SmartTools Toolbar

The SmartTools Toolbar is a feature found in several Deluxe releases of JumpStart games.

Appearances

 * JumpStart Preschool (1999)
 * JumpStart Kindergarten (1998)
 * JumpStart 1st Grade (2000)
 * JumpStart 2nd Grade
 * JumpStart Adventures 3rd Grade: Mystery Mountain
 * JumpStart Adventures 4th Grade: Sapphire Falls
 * JumpStart Adventures 5th Grade: Jo Hammet, Kid Detective
 * JumpStart Adventures 6th Grade: Mission EarthQuest

Description
The SmartTools Toolbar is brought up by clicking the globe icon located at the top right corner of the screen. It contains three buttons and a pager. It is designed to give the player access to certain features outside of the game, and receive messages and feedback from their JumpStart pals.

The first button on the SmartTools toolbar will launch a web browser that takes the player to the JumpStart website. The second button launches J*Mail, a special feature that allows players to send and receive messages. The third button launches either JumpStart Around the World (for preschool to second grade) or JumpStart Adventure Challenge (for third to sixth grade).

The pager displays messages from Jumpstart characters and JumpStart news. If a pager message has been received, the star on the globe icon will light up. The message will then automatically play if the player clicks on the globe. A character will read the message aloud while the text scrolls by in the black bar. The character that appears in pager messages correlates to the game's grade level (Hopsalot for kindergarten, Pierre for preschool, Botley for 3rd Grade, TJ for 4th Grade, and so on).

The rest of the game remains paused when the SmartTools Toolbar is out. To put the toolbar away, the player can click on the globe again, or anywhere on the screen outside of the toolbar. There is also the option to disable and re-enable the SmartTools toolbar on the AutoPlay launch menu.

Description from JumpStart 1st Grade's digital manual
Welcome to the JumpStart SmartTools Toolbar. The SmartTools Toolbar is a feature that allows you to switch between applications from both JumpStart CDs in an integrated, seamless way, as well as keeps you informed about any future JumpStart news.

When the SmartTools Toolbar is enabled, access it by clicking on the globe that appears in the upper right hand corner of the game. This will pause the game and the toolbar will slide in.

Click on one of the three toolbar buttons to launch that application. The available buttons are located to the right.


 * JumpStart.com - This will launch a web browser and take the user to www.jumpstart.com. It requires the user to have a web browser installed.


 * J*Mail - This will launch J*Mail, and automatically bring up any messages the player might have received. J*Mail must be installed from Disc 2 for this feature or button to be active.


 * Around the World - This will launch JumpStart Around the World, and automatically sign the player in using the name and grade of the player currently playing the JumpStart product. JumpStart Around the World must be installed from Disc 2 for this feature or button to be active.

In addition, the SmartTools Toolbar includes an on screen pager, which will display messages sent from the JumpStart characters to the player or will display the latest JumpStart news.

When a pager message has been received, the star on the SmartTools globe icon will light up. Click on the globe to bring up the toolbar and the message will automatically play.

The pager has two buttons. When the arrow button to the left is active, click on it to launch your web browser and automatically link to the feature or area being referred to in the pager message. Click on the antenna button to the right to go online, check for and download any new pager.

To exit the SmartTools Toolbar, simply click on screen anywhere away from the Toolbar button or pager. The JumpStart game will continue playing from the point you left off.

The entire SmartTools Toolbar can be toggled on and off from the JumpStart product's Autorun screen.