Kerika: Frequently Asked Questions

How much does Kerika cost?
Anyone with a .edu email address (students, professors and researchers) can use the software free. We also offer Kerika free to high schools; if you don't have a .edu email address, please contact us. Professional users can buy a single month's subscription for just US$ 9.95. If you buy between 2 and 50 months subscription (e.g. to set up a small team for a small project), the cost drops to $7.95 per month, and if you buy more than 50 subscriptions at a time the cost drops to $6.95 per subscription month.

Can I cancel my subscription and get a refund?
You can get refunds for any unused subscription months: for example, if you buy 6 subscription months and decide to cancel during the fourth month, you will get a refund for 2 subscription months since they were unused. A subscription gets used as soon as you go online with Kerika during the month; it doesn't matter how long you were online. So if you went online at all during a particular month, you won't get a refund for that month, but you can for any future months since these are entirely unused.

Can I let my subscription lapse and then renew it later?
Yes: if your subscription lapses you can continue to use the software, and even download newer versions, but you won't be able to go online which means you won't be able to send or receive any updates from your former team mates. You can renew a lapsed subscription at any time and then you will be able to go online again.

Can I access my Kerika account from two different computers?
Kerika works on a peer-to-peer model, which is different from hosted services. The main difference to keep in mind is that your Kerika files are stored locally, right on your computer – not on a server at Kerika.com. So you cannot access your Kerika files from different computers just by installing Kerika on different computers and trying to go online with the same user ID. If you need to regularly use two different computers, e.g. a desktop and a laptop, Kerika makes it easy to synchronize your computers. You can, of course, access your billing information from any computer, using any browser.

Installation & Setup

Why didn't I get a confirmation email after I signed up as a new user?
Check your email spam filters: since the confirmation email from Kerika contains a link to a Web page, the email might get flagged by your spam filters as junk mail or a phishing scam. If you can't find it, login and request a new confirmation email.

I forgot my License Key, how can I find it?
Check your Account Page.

Can I share my License Key?
No, never, nada, fuggedaboutit. If you share your License Key, other users will be able to impersonate you online and capture messages and files that were meant for you. Your License Key uniquely identifies you to Kerika and other Kerika users, and you should never let someone else get hold of it or your data could get stolen. We are not kidding.

Privacy & Security

Does Kerika use encryption for my credit card information?
Yes, when you connect to your Account Page with your browser, it is automatically done using a secure (SSL) connection.

Does Kerika store my credit card information?
No: that's why you are asked for your credit card or PayPal information each time you make a purchase. We figure you are better off if we don't store your credit card information.

If I use the public Storage Server, can anyone read my files?
It's possible (theoretically): any Kerika employee, or any employee from our Internet Service Provider (ISP) could read files that are being held for your absent team members. In practice, of course, we don't do any such thing for two good reasons: (a) we value your privacy, and (b) we are not in the advertising business so we have no need to see what you are doing!

If I use a Private Storage Server, can anyone read my files?
You would be working within a ring of trust consisting of your own computer, your team members' computers, and your Private Server. If you protect your Private Server the same way as you would protect any of your computers, outsiders should not be able to access your files.

What information about me is sent to other Kerika users?
Your Internet Protocol (IP) address: this helps other users connect to your computer so that you can directly send files to each other without going through Kerika. Note: your IP address is not actually shown to other users; it is made available to the Kerika application running on their computer. This happens every time you come online, since you could have a different IP address each time you come online if you happen to be travelling.

What information about me is sent to Kerika, Inc.?
Your Internet Protocol (IP) address and your user ID. We use the user ID to verify your subscription status (i.e. make sure you are a current subscriber), and we use your IP address to help other Kerika users connect to you while you are online.

Networking

Can I use Kerika if I am behind a corporate firewall?
Yes, but the performance of the system will be less good because you will be going through our Relay Server. If you are behind a firewall, your computer cannot communicate directly with other Kerika users who may be online. In such cases your computer connects to our Relay Server, using port 80 on your computer, and the Relay Server acts as a middleman to help you send and receive messages, files and updates from other Kerika users who are online.

Project Teams

How can I remove someone from a project team?
Open the Sidebar; select the Project Team Pane; select the person you want to remove; press the Delete key on your keyboard.

If I remove someone from a project team, what happens to the files and stuff that I had previously sent them?
They will continue to have access to the old project materials, since they have local copies on their computers, but they won't get any updates once they are no longer on the project team.

If I get kicked off a project team, will I lose the files that I used to have for that project?
No: we don't delete anything that's on your computer. You will find that you are now the Owner of the project, and that there isn't anyone else on the team any longer – at least from your perspective.

What happens if I kick someone off a project and then add them back later?
When you kick someone of a project they become the Owner of their local copies of the project files. If you add them back to the project they get a fresh set of project files from you, just as if they were a new user who had just joined the team. This means that they will have two Projects with identical names: one in which they are the Owner (and there isn't anyone else on the project team), and another where you are the Owner and they are part of your team. In this situation you should generally advice the person you kicked off (and back onto) the project team to get rid of the duplicate copy where he/she is the Owner, so that they don't get confused.

Platforms

What sort of computer do I need to run Kerika?
A Mac, Windows PC or Linux computer with Java version 1.5 (or later) installed.

Does Kerika run on versions of Mac OSX that are older than version 10.4?
No: Apple doesn't provide updates to the Java environment on Macs that are running old versions of OSX, and Kerika needs version 1.5 (or later) of the Java Runtime Environment.

Is Kerika a Universal Binary for Macs?
Yes.

Does Kerika run on Vista?
Probably, but we haven't had a chance to test it since we don't have a Vista computer at hand. Let us know if you find it works OK. Or not.

Does Kerika run on Solaris, BSD UNIX, or other UNIX versions?
Very likely the Linux version will work on these platforms as well, but we don't have access to machines running these operating systems so we can't support you at all if you want to try to run Kerika on a UNIX box.

Updates, Backups & Open-Source

How will I know if there is a new version available?
Starting with verison 1.2, Kerika automatically checks for software updates each time you start it up.

Do I need to do any backups before I upgrade my Kerika software?
No: your data files (and user information) are stored separately from the Kerika program files. When you install and start a new version of Kerika on your computer, it will automatically pick up your old user information, project information and files.

If I wanted to do backups of my computer, which files should I backup on my Mac or Linux computer?
In your home directory you will find a folder called Kerika. This is the folder that contains all your user information and your Kerika files. You should back up this folder whenever you do your regular Mac or Linux backups.

If I wanted to do backups of my computer, which files should I backup on my Windows PC?
Go to your Documents and Settings folder: normally this has a path like C:\Documents and Settings\User_Name where User_Name is your Windows's user name. (Note: we are talking about your Windows' user name here; not your Kerika user ID). In this folder you will find a folder called Kerika which contains all your user information and your Kerika files. You should back up this folder whenever you do your regular PC backups.

Is your software open-source?
No: it is proprietary and copyrighted, so please don't try to reverse-engineer it or modify it in any way. That would be a violation of our End-User License Agreement which you agreed to when you installed the software, and it would also be a violation of copyright laws in the U.S. and abroad.

Document Management

If I add some files to a project (or an Idea Page), what happens to my original files?
Nothing: they stay right where they were. Kerika only keeps pointers (links, shortcuts) to files that you add to Idea Pages, it doesn't actually move any files on your computer. We did this for your peace of mind: if you try out Kerika and then decide not to use it any more, none of your files will go missing because Kerika never moved them in the first place!

If I delete a file from my computer that was part of a project or Idea Page, what happens in Kerika?
You will end up with a dead link on your Idea Pages where you had been using that document. Dead links are shown with a red, italicized font. Unless you deleted the file accidentally, and plan to restore it from your computer's Trash (Mac) or Recycle Bin (Windows), we recommend you delete these dead links – just select them with your mouse and press the Delete key on your keyboard.

If I delete a file from an Idea Page, what happens to the original file that was on my computer?
Nothing at all: Kerika just gets rid of the link (pointer) it was keeping to the file. Your original file stays where it was all the time.

If Kerika is keeping track multiple versions of my documents, where are all these files kept?
The Kerika software keeps all these files right on your own computer, but it does so in a separate set of directories that we create. The location of these directories depends upon the kind of computer you are using (Mac, Windows). We don't publicize these directories because we don't want you to inadvertently move a file around, which could really confuse our application into thinking some versions have gone missing.

When I add a Note to a document, does that modify the document?
No: the Notes are tracked separately so your documents don't get messed up in any way.

Future Versions

What happened to the Tasks Pane; it's not in Version 1.1 anymore?
We just weren't very happy with the design of the Tasks Pane as it had been evolving all the way up to version 0.9.7 (the last version before the current version 1.1): it wasn't very elegant and kind of clashed with the rest of the UI. We decided to take it out for now and rework it, which could mean we provide the same functionality as we had before, but in a different way. One idea we are exploring is to enhance the Item Info Pane in the Sidebar since it already tracks some task-like information such as the start and end-dates for items on Idea Pages.

What happened to the Pages in Sidebar view; it's not in version 1.1 anymore?
We changed a lot of things in the guts of Kerika when we went from version 0.9.7 to version 1.1., mainly to do with the way access permissions were handled for projects. Some of these changes broke the old Pages in Sidebar view, which was very unfortunate so we are definitely going to bring that feature back in a future release, just as soon as we get it working well again. Sorry.

What are some of your future plans for the software?

A simpler implementation of Notifications.

An easy way to tell if your document and project updates didn't get through to some of your team members, and an easy way to resend these updates.

Wider, easier access to the Private Server.

Easier mechanism for users to connect from behind corporate firewalls.

Better support for Linux users.

Private Storage Servers

How can I get hold of this?
We are still testing the Private Servers so we haven't made them available to the general public in the same way as the basic Kerika application, but if you are interested in setting up a Private Server please contact us at info@kerika.com. You need to provide a valid email address that will be used as the ID of your Private Server.

What's involved in setting up a Private Server?
This is even easier and faster than setting yourself up as a Kerika user: it takes just a couple of minutes to download the software and install it. Check out the instructions for setting up a Private Server. (Note this link will open a PDF document in a separate browser window/tab.)

What sort of computer do I need to run my own Private Server?
Any Mac or Windows with a fixed IP address. Make sure the computer's power management is not set to make it go to sleep due to inactivity: a sleeping server is a useless server!

What do you charge for a Private Storage Server?
Nothing. We are offering Private Servers free to Kerika subscribers. If you are interested in setting up your own Private Server, please contact us.