from the Sage Community Boards. original authors Brian Whalen.
Centralizing data in a shared database has several advantages, including the ability to share templates, layouts, contacts, opportunities and other data. Additionally, administrators only have to back up the central database rather than each individual database. To take advantage of these benefits, the Sage ACT! database must be shared, and that is a task that has been made easier in Sage ACT! 2012.
Sharing a Sage ACT! Database
Prior to sharing a database, verify the following requirements are met:
- You and your colleagues are working in a network environment.
- You are a Windows administrator or have administrator rights on the Host computer where the database is located.
- You have a Sage ACT! license for each Client computer that will access the shared database.
- All computers (Host and Clients) have the same version of Sage ACT! installed. (Verify by clicking Help > About ACT!)
- You have added Sage ACT! to the list of firewall exclusions on all computers. Refer to Windows Help for more information.
- You are a Sage ACT! Administrator user in the database you want to share.
1. On the Host computer, open Sage ACT!.
2. On the File menu, click Open/Share Database.
3. Locate the database in the list, and click Share. You will be prompted to supply the user name and password of an administrator of that database.
4. Next you will be notified that files associated with the database will also be shared. This message is referring to Supplemental Files (layouts, templates, dashboards, etc.). Click OK.
5. After the database has been shared, you will need to distribute a shortcut to the .PAD file to all users on the Client computers by doing one of the following:
- Attach the .PAD file to an email message stating that the users are to save the .PAD file to their local desktop.
- Place the .PAD file in a shared folder on your Local Area Network (LAN) and instruct users to browse to that location and copy it to their local desktop.
6. To use the shared database, users on the Client computers copy the .pad file to their desktop, and double-click it to open Sage ACT!.