OK - I installed this package and had starting figuring out how to use it to build an e-book of my college class material in a class I just finished. But now the package has expired on me. When I installed it, the system opened the GOTD web site and indicated that it was installed correctly.

I think I like this product and would like to continue to use it. Help please...

jetdraft wrote:
>
Thanks all for the comments.

>We will try to accommodate and correct all defects.

>We have recently entered the market and therefore each of your >wishes to us very important.

>P.S. Sorry but now, in video, there is no sound. It will appear >later.

Now that's good news.
When the people offering programs here read our comments & comment on them (sometimes promising to do better next time) it warms the cockles of my heart.

This is a piece of software that I might have been able to use and to recommend to customers, however, the download site did not work for over an hour. I could never get it to download, and now that it's not free, I won't be able to try it out.

#78, Candy, that's why I explicitly said "Vista Explorer", as my comment was less applicable to those using XP Explorer. Vista Explorer is vastly improved. I considered postings tips on its numerous features (a few are applicable to XP), but a forum would be better for that, and I prefer to post on BladedThoth's, but he shut it down due to spammers.

To those mentioning .CHM files: Vista fully supports them. Blocking files from other computers isn't new with Vista, XP also does that. However, it's implemented with alternate data streams, so it's only applicable on NTFS volumes. Whether a file gets blocked or a security warning appears depends upon the situation and the file type. You should unblock .zip files prior to extracting the contents, otherwise, all of the extracted files will be blocked. You can also use third-party zip programs, they don't support Windows security. In typical Microsoft fashion, file group operations don't apply to unblocking, so you can't conveniently unblock a large number of files. I won't use backup programs which use zip archives, because you'll lose the information in the alternate data streams (Vista uses them much more than XP), and they don't support new file attributes.

Vista discourages use of WinHelp (.hlp) files, due to security reasons and obsolescence. If you try to use a .hlp file, Vista should give you a warning and a link to a Vista version of WinHelp which you can download (some features aren't supported).

As for JDS, I'll look at its generated language code to see what the wizards expect. If I can't get it to build projects on my system without crashing, then obviously I won't be able to use it. Someone once said that they are annoyed by the way Vista tells you that it's looking for a solution to a crashed program, then telling you that it can't find a solution. It actually is looking via the Internet (to Microsoft), so it's possible that there's a known solution, and if not, it keeps track of all the crashes. If a solution becomes available (generally a product or driver update), then it will inform you.

Thanks all for the comments.

We will try to accommodate and correct all defects.

We have recently entered the market and therefore each of your wishes to us very important.


P.S. Sorry but now, in video, there is no sound. It will appear later.

Nice software that too when I started writing a self help guide...

found http://www.jetdraft.com/eng/products/jds/about which links to English info, but video tour is missing narration.

Never mind I found it when I clicked on about

do we register on its website? It downloaded and installed but It has not asked for any info in regards to the info we are to use. I am so tired that I want to fall over asleep so hopefully I will see what I need to do. I would think it would ask you to register after you open it to start using it?

Why cant you guys give away something worth while instead of all these calender, help maker, test making, hot key programs? Half of the stuff you give away is worthless to the average or power user.

if anyone has gotten this to do anything please post a howto and example, haven't seen anything intelligible. Tried the search for video tour, which appears to give a link to a screen-shot walkthru in Russian (which I don't speak). I tried a few things which gave me an html shell but no content... seems like too much work just to figure out how to use it. Makes me think of SML/XML processors/converters but without the manual.

hi explorator here

after carefully reading many comments, i've decided not to download this offer. i have my reasons. basically, this program i gather is not yet stable, i don't want to waste my time trying to accomplish an important task or being efficient in my work. i've read some comments where people express their pain and struggle in using the prog. perhaps it is due to the fact that they are unfamiliar with its operations? I don't know, but i certainly don't want to waste the 1 hour of life that # 66 says he wasted trying the prog.

it seems however that the prog might prove useful for some, educators, parents, and those having a need for this kind of quiz and doc preparation. however for me, thanks but i'll pass on this one for now.

just wish that GAOTD provided more than one offer per day--that might be good for the site i think? while focusing on one single product offered might be ok for the site, i think that business wise GOATD would benefit more having more products offered at the same time. reviewers, which is what the people using the products offered here are, might be inclined to visit the site more often while the site reaches out to a greater audience and expands its productivity and business potential. of course, the operations would increase to a larger scale that require more workforce and expenditure, but considering the site's incremental business operations it is likely that its profits would also increase thereby, raising also its standard and popularity.

in other words, GAOTD should think about change, adding more offers to its product line while at the same time raising the customers expectations and satisfying their needs. clearly time after time i've read comments from reviewers who wish that more products were offered for examination. I hope GAOTD considers my valuable comments today.

thank you and take care everyone


wish you all the best

explorator

It works well on my computer, and for such a $60 suite, it already has included powerful documents features I need. But unfortunately, it's not that easy-to-use... perhaps, perhaps I have got used to Microsoft Office documents... I like to make training courses with Project and PowerPoint for presentations...

And if for the quiz creation, it was not in that way I thought... Remember the GOTD app Wondershare QuizCreator? you can find its old giveaway info at http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/wondershare-quizcreator/.

Certainly I like this cheap suite, with project based documents authoring, and its wonderful eBook/CHM package feature. If JetDraft can enhance the such courses and quizzes authoring features better in next release, it will be super value for not just documents and projects suite!

William Peterson
Senior eLearning Master

No 51 - many of us agree
No 64 & 71 - I also agree - I couldn't easily see how to make this work, and the videos didn't really explain much in normal language. I can work out how to operate most programs, but this one requires too much effort for something that should be relatively easy - I have now uninstalled it - I have better things to do with my time. Thanks anyway GAOTD.

#72 Thanks!

Gee. They didn't exactly make it obvious, did they? Now I feel stupid.

I clicked on "Help" there at the top, where one would have expected it to be. There's nothing there but "About". I can't say that that was thought out real well. Clicking "Help" is SUPPOSED to take you to where the help is, wouldn't you think? They might want to fix that in a later version. I'm going to go read the help info now that I know where it is.

Now that I have downloaded it, I can't find ANY documentation. There's none with the program, and none to download from the parent site that I can tell, unless I just flat missed it. If any of you find where to download documentation, let us know.

So at the moment, I can't tell if it's good or not. Without documentation, it's a little bit hard to even test it out. But I'll look again at the parent site, maybe I missed something really obvious. I often do. Sad, but true.

#72: What's the point? the giveaway will be over before they even look at it.

Mo (comment#39) said "Just letting everyone know: If the reason you’re downloading this is for the ability to build .CHM help files, these files aren’t compatible with Vista."

I beg to differ. Although by default Vista will block a .chm file built on any computer other than the one being used to open the file, just one click in the "unblock" box in an imported .chm's file properties and the file will open just fine.

Clue courtesy of Chris Crowe's Blog at http://blog.crowe.co.nz/archive/2007/04/13/719.aspx

Rating
Document Suite 2008: No comment on the installation or operation of the program because I haven't actually installed it yet and my opinion would be worth exactly what you paid for it.
Inclusion on GAOTD: Congratulations on providing a program designed to do something not already covered by hundreds of other offerings. My photo collection is sick of being organised and my media files have already been converted to just about every format known to man or machine. This one is different and could be useful.

Hey Fubar, not everyone has Vista.

Not being able to use for commercial use means that you cannot sell products created from this program. But you can use it to train your employees or students. I'm thinking of it for a Sunday School class.

Thanks JetDraft. Your promise to help is well appreciated. Also thanks to you GAOTD.

It's good to see JetDraft responding to comments. Some thought and design effort has gone into this, but I also couldn't tell you exactly what it's good for. It's a new product, and I understand that it's a document processor with its own language. However, it's also supposed to be useful for making Help files. So it's not useful that JDS' Help is terrible (not just the needlessly obtuse wording and language translation issues, but the fact that it doesn't provide help on the UI, and the language documentation is imprecise). There are no useful examples.

I couldn't get anywhere with this. I don't know what's supposed to be in some of the data files that some of the wizards ask for. The build messages are only useful to the developer, and it always crashes. I tried a DEP exception for the main UI, but not for the subroutines, to no avail. It does offer to send crash files to the developer.

#66, Doc_Immortal, working towards a Masters in Computer Science? You wouldn't even pass your freshman year of undergraduate CompSci at a real university. The quiz creator aspect of JDS is just a very small part of what it does (or is supposed to, if I could get it to do anything without crashing).

Lots of thumbs up, but I haven't seen a single comment from anyone who has actually gotten JDS to do anything useful. This is a complex product, yet yesterday's offering clearly shows that the GOTD crowd doesn't even know how to use Vista Explorer. I certainly couldn't recommend this to the average user, and I'm not sure it's worth the time for a programmer to figure out, assuming that it even works.

I don't get how to use it. :/

It seems complicated. :(

Hi all!!

Just a question:

could someone please explain me how to use this SW as an eBOOK editor?

It would be very important to me to know it since, if I'm not mistaken, all eBOOK writers (and eCOVER software) available on the market are SHAREWARE and quite expensive indeed(I mean those with professional features).


Thanks in advance for your consideration!!!

#37, & others who've not found the help files, look for the help tab about 3/4 of the way down on the left of the window.
---
#38: RE: E-Book format, probably a good question to post in the developers' forums.
---
#39: If you want to use chm help files in Vista, MS has a popular update to add the capability. In fact they came out with it pretty quickly after Vista's release due to high demand AFAIK.
---
#41: FWIW installation's pretty well behaved, so removal should be also. That said, it creates a huge number of entries in the registry, mostly under Jetdraft in the HKUsers\Software section, so you'd want to make sure that's gone after uninstall.

I'm at a loss as to how to use the program. For instance, how does one go about creating quizzes...or the myriad of other things the software claim to be able to do? The included help is cryptic, and is anything but what a user needs.

Creating a program is only half the work. A good help file that can guide a user to make use of the program completes the work.

Is it SCORM compatible? I think it is not.

Actually I am somewhat disappointed. The program would not accept the registration code and then I was taken to the site that said "JetDraft activated..."
Would really have liked to try this product out.

Sorry for the fact that not clarified this point at once. Fields "Name" and "Key" are in "Main menu" -> "About" tab.


I am that “tiny percentage” that find it useful; however, it keeps crashing evertime that I try to start a project. To bad this is free and no tech support.
Anthony Young

We are interested in solving problems with our software. In any case, you can always write on our mail. Your noticed not remain unheeded.

The install key doesn't work for me (and before anyone says it, yes I DID download it from here and not the software homepage)!

Has anyone else had this problem and fixed it?

I installed the application. When I have to start a review with the issues I have with the product, you know there's a problem.

1. The Wizard takes about 30 seconds to launch and basically it takes control of your system. You can't launch new apps (ex: windows explorer, etc). I'm not sure why a wizard should take so long to launch, but less seize control of your system.

2. The help is less than adequate. The help off the main menu has nothing. You have to use a tab on the left menu to get help. I'm not sure why the developers did this as it's a bad design.

3. The program expects the person to do some programming (granted, the programming is VB-esque). A typical programmer is on the 99 percentile on the curve of computer saviness. So, basically that limits the target audience.

4. The output formats include XML. Only a developer or web administrator would use XML. Again, I can't see a target audience of parents and teachers doing that. The other formats are Word (ok, why not just USE Word?), RTF (again, why not USE Word?!?!), and a "Dual File" which I'm sure the target audience would have no clue what one was much less how to use it.

I'm a computer developer working towards my Masters in Computer Science and *I* wouldn't bother wasting my time with this. GAOTD offered a 100x better Quiz Creator on June 25th that was aptly called QuizCreator (http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/wondershare-quizcreator/). It's by Wondershare. Granted the giveaway was for a 30 day license but 1 day of that quiz creator is much better than a lifetime of use of this program. Granted, it's $130 to buy Wondershare's product, but the way I look for it I can always work to make money to pay for the Wondershare QuizCreator ... there's no way to get back the hour of my life that I wasted with this program.

Rating: Two thumbs down (big time)

BTW: The uninstall takes 1 second (thank God). Good riddance!

#51: That is so MEAN! But at the same time so true and funny, too! ;D

I downloaded this because I thought it might help me make quick on-line tests for my classroom. Everything installed great, but I can't make heads or tails of how to create a test. I watched the videos, and looked at the screen shots. I tried making a test quiz with 3 questions, but obviously this has a big learning curve. I may try again after re-watching the videos, but at this point I think this is written for someone who has more time for programming than writing quizzes.

I'm a public school teacher. Am I considered "commercial"? I'd like to use it in my classroom.

THIS MESSAGE IS TO NUMBER 48 CODE ONLY VALID FOR DAY OF GIVEAWAY PROGRAM EX WILL NOT RUN AFTER DATE GIVES YOU ERROR TELLING YOU GIVEAWAY IS OVER AND I DONT THINK IT IS POLITE TO ASK FOR KEYCODES ANYWAY AND THATS WHY NOBODY IS TAKING THE TIME OUT TO SPEAK TO YOU ASKING FOR THE CODE IN HERE IS THE WAY TO GET YOURSELF THROWN OUT

On my system it pops up the System Information panel that is also accessible from Start->Programs->Accessories->System Tools->System Information; in other words, you must not have that component of Windows itself configured correctly.

#51 BloughMee

PRICELESS !!!!!

AND OH SO RIGHT !!!!!!

Cold someone please explain what this software is used for? I even looked at their site & cannot figure it out.

Thanks in advance

This would be an excellent tool for my daughter who is a teacher. She just got a new pc, but wouldn't be able to take advantage of this offer today as she is out of town. Is there a way I can download it and transfer it to her later?

Thanks!

I don't need all of the features, but from what I've seen since installing it and poking around a bit, it will be extremely useful for my son's homeschooling since I create my own materials and tests. Thanks for this, GAOTD.

Thank you GAOTD!

Software installs on XP SP3 fine. A nice application for creating help documentation. However, for most people it probably won’t be useful since it can’t be used for commercial uses.

Another app for creating quizzes (which I prefer) is Camtasia Studio 5.1 from http://www.techsmith.com.


Comment by James — September 7th, 2008 at 3:38 am




Good remark mate!!

It's a pity that Camtasia Studio 5.1 is not FREEWARE...

So what's the point of comparing it with the current GAOTD offer?

Painless download and registration. Very responsive program, will need to work with it to see if it will accommodate my needs. Thanks for the opportunity to work with this software, GOTD!!

This one seemed beyond me

Found the 'help' videos here;

http://www.jetdraft.com/eng/search/

Searched for "video tour"

Feeling a little less stupid now.....

THANKS #31. THIS WAS FRUSTRATING ME***************************

You have to use giveawayoftheday as user name, not your own name, to get the code to work.

#5, #20 and others who can't apply serial number and wonder WHY WHY WHY??? WHY oh WHY DO YOU INTERMINABLE PEOPLE AT GOTD CONFUSE US SO... WHAT SHALL WE EVER DO ??

Fear not dear morons. We, the computer literate feel your pain. At some point we've all been clueless newbie flaming idiots sitting there in the dark typing first, thinking second, too lazy or stupid or just plain too self-important to read and follow even the simplest of simple instructions.

You have nothing more to worry about. I'm here to help you through this daily dilemma you face so bravely. I'm going to explain the entire process, word by two-syllable word...top to bottom in 4th-grade language... thus removing the anguish from your lives of not being able to take advantage of the free software offered here. Just relax, no new meds, no electro-shock therapy, no trip to the emergency room in your future - you'll soon be registered, if that's still your desire.
-------------

Here's the answer: Are you ready? Sit down, take a deep breath, brace yourselves. Count backwards...10..9..8.... here we go...

READ the Readme. The registered user (giveawayoftheday) AND serial number have to be entered exactly as stated. NOT just the serial number. That's right... you have to enter them both. Just like it says. You don't even have to type them... you can copy/paste, but that will require additional instruction and let's face it... you've exhausted your mental capacity today. We'll tackle that another day.

So NO...you can't enter "I'm_A_FLaming_Idiot" for the user name. Sorry. I know how hard it is to accept, but for the sake of your family and co-workers... stay strong.
-------------

Now that I've told you what's up and why you can't register the serial #...do yourself and the rest of us a favor, and DON'T. This software is dangerous. It's professional-grade, it could cause serious mental injury to those unprepared for something this complex. A chip we implanted in your head during the last Texas Hold-Em get-together (or, for women... the last McCain-Palin rally) has downloaded your I.Q. to our analytics. I'm sorry. It doesn't meet the minimum installation requirements.

We, the computer literate of our society cannot accept the responsiblity of taking care of our tech-challenged brethren for the rest of your lives as you struggle through other daily tasks that require similar focus.

If you could not figure out how to register this software, I assure you that you will not have any use for what it does, nor will you even begin to understand its purpose, much less how to use it.

So...I implore you - for today at least...leave the driving to others. Don't place yourselves in harm's way. Move on - nothing for you here today... In just a few days the next "Magic Gnome Screen Saver" or "DVD_Ripper_DeLuxe" will arrive. GOTD has something for everyone. Now get back to your Sunday - there is football, wrestling, and "Ice Road Truckers" on television today. Leave the Learning Management Systems to those properly equipped to make use of them.

Downloaded it, everything worked fined, clean and elegant user interface. The help manual is quite thorough. It's useful to me because I'm a clan leader on some games. This is a fun way to collect and distribute information. Overall a thumbs-ups, and worth taking a look at.

Thanks GAOTD, for another app to add to the toolbox.

WOW!!! This is HOT!!! Thank you, Jet and GOTD. As an instructor, this is wonderful ALL inclusive software providing an easy way to create quizzes and data transmission....including an installer program.

I'm surprised to find a quality program like this that fits right into the needs of educators so perfectly. Obviously designed by persons who know full well the needs of instructors and students.

What a wonderful gift. Thanks again.

Hi,
I know everyone is going to give me a thumbs down which is what typically happens when folks dont use forums, but I did use the forum, as well as searched previous giveaways to no luck. I'm wondering if anyone has the code for wondershare's photoshare? Cant seem to locate it on MY computer nor anywhere else! Thanks!

Installed and registered painlessly on Vista Home Premium, SP1.

Has anyone tried the System info button on the About program panel? All I get is the following message:

Cannot access the Windows Management Instrumentation software. Windows Management files may be moved or missing.

Anybody know what the heck this means, other than bad coding by JetDraft?