ShipLogs.com Tutorial
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Welcome to ShipLogs.com Prudent record keeping is, within itself, an important maintenance task. ShipLogs.com was designed to simplify that task by providing an organized method of storing and retrieving information related to the maintenance and content of marine vessels. ShipLogs.com's internet based platform allows you to access your records, anytime, any place, any where, on any computer with a connection to the internet. This tutorial is provided to familiarize you with the many features and capabilities of this web site. ShipLogs.com is secure and very easy to use. With diligent use, ShipLogs.com will become one of your vessel's most valuable assets. Site Navigation - There are three types of navigation links used in ShipLogs.com, site navigation, user actions and underlined links. Navigation is easy. Whenever you want to escape the current page, just click on the appropriate navigation button in the site navigation panel. After a little practice, you'll find navigating ShipLogs.com is quick and easy. Simplicity by Design All of the screens in ShipLogs.com are designed to be simple and self explanatory. Required form fields are indicated by a red Now, let's get started... On the "My Vessels" page, you'll find all your vessels lined up in a row. When you subscribed to ShipLogs.com, you indicated the number of vessels you wanted to support.
That's the number of vessels that are displayed on the "My Vessels" page. Initially, all vessels are listed as Undefined with a "Photo Not Available" image. Notice the checkbox labeled "Hide Undefined Vessels" in the orange Action bar? Check this box and ShipLogs.com will hide the undefined vessels making your screen less cluttered. You can always bring them back by un-checking the checkbox. Notice there are only a few nav buttons in the left nav panel. That's because no vessel has been selected for viewing. Once we have this vessel defined and saved, we'll be able to select it for viewing by clicking "My Vessels" and then clicking one of the defined vessels. Once you have selected a defined vessel for viewing, all the nav buttons will appear in the left nav panel. Your first step is to define your vessels. Click on a vessel image or title, usually the first. You'll be immediately moved to the vessel edit page where you can enter all the information pertinent to that vessel. Start with the vessel name, notice it's required. There are a lot of fields on this page but, you don't have to fill them out all at the same time. The only field that's required right now is the Vessel Name. You can always click "Edit Vessel" on the "Vessel Profile" screen to enter the rest of your data. If you need help with the definition of a field, click Glossary of Terms to scroll down to a list of terms used in this website. Include in Public Gallery Checking this box will place this vessel in the Public Gallery on the home page if you have uploaded a photo. Along with the photo of your vessel, your vessel name, your name as owner, year, model, port of call, and location will be displayed along side. If you don't want this information displayed, make sure this box is unchecked. User Defined Fields You have four user defined fields that you can use for whatever purpose you choose. The left field is the label and the right field is the value or data. Upload a photo of your vessel Click the browse button and select a photo of your vessel from your local hard drive or camera card. When you update this vessel, the photo will be saved in your private image directory and will be visible from now on when you visit the "Select Vessel" page. You can change the photo anytime by editing the vessel profile from the "Vessel Profile" page. Navigation Limits Many Insurance companies require you to define the geographic limits you intend to navigate your vessel in. This space is provided as a handy reference for that information. Comments Use this space to include any comments you wish to save regarding this vessel. The space is scrollable meaning as you fill it up, a scroll bar will become visible on the right any you can keep on adding information even if it scrolls out of view. Clear Vessel Be very careful using this button. Clicking the "Clear Vessel" button and clicking "OK" in the confirm box will cause ShipLogs.com to remove this vessel and all records associated with this vessel from your database. You will NOT be able to recover this data once this operation completes. Use the "Clear Vessel" button ONLY when you want to completely remove a vessel and all of it's records from your database. An example might be; I no longer have this vessel and want to use this space for another. When the vessel is cleared, it will be returned to Undefined status and may be used again for another vessel. Consider printing your log book so you have a paper record before performing this operation. Adding New Records ShipLogs.com allows you to add records to a variety of logs for access anywhere in the world via the internet. We'll go through an example using the "Equipment Log". All logs function in very much the same manner, but the equipment log has a few extra features worth explaining.
When you click "Equipment" in the left nav panel, you'll go directly to the "Equipment Log". Here you can store information about a piece of electronics, a new appliance, personal property and so on. Let's take a look. Category For the most part, ShipLogs.com records are organized into categories defined by you, the user. We'll go into this in detail a little later, but for now, knowing this will help make sense as we go. Here you are seeing a list of equipment in the "Equipment Log" which was previously entered. In the blue bar, if you look close, is the category "Air Conditioning". This category was setup by the user and contains items associated with "Air Conditioning". If desired, the user could have chosen a different category name. Notice each item is underlined. Remember underlined links can be clicked. Clicking any one of these underlined links will take you directly to the detail view of that item. You'll see these underlined links throughout ShipLogs.com. New Entry Clicking "New Entry" takes you directly to a form that allow you to enter a new item of equipment. You'll know you're in the right place by looking at the title in the orange Action bar. There are two required fields on this form, name and category. You must enter the name of this item. It can be any name you choose that describes this item up to 40 characters in length. Next, you must select a category. By clicking the drop down box labeled "Category" you will see a list of categories previously setup. If it applies, click on one of the existing categories and then continue filling out the form. As before, if you need help understanding the field names, click Glossary of Terms to scroll down to a list of terms used in this website. New Category If none of the existing items in the category drop down box are appropriate for the item you are entering, select "New Category" and a new category name field will appear. Enter your new category name in this box and continue filling out the form. When you save the item, the new category will be added to your category list for future use. Upload Photo ShipLogs.com provides the means to upload a photograph of your item if you so desire. By clicking the "Browse" button, you can select a photograph from your hard drive or camera card to be stored in your personal directory. In addition to a photograph, you can also upload and store virtually any type of electronic document related to this item. To accomplish this, click the "Browse" button next to "Upload Document" and select an electronic document from your hard drive. You can store as many documents as you like up to your storage limit of 100 megabytes per vessel. This is an excellent place to store operating manuals, scanned receipts or invoices or any other document related to this item. ShipLogs.com supports all popular document types including doc, pdf, txt and so fourth. When you want to view or print the document, all you need do is click on the document title. It will download and automatically link itself to the appropriate application for viewing or printing. Note: Large documents take time to upload and download. Depending on your particular network speed this process can take several seconds to complete. DO NOT hit the refresh button on your browser during this process as it will only delay the result. Document Center The ShipLogs.com Document Center is provided for documents that are not directly related to an equipment item. Here, you can store forms that you have created on a word processor or documents you have scanned with a scanner. Let's take a look Storage Space You have 100 megabytes storage space per vessel. As you upload documents, you'll see the amount of storage space you have left. The larger the document, the greater the space used. When you delete a document, you'll recover the space used and be able to use it again. Documents The Document List shows all the documents you've uploaded in your document center. You can delete, rename or move a document by clicking the Forms The Forms List like the Documents List, shows all the forms you've uploaded in your document center. Again, you can delete,rename or move a form by clicking the Reports ShipLogs.com "Reports" function compiles information from your database records into attractive professional pdf documents that you can easily print. The Re-order report checks your on-board inventory against re-order levels set when you entered your parts. Any part that falls below the re-order level will appear on this report. You now have a shopping list for replenishing your on-board inventory. Downloads If you need to install Adobe Reader to view and print pdf documents, ShipLogs.com provides a link to the Adobe website where you can download Adobe Reader free of charge. Library ShipLogs.com provides pre-designed forms in the "Forms Library". When you click on this link, a list of forms will appear. Simply check the box next to each form you would like to have and click "Continue". The checked forms will be copied to your private directory where you may use them as you choose. Help From time to time, you may see a button labeled "Help" on the right side of the orange Action bar. This means help is available for this screen. When you click the "Help" button, a pop-up window will appear with additional information regarding the page you're on. Glossary of Terms Beam - The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point, or at the mid-point of its length. Construction - The material a vessel's hull is made from, i.e. Fiberglass, Aluminum, Steel, Wood, etc. Cruising Speed - Normally, the speed a power vessel moves at 80% of full rpm or at the captain's designated cruising rpm. Documented Vessel - US Coast Guard documentation provides a history and record of build and ownership for the vessel owner. This history is maintained at the Coast Guard and is provided upon request in the form of an Abstract of Title, reflecting all recorded ownership transfers, mortgage recordings, claims of lien and releases. This allows a boater to sell a boat, and a buyer to buy that boat, and be assured it is free and clear of all recorded liens and encumbrances. When Financing Your boat, lenders rely on the USCG records of documented vessels to confirm their security interest will be perfected by a First Preferred Ship Mortgage recorded with the Coast Guard. Boaters cruising in international waters often prefer federal documentation to attain certain protections afforded by the US flag, which include aid from the US consulate when you are in need. Foreign port officials easily recognize federally documented vessels and appreciate that the ownership is supported by a detailed Abstract of Title reflecting all recordings. Draft - The depth of a vessel's keel below the water line, especially when loaded. High Clearance - The height of a vessel from water line to highest point with all masts, arch, antennas, ext. in the fully upright position. Hull ID - All boats manufactured or imported on or after November 1, 1972 must bear a HIN. The HIN is a 12 character serial number that uniquely identifies your boat. The HIN has an important safety purpose. It enables manufacturers to clearly identify, for boat owners, the boats that are involved in a defect notification and recall campaign. A HIN is not the same as a State registration number, which may be required to be displayed on the bow of your boat. The HIN is a Federal requirement; your boat's registration number is a State requirement similar to the license plate on your car. The HIN, however, is required to be shown on the State certificate of registration. Latitude - The location of a place on Earth north or south of the equator. Lines of Latitude are the horizontal lines shown running east-to-west on maps. Technically, Latitude is an angular measurement in degrees (marked with °) ranging from 0° at the Equator (low latitude) to 90° at the poles (90° N for the North Pole or 90° S for the South Pole, high latitude). Length - A vessel's length is the distance from bow to stern of the hull not counting anything attached items that can be removed such as a bow pulpit or swim platform. If the bow pulpit and/or swim platform are molded into the hull then it's included in the length. Length Overall is the distance from the tip of the bow pulpit to the aft edge of the swim platform if attached to the vessel. Longitude - Unlike latitude, which has the equator as a natural starting position, there is no natural starting position for longitude. On the globe, lines of constant longitude ("meridians") extend from pole to pole, like the segment boundaries on a peeled orange. What that value is depends of course on where we begin to count--on where zero longitude is. For historical reasons, the meridian passing the old Royal Astronomical Observatory in Greenwich, England, is the one chosen as zero longitude. Located at the eastern edge of London, the British capital, the observatory is now a public museum and a brass band stretching across its yard marks the "prime meridian." Tourists often get photographed as they straddle it--one foot in the eastern hemisphere of the Earth, the other in the western hemisphere. Low Clearance - The height of a vessel from water line to highest point with all masts, arch, antennas, ext. in the fully down position. Manufacturer - The manufacturer of the vessel Model - The manufacturers model assigned to the vessel. This is not necessarily the same as the vessel type. It can be a model number or name such as "Extended Deckhouse". Props - The size and type of propellers used to propel a powered vessel. Commonly known as screws. Example: 4 Blade, 28 x 31 (71.12cm X78.74cm) 2" Bore Nibra. Propulsion Type - The vessel's propulsion system, i.e. Inboard, Outboard, I/O, etc. Radio Call Sign - A unique identification consisting of letters and numbers issued by the Federal Communications Commission upon acceptance and approval of an application. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 permits recreational boaters to have and use a VHF marine radio, EPIRB, and marine radar without having an FCC ship station license. Boaters traveling on international voyages, having an HF single sideband radiotelephone or marine satellite terminal, or required to carry a marine radio under any other regulation must still carry an FCC ship station license. Top Speed - The speed a power vessel moves at full throttle and max rpm. Vessel Type - The manufacturer's classification of a vessel. Common examples are: Motor Yacht, Trawler, Sport Fish, Sloop, Ketch, etc. Waypoints - Waypoints are sets of coordinates that identify a point in physical space. For the purposes of terrestrial navigation, these coordinates include longitude and latitude. Waypoints have only become widespread for navigational use by the layman since the development of advanced navigational systems, such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) and certain other types of radio navigation. Waypoints located on the surface of the Earth are defined in two dimensions (e.g., longitude and latitude). Year - The year the vessel was manufactured. |
All site navigation buttons are located in the left navigation panel. User action buttons are located in the "User Action Bar" at the top of each page. This bar is locked in place and never leaves your view even when scrolling down large pages. The "User Action Bar" also contains the page title on the left so you'll always know where you're at in ShipLogs.com. In addition, any underlined text is linked to additional pages and may be clicked to display detail of the item underlined. On certain pages, there may also be help links which are a dark blue background with white lettering buttons. These links are only used on the more complex pages.
next to the input field. Data must be entered into these fields to continue. All other fields are optional. If you don't have anything to put in an optional field, you can always use the edit functions to input more data. Some pages have a help button located on the right side of the user action bar. Clicking this button will produce a popup window with further explanation and instructions. From time to time you may come across an underlined link labeled "What's This". Moving the mouse over "What's This" will produce a popup describing the associated term.
In addition, you can take advantage of the ShipLogs.com Library of forms, that we continue to update. You can print out your reorder report and best of all, here's where you can compile all your entries into an attractive, printable, color pdf document.
symbol to the left of each document.