For assistance with preparing your narrative and budget detail, please contact the program director for your grant category listed in the Guidelines. You can also view the Guidelines from the 'General Funding Policies and Guidelines' button on the left menu bar.

If you can not resolve a problem in navigating our online grants management system from these FAQs, please read the tech tips for AGO or contact:
Kathryn Caler
(919) 807-6514
kathryn.caler@ncdcr.gov.

1. Username and Password Problems
2. Opening a Saved Form Problems
3. Data Entry Tips & Tricks
4. PDF/Summary Problems
5. Reporting Errors

Username and Password Problems

• What if I forget my password or login ID?

  If you forget your password or Login ID, type in your email address in the box below the Login and click Remind Me. If your email address is found in the AGO database, you will receive your login ID and password via email.

  If you fail to find out your login ID and password, please contact the North Carolina Arts Council

• How do I change my password?

  When you log in the AGO system, you will be on the Home screen. On the left menu bar there is an 'Edit Profile' button. Clicking on the Edit Profile button will lead you to your Profile page. You can change your password and other Profile information here. Please don't forget to click the 'Update' button to save your changes.

• What is the Profile?

  There is an 'Edit Profile' link on the left menu bar. Use this page to edit your account's contact information. This information appears in new applications when they are created. This is the main record for your organization. The email address you provide in the User Profile is the main email address to which all communication about AGO will be sent. The Account Profile page allows you to change your contact information. (name, address, phone. etc.)

  In the Profile, the 'Update' button must be clicked to save your changes.

Opening a Saved Form Problems

When you have created a new form, even if you don't enter anything into the form but only look at the screens or print a PDF of the blank form, AGO will save that form. The next time you Login to AGO, choose the Edit link for the form you have started instead of the Start Application link.

Data Entry Tips & Tricks

• My numbers disappear when I enter them.

  AGO is designed to ensure that fields requiring numbers zero out if non-numeric characters are entered into them. The only exception to this is "-" (used for negative numbers). Commas are removed automatically; an entry with any other non-numeric character (including spaces!) will be zeroed out.

• The date/phone/zip code field won't let me enter my data.

  Certain fields require you to enter data in a particular format. If you fail to match that format, the content for that field will disappear. Requested formats may be found next to the label for that field and might look something like this:

  Phone (format: 800-555-1212)
  
  The above field will not allow you to enter data that does not match the format indicated. This is to ensure data consistency for the agency. If you've tried entering data in the requested format and it still refuses to display, then you may be including extra spaces in front of, after or within the data. Formatted data may not include any spaces. If the data you wish to enter cannot match the format requested, you need to contact the North Carolina Arts Council. If you've double-checked that the data meets the requested format and it still will not allow you to save, then you've likely found an error. Please see Reporting Errors below.
  
  
• My data refuses to save.

  Make sure that you the Save Work button at the bottom of each screen before you leave a screen. If you use the back button on your browser or Log Out before you have gone to another page, the data you entered will not be saved.

  If you entered data once and, upon returning to the page, discover that data is missing or has not been updated, there are a few steps you can take:

  • Use the back button on your browser until you see the data entry page with the correct data in it. Try submitting the data again. Make sure to use the Save Work button at the bottom of the screen or the Next Section arrow to move to a new page. This submits your data.

  • Right-click (for Mac users: hold down the control key and click) the bottom, data-entry portion of the screen and select Refresh/Reload. Sometimes your browser will save a copy of a web page on your hard drive. This is called "caching" and is a method used to make more efficient use of the web. Refreshing the page forces the browser to contact the AGO server and retrieve the latest version of your data. You can also use the Refresh/Reload button at the top of your browser window.
    
    
  • Open the PDF Summary [View] version of your application. If the correct data appears in the summary, then the problem is definitely a caching one. Try closing all open browser windows, opening a new browser and returning to the page in question.
    
    
  • If your data still does not appear, then you've likely found an error in AGO. See Reporting Errors below.
    
    
• The form does not accept the data I enter.

  Please note that some organizations with firewall software on their computers or networks have reported difficulty accessing AGO. You will likely need to change the PRIVACY settings on your firewall software, adding the AGO web site to your list of sites with special access permissions. The most important permissions to allow are COOKIES, REFERER, BROWSER and EMAIL. If you have questions regarding how to change your PRIVACY settings, contact your firewall software provider. If you are on a network, speak with your network administrator.

  If your browser does not accept COOKIES, you will have difficulties accessing the AGO using your log in and password. Please make sure that your browser accepts cookies, following this process.

  The recommended browser for AGO is Mozilla Firefox. To turn on cookies in Firefox:

  1. At the top of the Firefox window click on the Tools menu, and select Options...Preferences....
  2. Select the Privacy panel.
  3. Make sure Accept cookies from sites is selected.
  4. Click Exceptions....
  5. Make sure the site you're trying to access isn't listed. * If it is listed, click on its entry, then click Remove Site.

  For Microsoft Internet Explorer:

  1. Go to "Tools" -> "Internet Options" on the menu at the top of the window.
  2. Click on the "Privacy" tab on the "Internet Options" window that opens.
  3. Click on the "Advanced" button under the "Privacy" tab.
  4. In the "Cookies" section make sure that the "Accept" radio button is selected under both First-party and Third-party Cookies.
  5. Then, click "OK" twice to go exit the "Internet Options" window.

  For Netscape:

  1. Go to "Edit" -> "Preference" on the menu at the top of the window.
  2. Click "Cookies" under "Privacy & Security" menu in the Preference.
  3. Make sure that either "Enable cookies based on privacy settings" or "Enable all cookies" is checked.
  4. Click "OK" and exit.

PDF/Summary Problems

• When I try to view my summary, all I see is a broken link.

  If this is the case, it's likely you don't have Adobe Acrobat installed. Adobe Acrobat Reader is a piece of software that allows you to view and print PDFs (Portable Document Formats) on your computer. You may download it for free from Adobe's website. Once installed, you will be able to view your summary without error. For more tips on using Acrobat, see our PDF help page. Adobe Acrobat Reader also provides troubleshooting at Adobe Acrobat Reader Support

• When I view my PDF, the data I entered doesn't display.

  If you're using a Macintosh, this is probably due to your operating system. OS X comes with a native PDF reader. Your browser is likely using this PDF reader to display your summary. Unfortunately, this reader doesn't recognize the tool we use to fill the PDF with data. If you open the same PDF using Adobe Acrobat Reader, however, you'll find that the data does exist within the PDF.

• When I try to print my PDF, only funny characters print.

  Please read the PDF help page. Adobe Acrobat Reader also provides troubleshooting at Adobe Acrobat Reader Support.

Reporting Errors

• What is considered an error?

  This is a question best answered by listing what we do and do not consider errors:

  These are considered errors:

  • "This page cannot be displayed."
  • Text prints to the window without a "Proceed to:" navigation box at the bottom of the page.
  • The browser warns you that errors exist on the page that may cause it to function incorrectly.
  • Budgets and other calculated fields fail to total correctly (e.g., your Total Income obviously doesn't match the entries contributing to it).
  • The browser stops working and nothing appears on the page.
  • Pages fail to save data.
  • Fields requesting a particular format report an error even when the correct format is used.
  • At any time you see a message that looks like this:
    
    Microsoft VBScript runtime error '800a000d'
    
    Type mismatch: 'rstApp'
    
    /grant_menu.asp, line 86
    
    

  These are not considered errors:

  • Pages take a very long time to load. This is usually due to network traffic.
  • The browser displays "Server cannot be found." This is also most likely due to network traffic.
    
    
• What should I do when I find an error?

  Contact the North Carolina Arts Council by email or call 919-807-6514 for assistance.