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ScribeWare Directions

Welcome to the ScribeWare Training Site

Need a little help getting started with ScribeWare? Want to take full advantage of all of ScribeWare’s features and flexibility? We’ve got you covered.

This site is a comprehensive collection of training documents—from the basics of getting started to understanding the power of modifiers—to help you get the most out of your new inspection software.

Remember, we also host monthly Scriber Meetups to go over best practices and answer questions. You can see our meetup schedule here, or just keep an eye out for our next email.

If you haven’t yet downloaded ScribeWare, now is a great time to get started! You can download the software for free here.

Getting Started

We've put together some helpful guides for you to get setup with our product quickly and easily.

Getting Started

Overview

This video reviews a finished report so newer Scribers see what they want to achieve with their own reports and customizations. The second part shows how the report was made on the back end.

Video overview

Got 6 minutes?

ScribeWare and Desktop Basics

This video is a good place to get started. We create a new report and go through many of the most basic report writing actions.

The Home Page and Creating a New Report

Understanding Chapters and Sections

ScribeWare reports can be organized into chapters and within each chapter you can create sections and within each section you can create data fields. This is all customizable and the critical logic of

The Left Side Bar

The left side bar inside of a report is where you can...

Preview a report
Publish a report
Copy Report, which will copy all the data in a report to a new report
Review Required Fields
Save Template
Submit feedback
Access Your Settings

Understanding Data Fields

Data fields are where you can build fields to quickly describe materials or site conditions. Later videos will show you how to edit and cuist9mize these. The slides below show you how they work.

Understanding Narratives

Managing a narrative library is a key workflow for writing great reports efficiently and effectively. ScribeWare has powerful tools for creating and managing your pre-made narrative comments.

Keyword searching
Authoring new comments
Saving Narratives and giving them blue labels
Importing Narratives
Favorites
Most Common
Text replacement

Adding Observations

Adding observations is how you write narratives into your report. This series of slides should help you understand the basics of adding an observation.

The Difference Between Narratives and Templates

This is critical to understand prior to making any template or library customizations.

Photos and Videos

This is a basic 101 level overview showing connecting photos and videos and other media to your inspection report

Cutting and Pasting Media Into a Report

This shows using the snipping tool and shows examples of snipping from a product manual right into ScribeWare

How Desktop and Mobile Work Together

ScribeWare runs great on both mobile and desktop! Learn how to the two work together.

The Desktop

This is where you control your whole software system. The desktop will serve as your mothership, from billing information to customizing templates and narrative libraries, to sending out agreements.

Templates and libraries customized on the desktop can be used on the mobile device for use in the field.

The Mobile App

The mobile device works both online and offline. You can gather data and write a complete report, and it will synchronize automatically when you're online.

Ideas for Multi-Family

This shows how you can use the multi-family chapter provided with the Narrative Template to do multi-family inspections.

The Mobile Version

Written Overview of the Mobile App

We have laid out the functions of the mobile app into a sequence of visuals with words to help you understand the overall workflow on the mobile app

Retrieving Narrative Comments on the Mobile App

Photos and Videos: Media on the Mobile App

If you take a picture on the mobile device and you are not inside of an observation, the picture will automatically go to the gallery.

Take a photo or video when a narrative comment is open and the media will be attached to the narrative AND available in the gallery as well.

Voice-to-Text on Mobile

Tagging your photos and videos with a voice tag is a powerful way to gather granular data quickly

Video Overview of the Mobile App

This video shows much of the mobile app functionality and workflow

Adding and Renaming Chapters and Sections

This is a powerful feature on the mobile app to customize your report to precisely fit the building or element you are inspecting.

To use this feature, find the three dots at the upper right of any section. Hit the three does, to copy a section or chapter, rename a section or chapter, or hide a chapter or section. Note this will work even when offline.

Adding Pictures from Your Mobile Device's Gallery into a ScribeWare Report

This allows you to use your native camera and drop those photos into a report. Note: Each device may work slightly differently with this.

This is a similar video but updated and shows also saving media from the ScribeWare app back onto your mobile device's gallery.

How Syncing Works

This video shows a split screen of using the mobile app and watching in almost real time the desktop fill in as it goes.

Photo Annotations on Mobile Using iMarkup

Voice-to-text Tips For Scribers

This shows why using Google's Gboard and working in airplane mode is so powerful

Managing Photos, Videos and Illustrations

This video shows using the media folders on the left side of the desktop

Connecting Photos and Videos to Use in Your Report

This first video shows how you can use media from the gallery of your mobile device and share it with ScribeWare and how you can also take media from ScribeWare and back it up on your mobile device.

This next video shows how to merge media from your computer into ScribeWare. This is perfect for sewer scopes and drone media that are imported from a memory card.

This last video shows how media can be used when taken in the ScribeWare mobile application. This is generally the fastest way to use media in ScribeWare. Note that media will be auto-synched to all devices in your account with access to a given report.

Picture in Picture Photo Editing

Tagging Photos

This video shows how to use and set up the photos tagging feature

This feature is great for quickly building a list of summary items you wish to review with your client

This feature is great when you want to move quickly on-site and simply organize your photos into working categories that match your chapters.

The Report Directory

This is a great way to access the photos and media that you have used in your report. You will fin this on your home page.

External Media and Illustration Folders

Adding Illustrations to The Illustrations Folders

This shows how to add and manage your illustrations folders on the right

Submit Feedback for Desktop and Mobile

On Desktop: Use the submit feedback button to contact us and get your questions answered and diagnose problems you may be having so we can keep you company up and running efficiently and effectively.

Submit Feedback on the Mobile Application

On the mobile application, simply pinch the screen and a submit feedback box will open.

Finish Report Overview with The Request List Builder

Consider making a video of your branded and custom ScribeWare report and show the Real Estate Brokers you work with how much time you can save them with the Request List Builder.

Gunnysacks and Handling Multiple Defects With The Same System

Photo Captions to Bullets Feature

This first video shows using the photo captions to bullets feature. This allows Scribers to gather granular details with photos and captions and display those details within a parent comment.

Using Gunnysacks to Reduce The Number of Comments You Need to Maintain

This invaluable technique lets you replace 5 or ten comments with a single comment that can be molded to fit myriad different situations.

ADVANCED DESKTOP

Setting a Summary Statement at the Top of Your Summary Page

Some states require a summary statement at the top of your summary page. This video will help show you how. If you need additional help, see The Power of Modifiers.

Global Keyword Searching on Desktop

This technique is away to write a report almost completely from your library.

Inspector Only Notes

This is a valuable tool for building knowledge and speed into your template

This video will also help you understand what you see on the back end where you fill out a report.

Inspector-Only Notes Where The Narrative Stays Hidden

Use this feature to build knowledge into your templates such as codes or installation requirements that you just want for the inspector and not for the client or the finished report.

Using Logic Trees

Logic trees take some time to build but they can be a great way to find comments. I use a logic tree in my bathrooms section a lot where I have a ton of specific comments. T

This video shows how to build out a logic tree.

Advanced Workflow for Multiple Defects with the Same System

ScribeWare has innovated improved workflows for the most challenging parts of report writing: Multiple Defects with the Same System. Let us help you report better and faster with these powerful tools

Inspector Only Notes and Narrative Shortcuts

This is a powerful feature that is super important to understand and is less intuitive.

Inspector only notes allow Scribers to have check boxes built into their template that do not show in the printed report. This creates super flexible templates where you can accomplish two primary goals.

Create short cuts to narratives that you use all the time. This is especially effective for dialing in ScribeWare for mobile.
Create notes for your inspectors that have codes and other background information you may not wish to display in the report but which will help you do your job more effectively.

Video #1 Shows Using Inspector Only Notes for Creating Quick Access To Your Narratives. This is Fantastical For Mobile.

Video #2 Shows Using Inspector Only Notes to Build Hidden Information Into Your Template to Help Your Inspectors

Gunnysacks and Magic Captions

These are some of the most powerful workflow innovations in ScribeWare. If you don't get your head around thee you are simply leaving money on the table.

The videos here will focus on how these work and why we have them. To learn how to build gunnysacks, see The Belly of The Beast

Video #1 Shows a nice overview of a basic gunnysack style narrative and how it can be used to manage the workflow of old windows in an older building

Video #2 shows using a large gunnysack for a deck. This is a great example of improving workflow to handle multiple defects on the same system

What's New

This is not needed regularly, but once in a while, we push a more advanced update that can require you to update from the What's New tab near the bottom of Settings.

Once you update your desktop, see if an update is available on mobile. Open the mobile app and go to the three dots at the top of the home screen, then settings, then check for updates.

Customizations

Setting Up Your Business

The Settings

This video provides an overview of all the features in the settings tab. There is a lot under the hood here, so it is useful to understand all that lives here.

Enter Company and Logo Information

This is where you go to enter company and user information and also to place your initials and/or signature if these are needed on your report.

Build Your Team

You can invite team members into your account and even control the Admin status of each member of your team.

Controls here can help you determine

Who can edit templates
Who can edit library entries
Who can see reports by other inspectors

Build and Manage Your Agreements

This shows you how to set up and edit contracts in ScribeWare

Agreements can be emailed through ScribeWare directly to your clients and they can be executed by your clients online. They will be stored with your inspection report.

This video shows how to get your agreements set up in the Contract Editor

This video shows the experience your client will have signing and executing the agreement

Template Customization

Be Sure You Understand How Templates Work in ScribeWare

This goes over setting up a report to act as your template and why we do this. It also includes the logic of how templates work and function in ScribeWare

This video helps you understand the difference between library comments and the template.

This video helps you understand when to Save Template and when NOT to.

Building and Editing Descriptive Fields

This is how you edit descriptions and add to pulldown lists and checkboxes. It also shows how to set required fields and connect descriptive narratives to descriptive fields.

Connecting Narratives to Descriptive Fields

Connecting Descriptive Narratives to Descriptive Fields

This is a great way to insert relevant CYA and background information to your report and report template for fast, automated workflow.

Moving Fields Between Chapters and Sections

This is an incredibly useful for tool for rearranging templates. Think - dragging your fields from a wind mitigation form into your home inspection template

Inspector Only Notes for Blazing Fast Comments

This shows you how to build inspector-only notes and connect a narrative to the hidden check box.

Resequencing and Renaming Chapters and Sections

This is critical basic functionality to understand for being abele to customize each template to suit each job and for customizing your templates to suit your workflow.

Recovering Chapters or Sections That Have Been Hidden

This video shows how you can recover chapters or sections that have been hidden

Building Links for Instant-Comments

There are several ways to build Instant-Comments into ScribeWare.

***🚩These are template changes, so be sure you are working in your temple and hit save template when done to keep these for the next time.

#1 Shows connecting a narrative to a check box using the Keyword Connection

#2 Shows linking a narrative to a check box using Suggested Observations.

The only difference between this version and the one above is that we are using the Suggested Observations method for linking.

#3. Linking a narrative to an inspector-only note so that the check box stays hidden but the narrative displays in the report.

Either the Keyword Connection or the Suggested Observation method will work with this method.

🗝️ In this instance, the check box will stay hidden in the finished report, but the narrative will display. This is a great way to build in quick shortcuts to commonly used narratives without cluttering your report with check boxes.

#4 Modifying a Narrative to Fit a Number of Different Check Box Deficiencies

Tricks for building a super-flexible template that can apply to most jobs

Maintaining one template is hard enough. Maintaining multiple templates is just a drag. This video show why you might be able to use just a single template for all your different jobs.

This video goes over three main concepts

Blank sections of chapters do not print in a finished report
You can copy chapters and sections and rename them as needed to fit a specific job
You can adjust your boilerplate on the fly to suit a specific job.

Building a Camera or Video Icon Into Your Template for Quick Photo Placement

Deleting a Template

Deleting a template is easy.... just be sure you really want to.

Narrative Customization

Understanding Narrative Comments

This covers writing and saving comments, changing modifiers, and customizing comments with different fonts, colors, and text replacements.

Editing Your Narrative Library of Pre-Made Comments

This video is helpful if you are customizing the default narrative template. You can customize the language to suit your style and then "Update Library" to save your version of the comment.

Adding Hidden Blue Titles to Your Narratives

This helps Scribers quickly retrieve and distinguish their comments.

Blending Your Imported Library From Another Software Into ScribeWare

Moving your existing narratives over from another system can be time-consuming and challenging. We have some powerful tools to try and help.

Saving Illustrations with Narratives

You can save illustrations with your narratives, so you do not need to keep adding them each time.

Creating and Editing Text Replacement

Text replacement can help reduce the number of narratives in your report, speed up your report writing, and make your reports more specific.

Using Parent Comments

Parent comments are a great way to leverage the power of voice to text and write detailed comments quickly. See this video.

Building Gunnysacks

The first video shows a simple gunnysack comment using old windows as an example

This video shows editing and using a large gunnysack for decks

Library Features and Organization

Editing Library Categories

Library categories are a super powerful way to organize your library of narrative comments and share them throughout various templates.

Using Library Categories to Populate a Section of Your Report With narratives

Moving a Narrative from One Section to Another Section of Your Template

This video shows a few basic gunnysack management features and saves a narrative to a different section of the report using Library Categories.

Blending Your Library From Another Software Into ScribeWare

Editing and Cutting From Your Library

This shows some examples of culling and cutting unwanted narratives from a library

Adding Illustrations to the Illustrations Folders

Using Descriptions to Power Background Information and CYA

Setting Default Descriptions

This is key functionality if you want to have pre-made information populating in every single report you generate

Powerful and Effective CYA and Boilerplate

Connecting a description to a pulldown

In this video, we show using the keyword linking to connect a descriptive narrative to a check box.

Inspector Only Notes Where The Comment Stays Hidden

This helps Scribers hide critical information in their templates for their personal use.

The Power of Boilerplate

Understanding how boilerplate works in ScribeWare can help you adapt your business and your report writing to any type of job that comes your way.

This video shows several examples of how boilerplate can be adjusted and customized.

Contracts and Agreements

This video shows editing and setting up a contract or agreement including how to add placeholders to handle things like client names and property addresses

The Power of Modifiers

Modifiers are a powerful tool to help sort and quantify the data yo are gathering for your clients.

One could argue that without modifiers, it is not possible to deliver a detailed report to clients without confusing them.

Use modifiers to effectively layer and sequence the importance of your data.

Why Use Modifiers

Customizing Your Modifiers

Setting a Default Modifier For a Section

This will help you set the default modifier for a section, so when you start a new observation, it will default to the modifier of your choice.

Showing No Major Concerns

When there are no major concerns, you often want this to be shown in the summary page.

Adding Sub-Modifiers to the Bottom of Narratives

This shows how you can build and add lists of sub-modifiers

Customizing Your Summary Page

This shows shows how you can customize your summary page

Show media in the summary or not
Choose which modifiers go to the summary
Disable the summary all together

Photo Tags

Templates, Specialty Templates, Ancillary Services and Odd Jobs

The Narrative Template

ScribeWare's default Narrative Template produces a narrative style report that can be used for residential, light commercial, full condo, interior condo, and consultation inspections.

This is a narrative-style template that includes all of the needed pull-downs to describe the building. This includes a well-flushed-out library with thousands of comments, as well as gunnysack comments and parent-type comments that can be used with photo and caption techniques. This template can be used for residential inspections, light commercial inspections, condo inspections, interior-only inspections, one-item inspections, consultations, and more. It is designed as a report that you can get 50-90% done on-site and finish the report back in the office.

This is a northern climate based template and is west-coast so it has seismic considerations and standards. The following videos unpack some of the logic used to construct and use this template. These will help if you you are going to use and customize this template

Formatting A Blue All Caps Observation Headings and a Parent Comment

The latest version of this template uses observation headings. This makes it a breeze for clients and agents to scan the summary page quickly despite the detailed narrative comments. This video will show you how to build these titles as well as a few other observation formatting tricks.

Ideas for Customizing the Narrative Template to Suit Your Region.

This video shows how you can delete some of the things that may not apply to your region such as seismic protection. It also goes over several key words you can use in your library to quicky customize a lot of comments to suit your state and climate zone.

Check Box Style With Short Narratives

This template uses a familiar check box system to help make sure you find everything you are looking for. The template includes a lot of defect narratives available with the click of a button.

We ship with two on-site templates: System by System and Room by Room. These include checklists that will help newer inspectors be sure they don't miss anything. Defect comments are connected to a concise library of short narrative comments to which photos and videos can be attached. Most comments are between one and three sentences. This template is designed mainly for residential and condominium-type inspections.

Condo Inspections

You can use the Universal Narrative inspection template for interior only or full condos.

This video goes over

Switching boilerplate to suit the job
Using a condo HOA modifier
Taking advantage of blank chapters and sections not printing in the finished report
Using green check marks to get rid of required fields you want to leave blank

Pest Inspections

There are several options for including pest inspections in ScribeWare.

Embed a Pest Inspection Into Your Report

The first option is to embed a pest inspection into your report. This was common in Washington State when home inspectors were just licensed as pest inspectors. This allows inspectors to tag observations as a pest inspection finding, and the system will auto-generate a separate stand-alone pest inspection summary page.

Attach a Pest Inspection Form to Your Report

The second option is to use a pest inspection form and our PDF form filler tool to help you complete and attach the pest inspection form.

Texas TREC Templates

ScribeWare complies with the latest Texas TREC requirements

Written Consultations and One-Item Inspections

This video goes over

Leaving sections blank in your template that you do not want to print
Switching boilerplate from a regulate home inspection boilerplate to a consulting boilerplate.
Overall, this will help to show the flexibility of a well-designed template.