How-to and Guides
Learn how to perform more of the complex functions available on anyInput. If you can't find what you're looking for here be sure to check out the FAQ
Use anyInput to Store Your Information
This tutorial shows you how to use a Category to store your information. Be sure to see the Guide to Organizing Information into Multiple Categories for useful information.
- Go to 'Account Home'
- Click on 'Add Category'
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Enter a Name, Description and Tags for your new category Tags are useful to add because they allow your category to be searched and connected to other categories that have the same or similar tags.
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Choose a template for your category You don't need to specify a template. However, templates can be useful if you want to use pre-defined fields. You can modify the pre-defined template fields later to suit your needs. If you want to create a completely custom set of fields, then leave the template selection blank. See the How To's on Adding Fields and Modifying Fields.
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Check 'Create Example Items' Checking this box will automatically add two sample items to your category. You can edit or delete these items later.
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Choose a 'Parent Category' You need to select the category that your new category is to be nested into. Nesting your new category into the 'Top' category is sufficient for most users. If you want to create a category tree structure, see the How To titled Creating a Category Tree.
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Click on 'Save Changes' Now you can use the 'Add Item' link to begin entering items into your new category.
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Final Note You can store different types of information in multiple categories in your account. For example, if you have different types of information such as CDs and DVDs, then you will need to use two categories.
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What is a Category? A Category contains Fields and Items. Fields for a DVD Category may be Title, Genre, Director and Year. Items are the actual information about the DVDs. In a spreadsheet, a Category is equivalent to a worksheet. In the database world, a Category is equivalent to a table.
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What are Fields? Fields are the part of a Category that define the characteristics of information that will be stored. For example, a DVD Category may contain the Fields of Title, Genre, Director and Year. In spreadsheets and databases, a Field is known as a column.
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How do I copy Fields from other Categories? See the how to on Copying Fields to a new category.
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How do I enter Items into a Category? Once a Category and Fields for that Category have been defined, you can begin entering Items. Navigate to the Category you want to add Items to. Click on Add Item to create a new Item in the Category.
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I am unsure how to define the characteristics of my information. Can you show me where to start with examples? You can start with a pre-defined Template. When creating a Category, you can select a Template for the Fields such as DVDs or Stamps.
OR you can Copy Fields from another Category. See the how to on Copying Fields.
Later on, you can change the Fields in the Category as you wish. -
What is a Parent Category? A Parent Category is the Category which is one level above the current Category. For example, the breadcrumb links near the top of the page could be 'Top -> Equipment -> History.' Equipment is the Parent Category of History. Top is the Parent Category of Equipment. When you create a Category, a Parent Category must be chosen. By default the Parent Category is set to the Top Category. For most users, the Top Category as the Parent Category is adequate.
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Can I add more than one Category to my account? Your account can contain multiple Categories. Navigate to the Categories page. Click on Add Category.
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What are the Field Types for? Field Types are the configuration settings for a Field. See the guide to Field Types for more information.
Guide to Organizing Information into Multiple Categories
Different people may want to organize the same information in different ways.
This guide shows you multiple ways that you can organize your information using one or many categories.
The following examples exhibit different ways to organize a movie collection.
- Click here for an example of movies organized into one category.
- Click here for an example of movies organized into two categories.
- Click here for an example of movies organized into many categories that form a category tree. See the How To titled Creating a Category Tree for more information.
Guide to Sharing Your Information
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Add tags to your categories so that other users can discover your collections using the tagging system When you view a category, you have the option of adding tags to help yourself or others identify the category. Simply click on 'Add Your Own Tags to this Category' and add any tag you want.
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Add links on other sites to an anyInput category You can use the 'Link to this Page' box to post the link to a category on your blog, facebook page, MySpace page, personal website, or another website.
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Add descriptions to your categories and your account Adding descriptions allows users to learn about your information. The search engine also incorporates descriptions, which may contain terms that are entered into the search engine. In settings, an account description can be added. When adding a category, a category description can be added.
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What is a Tag? Tags are one-word descriptors that you can assign to any Category. A tag is essentially your opinion of what a Category contains. For example, if a Category contains many Nirvana CDs, you may add Nirvana, CDs and Music as Tags. See the Sharing and Tags sections of the FAQ for more information.
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How do I add links on another site to an anyInput page? anyInput is about information sharing. You can add links on your Facebook page, MySpace page or blog to an anyInput page. For example, a link can be added on your Facebook account to your anyInput DVD Collection Category by using the 'link to this page' box on the left side of a Category page.
OR you can Bookmark an anyInput page for future reference. -
What is the Tagging System? The Tagging System is a user defined method of discovering other Categories. See the Category Browsing section in the FAQ for more information.
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How do I Tag my own Categories? When creating a Category, enter Tags that describe your Category into the Tags field.
OR when viewing a Category that you have previously created, click the "Add Your Own Tags to this Category" link. Enter your Tags into the box that appears. -
Why should I Tag other users Categories? Tagging other Categories adds Tags to your account in My Tags. You can use My Tags as a area to help you keep track of the Categories you are interested in. Also, Tagging helps the anyInput community by enabling information sharing through the Tagging System. See the Tags section in the FAQ for more information.
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How do I Tag other users Categories? When viewing a Category, click the 'Add Your Own Tags to this Category' link. Enter your Tags into the box that appears.
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Why should I enter descriptions? Adding descriptions allows users to learn about your information. The search engine also incorporates the descriptions, which may contain terms that people enter into the search engine. In Settings, an Account Description can be added. When creating a Category, a Category Description can be added.
Sending Messages to Others
When browsing information you may come across information that you have questions about. You may be interested in finding out more from the owner of that information. This feature allows you to send a private message to any other user on anyInput.
- Navigate to the category of interest.
- Click on 'Contact User of This Account'
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Type your message and click 'Send' Your message will be sent to the user's anyInput mailbox and not to the email address they have on file with the site. This is in an effort to keep individual users' email addresses private.
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How do I contact other users? Login to your account. Navigate to the Category of interest. Click on the 'Contact User of this Account' link in the left side of the page. The user name of a user that manages the Category will be inside the To input box. Add a subject and a message and press Send.
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What is the messaging system? The messaging system is a simple mailbox internal to anyInput that allows you to communicate with other users.
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Why do I need the messaging system? The messaging system allows you to contact other users without providing your e-mail address.
Using the Tagging System to Discover Information
The tagging system was added in order to help users discover information on anyInput with ease.
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Click on 'Popular Tags' in the top left menu The popular tag cloud lists some of the most popular tags currently on the site. In the tag cloud the larger the tag, the more popular it is.
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OR click on a category tag when browsing a category Category tags are often closely related to the category you are browsing. Also, clicking on the + symbol next to a category displays the tags that are related to that tag.
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What is a Tag? Tags are one-word descriptors that you can assign to any Category. A tag is essentially your opinion of what a Category contains. For example, if a Category contains many Nirvana CDs, you may add Nirvana, CDs and Music as Tags. See the Sharing and Tags sections of the FAQ for more information.
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What is the Tagging System? The Tagging System is a user defined method of discovering other Categories. See the Category Browsing section in the FAQ for more information.
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What are Category Tags? Category Tags are the Tags that have been directly assigned to a Category. Category Tags are usually the most closely related Tags to a Category.
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What are Related Tags? Related Tags are the Tags that are related to the current Tag.
Searching for Information on anyInput
The search engines on anyInput is a useful if you are looking for something in particular.
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Click on 'Search Accounts' in the top left menu Enter search term(s) into the search bar at the top of the page and click 'Search'. The search engine searches through the category descriptions, tags, related tags and items of each category for the term(s) entered.
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OR you can search within a single category If you want to locate specific item(s) in a category, you can search a Field of that category. Enter a search term in the category search box, click Set Search, and then click on the field name that you want to apply that search to.
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How do I find other Categories using the search engine? Click on Search Accounts on the left side of the page. Enter your search Term into the Search All Accounts box and press Search. The results will consist of Categories that contain that contain the Term.
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I want to search / filter on Items inside a Category, how do I do that? When browsing a Category, enter a Term in the box at the top right. The Term can be the exact word or part of the word you are looking for. Click on the Set Search button. Click on the Field Name you want to apply the search to. See the how to on searching for information.
Guide to Field Types
When setting up fields, there are a number of field types available for selection. The field type chosen will affect how the data for an item is entered and how that data is displayed. Below is a list of the different field types that are available and what each can be used for.
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Text This field type can hold words and phrases. All alpha numeric characters can be used including HTML. Sorting on a text field is done alphabetically, not numerically.
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Number This field types holds numbers - integers or decimals. Only numbers can be entered. Sorting on a number field is done numerically.
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Select Box This field type holds a predefined list of choices. Only one choice is displayed in the field after selection and only one selection can be made.
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Multiple This field type is a combination of a text field and a select box. A list of predefined choices can be selected from the select box and the user can enter their own choice in the text field.
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Checkbox This field type consists of boxes that can be checked or unchecked. Multiple checkboxes can be selected at a time.
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Radio Button This field type is similar to the checkboxes but only one radio button can be selected at a time.
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File This field type gives you the capability to upload files. Refer to the Frequently Asked Questions for information on file upload limitations.
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Date This field type holds dates and / or times. When entering dates, selection boxes aid in the selection of a month, date, and year.
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Link This field type holds a URL. URLs connecting to websites, files, or email addresses can be added.
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What are Fields? Fields are the part of a Category that define the characteristics of information that will be stored. For example, a DVD Category may contain the Fields of Title, Genre, Director and Year. In spreadsheets and databases, a Field is known as a column.
Linking Items From Different Categories Together
If you have items that are connected in some way, they can be linked together. For example, you may have a category filled with actors and another category filled with various films. You can link the items together and be able to view the films an actor has starred in and you can view the actors that have starred in a film.
For an example of this check out the 'ABC Manufacturing Database' account. This account has a category for manufacturing equipment and also a category for equipment history. Each item in the manufacturing equipment category is linked to the relevant items in the equipment history category. This way whenever you view an item from the manufacturing equipment category you can also view its corresponding equipment history.
- Go to 'Account Home'
- Click on the name of the category that contains the item you want to link.
- Click on the row of the item from 'Category A' that you want to link to another item in 'Category B'
- Click on 'Link Item'
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Choose the 'Existing' Method The method section asks if you want to link this item to an existing item OR a newly created item.
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Choose the 'Child' Relationship Type The Relationship Type refers to how the two linked items will be related. A Parent relationship means that the item from 'Category B' will be above the item in 'Category A'. A Child relationship means that the item from 'Category B' will be below the item in 'Category A'. If this is not clear, don't worry, it will become more evident once we are finished.
- Click 'Next'
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From the drop down menu choose a category that contains the item you want to link. Click 'Next' This will be 'Category B' that we mentioned earlier.
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Pick an item from 'Category B' that you want to link to the item in 'Category A' and click 'Select' This item will now have the relationship to the original item that you have specified in the previous step.
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Final Note When you view an item you will be able to see all the items that it is linked to. It is possible to create multiple links between multiple items to express all the different ways that they are connected.
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Why do I need to Link Items? Linking Items enables you to create relationships between Items. For example, an Item of Equipment may be associated with an Item of History. To maintain this relationship the Items of Equipment and History can be linked.
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How do I view the Items that are linked to an Item? When browsing a Category, click on the row of the Item. If Items are linked to the Item, Category selection boxes will be present under the Item details. Select a Category and the Items that are linked will appear.
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How do I Link an Item? See the how to on Linking Items.
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What is a child relationship? A child relationship means that the Item linked will be on a below the current Item. For example, an Item of History was created for an Item of Equipment. When linking the Item of History to the Item of Equipment, a child relationship would be specified.
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What is a parent relationship? A parent relationship means that the Item linked will be on a above the current Item. For example, an Item of History was created for an Item of Equipment. When linking the Item of Equipment to the Item of History, a parent relationship would be specified.
Adding Users to an Account
Multiple users can manage an account and each user can have different privileges. This is useful if you want multiple people be able to add, edit or delete information in your anyInput account.
- Go to 'Account Home'
- Click on 'Account Users' in the Left Menu
- Click on 'Create User'
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Enter new user information Enter a user name, email address, and password for the new user. The actual user can change their password in the user Profile. Please keep in mind that the user name cannot be changed once selected.
[Link to relevant screen shot]
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Select new user type. There are two types of users, administrator and normal. An administrator can create, edit, and delete users, alerts, categories, items, and fields. A normal user cannot modify users and can be setup with limited privileges for modifying categories, items, fields and alerts.
[Link to relevant screen shot]
- Click on 'Save Changes'
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Can multiple users manage my account? You can create multiple users with different privileges to manage your account. Login to your account. Click on Account Users on the left side of the page. Add a new user by clicking on Create User.
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Can I create users with limited access? When creating a User, set the User Type to Normal. A table will displayed with checkboxes to enable the user to create, edit or delete Items, Categories, Fields and Alerts.
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What extra privileges do Administrators users have? An Administrator can modify the account settings and manage other users for the account. In addition, this user type can create, edit or delete Items, Fields, Alerts and Categories.
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Is there a limit to the number of Users an account can have? The current limit is 10 users. If you need more users, please contact us at support@anyInput.com
Setting Alerts
Alerts allow you to set alarms for different items in your account. This can be helpful if you want to remember to perform and action on an item.
- Go to 'Account Home'
- Click on 'Items' in the Left Menu
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Select a category from the drop down menu The drop down menu contains all the categories in the account. The categories are presented in hierarchical format. For example, if there is a category called 'Cars' under the 'Top' category, then it will be displayed in the select box as 'Top > Cars'.
- Click on the row for the item you want to apply the alert to
- Click on 'Apply Alert to Item'
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Fill in the information for the alert First, you need to select a name and a description for the alert. Then you need to choose an alert type.
There are two types of alerts, time based and condition based. A time based alert means that the alert will be active / inactive / expired based on a date / time that you set. A time based alert is similar to a calendar reminder. The two parameters that need to be set are the effective date and the expiration date. The effective date is the date / time when the alert becomes active. The expiration date is the date / time when the alert expires.
A condition based alert becomes active / inactive depending on a specific field in the item. You select a field name, a comparison operation and a compare value. When the condition specified is true the alert becomes active. For example, an Oil Change alert can be specified on a Car (item) when the Miles (field) become greater than (comparison) 30,344 (value).
An alert that is both time based and condition based becomes active when both the time base and condition base are active.
[Link to relevant screen shot]
- Click on 'Save Changes'
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How do I use Alerts? Alerts can be used on any Item that you need to perform an action on. For example, an Item could be a Ford Expedition and a Change Oil Alert could be created on the car based on time or condition.
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How do I create an Alert for an Item? Navigate to the details page (click on View) of the Item you want to specify an Alert for. Click on the Apply Alert to Item link.
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How do I refresh the Status of my Alerts? Navigate to the Alerts page and click on the Refresh link above the Alert list.
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What is a Time Based Alert? An Alert that is based on a date range and the current date. The date range boundaries are the Effective Date and the Expiration Date. When the current date is between the range, the Alert is Active. When the current date is past the Expiration Date, the Alert is Expired. When the current date is before the Effective Date, the Alert is Inactive.
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What is a Condition Based Alert? An Alert that is based on a Field and a condition. The Alert will be Active when the condition is satisfied. The Alert will be Inactive if the condition is not satisfied. Also, a condition based Alert does not Expire. For example, an Alert can be set up for an Item on the Quantity Field when the Quantity is less than 5. When the Quantity is set to 4, then the Alert will be Active.
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What is a Condition and Time Based Alert? An Alert that must be in the date range boundaries AND that satisfies the condition in order to be Active.
Adding Fields
If you need to customize a category further, then your own custom fields can be added.
- Go to 'Account Home'
- Click on the category that you want to add fields to.
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Click on 'Add Field' to quickly add a Field This will cause an input box and a select box to appear. The input box allows you to create a name for a new field and the select box allows you to choose from one of five general field types: text (a small input box), text area (an input box, but larger), link (can be used to include URL links), number (an input box for numbers), and date (a series of select boxes that allow date selection).
[Link to relevant screen shot]
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OR Click on 'Modify Fields' then 'Add Field' Adding a field using this method allows you to configure a field with more options. See the How To titled Guide to Field Types for more information.
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What are Fields? Fields are the part of a Category that define the characteristics of information that will be stored. For example, a DVD Category may contain the Fields of Title, Genre, Director and Year. In spreadsheets and databases, a Field is known as a column.
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What are the Field Types for? Field Types are the configuration settings for a Field. See the guide to Field Types for more information.
Modifying Fields
You can change the field names, field types or re-order fields in a category.
- Go to 'Account Home'
- Click on the category that contains fields that you want to change.
- Click on 'Modify Fields'
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Click on Up or Down to re-order a Field in the category. This changes the positioning of the Fields when viewing the item list of a category and when adding or editing an item.
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OR click on Edit next to a Field. You can edit other aspects of a field such as the name and the field type. Please note that changing certain field types may cause display issues.
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What are Fields? Fields are the part of a Category that define the characteristics of information that will be stored. For example, a DVD Category may contain the Fields of Title, Genre, Director and Year. In spreadsheets and databases, a Field is known as a column.
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What are the Field Types for? Field Types are the configuration settings for a Field. See the guide to Field Types for more information.
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How do I change the positioning (order) of the Fields in the table? Navigate to the Modify Fields page of a Category. If the Category has more than two Fields, then you will see Up and Down links near each Field. Clicking on an Up link moves the corresponding Field up in the list and vice versa. The Field at the top of the list will be the first Field in the Category Item list.
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What is the Required Field? When a Category is created, a Field named Name is automatically created as the Required Field of an Item. This Field cannot be deleted and is used throughout anyInput to identify an Item
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What is the Field Size? The maximum length in characters that can be entered. When Size > 60, a 4 line text area will be displayed. When Size <= 60, a 1 line text area will be displayed.
Copying Fields to a New Category
You can copy the fields from one category to a new category. This feature is useful so that fields in future categories do not need to be manually created. Also, you can copy fields from categories of other accounts using the same process below.
- Navigate to a category whose fields you want to copy
- Click on '[Modify] Fields'
- Click on 'Copy Fields'
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Enter a name for the new category that the fields will be copied into Only the fields will be copied into the new category in your account.
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Choose a 'Parent Category' You need to select the category that your new category is to be nested into. Nesting your new category into the 'Top' category is sufficient for most users. If you want to create a category tree structure, see the How To titled Creating a Category Tree.
- Click on 'Copy'
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What are Fields? Fields are the part of a Category that define the characteristics of information that will be stored. For example, a DVD Category may contain the Fields of Title, Genre, Director and Year. In spreadsheets and databases, a Field is known as a column.
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How do I copy Fields from other Categories? See the how to on Copying Fields to a new category.
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What are the Field Types for? Field Types are the configuration settings for a Field. See the guide to Field Types for more information.
Creating a Category Tree
A category tree is useful if you want to organize all your data into a directory structure similar to the file system on your computer. If you're the type of person who likes to have a different folder for everything then it's possible to create a system to do that on anyInput. For an example, see the Guide to Organizing Information into Multiple Categories.
- Go to 'Account Home'
- Click on 'Add Category'
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Now create a new category to be nested inside the first When creating a new category you have the option of choosing what the parent category for this new category will be. You can choose to nest this in a previously created category, in which case it will become a sub category of that category. When viewing the item list of a category, if the category has sub categories, the sub categories will be displayed under the items.
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Repeat step two until you've got all the categories you need Continue creating categories and nesting them until your tree structure is fully created the way you want it.
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Final Note When navigating through your category tree, if you encounter categories that will never contain any items, then you may hide the items by clicking on 'hide section'. In the future, if you need to add items to this category, the items can be un-hidden in the edit category page.
Also, 'Top' is the default name of the highest level category. The name of this category can be changed in 'Settings'.
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What is the Category Tree? The Category Tree is the way in which you arrange your Categories. You define a Category Tree so that your information has a structure that makes sense to you.
For example, you create a set of Categories, "Electronics" and "Sporting Goods." Then you create Sub-categories under those Categories, "Computers" and "Baseball Equipment." You then create Sub-categories under those Categories, "Hard Drives" and "Catchers' Mitts." -
What are Sub-categories? Sub-categories are the Categories directly under a Parent Category.
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What is a Parent Category? A Parent Category is the Category which is one level above the current Category. For example, the breadcrumb links near the top of the page could be 'Top -> Equipment -> History.' Equipment is the Parent Category of History. Top is the Parent Category of Equipment. When you create a Category, a Parent Category must be chosen. By default the Parent Category is set to the Top Category. For most users, the Top Category as the Parent Category is adequate.
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