MemberTies Membership Software - Frequently Asked Questions

Common Questions

The purpose of this page is to answer as many of the typical questions people tend to ask when evaluating MemberTies or MemberTies Professional. If you have a question that isn't on this list, please feel free to send it to us. We'll answer you promptly, and may post the info here too (without your name of course) so others can benefit.

Contents:

: An Error #5 occurs when installing an upgrade or update, then the program won't start anymore.; Can multiple users login at the same time?; Can I export data to use in other applications?; Can I get the program on floppy diskettes?; Can I import data?; Can I use another date format, i.e., "DD/MM/YYYY" for dates?; Can I send email to my members?; Can I show dues/currency in my country's format?; Can I use a network drive for my database?; Can multiple users connect to the database at once?; Can we add a status of membership called [your status]?; Can we group families together?; Can you create a report that shows [fields] for us?; Does MemberTies support Bar Codes?; How can I backup my database to a floppy drive?; How do I add another database?; How do you pronounce "Myrro" in Myrro International?; How easy is it to transfer usage of the program to the next person?; How many membership records can it handle?; How much does it cost?; I get an error message about a missing pbvmxxx.dll file when starting MemberTies.; What does "MemberTies" mean?; Where do the Cities in the dropdown list come from?; Who is the Administrator?; Why aren't my states or provinces included in the program?; Why is text on my report too small to read?; Why is text on the left/right side of my report being cut off slightly?; Why won't my password work?; Can you keep my database?

Q: An Error #5 occurs when installing an upgrade or update, then the program won't start anymore.: A: You tried to install the software while a previous version was running. Since the install will replace files used by the program, an error occurs when the files are in use. Shut down MemberTies and restart the installation. Do not just choose "ignore" to the error, or a partial installation will result, which will not run properly.
Q: Can multiple users login at the same time?: A: Yes! You will need to purchase an additional seat license for each user who will be connecting to the database concurrently (at the same time). Seat licenses can be purchased on our purchase pages. So to be clear, you can have a 2-seat license, and 50 users. A 2-seat license enables any two of those users to be connected at the same time (concurrently). So you don't need a seat per person, just enough to cover the number of people who will need access at once.
Q: Can I export data to use in other applications?: A: Yes. You can choose Save As when on any list or report to save the data to various formats. Using MemberTies Professional, you can also create your own views specifically designed to export just what you want.
Q: Can I get the program on a CD?: A: Yes, however there is an extra production charge for this. Most people only order the CD if they are unable to download for some reason. The CD contains exactly the same file that is downloadable from the website..
Q: Can I import data?: A: Yes. You can import data from any standard delimited text file. So for example, if you can dump your data to Excel, you can then choose Save As, to save your data to "Text - Tab Delimited" format, and MemberTies can import from that.
Q: Can I use another date format, i.e., "DD/MM/YYYY" for dates?: A: Yes. The software uses the Short Date format set in your PC's Control Panel / Regional Settings for all dates. If the format doesn't seem to be used by MemberTies, you may have to trick Windows into making the proper Registry settings for you by first changing the date format to something you don't use, i.e., "MM/DD/YYYY", save, and then return and change it back to "DD/MM/YYYY" format. This writes the appropriate entries in the Registry, which MemberTies will see.
Q: Can I send email to my members?: A: Yes. The professional version includes an integrated email system that enables you to easily send formatted email messages to any subset of your membership, groups, activity attendees, etc.
Q: Can I show dues/currency in my country's format?: A: Yes. The software uses the currency format set in your PC's Control Panel / Regional Settings to determine whether to show dollars, pounds, etc.
Q: Can I use a network drive for my database?: A: The database should be kept with the server itself (the computer with MemberTies installed that is acting as the server). The database should not be taken on its own and placed on another drive. Other computers should access the database over the network via TCP/IP.
Q: Can multiple users connect to the database at once?: A: Yes. You will need to purchase an additional seat license for each user who will be connecting to the database concurrently. Seat licenses can be purchased on our purchase pages.
Q: Can we add a status of membership called [your status]?: A: Yes. Statuses are totally user-defined. To see everything you can do with statuses, please see Status Codes in Help.
Q: Can we group families together?: A: Yes. You can relate any membership record to any other record(s), as well as to any group record(s). The current associations are viewable on the "Associated" tab of a membership record. You can also use the Friends and Family tab to list family members that are subordinate to the main member record (i.e., all the kids use the pool under the parent's ID).
Q: Can you create a report that shows [fields] for us?: A: Yes. However, if you have MemberTies Professional, you may be able to create it yourself and save the cost of a custom report. MemberTies Professional enables you to create your own columnar reports and mailing labels that use the fields you want, in the order you want.
Q: Does MemberTies support Bar Codes?: A: Yes. If you scan a bar code, the encoded data will appear wherever the cursor is sitting. For example, you can place the cursor on the Member ID field in the query window and scan a bar code containing the Member ID. The ID will appear in the field, and in most cases the record will automatically be retrieved. Existing users have stated that the CCD scanner from Wasp Bar Code Technologies (http://www.waspbarcode.com) works very well right out of the box. The Activity Front Desk window in the Professional version is specifically designed with barcoded membership cards in mind. Using this window, you can rapidly check members in (or out) of activities by simply scanning the card and clicking the Check In/Check Out buttons. An "unattended" checkin mode is also available there.
Q: How can I backup my database to an external or network drive?: A: When you choose the Database Backup tools menu option, you can change the target location for the backup file.
Q: How do I add another database?: A: Please see "creating a new database" in Help. Only the administrator user can create new databases.
Q: How do you pronounce "Myrro" in Myrro International?: A: It's pronounced "MERE-oh" or "MIRROR-oh" as one word. It is not "MY-row".
Q: How easy is it to transfer usage of the program to the next person?: A: Very easy. MemberTies was designed with the understanding that the "person in charge" of the database might change from year to year. Please see, "Moving the Software" in Help.
Q: How many membership records can it handle?: A: The database will easily support hundreds of thousands of members. We know of organizations with memberships in excess of 85,000 currently using the software.
Q: How much does it cost?: A: To avoid updating prices on multiple pages of the website, please see the current pricing on our purchase pages.
Q: I get an error message about a missing pbvmxxx.dll file when starting MemberTies.: A: You do not have a complete installation. This typically occurs when you download an update instead of a full installation without already having MemberTies installed. The update installations do not include any of the "one time install" files like .dll's, because we expect them to already be on your machine. Download the full installation and install it to the current directory (where you put the update install) and it will take care of the problem.
Q: What does "MemberTies" mean?: A: The software was originally designed with the idea of "bringing everything together" about a organization's membership. During one design session, someone mentioned that it should be like "tying everything up in a neat package", and the name "MemberTies" was born shortly thereafter.
Q: Who is the Administrator?: A: The administrator is an special user on the database that has the power to do a lot of special things, like table maintenance, database creation, new user creation, etc. Please lookup "administrator" in Help for the default username and password for this account.
Q: Why aren't my states or provinces included in the program?: A: The only preloaded states and/or provinces are for the United States, Canada, and Australia, however, you can easily load your own by editing the State/Province List (see help for how to do this in your version). Likewise, if you are outside the United States and would prefer not to see US States in the list, you can delete them.
Q: Why is text on my report too small to read?: A: This is probably because the printer doesn't like the font selection set in Preferences for Report or Label font. This can also happen if the selected font has since been removed from your computer. For best results, choose a True Type font such as Arial, and use a font height of 9 or 10 pt. Also, some old versions of MemberTies required you to type in the preferences for the font, which meant it could have been spelled wrong. When a printer does not understand what font it should use, it will often revert to a default font, which is often very small. The solution is to upgrade to the latest version of MemberTies (which allows you to choose a font from a dropdown of installed fonts) and to be sure the selected font exists on your system.
Q: Why is text on the left/right side of my report being cut off slightly?: A: Adjusting the margins of the report to "push" it or "pull" it slightly one way or the other can compensate for differences in printers. If the right side is getting cut off by one or two characters, try decreasing the left margin by 1/4 inch or so. Open the Reports menu and choose Adjust Margins while you're looking at a report. Also, be sure you haven't selected too large of a report font height. Reports are designed to display best with a 9-10 pt. font. Larger font sizes can cause text to "overflow" the available display area.
Q: Why won't my password work?: A: The most common reason a password won't work is that the CAPS lock key is on, or that it is simply being entered incorrectly. If you are connecting to a remote server, be sure the IP address of the computer hasn't changed, and that the server is running.
Q: Can you keep my database?: A: We can host your database on one of our database servers here at Myrro International. There is a monthly fee for this as indicated on our purchase pages. The advantages of database hosting are covered here.