Techie Help - guidance for those with problems using site
Type size on the page too small to read, or page dispaying oddly?
Having problems subscribing or with login?
Logged in but the site then shows you as logged out?
Having problems loading the pdf documents and forms?
Can't fill in the pdf forms?
Having other problems using this web-site?
Want to make Landllord-Law your home page?
Fancy a link to Landlord-Law on your browser?
Note - if the information on this page does not solve your problem, please email us. Please make sure to tell what internet browser and operating system you are using on your computer. Click here to email
Type size on the page too small to read or page displaying oddly?
This is often because your internet browser software is displaying the text either too small or too large. If you have Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox - go to the View menu at the top and scroll down to text size. You will see various options. Landlord-Law works best if the text size is set at medium. If it is set very large, then the page will not display properly and you may find that the 'too large' text in the margins is obscuring parts of the screen. Mozilla Firefox is best here as it allows you to increase the text size in small increments.
Having problems subscribing or with logging in or ordering?
Please read and work through carefully the following:
Have you got the correct url? Take a look at the url
in the address bar of your internet browser. Is the first bit
http:www etc or https:www? If it is https:www
then click
here and try again.
Cookies. Your problems may be because cookies are disabled on your browser. To check this (Internet Explorer browers only) click on the Tools menu, then Options, and then click the privacy tab at the top of the Internet Options box. If it says that cookies are blocked, move the slider down to enable them (there is no need to move it all the way down). For more information, have a look at the help section under 'cookies'. This may be a problem for people using their computer at work (which may have been set up to disable cookies), in which case you will need to speak to your office computer administrator.
AOL users. We have had people say that they cannot use the site properly when using the AOL internet software. If you are an AOL subscriber, try accessing the site using Internet Explorer (which should be there on your computer if you have a Windows operating system), Mozeila Firefox, or Opera rather than your AOL program. Don't close AOL down, just minimise it and open up Internet Explorer/Mozilla Firefox/Opera. These programs will be able to use your internet link via AOL.
Hotmail users. We get quite a lot of new member emails (with the login details) bounced back to us because hotmail users have put their email address as xxx@hotmail.co.uk rather than xxx@hotmail.com. If you find that you have done this, send an email to us and we will correct the database and re-send your login details. However we can of course only do this if we are in the office, so you may have to wait a bit.
Apple Mac users - Landlord-Law should work well on a Mac and we have had many Mac users. For example both Safari and Firefox work with Landlord-Law. So if you are experiencing problems therefore it is not just becuase you are using a Mac computer.
Payment. The payment pages for when you join, upgrade or renew via the online procedure are on the Netbanx web-site (which processes the payment) and we do not have any control over how things work there. However if you are finding that your credit card is being rejected, try using another card. This will often work.
Login details. When logging in make sure that your username/login and password are exactly as given in the email sent to you. To make sure of this try cutting and pasting them into the login boxes on the site. In particular do not put your password in UPPER CASE or it will not work, so check that your caps lock is not on. Click the refresh/reload button on your internet browser before trying again and/or after putting in your login details again if it still shows you as logged out.
Note that the characters at the end of the password are usually a number rather than a letter. Try putting zero - 0, rather than o, or the number 1 rather than the letter l.
Date setting. Is the date on your computer set to the correct date? If not this could be causing the problem. For most computers you can access the date and time settings from the toolbar at the bottom right of your screen. If the date is wrong, alter it to the correct date and then try to login again.
Alternate login page. We do now have a special login page (where there is no re-direction) which may assist some members who have login problems. Click here to go there.
If you have forgotten your password – click the “Forgotton Password” button at the top right of the screen and enter your email address – your password will be emailed to you. (If you don't seem to have recieved it - check your spam folder).
Try re-booting your computer. This will often resolve problems.
Try using a different internet brower. Occasionally it seems that whatever you do, your version/setup of Internet Explorer will not re-act properly with the Landlord-Law site. If this happens, try using another browser. You can download these easily from the Internet. Click here to download Opera and click here to download Mozilla Firefox. Both of these normally work well with the Landlord-Law site.
Try using a different computer. Some people also find that their problems are resolved if they use a different computer to access the site. For example if you are having difficulties using your computer at work (perhaps because it has a firewall and the settings on the firewall are blocking the site), you may find it easier using your computer at home. However we realise that for many people this will be impractical!
Logging in from a work computer. If you are using your works computer to access Landlord-Law you may need to speak to your computer administrator. Often office computers, for security purposes, are set up in such a way that the Landlord-Law service will not work properly, for example becuase of firewall settings.
Other points:
If you are trying to subscribe to Landlord-Law, note that there is also an offline procedure where you can complete our application form and then either fax it to us (if you wish to pay by credit card) or send it to us with your cheque. If you use the offline procedure, do make sure that you tick the box confirming that you accept our terms and conditions or we will not be able to activate your subscription.
Note that when you log in as a member you should find that the username and password fields disappear and are replaced by your name. If this does not happen, even if you are sure you are putting in the correct login details, there is probably some problem with your browser (although you might want to try using the refresh button). The only instances we are aware of this happening have been with Internet Explorer or AOL. Try using another browser.
We are aware of one case where the users standard browser software had been adapted (we believe it was by his internet service provider, not one of the normal ISPs) as a result of which he was totally unable to login until he got an engineer in to carry out alterations. This situation however is very rare.
Another member had difficulties accessing pdf forms. He resolved this however and his advice is: if using Windows XP and get a message "you are not authorized to view this page" or "access denied", then even though you appear to be successfully logged in, log out and try using the alternate login on the Techie Help page. If clicking on the forms still doesn’t open them, try using right click, "open in new window".
When ordering an online kit or legal service, or when upgrading your membership or renewing, note that it is your membership ID number which you put in the box, not your password. If you have forgotten your ID, send us an email and we will re-send it to you.
When subscribing or during the ordering process, do not bookmark the page/forms to come back and complete later, as you will then experience problems.
Finally, please note that the landlord-law service has been set up to be compatable with most systems and in the vast majority of cases people are able to access and use the Landlord-Law service without any problem. If you cannot, then this will mean that there is some incompatability either in the way your internet software is re-acting with the site, or in the way that your computer is set up, perhaps because of firewall settings. There is nothing that we can do at this end to 'sort' this - and as we do not have access to your computer (and note that Tessa is a solicitor not a computer technician) we will not know what the problem is! (Note also that if we re-set the site to work with your computer, no-one else will be able to get in! We tried this once ...) The majority of problems people have seem to be with AOL or Internet Explorer, and using a different program to access the site will usually resolve them.
Logged in but the site then shows you as logged out?
This can happen if you have tried to access that page before when you were not logged in. Your computer remembers and loads the page that came up when you went to that page before - ie the one saying you are not logged in! The way to cure this is to click the refresh/reload button on your browser software. This means that it will then look for the page on the site rather than looking at its own memory cache. You will have to do this for every page where you have tried to access it unsucessfully when not logged in.
Note also that you will automatically be logged out of the site after three hours and will have to login again at that time
Having problems loading the pdf documents and forms?
The forms are 'pdf' format and you will need the Adobe Reader
to access them. To complete the forms online, you will need a fairly
recent version (version 5 or higher). However this is not a problem as the Reader can
be downloaded for free from the Adobe website - click here to go there. The Adobe site
will come up in another window. To download the Acrobat Reader, follow the online instructions.
Note that the Adobe reader is generally now installed as standard with all new PCs.
Sometimes the forms will take a long time to load. Do wait, they should load eventually.
One of our members reported that when using Mozilla Firefox he was unable to download and open pdf documents, but that he had no problem with Internet Explorer. So trying another browser program may help.
Sometimes people tell us that they have been asked for a password when opening one of the pdf documents. If this happens it is almost certainly because you are using the wrong or out of date software. None of the forms or pdf documents on the Landlord-Law site need a password to open them (so long as you are logged into Landlord-Law!).
Occasionally we are contacted by people who are experiencing difficulties even with the correct software. If this happens to you, either try again at a later time or re-start your computer and try again. Most people who have initial problems do seem to resolve them eventually. However if you still are finding it difficult, send us an e mail (using the form at the top of this page) let us know what the problem is, and we will see if there is anything we can do. When doing this, please let us have as much detail as you can about the error and (if possible) the full text of any error messages.
As stated above, you do need a recent version of Adobe reader to do this, so check that yours is up to date by visiting the Adobe web-site. The forms can be completed online by filling in the various form fields. The different types of field are as follows:
The 'Clear data' button: This is right at the top of the page. If you click on this, it will clear all the fields in the form and any default wording will re-appear. So be careful not to do this until you have printed off the completed form. The 'clear data' buttons are set so that they are visible on screen but do not print.
Text fields: just click into the field (you can usually work out where it is - on some forms there will be default wording but not on all) delete any default wording and type your answer. You may find that the box is not big enough - in this case you will either have to write less, or type something like 'see annexed page A' and then type or write the rest of your answer on a separate piece of paper.
Check boxes: here you will have to click into a box to make a tick. The box may be quite small so keep clicking until you find the right spot. To 'untick' the box, click again.
Radio boxes: these are a range of two or more fields where only one box at a time can be ticked. For example if there is a question which can be answered 'Yes' or 'No', one of these will be ticked by default, let us say it is 'yes'. If you want your answer to be 'No', then click in the 'No' box and you will see that the tick will move from 'Yes' to 'No'. You can do this as often as you like - only one of the boxes in the series can be ticked at any one time.
Date fields: Some 'text fields' will be for dates and you will have to put the date in the correct manner. This will be, say for 1st January 2002:- 02 Jan 2002. When you click out of the field, it will then display the date in the prescribed format.
In a few of the forms, they are set to display todays date automatically. You cannot alter this on screen. Sometimes you may find that the date does not reappear after clicking the 'clear data' button'. However if you click the 'refresh' button, todays date should come back.
Combo boxes: Here you are given a series of answers to choose from. You can see the options by clicking on the arrow next to the answer. This will bring up a drop down list and you choose by clicking on the answer you want. If you change your mind you can alter your answer by clicking on the arrow again and choosing another option.
Notes: Sometimes you will see a little coloured box. This is a ‘note’ and will have some information on completing the form. To open the note you double click on it and to close it you click the X at the top left hand corner. When you print the form out, make sure that the box for ‘comments’ in the printing instructions is not ticked and then it will not show on the printed copy.
Note - you will not be able to save the information you put in the fields (unless you have the special Adobe Acrobat software). You will thererore need to print out the forms immediatly or your work will be lost.
Having other problems using this web-site?
If you are encountering any other technical difficulties using this website, please email us, using the form via the link at the top of this page, outlining the difficulty. Please include as full a description as you can. Give your computer operating system (eg MS Windows 98), browser type and version (e.g. Internet Explorer version 6), state on which page the problem occured, and describe any action you were doing (e.g. filling in a form). Please also re-produce (so far as you can) any error messages you have received.
Note - if you are encountering problems subscribing or purchasing, please make sure you have cookies switched on (see 'Having problems with login? above). If the problem persists please e mail us a copy of the information you were trying to send.
Want to make Landlord-Law Online your home page?
(For Internet Explorer only.) Open up another window (so you can still look at this page) and go to the home page of Landlord-Law Online (click here to do it). Click into the address bar at the top and copy the url (an easy shorthcut is to click 'Ctrl' and C while the url is highlighted - it will usually highlight automatically when you first click into the url box, if you loose it, click out and then click in again).
Now go to the control panel (click the start button, then settings, then control panel). Choose Internet Options. Make sure you are on the page headed General. You will see at the top a box where you put the url of your home page. Delete what is there and paste in the Landlord-Law url (you can paste it in by using the shortcut 'Ctrl' and 'V'). Click on the Home button in the top toolbar to check. You should go to Landlord-Law Online.
Fancy a link to Landlord-Law on your browser?
(For Internet Explorer only) Did you know that you can customise the links bar on your Internet Explorer Browser to put links to places you actually go to rather than all those Microsoft sites you don't want? Can't see the links tool bar? Click on the View menu, then tool bars and then click to tick 'Links'. It should now appear.
Now open a new window (so you can still look at this page) and go to the Landlord-Law home page (click here to do it). You will see in the url box, a little icon, usually it is an 'e' for internet explorer. Click on it and hold down the mouse button and drag the icon onto the links tool bar. Place it where you want on the tool bar - you will see that the icon you are dragging turns into an I, and let go. You have a link! Now right click on the link and click on 'Rename' in the menu that appears. Put whatever name you want - LLO (for Landlord Law Online) is a good one, as it will leave plenty of space in the tool bar for all the other links you will now want to do!
Thats all for now. Let us know if you have any other 'techie' problems via the 'feedback' facility.