HELP US HELP YOU – GETTING HELP WITH ZIMS
Hopefully everyone gets help with their ZIMS questions right away, but why do some seem to get answers faster than others? This document will provide some hints to help make getting ZIMS help swift and easy for you.
Submitting a Data Standard Term?
Working with Someone Other Than Your Regular Support Representative?
Help Yourself Options
There are over 500 documents, PowerPoints and self-walk-throughs available under the Help Menu in the upper right of all ZIMS screens. You can open up the topic menus for a list of Help documents for the topic, or type what you are looking for in the “Type in your question” box.
- The paper airplane icon is for PowerPoints, pdf documents or external links
- The shout out icon is for the “Walk Me” functionality. You will be taken step-by-step through the process of completing the selected data entry.
- You Tube type start arrow provides a short instructional video
- The Google “g” will take you to postings by Species360.
- Additional WalkMe help here .
Click here to log into ZIMS and access help now (password required).
If you do not find the topic you are looking for your support representative can help you find it. At the bottom of the Help Menu is a “Need more help? Contact Support!” link. If help on the topic is not available, we are happy to create a new document to cover it.
Throughout ZIMS there are “?” images. Hovering over these will provide additional information about the field. Reading these may answer your question before you try to find it in the Help Menu.
In addition, most of the terms available in the ZIMS data standard dropdown lists have definitions. Hovering over the term will display the definition and help you make the right term selection.
Return to Index.
ZIMS is Slow or Misbehaving
When ZIMS seems slow there is a website that will help you know if ZIMS is having problems or if the issue is at your end. Go to down.com and type in zims.species360.org and select Check Now. It will let you know if the problem is with ZIMS or if it is at your facility.
If ZIMS is running up to speed but giving you strange results grid or reports results, it could be that it is confused with something you tried previously. Before you report a problem make sure you Clear Your Cache and try again. There is a pdf and an External Link in the Help Menu that will guide you through clearing your cache using various browsers.
Reporting a Bug
You have checked the site to make sure it is up, you have followed the instructions in the Help Menu and you have cleared your cache and something still seems wrong. You may have a Bug! A Bug is something that is broken or does not work properly in ZIMS. It may stop you from performing part of your data entry or reporting tasks in ZIMS.
If you believe you have found a Bug, send an email to support@species360.org . Sending directly to your support representative’s personal email will actually delay the response. Sending to support assists with tracking the Bug and passing it on to the development team to fix. If your support representative is out, other support reps will take the issue to get it started without delay.
Include the following information in the email:
-
The main module that the Bug is in:
- Husbandry
- Medical
- Studbook
-
The sub-module it is found in (some examples):
- Animal
- Enclosure
- Treatments
- Institution
- Reports
- The title of the screen where the Bug is found
- Brief description of the Bug
- Steps needed to replicate the Bug. If it cannot be replicated it cannot be fixed.
All this information helps support to quickly identify related Bugs that may have previously been submitted so they can be associated together.
Here are some examples:
-
You cannot add a new enclosure
- Bad: Add New Enclosure is busted
- Good: Husbandry, Enclosure module, Add New will not Save
-
You are having trouble with a batch quick prescription
- Bad: Can’t add a Prescription
- Good: Medical, Add Quick Prescription, Batch Prescription checkbox not working
Adding additional steps to replicate the Bug and a note including how you believe ZIMS should behave can be very helpful.
Be careful when submitting screen shots as the formatting may not be correct when received. For example, the arrow and box in the example below tell us nothing:
MS Paint is free and is a good option to help maintain the correct formatting. Snag It can also be trailed and purchased. Sometimes an image in your signature can interfere with screen shots. And make sure they are large enough to read.
Sometimes including an email chain as supportive documentation can be helpful, especially if several institutions are involved. You will still need to provide exactly what the issue is in your description.
If ZIMS support needs to read through the emails to determine the issue the response to your Bug may be delayed, plus they may not correctly interpret what the issue actually is.
Some more helpful hints:
- If the Bug is animal related, type out the GAN. This allows for quick cut and paste for support, without the chance of mistyping it.
- If you have Parent/Child institution relationship, reference which institution the problem is occurring in.
- If dates are part of your Bug, write the month and year out. 03/03/99 could be anything from 7 March 1899 (yes, we do have records going back that far!) to 3 July 1999.
- Support will ask to reset your Password so they can see ZIMS as you see it. When they are finished you can reset it as desired.
- Include what Browser you are using
- When support lets you know that the Bug is fixed check ZIMS and let them know your findings. They cannot close the issue otherwise.
Always reply to the original issue if you have questions, do not submit a new issue. Remember! If the Bug cannot be replicated it cannot be fixed.
Submitting a Data Standard Term
There are times when Users find they need a new term added to a Data Standard drop down list. This can also be submitted to support@species360.org . You will need to provide the following information:
- The title of the data entry screen. (example: Add Logical Identifier)
- The title of the field for the Data Standard. (example: Identifier Type)
- The Term you want added.
- A definition of the term. It slows down the process if we have to go back to you for a definition. It also makes sure that we are interpreting your request correctly.
- An idea of how often it would be used by yourself or others
- Support will let you know if it was implemented or rejected. If implemented, check ZIMS and let support know that it is there as they cannot Close the issue otherwise.
Getting Help for a Data Fix
A Data Fix is something that requires Species360 to fix your data, you cannot do it yourself. Some examples of Data Fixes are:
- Records need to be split or copied. This involves moving information from one record into another. This can be because you have one record for two different animals or you have mixed up the records.
- Records need to be merged. This happens when you have two records for the same animal/group. See below for how to request a merge.
- Pending Transaction Loops can happen when there is a record in your Pending Transactions in My Transactions that is blocking you from saving the record.
Contact support for a Data Fix. Support@Species360.org
Requesting a Merge
When you have two records in the ZIMS database and there should be only one you can request the records be merged. A common cause of this is if you created a new accession for an animal that was already in the database. Another example is you may have split the same animal out of a group more than once but created a new record for it each time.
If another institution(s) is involved with records that need to be merged, confirmation from all involved is usually required. However, if the following information matches, there is no need for confirmation by another institution:
- Taxonomy
- Date of Birth/Hatch
- Sex
-
At least one of the following
- House Name
- Studbook Number
- Transponder
When requesting a merge remember to include both GANs. Do not request a merge using a Local ID. Usually the original GAN, or that of the first holder, is kept. The other GAN is redirected to the retained record as an Old Accession Number identifier.
Support will let you know when the records have been merged. Remember to check ZIMS and let them know that the records were merged correctly so they can Close the issue.
Requesting Tests
If there is a test that is not currently available in ZIMS you cannot add it yourself, you will need to request that it be added. Use the Help Menu to get the Global Test Request form. This is a Word document that you can fill in and submit to support. It contains some links to help make sure you have completed the form accurately. Support will let you know if the Test is added.
Have a Great Idea?
ZIMS Users often have great ideas about how to improve the functionality of ZIMS. This may be to capture more information or to improve the work flow to save time. These ideas are called Enhancements. You can submit Enhancement suggestions by going to Start > Suggest Features or selecting the “Suggest Features” box on the right hand side of your main ZIMS dashboard. This will open an application called Receptive. Here you can make suggestions and vote on suggestions already submitted. Remember to search before submitting a suggestion as it may already be captured and you can simply vote on it. The more votes a suggestion has, the higher up on the list it will go for possible development.
Working with Someone Other Than Your Regular Support Representative
There may be times when you will work with someone who is not your regular support representative. The support staff works to keep issues moving even when your regular representative is out of the office so there may be times when a new issue gets assigned to someone else, or an issue you have been working on gets transferred to another person. When working with someone who is not your regular person, put “Attention: Name of not your support person” in the subject line. Also include the issue number in the subject line. Be especially specific. Do not say “Been playing with that thing from last week and this is happening now.” Provide details so the new temporary representative can get up to speed, or your permanent representative can get updated when they return.
Revised 5 March 2025