myPsychTracker
Frequently Asked Questions
If the following questions do not answer your questions please email seanb@psychtracker.com with your question and we'll do our best to provide an answer.
- General Questions
- How do I find my way around on psychTracker Online?
- Is my information safe?
- Why is it free? What's the catch?
- How do I report problems?
- I forgot my password, what do I do?
- Why are the stats and journal reports separate?
- myAccount
- How can I change my personal Information?
- Can you remind me to journal and track my symptoms each day?
- How can I change my user name?
- How can I change my password?
- How do I turn off the reminders?
- Why are the stats and journal reports separate?
- myStats
- How do I record my stats?
- How do I know what a "0" or a "10" is?
- How do I change (delete or add) what symptoms I am tracking?
- Can I add stats if I missed a day?
- Can I change my stat entries if I made a mistake?
- How can I add a nap to my sleep hours?
- myReports
- Can I print a report for my therapist?
- What are "Global Reports"?
- myJournal
- Can I add a journal entry if I missed a day?
- Can I edit old journals?
- Can I journal more than once a day?
- myGroups
- What is a Group?
- How do I create a Group?
- What is a General Group?
- What is a Clinical Group?
- Forums
- How do I create a topic?
- How do I respond to a topic?
- Chat
- How do I chat?
- How do I use a smiley face?
General Questions
How do I find my way around on psychTracker Online?
psychTracker's User Menu includes the following options:
- "My Home Page" - This is your introduction screen, and explains how to utilize the psychTracker Online system.
- "My Statistics" - automatically brings you into the graphical charting function of the Online version, where you can choose which date ranges, and for which symptom you would like to view your history.
- "My Groups" - Groups are support communities within psychTracker that will allow users to find support and share their information with friends. From here, you may view your data as it compares to the group at large. At this point, you cannot view the data of any other specific individual. The usefulness of groups is immense, and this is our largest area of expansion as we move forward.
- "Calendar" - This area allows you to see at a glance how many times you have charted in a given day. By clicking on the date, it gives you a numerical representation of all the data entered that day, as well as showing you your journaling.
- "Add daily stats" - This is the core of the system, and it is where you will enter your charting on a 0 - 10 basis. 0 indicates you have had no problems with the symptom, and 10 means you have had immense problems with the symptom.
- "Add Journal entry" - In this area, you get to free-form write whatever you wish. When combined with the calendar view, it will help you to see cause/effect relationships between evironmental stressors and symptoms.
- "Edit Profile" - Allows you to change previously entered demographic data.
Is my information safe?
Yes, your information is completely safe. You have complete control over your privacy settings and you decide whether or not you want to share your email, stats, and journal with others in one of the Groups.
Why is it free? What's the catch?
psychTracker is free because we believe it can help more people that way. The site is supported by the ads you see at the top, left, and bottom of the screen.
There are three "catches":
- Please don't complain about the ads (unless you are willing to pay for using the service).
- Please track as often as you can, the more you track the more the site can help.
- Please tell everyone you think could benefit from the site about it, you can do this by using our "Tell A Friend" button in the menu above.
How do I report problems?
To report a bug, send an email to bugs@psychtracker.com with the following information:
- Your user name (do not include your password).
- Which Operating System you are using.
- Which Browser you are using.
- A detailed description of the problem including what section or page you were on and what happened.
- And if possible:
- A copy of any error text or odd things you see.
- A screenshot of the page showing the problem.
The more information we have the faster we can try and fix the problem.
I forgot my password, what do I do?
- Under the Login area in the upper left corner of the window is a small "I forgot my password" feature. Click this.
- On the next screen, type in your email address that you registered with and are able to receive email at. Hit Reset and you will receive instructions on resetting your password via mail.
Why are the stats and journal reports separate?
These two reports are separated out because we are respecting the privacy of the consumer to have either their journal or stats private, while sharing the other.
myAccount
How can I change my personal Information?
- Log in to the system and choose "edit profile" from the top bar
- You will be presented with your demographic data. Hit "next" if you do not want to change demographic data, or change the data and then hit "next"
- Then hit "next" on the remaining screens, changing any information you wish to.
- On the last page, review all the information you have input, then click "done".
Can you remind me to journal and track my symptoms each day?
You may receive a reminder email on a daily basis by clicking on "myAccount" then "reminders". By default, daily reminders is "off", but you may turn it on here by clicking the box next to "please send me daily tracking reminders by email.", then clicking the "next" button. This will tell you which you have selected, then you can choose "previous" if it is incorrect, or "done" if it is correct.
How can I change my user name?
This feature is not currently supported, and is planned for a future version.
How can I change my password?
To change your password, go to "myAccounts" and click "change my password". You will then be asked for identifying information, and your new password. If your identifying information matches that which you input when you registered, your password will be changed.
How do I turn off the reminders?
You may turn off the reminder email on a daily basis by clicking on "myAccount" then "reminders". By default, daily reminders is "off", but you may turn it off here if it is on by clicking the box next to "do not send me daily tracking reminders.", then clicking the "next" button. This will tell you which you have selected, then you can choose "previous" if it is incorrect, or "done" if it is correct.
myStats
How do I record my stats?
o Simply click on "myStats" and select the value for each symptom then hit "next" o If you have not recorded stats that day you will be taken to the sleep stats screen where you can record the number of hours and quality of your sleep, click "next" when you are done o Verify your information and click "done" and your stats will be entered in to the databaseHow do I know what a "0" or a "10" is?
- "0" means you had none of that symptom.
- "10" means you had the most of that symptom you have ever had.
How do I change (delete or add) what symptoms I am tracking?
- Log in to the system and choose "edit profile" from the top bar.
- You will be presented with your demographic data. Hit "next" if you do not want to change demographic data, or change the data and then hit "next".
- You will be brought to the disorder screen, where you can add or delete diagnoses. If you do not want to change this, hit "next" or change the information and hit "next".
- You will be brought to the "Symptoms" page. On this page, you can then uncheck any symptom you do not wish to track anymore, and check any symptoms you would like to start tracking. There only 7 "core" and "sleep" symptoms which you cannot unmark. These are tracked by every user.
Can I add stats if I missed a day?
This feature is not currently supported, and is planned for a future version.
Can I change my stat entries if I made a mistake?
This feature is not currently supported, and is planned for a future version.
How can I add a nap to my sleep hours?
We just added this feature and the Answer is pending.myReports
Can I print a report for my therapist?
You can print a report for your therapist in the following manner:
- Select the myReports tab in the lower bar
- Select "statistics reports" underneath this
- On the screen you have the option of how long of a period you would like to have shown on the graph for your statistics. The longest time available is 30 days, while the shortest effective graph is 3 days. You can also choose a report log, journal log, or sleep log
- In When you choose a period of time (daily, weekly, monthly) for your statistics, you will be presented a page with a graphical represention of all symptoms your are tracking
- When you choose report log, you are presented the information from the chosen date range in a numerical table
- If you choose journal log, you will receive a presentation of your journal entries during the specified dates
- If you choose sleep log, you will see a report of hours sleep and quality of sleep.
- On each of these pages is a "print" button, which you can use to print the reports
- Start by clicking on the "myGroups" tab in the lower bar, then choose "create a new group"
- On the next page you start by creating a group name and group description. A short but descriptive entry into both of these fields works best
- You then click the button "user group" to form a general group.
- You will then set the privacy of the group for statistic and journals. There are three levels:
- Private: no member may see another members charting
- Guarded: only the group creator can view other members charting
- Open: All members can see others statistics and journals. This is however limited by each user deciding whether they want their journals, statistics and email to be private or open.
- Group statistic averaging can be turned on or off. If on, comparison graphs can be viewed as to how a particular user is in relation to the group as a whole. If off, no group averaging is available.
- Finally, create a password for the group, and hit "next"
- You then create the criteria for group membership. These are:
- Whether this is a General or Clinical Group.
What are "Global Reports"?
Global reports are graphs that show the average of all users on psychTracker by symptom. You can further break this down to users by country. Global reports are not available if there are not at least 3 people who have charted in a given day.
myJournal
Can I add a journal entry if I missed a day?
This feature is not currently supported, and is planned for a future version.
Can I edit old journals?
This feature is not currently supported, and is planned for a future version.
Can I journal more than once a day?
Yes, you can journal multiple times per day by simply clicking "myJournal" and scrolling to the end of your existing entry. Include a line or something to separate your entries.
We will be allowing multiple separate entries in a future version.
myGroups
What is a Group?
A Group is a way for users to interact and get additional support and understanding from other members.
How do I create a Group?
What is a General Group?
A General (Also called "horizontal" or "consumer") group is one in which the membership of the group is made up of consumers. As noted above, there are a number of privacy preferences that are able to be set, from allowing no other member to view charting and journaling, to allowing charting and journaling to be open to all members of the group. The groups can by invitation only, or open to the public.
What is a Clinical Group?
A Clinical (Also called a "vertical") group is one in which there is a professional who creates the group, and then invites certain people to the group. Unless invited, no one may join. In this group. No person in this group can see any other member in the group. The professional may look at your journal and charting if you allow them to.
Forums
How do I create a topic?
To create a topic in the general forum, choose "myGroups" from the bottom bar, then choose "general group" and this will enter you into the general groups area. From here, click on "new topic" in the upper right corner just above the list of messages. This allows you to begin a new thread.
How do I respond to a topic?
To respond to a topic, enter the general group by clicking on "myGroups" then "general group". You will see a list of topic displayed. After clicking on a specific topic, you may respond to a topic by hitting "post reply", which is on the right hand side, on the same line as the topic name.
Chat
How do I chat?
You enter the chat system by clicking "myGroups", then "General Chat". This will bring you to the chat screen. By looking in the upper right corner, you can see who else is in the chat room. To "speak" to the chat, you enter what you would like to say in the box on the lower left side of the screen, and press "Chat" (to the right of the entry box), which sends your message.
How do I use a smiley face?
To use a smiley face, you click on "smilies" (to the left of the data entry box), and then choose the smiley you would like to use from the box that appears on the upper left of the screen. This will be displayed as a text item in the data entry box, but turns into the appropriate smiley after you hit "chat".