BC Arts Council Online Web Application Technical Guide

BC Arts Council Online Forms Technical Guide

Accessing the Adobe Acrobat Online Application Forms

Working With the Adobe Acrobat Online Application Forms

Using the Attachments Function
Save Your Application Frequently
Browser Settings

Introduction

The purpose of this guide is to provide technical troubleshooting tips for problems that occur from time to time when using the BC Arts Council Online Application forms. If you encounter a problem, please read through this guide and follow the suggestions provided. If you are still unable to resolve the issue you should contact the BC Arts Council at (250) 356 1718 for assistance. You may also be forwarded to a technical support person to assist you.

Prior to contacting BC Arts Council please try to establish the following information about your technical environment

· Are you using a Mac or a PC?

· What is the version of your operating system (E.g. Mac OS X or Windows XP)?

· What type and version of browser are you using? (E.g. Internet Explorer Version 6.0)

· What version of Adobe Acrobat are you using? (E.g. Reader or the full version) We strongly suggest that you use the latest version of Acrobat Reader (version 7.0). Older versions are not guaranteed to work when saving and submitting information on your form

· If possible, please record the text of any error message that occurred and/or make some notes on what occurred and what led up to the problem. Ideally you could provide a screenshot of the error or issue.

This guide will continue to develop as we receive feedback from users of the website. We encourage you to contact BC Arts Council if you cannot resolve your issue with the use of this guide.

System Requirements

Browser Requirements for BC Arts Council Online Applications

BC Arts Council Online Applications will work with the following browsers:

· Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.x or higher (except IE 4.01 for Mac's).

· Netscape 4.x or higher (except Netscape 4.05 or 6.0).

· AOL version 4 or higher.

· A comparable browser with at least 128 bit encryption.

Note: Some clients might experience decreased response time while using Netscape version 6.01.

Click here to find out information on determining your browser level

Adobe Acrobat Reader

In order to work with the electronic application forms you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0. If you do not have the latest version of the Reader we advise that you download it by clicking here.

Older versions of Acrobat Reader may work with the application forms; however, we have encountered problems with saving and submitting forms. Therefore, while you may be able to work with an older version of Acrobat Reader this is not advised and not supported by the BC Arts Council.

Logging In

In order to protect applicants’ information, access to BC Arts Council Online Application Forms requires a username and password. If you are an organization, a username and password will have been provided for you by BC Arts Council which you may change when logging in to the system

Password Rules
Your password should be at least 5 characters long and contain only alphanumeric characters (a to z, 0 to 9). Please avoid using characters such as quotation marks as you will not be able to login to the site

Did you forget your Password?
Please contact the BC Arts Council at (250) 356 1718 if you have forgotten your password

BC Online Application Forms Maintenance Message
Every evening around 10pm data from the BC Arts Council website is backed up. When this occurs you may see the following message when trying to login

The BCAC Application Website is currently undergoing maintenance
Please try the website again in a few minutes by clicking here to return to the BCAC Application website home, or use your back button to return to your previous page.

The backup normally takes about 10 minutes at which point you should try again to login. You may also see this message at other times of the day if the server is undergoing maintenance

If you happen to see this message after you have just tried to save or submit your form you should click here to find out what to do next.

Accessing the Adobe Acrobat Online Application Forms

The BC Arts Council online application forms are created using Adobe Acrobat and you will need either the full version of Acrobat or Acrobat Reader to view and work with the forms.

The forms use a secure site certificate to protect information that is transmitted between your browser and the BC Arts Council server (you can identify this by the HTTPS prefix in the web addresses for the application forms). This secure site certificate encrypts data that is sent from your browser and requires that your browser supports 128 bit encryption.

If you are having problems opening the online application forms, please read the following information and follow the steps suggested

Are you connecting from a network at work or from home?
Permissions for a network are set by your network administrator, which may not allow you to connect to secure sites because of firewalls or proxy servers. You will not be able to sign in if this is the case. Please contact your network administrator.

The encryption level of your browser may not be adequate for BC Arts Council Online Application Forms.
The encryption within your browser may have been deactivated or may be inadequate. To verify your encryption level click here

Is your browser compatible with BC Arts Council Online Application Forms?

· Some browsers are not compatible with BC Arts Council Online Application Forms.

· Netscape 6.0 is incompatible with BC Arts Council Online Application Forms; however previous versions of Netscape should be fine.

· Click here to find out more information on Browsers.

Have you cleared your Cache Memory or Temporary Internet Files lately?

· If so, you may want to clear your cache again from outside the www.bcacapplications.gov.bc.ca web site.

· If not, please clear your cache memory from your browser. To find out how, click here.

Have you cleared your Cookies and History lately?

· If so, you may want to try it again.

· If not, you may want to delete all your cookies and clear your history as well.

Check your computer's date to make sure it is correct. And finally, always make sure that you are using a browser with 128 bit encryption. Click here to determine the encryption level of your browser.

Have you enabled per session cookies?
This option is only available in the most recent browsers, but should be enabled when working with the online application forms. Click here to find out how to enable the option in your browser

Adobe Reader Support
You may also find the following links useful which provide information directly from the Adobe Acrobat Reader support website.

· Downloading and installing Adobe Reader. Click this link if you are encountering problems downloading and installing Adobe Acrobat Reader. There is information here for both Mac and PC users.

· IMPORTANT - Viewing PDF files in a browser. Quite frequently we have encountered problems where the online forms do not open in your browser window but open directly in Adobe Acrobat Reader. This becomes an issue because the data that you enter in that session cannot be submitted to our server and will be lost. If you notice that the online forms are not opening in your browser window you should click here and correct the problem before continuing.

· PDF pages don't appear in web browser window (Acrobat 7.0, Adobe Reader 7.0) This link covers information specific to version 7.0 of Adobe Acrobat on problems viewing PDF files.

· Printing PDF files. Click this link if you are encountering problems printing PDF files

· Adobe Reader General Troubleshooting guides This link contains information on general troubleshooting guides from Adobe

Working With the Adobe Acrobat Online Application Forms

You may find that you are able to open the BC Arts Council Online Application forms but then encounter a problem while working with the form. If this occurs please first read the information about accessing online application forms as this may solve the problem. In particular you may find useful information in the Adobe Reader Support section. If the problem still occurs please read the following

IMPORTANT - Save your application frequently
One of the most important things that you can do to minimize the impact of any technical problem that occurs is to save your application form frequently. We have placed a “Save & Continue” button at the bottom of each page on the electronic forms. When you press this button you will be directed to a page indicating your changes have been saved. Clicking “Continue” will take you back to the same point in your electronic application form. We strongly encourage you to use this button whenever you have finished filling in a page or when you have entered a large amount of information. If you use this feature frequently it will minimize the impact of any technical issue that may occur and also indicate that there is an issue prior to you having done a lot of work on your form

Cannot Save Form Information dialog box pops up
In some network and software environments it is possible that when you first enter data into the application form you may see a dialog box popup with the following message

Cannot Save Form Information
Please Note: You cannot save a completed copy of this form on your computer. If you would like a copy for your records, please fill it in and print it.

If you see this dialog box simply click the checkbox that says “Don’t show again” on the dialog box and close it. The form will now function properly.

You receive the site maintenance message just after you try to save or submit your form
The BC Arts Council Online Application Forms website is backed up nightly and is offline during this time. If you happen to try to save or submit your application during this time you may receive the following message. (Note: you may also see this message at other times of the day if the website is down for another reason)

If you see this message please do the following

· Do not under any circumstances close your browser window or turn off your computer. If you do so you will lose all information entered in the form since you last saved it.

· Wait 10 minutes during which time the website backup should complete. Then hit the back button on the browser which should take you back to your application form.

· Try to save or submit your application again. If you encounter the same message please contact the BC Arts Council at (250) 356 1718

· Remember to save your application form frequently by pressing the Save & Continue button at the bottom of each page of the electronic application forms

· To avoid a potential problem you should try to do any work on your application outside of the hour between 10PM and 11PM

Using the Attachments Function

We encourage you to use the Attachments function to upload files in support of your application to BC Arts Council. You may upload as many attachments as you wish but only 10 at a time. The following types of files may be uploaded

· PDF Adobe Acrobat files

· TXT Plain text files

· XLS Microsoft Excel spreadsheet files

· DOC Word processing documents

· PPT Microsoft PowerPoint files

· JPG,GIF,JPEG,WMV Various image format files

· MP3,WAV,WMF Various sound format files

· AVI,WMV,MPG Various video format files

When uploading files please bear in mind the following

· If you have selected a number of files that are large in size, you should expect the upload of the attachment to take some time (perhaps several minutes or longer if you are on a dialup connection). Please be patient and wait for the upload to complete before navigating away or closing your browser

· Make sure that you do not have any of the files that you are uploading open in the background while the upload occurs. If you do, none of the files you have selected will be uploaded

· Files that are corrupted or contain no information will not be uploaded.

· BC Arts Council scans all attachments for viruses, but it is strongly suggested that you have an up to date virus program installed and running on your PC before uploading attachments.

Browser Settings

Clearing your Cache

If you are using Netscape:

· From the "Edit" menu, select "Preferences".

· Double-click on the "Advanced" Category until the Cache, Proxies, and Disk Space sub-categories are displayed.

· Click on the "Cache" sub-category.

· Click on the "Clear Memory Cache" and then click on "OK" to remove all the files currently in your memory cache.

· Click on the "Clear Disk Cache" button and then click on "OK" to remove all the files currently in your disk cache.

· Click on "OK" to return to your browser.

If you are using a Mac and Netscape:

· Launch your Browser

· Select "Edit" and then "Preferences"

· Under the heading "Advanced" select "Cache". If you do not see any submenus under Advanced, click on the small triangle next to the word Advanced.

· On the right hand side, under the title Cache, click the box "Clear Disk Cache Now".

· A pop up box will ask if you wish to continue. Click on "OK"

If you are using Internet Explorer:

Internet Explorer 4.x

· Click on "View", and then "Internet Options".

· Under the "General" tab, look for the "Temporary Internet Files" section.

· Click on the "Delete Files" button, and then click on "OK".

Internet Explorer 5.x

· Click on "Tools", and then "Internet Options".

· Under the "General" tab, look for the "Temporary Internet Files" section.

· Click on the "Delete Files" button, and then click on "OK".

If you are using a Mac and Internet Explorer:

· Launch your browser and select "Edit".

· Select "Preferences"

· In the pop up box that appears, under the heading "Web Browser", select "Advanced".

· If you do not see any submenus under the heading "Web Browser", click on the small triangle next to the words "Web Browser".

· On the right hand side, under the title Cache, click the box "Empty Now".

If you are using AOL:

· Click on "My AOL" in the top toolbar.

· Click on "Preferences".

· Click on the "www" icon.

· Now under "Temporary Internet Files" click on "Delete Files" (Same as for IE)

Enabling Per Session Cookies

Per session cookies expire and are deleted once you have ended your online session thus reducing the amount of disk space required. Currently this feature is only available on the newest versions of browsers.

Internet Explorer (v5.0 and up):

· From your browser's tool bar, click on "Tools" and select Internet Options.

· Select the Security tab and click on the button "Custom Level"

· Scroll down until you see "cookies" and click on "next" to "enable per-session cookies"

· Click on "OK"

· Click on "Apply"

· Now close and reopen your browser for the new setting to be saved.

Netscape (v4.7 and up):

· From your browser's tool bar, click on "Edit" and select "Preferences"

· From the category box, click on the word "Advanced"

· On the right hand side, click on "next" to "Accept only cookies that are sent back to the originating server"

· Click on "OK"

· Close and reopen your browser for the new setting to be saved.

To Determine Your Browser Level

Internet Explorer Users (PC):

· At the top of the browser window in the Toolbar section, please click on “Help”.

· From the Help drop down menu, please select “About Internet Explorer”.

· Locate the Version Number in the window that appears.

Internet Explorer Users (Mac):

· Select the Apple menu at the top of the screen.

· From the Apple drop down menu, please select “About Internet Explorer”.

· Locate the Version Number in the window that appears.

Netscape Users:

· At the top of the browser window in the toolbar section, please click on “Help”.

· From the Help drop down menu, please select either About Netscape or About Navigator or About Communicator (whichever appears).

· Locate the Version Number in the window that appears

To Determine Your Encryption Level

Internet Explorer Users (PC):

· From your browser's tool bar, click on “Help”.

· From the drop down menu, select About Internet Explorer.

· The information displayed for Cipher Strength is the encryption level (i.e. Cipher Strength: 128-bit).

· If it does not say 128-bit, then you do not have a browser with 128-bit encryption.

Internet Explorer Users (Mac):

· Select the Apple menu from the top of the screen.

· The information displayed for the Cipher Strength is the encryption level.

· If it does not say 128-bit, then you do not have a browser with 128-bit encryption.

Netscape Users:

· From browser's tool bar, click on the Security button.

· Within the window displayed, from the list of items on the left side, click on Navigator

· On the right, below Advanced Security (SSL) Configuration, ensure both the Secure Sockets Layer checkboxes are checked.

· Click on the Configure SSL v3 button.

· On the Configure Ciphers screen, ensure the RC4 encryption with 128-bit key and an MD5 MAC checkbox is checked. If this checkbox is not displayed on the screen, or it says RC4 encryption with a 128-bit key and an MD5 (when permitted), then you do not have a browser with 128 bit encryption