This is the place to get helpful hints about Church Music Master. If you would like to add a hint to this area, please send us mail and we will try to include your comments in this area. You can also view our version tracking page which will tell you what has been added in each version of our software.

1. Use templates in Service Planner.
   • Using templates in Service Planner will save you time especially if you use a similar worship service order every week. To make a template, simply enter the information for a basic service into the service order area in Hymnal Master. Be sure to give the service a title as this will be the name of your template. (Something like "Morning Worship" should work fine.) Pull down the FILE menu and choose SAVE AS TEMPLATE. That's all there is to it. The next time you want to create a new service, just pull down the SERVICE menu and choose ADD NEW WITH TEMPLATE. A dialog box will ask you which template to use. Choose the template you want to use and select OK.

2. Right-Click in Service Planner.
   • If you need quick access to information about a hymn already entered in a service order, choose the hymn with you mouse and then right-click the mouse pointer on the hymn title. The Quick Browse box will appear with all the relative information for that hymn. You can also type a hymn number in the "Find #" field and then right click on the result to gain quick information.

3. Use broad searches.
   • When searching in Church Music Master (service order, hymnal, date, or text searches) it is a good idea to start with a broad search. For example, let's say that you're trying to search for hymns that are based on a specific scripture reference. Instead of inserting the specific reference, start by entering the book of the bible that the scripture is in (i.e. Psalms). That way, you will be provided with a list of all hymns based on a scripture in Psalms. From there, you can narrow your search. This frees you from trying to get the exact syntax of the scripture (i.e. Psalm 1:1 or Psalms 1:1-2 etc.).

4. Exit and re-enter library after changing preferences
   • After changing a setting in preferences, the new changes will not take effect until the next time you are in that particular library. Instead of exiting and restarting Church Music Master, simply go to another library and then re-enter the one that you were in. Your changes will take effect.

5. Take control of drop-down lists in the libraries.
   • One of the best features in Church Music Master is its flexibility. We have given you complete control over every drop-down list in the libraries. This enables you to create your own libraries within the given libraries, especially in the music library. For example, you may want to catalog your accompaniment tracks. You can do this in the music library by assigning the word "TRAX" to the Type field. To do this, choose the FILE menu and select PREFERENCES. Press the MUSIC LIBRARY button and choose the Type radio button on the left. Simply add the word "TRAX" to one of the spaces at the right and enter the enformation regarding to that track (title, key, etc.) Later you can then use the search feature in the music library to bring up all records with TRAX in the Type field. You have essentially created a Trax library within the Music library. The possibilities are endless!

6. Jump months quickly in Service Planner
   • Instead of clicking through months in the calender double-click the month bar on the calendar. A dialog box will appear giving you quick access to the month you are searching for.

7. Use shortcuts.
   • Keyboard shortcuts are provided for many of the basic operations in Church Music Master. It may seem frustrating a first but once you learn to use them, they can make your work much easier and faster.

8. Backup Regularly.
   • This may seem like a burden but it will be well worth while if you should have some problem. As hard drives become more reliable the chances of loosing data grow slimmer but it can happen. You never know when you might lose your data. It is surely a sinking feeling to realize that you cannot recover from data loss. We suggest backing up regularly to another directory as well as a monthly backup to diskette.

9. Use the memo field.
   • Church Music Master includes memo fields in every library. Use this field to add aditional text to search for in libraries. If you have a specific field that is not provided in Church Music Master, use the memo field.

10. Use the Publishers Library for dealers and music stores.
    • You can keep track of all your contacts in the Publishers Library. Don't just limit its use to publisers. Include dealers, music stores, technicians, etc.

11. Use your word processor for custom printing.
    • Use the copy commands in Service Planner to export the text of your service order to your favorite word processor. This allows you to do professional fomatting and printing of your bulletin.

12. Attach Write files to library records.
    • Create a directory on your hard drive (maybe a sub-directory of Church Music Master) called "choruses" where you will store the text of your choruses. You can format the text of your choruses using Windows Write.exe, or your favorite word processor. Then, make a library record for the chorus and attach the .wri file to the library record using the text button in the Music Library. The same system can be used for keeping track of your MIDI files.

13. Use the staus bar
    • The status bar gives you lots of information pertaining to your computer as well as Church Music Master. The status bar will reflect the current title of a service order in Service Planner. It will also tell you how much free memory and resources you have on your computer as well as the current date and time. If you're unsure of what a button on the button bar does, hold the mouse over it and look at the tip that appears in the status bar.

14. Use User-Hymnals for choruses and miscellaneous songs.
    • Create your own user hymnal to keep track of misc. songs and choruses that you use regularly. You can give the hymnal its own name and have it appear in the hymnal menu. This will give you quick access to those songs that are not in your hymnal.

15. Make use of label printing.
    • You can print any one of 30 pre-defined Avery label types or define your own labels. You will find that you can print mailing labels for sending reminder cards to your choir members. Set the label that you use the most as the default label in the label dialog box. To do this, select the Print Label menu item in the File menu of the Personnel Library. Choose the predefined label of your choice or set up a custom mailing label. Press the save button and that's all there is to it. This is very handy when sending reminder cards to absentees. You can search for people who have been absent more than once between two specific dates (i.e. all those in the adult choir who've been absent 2 in one month). Then when the list of people appears, press the labels button. Mailing labels will be printed.

16. Upgrade your hardware.
    • This may seem like a simple hint but it really makes a difference. If you are running at least a 486 computer a good investment would be RAM Memory. The more memory you have the better your computer will perform. Church Music Master will run very smoothly on a Pentium with 64 megabytes of RAM.

17. Archive your files
    • As time goes on your databases get full causing slower searches of your database files just a bit. By archiving your old files you can increase the responsiveness of Church Music Master's database functions. To do this, choose Archive from the File menu. Select the dates that you want to archive (usually the last year or so), then choose whether or not you want to delete the archived dates from the database. We recommend leaving these dates in your database. Click the Archive button and you'll archive your files away. Later, you can open your archived databases by choosing the Open Service Database option under the File menu.