It can be incredibly frustrating to spend time preparing a report only to encounter issues when distributing it. In this article, we'll address some of the common issues you may face when publishing and sending reports, along with their solutions.

Pictures/Text Running off Edge of Page

Issue: Pictures or text in your report extend beyond the page's boundaries.

Possible Causes and Solutions:

1. Oversized Pictures: If there is a very large picture affecting the entire printout, follow these steps:

   • Locate the oversized picture and resize it.
   • Use the Edit All Photos tool to make necessary adjustments.
   • Preview the report to ensure the issue is resolved.

2. Comments with Extra Spaces: If there are comments with excessive spaces at the end, do the following:

   • Open the report and click "Print" in the toolbar.
   • Identify comments with extra spaces in the Print Preview.
   • Remove the extra spaces within those comments.
   • Preview the report again to verify the problem is fixed.

3. Display Settings Compatibility: Ensure your computer's display settings are compatible with Desktop Report Writer by following these steps:

   • Find the HomeGauge Icon on your Computer Desktop.
   • Right-click and choose Properties.
     
   • Click on the Compatibility tab.
   • Click Change high DPI settings.
     
   • Choose Override high DPI scaling behavior and select System.
     
   • Click OK and then Apply on the HomeGauge5 Properties window.

The Report/Main Body Missing from the Report

Issue: The main body of the report is missing.

Possible Causes and Solutions:

1. Document Settings: Check your Print Document Settings to ensure the Report section is included. If not, follow the instructions for Editing an Existing Document Setting section in the article Desktop Report Writer: Add, Edit, or Delete Print or Upload Document Settings

2. HomeGauge Data Folder Location:

   • Apple Mac Users: follow the instructions in the article Desktop Report Writer: Installing on a Mac Computer
   • Windows Users: Sometimes, this issue is caused by a special character (such as an apostrophe) in your Windows User Account name. Move your HomeGauge folder to your C: drive by following the directions in this article Desktop Report Writer: Locating and Changing Data Folder Location.

Summary Missing from Report

Issue: The summary section is missing from your report.

Possible Causes and Solutions:

1. Document Settings: Confirm that your Print Document Settings include the Summary section. If not, follow the instructions for Editing an Existing Document Setting section in the article Desktop Report Writer: Add, Edit, or Delete Print or Upload Document Settings

2. Template Compatibility: Incompatibility between an older template and a newer HomeGauge version may cause this issue. Try reinstalling HomeGauge 5 by following the instructions in Desktop Report Writer: Download, Install, and Activate

White Space or Blank/Empty Pages Between Inspection Items

Issue: There are blank or empty pages between inspection items.

Solution: Follow the instructions in the article Desktop Report Writer: PDF Space Between Pages

Uploading: Creating Zip Error or Missing File Error

Possible Causes and Solutions:

1. Corrupt or Missing Photo/Video Files:

   1. Select the Preview button to view the report
   2. Scroll through the report and look for any instance where you see an empty rectangle in the place of a photo or video.
      
   3. Take note of the inspection item number for reference. Go through your entire report and look for any more missing photos or videos.
   4. Close the preview.
   5. Locate that inspection item, and observe how the software indicates there's an image there, but none can be seen.
      
   6. Left-click inside of that area, and select Delete Picture.
      
   7. Do the same for any other missing photos or videos.
   8. Re-attempt the upload once you've deleted all the missing photos/videos from your report.

   If you need to recover corrupted photos, click Report > View Photo Locker in the top menu. See if that photo exists in that folder. If the report was done on the Companion, check to see if that photo or video shows correctly there. If it does, transfer the report again to see if the corrupted media transfers correctly.

2. Backup Program Interference: Cloud backup programs like Carbonite, Dropbox, or OneDrive can interfere with HomeGauge. Disable them during uploads or schedule backups for non-working hours.

3. PDF Form Issue:

   1. Add a new form to the report (click here for instructions).
   2. Click Remove Picture next to each picture placeholder.
   3. Click Set Defaults from Current.
   4. Continue to fill out this form until it is complete.
   5. Remove any other copies of this form from the report.
   6. Cause: on a previous report, the Set Defaults From Current button has been pressed when an image has already been added. Now, the form thinks an image should be included in this report when it has not.

4. Report Contains Special Characters:

   1. Check the Report ID field for any special characters (the 1/2 symbol, any brackets, or any other symbol that is not a regular number, letter, or general punctuation). If you find and remove a special character, try to upload it. If not, continue.
   2. Check the Address for any special characters. If you find and remove a special character, try to upload it. If not, continue.
   3. Check each comment, picture label, extra info field, and any other field you can type into for special characters. If no special characters are found, contact HomeGauge Support.

Uploaded Reports: Photos Missing

Issue: If your Uploaded Report shows blank or broken links where your pictures should be you likely have an incompatible Attachment in your Report.

This can happen if there is an attachment with invalid characters, such as a PDF with MS Word quotations, apostrophes or hyphens, in the report directory.

Solution:

1. Open HomeGauge Software
2. Open Report with broken pictures
3. Navigate to Misc > Attachments
   
   
4. Find and remove the Attachment that used Windows Characters in the Document Name
   
   Note: Windows characters like quotations, apostrophes or hyphens can not be read by HomeGauge. In the example above the first two attachments were saved as Test's.docx and Test's.pdf. The third was saved by copying Test's on test's from inside of Microsoft Word and then when prompted to Save as pasting the name in. You might be able to notice by clicking on the picture above that the first two attachments apostrophes are slightly different than the one used in the third attachment.
5. Navigate to wherever that Document was saved on your computer and Right click to Re-name
   
   
6. Re-name without any copying and pasting from Microsoft Word
7. Go back to HomeGauge and re-add the document to Attachments
8. Re-upload the Report 

Printing: Colors Do Not Show, and Pictures Are All on the Left

Issue: Printing-related problems like colors not displaying and pictures all on the left side.

1. On your computer, search for regedit.exe (on Windows 7, 8, and 10, click the Start button to find a search bar).
2. Once regedit opens up, on the left column, click HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT and then on .css
3. On the right column, double-click Content Type.
4. In the dialog box, change value data to text/css.
5. Click OK and exit the Registry Editor.

Uploading or Accessing Dashboard: Nothing Happens

Possible Causes and Solutions:

1. No Internet Connection: Ensure your computer is connected to the internet and troubleshoot as needed.

2. Internet Explorer Settings:

   1. Open Internet Explorer.
   2. Click Tools > Internet Options.
   3. Click the Advanced tab.
   4. Scroll down until you reach the Security heading.
   5. Uncheck the box next to Check for server certificate revocation.
   6. Restart your computer, then try to upload again.

Customer Can't Log In

Solution: Please visit the article Troubleshooting: Login & Access Issues

Customer Did Not Receive Notification

Possible Causes and Solutions:

1. Incorrect Email Address: Change the customer's email on your Dashboard if it was entered incorrectly.

2. Email Marked as Spam: Have customers check their spam or junk folders.

3. Customer's Inbox Full: Advise the customer to delete some old emails.

4. Customer Deleted Notification: Re-send the report notification.

5. Last Resort: Email the customer a PDF report following the instructions in Desktop Report Writer: Upload, Print, or Save a Report.