Follow along is for doing the task, not just reading about it. It opens a small window that stays on top of your other programs, shows one step at a time, and ticks each one off as you go. When you finish, Sopycat keeps a record of who did it and when.
It is useful for training a new starter, for tasks people only do once in a while, and for checklists that need a record, like month-end jobs.
Start Follow along
Library › open a manual › Follow along
Open the manual and click Follow along at the top. You can also open a manual's ⋯ menu in the Library and choose Follow along, or press Ctrl+K and choose it there.
The Follow along window opens. Drag it beside the program you are working in, so you can see both.
Say who is doing it
The first time, Follow along asks Who is doing this?
- Type your name, for example "Maria Lopez".
- Click Start.
Your name goes on the completion record, so a manager can see who did what. Sopycat remembers it in Settings, so you won't be asked every time.
Go through the steps
Each step shows its number, title and instructions. Steps that came from a recording also have a short film of that moment. Other steps show their picture.
- Watch the film or look at the picture. Click Replay to see the film again.
- Do the step in your own program.
- Click Done. Follow along ticks the step and moves to the next.
- On the last step, click Done, finish.
- Tick Auto-play to play each step's film as soon as the step opens.
- If the step has narration, click the play button next to its title to hear it.
- Use the arrows on the film, or the dots at the bottom, to look at other steps without ticking them.
- Click Previous to go back a step.
Skip a step
Sometimes a step doesn't apply, for example when the customer has already been refunded.
- Click Skip.
- Under Why is this step being skipped?, type a short reason.
- Click Skip it.
The reason is saved with the record. If you leave it empty, the record says "No reason given".
Add a note to a step
Each step has a box called Note for the record (optional). Type anything worth keeping, for example "used the new form". Notes appear with the record on the Records page.
See the whole task as a checklist
Click Checklist at the top of the window to see every step in a list. Tick them off in any order, then click Finish and log it. Click One at a time to go back to single steps.
The top of the window also shows how far you've got, for example "3 of 8".
Keys you can use
| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
| →, Space or Enter | Done, go to the next step |
| ← or Backspace | Go back a step |
| R | Play the step's film again |
These work when you aren't typing in a box.
Finish, or stop partway
When every step is done or skipped, the window says All done. Click Close, or Start again to go through it once more.
Every tick is saved as you go. If you close the window partway through, the record shows the task as Stopped, with the steps you did.
Where the record goes
Each time someone goes through a manual, Sopycat keeps a completion record: who did it, when they started and finished, which steps were done or skipped, the reasons and the notes. To see them, open Records in the sidebar. See Track who read and did a manual.
Records are kept in the library folder, on your computer or your shared drive. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Common questions
I typed the wrong name
Your name is kept in Settings, under Your name. Change it there and the next record uses the new name.
Can my manager see my completions?
If your office uses a shared library, anyone using that library can see the records on the Records page. See Share a library with your team.
It says the manual is still being written
Follow along only works once the manual is finished. Try again in a minute. If the manual couldn't be written, open it in Sopycat to try again.
Didn't find it? Search every page, or ask us.