Localize Workbook cases for your country

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The Workbook contains dozens of case studies and exercises, showing you how to use PlanPlus Planit in a way that is localized to your country. The Workbook is designed to be easily adapted to illustrate the financial planning parameters of many different countries at the same time by using 'templates'. To add information for your country, you don't need to worry about all of the technical jargon of templates, but if you follow the steps below, you'll see that its quite easy to take the backbone of the workbook, and make it suitable to where you are.


Contents

Copying the Case and Changing Your Variables

Go to the page of the workbook case study or exercise you want to adapt for your country. You can check to make sure there is now existing information for your country by clicking the appropriate "show" buttons on the right-hand side.

To start off, on the very top of the page, you will see an "edit" tab. (This is not with the main content but above it with the other usual Planipedia tabs). This will take you to a page that may look a bit intimidating, but is really quite straight forward: as you can see there are groups of lines, usually starting with |Country Workbook Template={{Workbook Case Study Template.... There will be several lines after this with |Value=##. Copy one set of lines, from the first "|Country Workbook Template" to the last "###}}".

Press Enter two times after the data you just copied, so that there are three blank lines between one country's set of information and the next. On this second line, paste the data you just copied. (Check out the image below).

File:Copy Workbook Case Study.jpg

Once you have copied your data, change the values so they are appropriate for your country. The first thing will be to change "|Country Workbook Template" so that country is the name of your country, exactly as it was shown on the expanding list. For example, you should write United States of America, as it was seen on the expanding country list, as opposed to say U.S.A.

From there you just change the described values so they are appropriate for your country. Maybe inflation should be higher, or the cost of a car lower, or the names slightly different etc. Just ensuring the equals sign and the description before it are not changed (don't worry, they won't show up anyways).

File:Customize Workbook Data.jpg

Now just review your info, ensure there is one space between the data sets for different countries, click Save and voila! If you expand the info under your country you'll see a whole workbook case just for you.

CALC Values

When editing a workbook case study and changing the values for your country, look out for value descriptions that start with CALC. (For example, CALC Future Value=___). This means that you should be calculating the value according to the steps outlined in the case study, and not just entering a random figure, otherwise the case won't make sense. Just follow the steps outlined by the case template, using the values you are entering, to get the correct answer to put in this field.

For example, for CALC Future Value, you should use the Present and Future Values Calculator, entering in the information according to the case study outline and the Present Value and Interest Rate for your country case study and then enter the Future Value as was calculated on the calculator.

Image Files

When the value on the left says "___ Image File", and after the equals sign there is something like [[File:___.jpg]], you can enter in a screen shot that is specific to your country. As can be seen in the workbook cases of other countries, these screen shots are usually just an image of the completed screen which the workbook is describing.

All you need to do is press screen shot on your keyboard as you are viewing a completed version of the screen described. The values entered in this screen should be the values used for your country's case study. Once you have the screen shot, you can paste it in a picture editing software (Paint may work), crop it, and save it as a .jpg, .png or .gif file. Then following the instructions for Uploading Images. Back on the edit screen of the workbook case, change the file name to be the file name for the image you just uploaded.

Alternatively, you can use the image copied from another country, it just means it will not match exactly with the country-specific data you entered for the case description and instructions.

If Your Country isn't on the List

If your country isn't currently on the expanding country table, you can quickly add it to all tables for the workbook. Go to Template:Workbook Collapsing Countries and click the main edit tab at the top. Scroll down until you find the heading for your continent.

When under your continent, copy a section (about five lines) for another country, and paste it under continent heading. (See the image below). Ensure there is one empty line above and below the country information you just pasted.

Now there are four items you will need to change: the country name near the bottom "{{{Country Workbook Template}}}" and > File:... Country File:...< near the middle of the section. You will also notice two file names around the country name. These are flag images. You can either upload the flag images for your country according to Upload Files and name the file appropriately in this screen (leaving the "|30px" in place, or you can just delete the file references so no flag appears.

File:Collapsing Country Instructions.jpg

Click Save. Now your country should appear in all country table lists for the workbook.

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