Installing the add-in

Make sure that you have first downloaded GoCore and correctly set up Excel as described in the Getting started section.

Now, with Excel open, click on the Tools menu and select the Add-Ins option. The Add-Ins window appears listing available and installed Excel add-ins. Unless you have used a previous version of GoCore, you will not see GoCore in this list.

Press the Browse button and find the place where you saved the GoCore add-in onto your computer. Select the file and press OK. If you have previously installed a version of GoCore into Excel, you might be warned that an add-in called GoCore already exists, and you will be given the option of replacing it. If this occurs, choose to replace the old version by pressing Yes.

You should now be able to see the GoCore add-in in the list with a tick in its checkbox. This means that Excel has recognized the add-in and you can press the OK button to complete the installation.

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Installation wizard

At this point the installation wizard is launched. Pressing the Install button will begin the installation process, whilst pressing the Remove button removes the add-in from Excel. The Help button links to this web page, so that you can access more detailed instructions at any point, if necessary. If at any time you cancel the wizard by, for example, pressing the window's X button, the add-in will be removed from Excel.

After pressing the Install button, the license agreement appears. Read through the agreement and, if you are satisfied with the terms, press the Accept button. If you choose not to accept to accept the license agreement by, for example, pressing Reject, the add-in will be removed from Excel.

Next, GoCore asks whether you wish to place all its tools in a separate GoCore menu. If you select Yes, then a new menu called GoCore will be added to Excel's main menu bar between the Data and Window menus. This is by far the easiest way to use GoCore and highly recommended, because you can see immediately what functions are available. However, some users do not like to have additional menus added to the main menu bar, and prefer GoCore to "blend in" with Excel's existing interface. Thus, if you select No, the GoCore tools will be placed in Excel's File, Tools and Help menus, as appropriate.

GoCore tries to allow flexibility for advanced bioinformaticians, whilst providing a simple interface for ordinary users. One example of this is in the sequence alignment process. Whilst some bioinformaticians will wish to choose their alignment algorithm on a case-by-case basis, for most people the standard phylogenetic alignment will be suitable. Thus, GoCore asks whether it can assume you will always want to use phylogenetic alignment and, if so, it will perform alignments automatically with default settings.

Finally, the installation wizard gives you the option of creating a bioinformatics workbook straight away. If you choose not to, you can choose the New bioinformatics workbook option from Excel's File or GoCore menu (depending where you chose GoCore functions to be placed). When you press the Finish button, installation is complete, and GoCore will remain a part of Excel until you uninstall it.

If this is the first time you have installed this version of GoCore on your computer, you will now be asked to register the software.

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Registration

Until you have registered GoCore, a reminder will appear every time you start Excel. You can skip the reminder without registering by pressing the Register later button. However, until you have registered the splash screen makes it impossible to open Excel spreadsheets by simply clicking on them. Instead you must first open Excel, choose to Register later, and then open the required workbook. When you register, the reminder will be removed, you will recieve a password to access GoCore's source code, and you will be prioritized when requesting technical support.

Registration is quick and free, so it recommended that you do so, by pressing the Register now for free! button.

If you choose to register, you must fill out a short form. The only compulsory information to provide is your title and surname (e.g. Doc. Ritvos), your email address, the name of your company or institution, your country, and information about where you heard of GoCore. The registration also automatically informs us of your operating system (e.g. Windows XP), Excel version and GoCore version. The information gathered will not be passed on to any third party, but will be used to identify the user base, improve the software and enhance technical support. In this regard, any additional information you are willing to provide beyond the compulsory fields is very welcome.

When you have filled in the form, press the Submit registration button. GoCore will first warn you that it is going to attempt to send the registration by email. When you press OK, your email software will probably then warn you that an email sending attempt is being made. An example of how this looks when Microsoft Outlook is installed is shown in the picture on the left. In this case, you must wait until the Yes button is enabled, and then press it. The registration will then be sent the next email is "sent and received".

Not all email software is supported by GoCore. In this case, it may be necessary to send the registration by email, fax or post. If this is necessary, GoCore will create an Excel workbook with your registration details and provide you with addresses and a fax number. You can either print the workbook and post or fax it, or send the workbook as an attachment in an email.

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Entering the license key

Once you have registered, you will be sent a license key by email (usually within 1-3 days). GoCore will still request the license key each time you start Excel, until you enter the number. After this, registration is complete and the software source code can be unlocked. If you are not sent a license key within a full week, it is possible that the email-based registration has failed. In this case, press the Obtain license key button and GoCore will produce a workbook with the registration details to be sent by post, email or fax, as described above.

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