How to Get Started - Overview

TEAM MANAGER forms the hub for your team and communicates with MEET MANAGER, Sports BUSINESS MANAGER, and the Web.   TM is designed to be intuitive and easy to use so that it greatly reduces a team's administrative tasks and easily distributes information to your team members through printed reports, HTML files, and internet uploads using TM Stats Online.  For coaches and parents, Coaches can share workouts through TM's workout export and import utility.

One person should be able to perform most of the administrative tasks associated with running a swim team, including maintaining the roster and administrative information about each swimmer, setting up entries for meets, entering meet results after the meet, and producing various reports for coaches, parents, and swimmers.   To make your task even easier, TM supports the Import of Results (including splits) from your thumb drive, diskette or from the Internet, as well as the Export of Entries to the meet host via various portable media or the Internet.

TM includes a complete Workout Manager optional program - click Here for information about the Workout Manager features included in the Gold Package.  The Pro feature included with the Silver Package is a Multi-User feature, designed to manage large teams who want to have several computers sharing one common Database - click Here for information about the Pro feature. TM Lite is a FREE product designed to help teams declare and send their meet entries electronically to the meet host - click Here for information about TM Lite.

If you are a new Customer, please go to the New Customers section below and skip the next four sections about converting a previous Database over to the new TM 6.0 Database format.

TEAM MANAGER 6.0 Release Customers (6th Generation TM)

After you install TM 8.0, click on File / Open and pick the Database that you wish to open.  A TM 8.0 database is compatible with any TM 6.0 or 5.0 database.

TEAM MANAGER 5.0 Release Customers (5th Generation TM)

After you install TM 8.0, click on File / Open and pick the Database that you wish to open.  A TM 8.0 database is compatible with any TM 6.0 or 5.0 database.

TEAM MANAGER 4.0 Release Customers (4th Generation TM)

•After you install TM 8.0 and then click on File / Open/New, pick the Database that you previously had opened (usually in c:\TMIIData directory) and click on Open and TM 8.0 will convert it over to the new format!  TM 8.0 will automatically backup your TM 4.0 database BEFORE it is converted. The backup will be an Archive backup and stored in the same directory as the Database, typically the TMIIData directory.  The file name will be of type SwtmArchive*.zip.  The new converted Database will be stored in a new directory named TM5Data.

Compatibility

Because TM8.0 uses a new more current version of Microsoft's Access, backward compatibility is not possible.   That is, it is not possible to Open a TM 8.0 Database with any previous 4.0 or earlier versions of TEAM MANAGER.  If your team has TEAM MANAGER installed on more than one computer, please make sure that ALL of them have been upgraded to TEAM MANAGER 8.0.  

IMPORTANT: If you are using Team Connect Online for your club, EVERYONE accessing your Team Connect Online must ALL be using TM 8.0.

TEAM MANAGER II Release 2 or 3 Customers (3rd Generation TM)

•After you install TM 8.0 and then click on File / Open/New, pick the Database that you previously had opened and click on Open and TM 8.0 will convert it over to the new format!  TM 8.0 will automatically backup your TM II database BEFORE it is converted so that you can restore that database back to TM II if the need arises.  The backup will be an Archive backup and stored in the same directory as the Database, typically the TMIIData directory.  The file name will be of type SwtmArchive*.zip.

Compatibility

Because TM8.0 uses a new more current version of Microsoft's Access, backward compatibility is not possible.   That is, it is not possible to Open a TM 8.0 Database with any previous 4.0 or earlier versions of TEAM MANAGER.  If your team has TEAM MANAGER installed on more than one computer, please make sure that ALL of them have been upgraded to TEAM MANAGER 8.0.  

IMPORTANT: If you are using Team Connect Online for your club, EVERYONE accessing your Team Connect Online must ALL be using TM 8.0.

WIN-TM Version 1.6 Customers (2nd Generation TM)

If you are currently running TEAM MANAGER Version 1.6 product (WIN-TM), there is no automatic way of converting that Database over to the TM 8.0 Database format.  We suggest using the File/Export Swimmers and Meet Results and then importing them into a new TM 8.0 Database.

DOS-TM Customers (1st Generation TM)

If you are currently running TEAM MANAGER for DOS product, there is really no way to convert that Database over to the TM 8.0 Database format.

New Customers

It's easy and fast to Get Started using TM's Set-Up and Customization features.  Here is a step-by-step procedure for getting started.  Of course if you have converted your previous TM Database over to the TM 6.0 Database format, you already have much of this information set up.  And don't forget about checking out the Frequently Asked Questions section (FAQs).

NOTE: In order for TEAM MANAGER to display and format reports on your computer's screen, there must be a printer set up in Windows. The printer does not have to be physically connected, but at least set up in Windows. From the Windows desktop, click on Start / Settings / Printer and Add any printer you wish.

Step 1: Open and Customize your Database Set-Up

Click on File then Open/New and specify the name of your Database and click on Open.  Whenever you Open a New Database, TM will automatically route you to the System Preferences screen so that you may customize a number of parameters that will be used by TM in setting up your Database.   Click Here to find out how to set up additional Preferences for your Database.  We also recommend setting up Favorite Filters so that you will not have to key in repetitive information like Course and Team.

Step 2: Enter your Team and Coaches

Click Here for information on how to Add your Team(s) to the TM Database and click Here to find out how to enter your coach(s).  You might want to run the Teams Report to check the information you have entered.

Step 3: Enter your Athletes

Click Here for information on how to Add your Athletes to the TM Database including contact and other administrative information.  We suggest you enter ONE TEAM assuming you have one physical Team.  Do Not set up a different team for Boys and Girls.  And use the Group and Subgroup features of TM instead of different teams to "break out" different sets of swimmers.  Click Here for more information about Groups and Subgroups.

You might want to run the Athletes Report to check the information you have entered.

Step 4: Set-Up your Meets

Click Here for more detail information on how to set up your meets.  You might want to set-up all the meets for your current season and then run the Meets Report.

NOTE: If you want to establish a set of baseline times for your swimmers, set up a meet called "Best Times", then set up the events for that meet and enter each swimmer's Best Time for each stroke and distance as Meet Results for that meet.   That way when you set up entries for your first meet, TM will use these times as Entry Times for that meet.

You might want to run the Meet Results Report to check the information you have entered.

Step 5: Set-Up Records and Time Standards

Click Here for information on how to set-up your Pool or Team Records and click Here to find out how to set-up or Import Time Standards.

You might want to run the Record or Time Standard Reports to check the information you have entered.

Be sure you periodically backup your Database.

Click Here for specific instructions on how to do this.