Windows Users

Currently, Broker Brain uses both PDF and HTML forms in our system. This is important for you to know, as your system must be loaded with Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader and set up properly in order to view or edit any of our PDF forms. We are in the process of converting all of our forms to HTML so that Acrobat is no longer needed, but until that time, some user setup is required in Acrobat to ensure that it functions properly. These steps are outlined below.

Important:

• If you plan on using the Broker Brain forms system, be aware that you cannot use Chrome as your browser because Chrome does not interface with Adobe Acrobat at all.

• If you are a Firefox user, you will need to do some set up on both Acrobat and Firefox (both are detailed below).

PDF vs. HTML Forms

You can easily tell the difference between a PDF form and an HTML form by looking at the top and bottom of the document.

The following sections detail how to set up your PC to interface with PDF forms. If you would prefer to view a video on how to set up your system, click here.

Setting up Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader

1. Launch Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader.

2. Click Edit, Preferences, as shown below.

3. The screen below will appear. Click the Internet category (shown in blue).

4. Ensure that there is a check mark in the Display PDF in browser check box. If not, click the check box to add one.

5. Click the OK button to close the screen.

6. Close Acrobat.

Important Information for Windows Internet Explorer Users

If you are using Windows Internet Explorer as your browser, there are a few things you will want to set up to minimize the possibility of errors and warnings coming back from the browser. There are a couple of error messages unique to Explorer that you should be aware of.

First, each time you edit a form you will see a purple bar (shown below) at the top of the Form screen with a note that reads, You cannot save data typed into this form. You may ignore this statement. Because all form data is stored on our server, this statement does not apply to Broker Brain forms.

Second, If you are using Internet Explorer as your Browser, when entering or saving form data you may see a dialog box appear that says, Cannot Save Form Information (shown below). Because Broker Brain stores form information on our server, this warning does not apply to you. To prevent this box from appearing again, click Don't Show Again and close the dialog box.

Third, when you download a form from Broker Brain via Internet Explorer, you may see an error message that reads, Did you notice the Information Bar? This is in reference to the ActiveX security bar that pops up when you attempt to download certain content from Explorer. It notifies you that the information is blocked. Typically, you would click the bar and approve the download. However, with some setup changes to Explorer, you can prevent the warning from appearing:

1. From Windows Explorer, click Tools, then click Internet Options.

2. Click the Security tab (shown in yellow below). From there, click the Trusted Sites option, followed by the Sites button, also shown in yellow.

3. Once you are in the Sites screen, you should see your Broker Brain website listed, as shown below. Click on the Add button to add the domain as a trusted site. Then close the window.

4. From here, go to the Allowed levels for this zone portion of the dialog box and drag the level button (shown in yellow) from Medium to Medium-low. This will change the security level for all your trusted sites. By setting your security level to Medium-low you can avoid having to approve the ActiveX security prompt each time you generate a form.

5. Click the Apply button, then click OK.

Important Information for Firefox Users

If you use Firefox as your browser, then in addition to the Windows Explorer steps above, there is one more step you need to take to ensure that your PDF files will run properly.

1. From Firefox, click on Tools, Options.

2. Click the Applications tab.

3. Note that you have several Adobe related items listed in the Contact Type field. To the right of each Item you will see an “Action” that says Use Adobe Acrobat... Using the drop-down arrow at the top of the Actions column (see red arrow above), set each Adobe item to an action of Use Adobe Acrobat (in Firefox).

4. Click OK.