Become a ChannergySE Affiliate
Guide, Using Channergy
Channergy Dashboard
Introduction
The Dashboard is designed to make your life easier by hosting the tools you need in one place. There’s a lot you can do including check your activity logs in real time, schedule script and reports to run automatically at set times and run a variety of special tools and apps.
There’s some important non-Channergy utilities too. Be sure to check out all the available tools now and as new ones are released over the coming weeks and months.
The Dashboard comes with several free apps and there are plenty more in our online shop.
Overview
The dashboard is divided into four areas
The Tree View
The Tree view area of the Dashboard is where all the action is. This is where you can launch Channergy and all of the utilities that you have purchased. In addition you can learn more about the ones that are available for you to purchase.
Categories
The tree view is divided into different categories.
- Frequently Used: The Dashboard application keeps track of which tools you open the most and displays the top 5 in this category.
- Channergy Software: This is where you will find the Channergy application in addition to the options to purchase additional licences or upgrade.
- Database Utilities: This is where you will find the tools to access the back end of the Channergy database engine in addition, this is where you will find the powerful script editor that will allow you to write scripts that you can easily launch from the Tools menu in Channergy.
- Desktop Utilities: Over the last five years Channergy has developed a suite of utilities that you can launch from your workstation for managing your data.
- Server Utilities: These are the tools that are designed to be run on your Channergy data server. Such as archiving orders, automated data back ups, repairing and optimizing the tables etc.
- Services: This is where you can access our services for integrating with shipping software, shipping rates and zones importing/updating, and where you will go to pay for custom scripts/reports or applications that we have built for you.
- Subscriptions: As the name implies this is where you would go to purchase or renew your subscriptions such as your Channels.
- Support: This is where you would go to purchase additional prepaid support or training.
- Xtras: This is where you can find other opportunities to improve your business.
Using the Tree View
When you click on one of the branches in the tree view the web viewer on the right side will show information about the item. In addition, there will be a button displayed under the tree view depending on whether or not you have purchased the item.
If you have purchased the item (or it is one that comes free with the Dashboard), the Launch button will be displayed
When you click on the launch button it will launch the application. If the application is already running it will ask if you want to launch it again. If you select No, the application simply gets the focus.
If you have not purchased an item, or it is a service, the dashboard will display the Buy Now button.
Clicking on the Buy Now button will launch the related page in our store in your default browser.
Note: You can also double click on any of the branches and, if you have the application installed it will launch it. If not, then you will get a dialog box asking if you want to purchase it. If so the application will take you to the shop page for the item in question.
What’s New
The What’s New button may periodically change announcing sales or other special events. If you click on that information will be shown in the dashboard web window.
My Channergy
When you click on the My Channergy button, the My Channergy window will open.
This window shows all of the information about your licensing
The Status will display several values depending on the status if the MCM licence
Licensed: This means the channel in question is currently licensed.
Unlicensed: You have never owned this channel license.
Expired: You have owned the license for that channel but it has expired.
Expiring Soon: The license is expiring within 30 days
If you click on one of the rows that are currently unlicensed the My Channergy window will display a button to allow you to launch the related page in your default browser and purchase the channel license
If you click on a row for one of the channels that has expired or is expiring soon the My Channergy window will display a button allowing you to go to the related page and renew the licence.
The Logo
The Channergy Logo in the top left corner of the dashboard has some buttons for changing how the dashboard looks and for launching the Channergy.com web page and launching Channergy itself.
The Globe icon will launch the www.channergyse.com web site in your default browser
The contrast icon will toggle the labels in the interface from black to white. This setting is saved in the Settings table in the Channergy database.
The picture icon will launch the Select Background Image window and allow you to preview and update the background image for the dashboard.
The Channergy Dashboard comes with 16 different background images, you can preview the choices by selecting the image from the image file combo box. Once you have selected an image you like you can click on the Update Dashboard Image and your choice will be saved in the Channergy Settings table.
Based on the image you selected, the dashboard will be configured to display the correct colored text for the best contrast. For example if you selected the blocks background image above, the dashboard will automatically set the label color to white.
The Channergy button will launch the Channergy application. If you already have Channergy running on your workstation, the Dashboard will prompt you asking if you want to open another instance.
If you click on Yes another copy of Channergy will open on your desktop and it will become the focus on your workstation. If you select No the running copy of Channergy will become the focus on your workstation.
The Log View
The Log View area is where you can view the activity of your data feeds. By default the Channel Log is what is shown.
When the Dashboard first loads, the Log View shows all of the activity in the channel log for the current day.
Channel Log
Filtering by Channel
You can filter by the Channel by selecting the Channel from the Select Channel combo box
After selecting the channel, the records for only the selected channel for the date range will be displayed.
Select a Different Date Range
You can also change the date range by keying in the date range in the date text boxes and clicking on the Refresh button.
Note: If you had previously filtered by a specific Channel, the data for the selected channel and date range will be shown. If you want to look at a different channel for the date range selected, all you have to do is select the channel from the Select Channel combo box, you do not need to click on the Refresh button.
Clearing the Filters
If you want to go back to the default view in the Log view grid, simply click on the Clear Filters button. This will reset the view to show all of the activity for all of the channels for the current date.
Viewing a Different Log
As of the current version there are two logs you can view, the Channel Log and optionally the Task Scheduler.
If you select the Task Scheduler and do not have it installed, you will get the following message.
If you click on the Yes button, the Dashboard will open your default browser with information about the Task Scheduler with an option to buy it. If you click on No, the Log View grid will go back to the default Channel Log.
The Task Scheduler
If you have the Task Scheduler installed and select it from the Log combo box it will show all the activity for the current date.
Filtering By Task
You can filter by the Task by selecting the Task from the Select Task combo box.
After selecting the task, the records for only the selected task for the date range will be displayed.
Select a Different Date Range
You can also change the date range by keying in the date range in the date text boxes and clicking on the Refresh button.
Note: If you had previously filtered by a specific Task, the data for the selected channel and date range will be shown. If you want to look at a different task for the date range selected, all you have to do is select the channel from the Select Channel combo box, you do not need to click on the Refresh button.
Clearing the Filters
If you want to go back to the default view in the Log view grid, simply click on the Clear Filters button. This will reset the view to show all of the activity for all of the tasks for the current date.
The Log Viewer Window
There are times when you may want to see more than just a few rows from the logs that come with Channergy. You can do this by clicking on the log viewer button in the top right corner of the dashboard.
This will load the Log Viewer window
By default, the Log Viewer window will open showing the Channel Log records for the current date.
Channel Log
Filtering by Channel
You can filter by the Channel by selecting the Channel from the Select Channel combo box
After selecting the channel, the records for only the selected channel for the date range will be displayed.
Select a Different Date Range
You can also change the date range by keying in the date range in the date text boxes and clicking on the Refresh button.
Note: If you had previously filtered by a specific Channel, the data for the selected channel and date range will be shown. If you want to look at a different channel for the date range selected, all you have to do is select the channel from the Select Channel combo box, you do not need to click on the Refresh button.
Clearing the Filters
If you want to go back to the default view in the Log view grid, simply click on the Clear Filters button. This will reset the view to show all of the activity for all of the channels for the current date.
The Task Scheduler
If you have the Task Scheduler installed and select it from the Log combo box it will show all the activity for the current date.
Filtering By Task
You can filter by the Task by selecting the Task from the Select Task combo box.
After selecting the task, the records for only the selected task for the date range will be displayed.
Select a Different Date Range
You can also change the date range by keying in the date range in the date text boxes and clicking on the Refresh button.
Note: If you had previously filtered by a specific Task, the data for the selected channel and date range will be shown. If you want to look at a different task for the date range selected, all you have to do is select the channel from the Select Channel combo box, you do not need to click on the Refresh button.
Clearing the Filters
If you want to go back to the default view in the Log view grid, simply click on the Clear Filters button. This will reset the view to show all of the activity for all of the tasks for the current date.
Preferences
The preferences button in the lower right corner of the Dashboard allows for some “behind the scenes” customization of the dashboard.
Using your own background image
If you want to use your own background image for the dashboard you can set it up here. If you click on the Browse button, it will open a file explorer window and allow you to select your own image file.
Once you have selected the file you want to use the Dashboard will copy the file to the default location in the data directory and update the Settings table with the new file.
Note: If you are adding your own image to the dashboard, the label color may not work with the image you selected. You can change that by clicking on the 
button in the Channergy logo area to toggle the label color.
Adding your own Application
The Dashboard has the ability to add your own applications to it. If you click on the Add Tool button, the Add Tool window shows.
Select Category
Click on the category that you want the application to be under, this will be the root of the tree view.
Select the Application
Application Not Installed In Data folder
When you click on the Browse button a file explorer will be displayed. By default the file explorer button will open with the Channergy Program files folder open.
You can use this to select the application you want to be loaded in the Tree View. In this mode, you only have the option of installing executable files.
Note: Keep in mind that if the application you want to link to is not in the data folder, it will have to be installed in the same location on all of the workstations that the dashboard is installed on.
Application Installed In Data folder
If you check the “Installed in the Data folder?” box and click on the Browse button, the window will open in the data folder.
Since you selected the Installed in the Data Folder option, the application will allow you to add either executable for
Finishing the Setup
After selecting the application the Add tool will look similar to this
- Application Path: This is the path that the dashboard will use to launch the tool.
- Application: This is the actual application that will be launched.
- Tool Name: This is what will be displayed in the branch of the Tree View. You can edit this value.
- Store URL: This is where you would put a URL that you wanted launched in your default browser, This is not required for most scenarios.
- Help Page: This is where you would put a URL that will be loaded in the dashboard browser window. This is not required.
After clicking on the Save button you will get a message similar to this.
The Dashboard will reload the tree view and the new application will be in it.
