in the day. The
payments would
be listed first on statements and other reports. Now, transactions will appear
in the order
they are entered.
Selecting the option to include Detail Transactions on billing statements
resulting in the
transactions being printed two times.
The transaction list was not totalling correctly when sorted by family name.
The attendance roll was printing an unwanted blank line.
The amount fields on billing statements, charge/payment lists and expense
transaction
lists were not wide enough for large numbers.
User defined fields were not showing up on the report windows except for child
user
defined fields.
Selecting the weekly attendance window when no children were entered caused the
program to terminate.
Printing a child telephone directory would result in errors.
A number of smaller changes and improvements have been made to report layouts
and
data entry windows. Also, a variety of minor problems not mentioned above, have
been
fixed.
* The signature capture and email features are available only if you are using
Windows
98 or later (ME, 2000, XP).
Version 8
User Defined Fields (database customization) This new feature allows you to add
new
data fields to our KidsONE database. For example, you may want to have a place
to
enter a child’s nickname on the child window, or parents’ birthdays on the
family
window, or an emergency contact name and number for employees. You can add as
many new fields as you need, and organize the new fields on as many new window
tabs
as are required. The types of data fields you can add are; dates, text, numbers,
dollars and
cents and check boxes. When you add a new data field, the field will
automatically be
available to include in any reports you print.
Immunization Improvements
· New immunizations - Chicken Pox, Hepatitis A and Tetanus
· Option to show immunizations received as well as due on the immunization
letter to
parents.
· Option to adjust immunization due dates to the scheduled interval when the
dates
received are entered. For example, if a child receives an immunization 2 months
late,
you can optionally have KidsONE adjust the due dates of subsequent immunizations
by 2 months.
· Immunization Statistics Report - a comprehensive statistical report, showing
immunization status for all children in the center by age and by immunization.
Includes totals and percentages.
Meal Planning and Federal Food Program - The entire meal planning portion of
KidsONE has been rewritten. The changes make this part of the program easier to
use and more
compliant with the CACFP requirements. Customizable serving size factors make
your
calculations more automatic and accurate. A new feature to automatically
calculate and
print a shopping list based on your meal production plans has been added.
Password Security - You can create any number of users with their own passwords.
Each user’s access can be customized to allow full access, view-only access or
no access
on each of the Data Entry, Attendance and Check In/Out menus. You can specify
the
Reports, Billing and Processes menus as either full access or no access. For
example, you
may have one user whose only task is to enter attendance information on the
daily or
weekly attendance windows. You allow full access to the attendance menu,
view-only
access to the data entry menu and no access to anything else.
Reports - Almost all the reports have been modified to allow selecting any of
the include
check boxes. In earlier versions the include check boxes were only selectable
for the lists
(child list, family list, etc.). For most other reports these check boxes were
grayed out
and not selectable. In the new version of KidsONE you can choose to include any
item
on almost any report. This includes any user-defined fields you create.
Checking In and Out - Performance and reliability of the check in/out programs
has
been improved. These improvements should prove especially valuable for
multi-user or
networking customers.
Transaction History File - A new process has been added to retrieve payments and
charges from the transaction history file. This option will get the transactions
from the
history file, for the date range you specify, and put them back into the
families’ active
accounts. Also, a new button has been added to the transaction window that
permits you
to send just the transactions for a selected family to the history file. This
option is useful
if you need to delete the family record but want to retain the account
information in the
transaction history file.
Report Writer - The sorting and selecting options for the report writer have
been fixed
and improved. In earlier versions, sorting or selecting records for your report
based on
date or amount fields did not work reliably. These problems have been fixed.
Scroll Bars on Selection Lists - Scroll bars have been added to all the pop-up
selection
lists so you can use your mouse as well as the keyboard to navigate through the
lists.
Help Index - A help index has been added that lets you find help on any topic
and not
just help related to the current window.
Transaction List - An option has been added to print only transactions that are
not in a
transaction category. This option is helpful if you want to have all your
transactions in
categories and need to make sure that has been done.
Expense Reports - The amount fields on the expense reports have been widened to
accommodate larger numbers.
Pack Utility - The conversion program can now be utilized to pack your KidsONE
database. Over time the database can grow larger than is necessary to hold your
data. Running the conversion program will “pack” the database to
the most efficient size.
Problems Fixed: The following problems have been fixed in Version 8.
Label Fonts - On certain printers the font on the second and subsequent pages on
labels
would revert back to the default font and font size. On these printers the first
page of
labels would print fine but the rest of the pages would typically print in a
larger font that
would not fit on the label.
Child List - When balances due where selected to be included on a child list,
the report
was garbled.
Transaction Window:
· The child selection list on the transaction window was not responding to keys
typed
on the keyboard.
· The selection of the “Same Date” or “Today’s Date” option was not being
retained for
the next time the transaction window was opened.
· The family’s telephone number is now displayed on the transaction window after
the
family is selected.
· The “Delete All for Family” button has been moved so that it is not as
accessible.
Previously, it’s location next to the “Delete” button could cause problems.
Record Locked Error - An error message indicating the record being accessed was
being used by another user would be incorrectly displayed.
Class Window - The list of children in the class did not have a scroll bar when
one was
needed.
Report Writer Window - A “group lock” error message was being displayed when the
report writer record was saved.
