General / Look & feel

Q: Is it possible to customize the look and feel and the general branding?
A: Yes, both the desktop and web server editions can be branded. For the web server edition, you can have multiple design templates.

Q: Can the screens in Firefly be exported?
A: Yes, you can export them to Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel and HTML.

Q: The radio buttons are a bit slow going. I have to click on the choice and then click on the next button - is there a faster way?
A: Yes, you can change the choices so they appear with buttons (which removed the need for the next button) by editing the parent question and clicking on the 'Choices' tab. On the screen, change the 'Single selection' drop-down to 'Buttons'.

Q: I want to use images in my Spark - can this be done?
A: Yes, but it's good to be organized. If you are using Firefly Web Server Edition, we recommend creating a folder on your web server to store shared images. This will ensure the images are all kept in the same place and are easily accessible. If you are using Firefly User Desktop Edition, you should create a directory structure for storing the images. Firefly uses HTML and therefore images are not embedded in your Spark, they are linked and therefore must be managed in addition to the Spark file.

Functional

Q: Can the audit trails be made traceable to specific computers?
A: Using Firefly User Desktop Edition, they can be made traceable to a user, but not a specific computer. Using Firefly Web Server Edition, they are traceable to the IP address of the calling computer. If the person accessing the Spark is using a remote machine on the internet, this IP address is often the address of the ISP, not the user's machine. However, if you need this information, ISPs often record user connection information that can be used to trace back.

Q: Can we have the capability to add notes?
A: Yes, Firefly Designer allows you to add notes to an item (for reference purposes) and Firefly User allows end users to write notes as they go through the Spark. These notes are then appended to the audit trail.

Q: Is there any way to copy and paste parts of a Spark, and then change the new version without it changing the original?
A: You can copy and paste in Firefly Designer just like with many standard software packages. If you want to create a new version of the Spark that can be published alongside the older version, simply click on the 'File' and 'Save as new...' menu options to save the Spark as a unique version.

Q: Can the Spark be setup with alerts, so if someone chooses a certain path it can send an email (for example, if someone choose a very uncommon path it could alert a manager)?
A: Yes, this is built into Firefly using the event item.

Q: Is it possible to launch a flash file, a video, a sound (mp3, wav or other) at a particular point in the Spark?
A: Yes, Firefly uses HTML to deliver the content, so you can do pretty much anything in Firefly that you can do with a standard website. However, if you are using Firefly User Desktop Edition, you will need to create links to these files as opposed to embedding them in the actual screens as media files are not supported directly in the desktop version.

Q: Does Firefly support help text?
A: Yes, you can create help text for each item in your Spark - so essentially, the help text is context based. However, if you plan to have a lot of content in your help text, it is often a better idea to create help hyperlinks as opposed to help text - this is also supported. This way, you can write the help text using a content management system (or similar), which allows you to separate help content from the design of your Spark. Both desktop and web server editions support help text and help links.

Q: What do I need to get the e-mail events working?
A: E-mail events only work for Firefly Web Server Edition. To get e-mail events working, you need a valid SMTP server to send the e-mails through. If your e-mail server requires authentication, you must provide the valid account details. The installation for Firefly Web Server Edition contains documentation for this feature.

Q: Can I pass information into my Spark when it's run?
A: Yes, but only using Firefly Web Server Edition. However, to pass values in to your spark, you need to create a variable to put the value into. Then, when you create your link to the Spark (using the 'link page' within the 'sparks' page) simply edit the URL using the following format:
variable name=value
where the 'variable name' is the name of a variable item in your spark (you cannot have spaces in the name) and the 'value' is the value you want to assign it to.

Q: How do I create hyperlinks to my Spark?
A: Log in to Firefly Web Server Edition and click on the 'Sparks' section link. Using the 'template' drop-down, select the relevant design template for your Spark (the branding you wish your spark to have). In the list of published Sparks on your server, you'll see a 'link page' link. Click on the link to generate an HTML page containing all of the relevant link information. However, if you plan to distribute links to end users, it's often better to have a referral page that redirects the user to the generated URL rather than giving them the URL directly. This allows you to alter the linking information freely without causing problems with the end user access.

Q: How will we track the revision history of the Spark?
A: Firefly does not contain a version control system and we would recommend using an industry standard tool like CVS or Microsoft Visual Source Safe. The Spark files are written in XML, so you can use file difference tools to check for any specific changes.

Editions

Q: If I create a Spark for the desktop edition, will it also work on the web server edition?
A: Yes. That's a core benefit to Firefly - you don't need to worry about where the Spark is run - our technology handles that for you.

Q: If I start building sparks in the trial version, can I move these onto the server once it's all setup?
A: Yes, the trial version is a complete, working copy of Firefly.

Problems

Q: For some reason my data source isn't working properly. What can I do to check what's going wrong?
A: If you are working with databases, it is often a good idea to write the SQL code/instructions using the tools provided with the database (for Microsoft SQL Server, this is Query Analyzer). This often corrects a lot of common errors. However, if you are still having problems, this is often due to spaces in the field names.

Q: After clicking on 'Start' (within Firefly Web Server Edition) and downloading/checking the files, we are prompted to login into Firefly Designer. However, we keep getting a message saying our user details cannot be verified. Any thoughts on what might be causing this?
A: Yes, we've seen this before if a firewall is preventing the verification message from getting to the server. You may need to speak to your IT colleagues to see if the message is being blocked.

Integration

Q: I would like to go down the "SCORM" type route and create separate Sparks which I could then use as objects/modules where appropriate - is this possible?
A: Firefly does not currently support the SCORM standards, however it does contain a lot of the functionality required to integrate with a learning management system. Firefly also supports modularization, so you can create Sparks that contain Sparks. Essentially, you can break a Spark into modules and wire them together to create a larger Spark - this provides a high degree a modularization.