A WHITE PAPER The My Clients & Profits! web server acts as a gateway between your shop's Clients & Profits database (see SERVER below) and any number of users -- whether in the office (your "intranet"), working at home, in a client's conference room, or in a hotel room somewhere on the road.

Setting up My Clients & Profits! is reasonably simple: You'll need a separate Mac or Pentium 4 (or better) PC running WIndows XP, Windows NT, or Windows 2003 which is dedicated to running the My Clients & Profits! web server. The web server computer doesn't have to be the newest, hottest box in the shop; instead, an older model with lots of RAM (256mb is recommended) should work well. My C&P! doesn't need much attention, so the PC can sit off in a corner somewhere. The computer needs to have a full-time connection to the internet, as well as a constant connection to the shop's Clients & Profits file server. (For performance reasons, the same box can't be used for both My Clients & Profits! and as the C&P file server.)

My Clients & Profits! installs and runs just like the regular Clients & Profits software. It uses the same C&P Player, so using it will be familiar to anyone who's used Clients & Profits. My C&P! features an industry-standard HTTP server for publishing custom web pages that include real-time data from the Clients & Profits database. Users access My Clients & Profits! by entering the web server's address, or URL. The URL can be computer's actual IP address (e.g., 192.168.100.55) or a custom domain name (e.g., "my.clientsandprofits.com"). In fact, the web address of the My C&P! can be any variation of the shop's domain name (for more information, see My C&P FAQs). The web server is started by opening the My C&P! application, opening the shop's C&P database from the file server, then choosing the Start Web Server menu command. Once the My C&P! web server has started, it begins listening for incoming HTTP requests from users.

Any web browser any where can access the My C&P! web server -- as long as the user has the right access privileges. Only authorized users can access the My Clients & Profits! web server, which share access privileges with the user list in Clients & Profits. The My C&P! administrator (typically the Clients & Profits system manager) needs to first set up who can access Clients & Profits via the web. Anyone can potentially be added as a web user, including clients, vendors, freelancers, and contractors -- all with specific access privileges to what they can and can't see and do.