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Technical Stuff:
1.) What IS this thing, anyway?
DTAlpha is designed to bring you the Right Information, Right Now. It is a software application that sits on your desktop and is powered by the DTAlpha website. Using some ingenious bits of technology, we are able to bring you the latest, greatest information that you can use to build your business, remain on the cutting edge, and, ultimately, acheive success. The website is centered around information and knowledge. The vast majority of this information will
be brought to you by the DTAlpha Channels. There are eight channels ranging from Strategy of the Day to Cool Tools to Use.
Each time a Channel is updated, that info is heading straight to your desktop in the form of the scrolling ticker or a headline in the Media Center.
In the Media Center, you can also watch streaming video or listen to streaming audio.
In other parts of the website, we've got Forums, Alpha Reviews - where you can read about the latest products, share your opinions, and see the opinions of others, the Alpha Store, DTAlpha TV, and more. DTAlpha is one stop shopping for all your
business needs. We're bringing you the Right Information, Right Now - with no fluff and no fillers.
2.) Will DTAlpha run on my Mac?
Currently, the DTAlpha does NOT work on Macs. A special widget is required to make it run on Macs, and this is in the works, but not available yet. If you’d like to be put on the list of beta testers for the Mac widget, please email support@dtalphasupport.com, and put "Mac Widget" in the subject line. I’ll put you on the pile and let you know as soon as the widget is available!
3.) What are the system requirements for DTAlpha?
The software itself is about 5MB, so you’ll need that much free space to get it in there. DTAlpha is compatible with all current Windows operating systems, though if you have Vista, you may encounter some bumps in the road that the rest of us might not experience, and you also have my apologies. ;-)
How smoothly your app runs will also depend on your RAM. For example, before I upgraded my laptop, I was able to run DTAlpha on 512MB of DDR2. It would hang sometimes, especially when switching skins or reloading, but not enough to make me too crazy. It runs much better on my desktop, which has 2 gigs of RAM. So, easily put, more = better, less = working, but maybe bumpy sometimes. Same for your CPU.
Note: While we are currently working on bringing about the necessary tools to make the website, downloads and software work much more smoothly, please remember that we will often only be as good as your setup. To illustrate what I mean, let's use your Internet connection as an example. If you are running on dial-up while downloading something from a website, that website can only give it to you as fast as you can take it, unfortunately. So, similarly, the
DTAlpha software will only run as well as your computer allows. So, if your computer is one of those Apples we all used to play Oregon Trail and Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing on when we were in elementary school,
your DTAlpha application will not run as well as it would on a brand new system that didn't get a full week to become obsolete yet. The speed of your Internet connection will play a part as well, since the application is powered by our servers.
Now, let’s talk about the software itself:
1.) What’s that thing at the top called?
The bar at the top of your screen when you have DTAlpha running is called the Alpha Bar. That’s the brains of the operation, so to speak. From there, you can access all of the other features the DTAlpha software has to offer. It also has the scrolling news ticker, which is going to roll by, showing you the latest headlines from the DTAlpha website. It will also display RSS feeds that you add yourself, which I’ll tell you how to do later in this FAQ.
2.) Okay, it’s the Alpha Bar. Now, how do I make it go away?
You can get rid of it by clicking the X in the uppermost right-hand corner of the Alpha Bar. The bar will go away, but DTAlpha will still be running. To get the Alpha Bar back, double click on the icon in your tray (down there by the clock, looks like a d). 3.) How do I close the program entirely?
Go to the icon in your tray and right click. It will give you only one option, which is “close.” Click it and you’re good to go.
4.) Where’s the Media Center?
Back up to the Alpha Bar for this one – there’s a button there that looks like a little light, and it says VIP underneath it. Click that, and a box will pop up in the middle of your screen. This is the Media Center. To find the Video Player, look at the top of the box for the bit to click to open it. To find the Audio Player, look to the left-hand side of the box for the bit to click to open that. By navigating around through the links and tabs inside the box, you can access all manner of articles and information from within the DTAlpha website. If you click on an article headline, DTAlpha will open that link up for you in a browser window so you can read it.
5.) My Alpha Bar’s colors clash with my desktop wallpaper! Help!
Here at DTAlpha, we are all about customization (and not clashing with your wallpaper). In that spirit, we offer you many different choices for your program’s skins. Each skin is done in different color schemes, and features one of the DTAlpha Informants.. To get a new skin applied, go back up to the Alpha Bar and click on “Options.” From there, a window will drop down. Choose the Pick a Theme tab, and you’ll be presented with all of the currently available DTAlpha skins. To see one of the new ones I referenced in Question Number 7, scroll down and find the one with Stephen on it. Click the thumbnail, and hit “OK.” DTAlpha will disappear for a few seconds and then come back with your new skin. Ta da!
6.) What’s Quick Access?
If you go back to Options and choose the Quick Access tab. This will present you with a list of icons and links and such. A Quick Access icon is a wee picture that can be added to your Alpha Bar. When you click on the icon, it’ll pop open a browser window that takes you to your preferred website. If you click the “choose” button, you can pick from a bunch of preloaded Quick Access icons.
Not finding the one you want? That’s okay, make your own! Fill in your url, then click the “icon” button. This offers you three choices – auto-detect, which will attempt to search the web and find an icon to match your link, or you can pick one out of the box of preloaded icons (just remember that if you choose the PayPal icon to go with your custom url, you’re not going to end up at PayPal when you click it), or you can add your own icon. Just put the full path to a 16x16 picture into the field, and click “OK.” DTAlpha will support the following icon formats: ICO, JPG, and GIF.
Hitting the “preview” button will pop open a browser window and show you the site the icon is going to take you to.
“Clear” will clear it.
The Alpha Bar only has space for so many icons, so any extras you have will show up in a box that will drop down when you click on “Quick Access” on your Alpha Bar.
7.) What’s News Settings?
This is the last item in the dropdown menu we’ve been looking at under “Options.” Here, you can choose to dock the Alpha Bar at the top or bottom of your screen. You can control the speed of your Alpha Bar’s ticker, and you can control what you see in the ticker, as well.
If you’d like to add your own RSS feeds to the ticker, simply put the url in the provided fields and click “OK.” The feed will be added, and you’ll begin to see the headlines.
Note: You cannot do a normal cut and paste job here. Right clicking to paste does not work in these fields, so if you want to paste a url in there, please use the Ctrl + V keyboard combo to do it.
8.) What's an Alpha Alert?
An Alpha Alert is a box that will pop up on the lower right-hand corner of your screen (above the clock). Whenever we have something important to share with you, we will send an Alert, and it will pop up on your desktop. If you happen to not have the program running at the time we send the Alert, don't worry - it'll pop up when you next launch DTAlpha.
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