Generally
The myAPC diary DOES NOT replace the RICS APC/ATC guides. Anyone purchasing the myAPC diary must read and understand the APC/ATC candidates guide and the implications of the information that the RICS require candidates to record. Once this is fully understood the myAPC diary falls neatly into place and the candidate can benefit from the huge time savings that the myAPC diary offers.

FAQs

When the myAPC diary is opened for the first time it will not unlock and none of the buttons work. Also an error message appeared saying that the macros in this project are disabled, please refer to the online help or documentation of the host application to determine how to enable macros.
Can the myAPC diary be merged and/or synchronized between two PCs?
Can I transfer data from my current manual diary in MS Word to the myAPC diary?
I have started recording my diary in the myAPC diary and I will only be recording 1 year then going back to university for a year. When I finish university I will want to start recording my diary again, but the myAPC diary will have a empty year in the middle of it. Is there any way I can sort this out as it will look strange in the timeline?
I want to transfer my APC/ATC diary into the myAPC diary software, but I have more than 36 months worth of diary experience. can I do this?
I cannot get the myAPC diary to function properly and the pages are locked. Can I have the code to unlock the pages?
What is the 'Project' section in the myAPC diary and is it a RICS requirement?
How can I preview the pages in myAPC diary without printing them to hard copy?
How can I send my supervisor and counsellor reports from myAPC diary without emailing them the whole file or posting or faxing reports?
Can my colleague(s), friends or other APC/ATC Candidates use my copy of the myAPC diary to record their diary?

When the myAPC diary is opened for the first time it will not unlock and none of the buttons work. Also an error message appeared saying that the macros in this project are disabled, please refer to the online help or documentation of the host application to determine how to enable macros
When using the myAPC diary - MS Excel Macros MUST BE ENABLED. The instructions for getting started with the myAPC diary, clearly state this. When opening the myAPC diary you should be prompted to 'enable macros'. Please select ok or yes to enable macros. This should then open your myAPC diary with macros enabled and the unlock system and the myAPC diary should then work perfectly.

DeLever Limited DO NOT SUPPORT MS Excel but you may wish to consider the following:

If you do not get the 'enable macro' option see the MS Excel help about how you turn this function on. You may also wish to consider the MS Excel macro security settings in Tools>Macros>Security and select 'Medium' security. This will then prompt you when you open the myAPCdiary if you would like to enable macros. Please select Yes if you want the myAPC diary to function properly.
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Can the myAPC diary be merged and/or synchronized between two PCs?
The myAPC diary is sold to you on a single user licence and you are provided a 16 digit PIN. This PIN allows you to open as many copies of the myAPCdiary in your name. If you store the myAPCdiary on a number of machines you will not be able to synchronise each copy.

The myAPC diary is approximately 3MB in size and this will grow as you enter data over time. Therefore the best way to use the myAPC diary on a number of machines would be to use one of the following methods:

1. USB memory stick. These are great and come in a range of sizes. You will be able to copy the myAPCdiary onto the memory stick and then use it on any machine that has a USB port and MS Excel 97 or higher. Memory sticks come in ranging storage sizes - 16MB, 32MB, 64MB and so on. Prices generally start around £15 but if you shop around you may get a better deal.

2. CDROM - Use a CDRW (Re-Write) CDROM and copy the myAPCdiary from one PC to another.

3. email - The file is small enough to probably email it between PCs, but beware if you do not have broad band this may take a few minutes to download.

4. Magnetic disk - If you have access to any magnetic media (similar to floppy disks) then as long as they can store more than 3MB you could use them. i.e. Zip Disk or Jazz drive.

5. Memory sticks - Anything like a Sony memory stick or any other flash media cards that are over 3MB in storage size could be used too.

Basically most storage mediums on the market, other than the near obsolete 3.5" floppy disks, can be used to store and transfer the myAPCdiary from one machine to another.

IMPORTANT NOTES

VIRUSES - The myAPC diary is supplied to you VIRUS FREE. If you are transferring the file from one PC to another please ensure you adopt a suitable VIRUS prevention process and you have the agreement of your IT support departments. DeLever Limited cannot take any responsibility for any viruses you may contract from transporting the myAPC diary between PCs.

BACKING UP - If you are transporting the myAPC diary between PCs, DeLever Limited suggest you adopt a suitable Backup process so that you do not loose any of your data should a device malfunction, be lost or stolen.

COMPRESSING - The myAPC diary is a secure file therefore using a compression product
(i.e. WinZip) may or may not reduce the file in size. In tests compression software does not compress the file significantly.
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Can I transfer data from my current manual diary in MS Word to the myAPC diary?
The answer is YES, with the following comments.

1. Diary experience descriptions - When copying from word, select the text and then select copy (CTRL C). Then in the myAPC diary in the description column double click the cell you wish to paste the text into and then select paste (CTRL V). If you do not follow this process you may find that the myAPC diary cells change colour or take on strange formatting that you may bring over from the MS Word document.

2. Competency selection - I would advise you not to copy over competency names as these are all served from a drop down list in the myAPC diary. All drop down lists are restricted to the content of the list only and therefore reduce recording errors. The list can be adjusted in the SetUp section.

3. Durations - These can be typed in or selected from a drop down list in the myAPC diary. All drop down lists are restricted to the content of the list and therefore reduce recording errors.
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I have started recording my diary in the myAPC diary and I will only be recording 1 year then going back to university for a year. When I finish university I will want to start recording my diary again, but the myAPC diary will have a empty year in the middle of it. Is there any way I can sort this out as it will look strange in the timeline?
The myAPC diary is designed for 24 months concurrent diary recording, however we have built 36 months of possible recording time into it. However you can open as many copies of the myAPC diary as you wish with your PIN. Therefore you can open an initial copy of the myAPC diary and set the start date and record your first year of experience and when you graduate and start the APC/ATC again, open a new copy and adjust the start date to show your second year correctly.

That said, I find a lot of students do go back to work during holiday times, so having just one diary with a few weeks recorded in the year out would work just as well.
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I want to transfer my APC/ATC diary into the myAPC diary software, but I have more than 36 months worth of diary experience. can I do this?
YES you can. Most candidate achieve the APC/ATC recording within the 36 months we have made available in the myAPC diary. However, you can open as many copies of the myAPC diary as you wish with your PIN. Therefore open an initial copy and record your first 36 months and then open a second copy of the myAPC diary and ensure the start date is set to the last date of the initial myAPC diary and continue recording as normal. The only thing you will have to do at pre-submission stage is manually collate the log book and Professional Development summaries into one summary for your pre-submission reports that you send to the RICS.

Don't forget you can only use up to 5 years of historic diary experience for you APC/ATC. See the APC/ATC candidates guide for more information.
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I cannot get the myAPC diary to function properly and the pages are locked. Can I have the code to unlock the pages?
Firstly make sure you have enabled the macros to ensure the myAPC diary is functioning properly. See FAQ no. 1. Secondly, the myAPC diary is a secure product to ensure that all of the functionality is maintained and also it is designed to not allow users to make errors. Therefore we cannot provide any codes to unlock the pages. Sorry.
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What is the 'Project' section in the myAPC diary and is it a RICS requirement?
The project section is simply a provision for a candidate to list their projects and then tag the project in the main diary section. This IS NOT a requirement of the RICS but more of a 'nice to have'.

Simply enter a project reference and then brief description for your own benefit and then the project reference will appear in the drop down box in the main diary sections. There are no real examples as it is specific to the type of work you are doing. It is really there for you to make up your own mind as you record your diary.

There are 100 slots which I feel is probably ample for a candidate's portfolio of projects over a 2 year period. If you are likely to do more that 100 projects you may just want to record the main projects and leave minor ones out.

The final output of the project section is then a table and graph similar to the log book graph which enables you to monitor your progress on the projects you are working on.

The reasons why I thought the project section is useful:

1. A nice to have
2. When you are considering your critical analysis it will give you an indication of how much time you have spent on your projects
3. Some candidates like to track their progress on projects
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How can I preview the pages in myAPC diary without printing them to hard copy?
The my APC diary does not support print preview options (normally available in MS Excel) as it generally provides all of the detail on screen or within the normal hard copy printouts. Also MS Excel can be configured by the user in a multitude of ways and as such to develop this would be a costly process which would have to reflect in a higher purchase price. Therefore we have decided to leave it out of the myAPC diary.
However, you can print the outputs electronically, to be viewed on the screen or emailed, by using Adobe Acrobat distiller or a similar product which prints to a PDF file format. Adobe Acrobat distiller is a third party product and would need to be purchased separately unless you or your company do not already have it. Alternatively you can use a PDF printer product which can be found on the internet, generally for free. This too is a third party product which would have to be downloaded and installed on your computer. One such product can be found here: www.pdf995.com. Please note any recipients of your PDF files would need the Adobe Acrobat reader which is free to download and install from the Adobe web site.
**Please note: Adobe Acrobat and PDF995 are third party software and used entirely at your own discretion and risk. DeLever advise you to seek proper agreement from your IT department and virus check any internet downloads before using them. DeLever Limited cannot take any responsibility or liability for your decision to use any third party products mentioned above**
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How can I send my supervisor and counsellor reports from myAPC diary without emailing them the whole file or posting or faxing reports?
See FAQ above

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Can my colleague(s), friends or other APC/ATC Candidates use my copy of the myAPC diary to record their diary?
The myAPC diary is a single user licence product and cannot be used by multiple users with one PIN. The PIN is unique to the user and will only unlock the myAPC diary for the original user.

If you know of colleagues, friends or other APC/ATC candidates who wish to use the myAPC diary they will have to purchase their own unique single user licence PIN.

Please Note: Software transfer (PIRACY) is a crime and if you are using the myAPC diary you will undoubtedly bound by the RICS Rules of Conduct. Any person found distributing or using a pirated copy of the myAPC diary will be reported to the Police for fraud, pursued through the Courts and reported to the RICS conduct and disciplinary department.