Smart Tasks templates screen empty

[ladybt28]

Hi

Some help required here.  We have had to create a new main database and recreate a remote datebase because there was something corrupt in the one we were using.  We did this with the help of sage support.

However, in the new main database we have had to create all the smart task templates and our own templates from scratch because the templates list was empty.

Can you tell me if we have to create the smart tasks templates list again from scratch in the remote dateabase because it remains empty even after we have synchronised with the main database.

Are these templates held in a file somewhere, so we can restore them without having to recreate everything from scratch?

Thanks

[ladybt28 · Accepted solution]

Hi everybody,
After much trial and error we have managed to put back all our smart task templates and create some of our own. We have set up a group of dummy contacts which we have run the ST against and we have managed to set up our own criteria, which "appears" to work. However, there are still some outstanding issues/questions which I will post separately.
I still have no way of ensuring that the templates do not go missing again and am concerned that should we lose all the work we have put in, it would take about 2 days to recreate it all again.

[ladybt28]

Surely someone out there knows something about smart task templates section of Act enough to comment on why they have disappeared and where they are kept and/or whether we have to reinstall them manually again into the remote database

[gmartin]

The Smart Tasks should be included in the remote... Have you tried creating and restoring another remote (now that the Smart Tasks are in place in the main)?

[ladybt28]

Any idea why they have gone missing in the first place Greg. This is the second time it has happened. No We haven't tried creating and restoring another remote. We have already lost 2 days work in sorting out the database problem with Act Support and recreating the smart tasks in the main database. Are the templates located anywhere as a set of files, so they can be restored on their own? Is it possible to save our templates so if it happens again we can recreate them.

We have been struggling to set them up to work anyway. Not necessarily from a technical point of view but from a commercial point of view. Setting the right criteria on our heavily customised database for them to run correctly without someone who has good knowledge of how to set up such tasks is the issue. They guys in support know who to do it in theory but are struggling with the start times, delay times and renewal dates we have in the database to run the tasks correctly.
They should be simple to achieve as the task are not very complex but there is a huge difference of opinion as to what each criteria is for the sequence of tasks.

[gmartin]

Unfortunately I don't have a reason for why they went missing, and there isn't a place they are stored so that you can 'copy/restore' them alone.

The only option I can think of for restoring the Smart Tasks is to restore the database (restore as) from a backup, and then export the updated data from the current database to the new one. The new database then becoming your new 'main'.

[suewhoserves]

I was about to ask a similar question, the help screens indicate that ACT comes with some preset Smart Task templates, but we don't have any listed.

We recently upgraded from ACT! 2000 to 2011 ver 13.1.111.0, Hot Fix 6.

Should we be able to find the templates on the ACT CD?

[ladybt28]

Hi Sue,
When I contacted Sage Act Support the first time this happened, I was advised that you cannot just isolate the templates from the Act CD. If I remember rightly (it was about 9 months ago or even more) the support agent made us take off Act altogether and reinstall it again from the CD and then run the updates.
This can be traumatic especially if you are a new Act user as your database is precious to you. Get Support to help you.

My question is that they must be accessible in the program somewhere... else how do they get there (or not as the case maybe!)

[Jillian Trish]

My ST templates are missing also.  They've been missing since Day 1.  I don't understand why these templates aren't  "stored" somewhere??? 

[ladybt28]

Hi Jillian, Act Support can supply you screen shots of the various templates but you have to enter all the information manually yourself. Have had to do this 3 times at least. I am sure that once they are up and running there is no problem. Mine disappeared twice I think because of a corruption in my database which is the first time I have had one in 10 years.
However, no one can tell me why they "went missing", whether it is a known error or one that they are not going to do anything about because they think no one uses smart tasks. Act are probably right, most people throw in the towel because no one seems to know too much about it.

[ladybt28 · Accepted solution]

Hi everybody,
After much trial and error we have managed to put back all our smart task templates and create some of our own. We have set up a group of dummy contacts which we have run the ST against and we have managed to set up our own criteria, which "appears" to work. However, there are still some outstanding issues/questions which I will post separately.
I still have no way of ensuring that the templates do not go missing again and am concerned that should we lose all the work we have put in, it would take about 2 days to recreate it all again.