2.1. Starting
To begin to use this financial planning model, first bring up the home page
- click The home page should occupy the upper right of the screen.
When you want to continue with the tutorial here, just click the mouse somwhere in
this text. The home page will then sit in the background for you to see when you
close the tutorial browser.Before you open the planning model, read about what user name or file name you
should use (which is the next topic, below).
2.2. User name or file name
To actually open the planning model, supply a file or use name in the box provided/
To find out what makes up a proper user name, move the mouse pointer over the
question mark ("?"). The name that you see there is free for you to use, however any
other users may subsequently type over your data. That default name's plan values are
not good default values for a new, average user.When the name has been supplied, click on the "open" button.
The system responds with a welcome message in place of the login box.
Now you may proceed to update your plan values. If you did not create a new name, there
will be some values already in the database for that name, from which you can create
reports and graphs to become familiar with the system.To update with your own values click on the gold coin "Update" button on the left navigation bar.
2.3. Navigating through the user interface
With the exception of the "Update" page, you can navigate freely through the planning model's pages
using the left side navigation bar of gold coin buttons.The "Update" page has an additional requirement: if you have typed new or changed values into any
field, you need to click on the "Apply" button in the upper right of the page. If you do not do this,
any changes you intended will be lost if you move to another page. This upper right button looks like this:
Click on this button before exiting the "Update" page.
2.4. When you are done
You should finish every planning session by clicking on the "Log off" button (lower left) for two reasons:
- prying eyes - keep your financial plan private
- alternate user names for multiple plans
The latter advice means that it's a good idea to try several different sets of data, but without throwing away the data you already have tried.
You might therefore use one name to build a plan that is optimistic in outlook, and a different set of data with another name for a more
realistic or pessimistic plan .